Friday Stuff

David Shuster of Rebel HQ brings us the story of some Fix Noise “news” mannequin getting busted by her own onscreen graphic...gas prices are “negative”? By a whole, whopping total of $0.01? And $20 trillion coming into this country in “new investment” from tariffs? I guess that last, lonely functioning synapse in Combover Caligula’s noggin is starting to flicker out...and before we all go “WOO-HOO! 200 BILLION!,” let’s take a look at what has happened to tourism, as well as the “brain drain” of individuals doing research at our universities who are leaving, to say nothing of our soybean farmers and cattle ranchers...Shuster’s report runs down the list of countries we’re supposedly receiving trade revenue from including Qatar, and as long as we’re mentioning that nation, I think it needs to be pointed out that we recently struck a deal with them to put boots on the ground in case they’re invaded in the same manner as an Article V resolution for a NATO member country, and without congressional approval for Qatar; I learned that from this CBC article...”presented for an audience that mistakes enthusiasm for insight” indeed...and as much as I’d like to dump on “MAGA Mike” Johnson, I know Shuster’s last two minutes here are behind the news cycle a bit, though cutting and running the way Johnson did in response to reporters’ questions is par for the course with him...



...and I’ve been meaning to get to this from Glenn Kirschner all week, so I’d better do so now...I can’t think of a word to describe how pathetic it is that a judge needs to rule on White House press briefings requiring a sign language interpreter, which that supposedly stinky Joe Biden had no issue with, it should be pointed out, but that indeed is where we are (yep, the Gropenfuhrer does indeed manage to plummet to new depths every day)...a completely predictable update is here...



...and turning to “the heartland,” Kyle Kulinski tells us about Iowa farmers teeing off on Repug Iowa U.S. House rep Mariannette Miller-Meeks at a town hall when she tries to blame JOE FREAKING BIDEN for the runaway inflation under Mango Mussolini (and Kyle is dead right about coffee; I’ve seen a bag of ground for $14 which we used to buy for $6.99)...this shameless goofball can try and machine gun as many lies as she can, but if she seriously thinks she’s going to win over anybody with this pre-rehearsed steaming pile of bullsh*t, she is very much mistaken...here’s what I think is going on with our farmers – our ruling regime WANTS them to go under so Apartheid Clyde, Peter Thiel and company can buy up the land cheap and use minerals from Argentina to help build more stinking data centers for AI purposes (I think Kyle’s explanation is partly correct, but he doesn’t go far enough IMO)...more on our soybean farmers is here (apparently, there was some sort of an agreement with China to purchase soybeans, but it’s only a “promise” from China...pinky swear, I guess...to buy soybeans from our farmers again, but at reduced levels - NSFW/H)...



...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report lets us know about a lady named Nikalie Monroe who called the “church” of Joel Osteen and asked for formula for her (hypothetical) baby, and Monroe was told that it would take two days to weeks to get the formula, and that’s if the request was approved (Monroe was conducting a “social experiment,” it should be noted...and by the way, Osteen has a net worth of about $100 million as noted here)...Monroe called about 43 of these places with a request for formula, and 10 agreed to help, and that includes a Buddhist temple as well as an Islamic center and an African American church...not so much for Charlie Kirk’s parish also...oh, but Monroe is a “witch,” for making these calls? I must have been asleep during my elementary school religion classes when we were taught that that’s an acceptable response (snark)...and yeah, though I think the amount should be negligible, I think churches should pay taxes also...Figueredo is right about how the civil rights backlash helped to fuel more and more intolerant “religiosity”...and by the way, for Philly-area folks (including Bucks County), if you have a similar situation as Nikalie Monroe for real, go to the “Give or Get Help” section in the right-hand column of the page of this site and click the Aid for Friends link (or Catholic Charities USA if you’re outside of this area...NSFW/H also)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that #47 haz a sad about air traffic controllers who wouldn’t work during the shutdown because they wouldn’t get paid...someone should try to communicate to Our Tiny-Handed Chief Executive that you can’t treat our air traffic controllers the same way you treat people contracted to do construction projects at Mar-a-Lago...and I agree with Cousins; Biden was slipping towards the end of his term to be sure, but at least #46 knows what verifiable truth and reality is, as opposed to the Tangerine Toddler...I have this creeping feeling in my gut that something truly awful is coming, and believe me when I tell you that I want to be wrong (I can see myself getting on a plane again, but not for a while yet)...



...and turning to local matters, Chris Hayes speaks with Bucks County Sheriff-elect Danny Ceisler on his contest with incumbent Fred Harran...there were road signs in strategic locations reminding everyone of Harran supporting ICE, in case anybody had forgotten that...Ceisler is right that Bucks kind of “swings” from one party to the other on municipal and presidential elections, but the Repug Party machine has a hammerlock when it comes to federal congressional representation, unfortunately, though we’ll keep doing our best to change that (including next year)...



...and The Onion gets particularly edgy at times, and I think they do so again here, though they make their point with humor as always...



...and tomorrow marks the 93rd birthday of Brit singing legend Petula Clark...in addition to that great run of hits in those swinging ‘60s (including the following), I always respected her for this also.