Friday, August 08, 2025

Friday Stuff


Rachel Maddow discusses how the U.S. has been “profoundly changed” by Our Treasonous Orange Pustule and his authoritarian ways...yep, just snatch immigrants off our streets and ship them to “Alligator Alcatraz” where they’re forced to eat off the floor like dogs, expanding detention zones/prisons across multiple jurisdictions, integrating active duty military into immigration enforcement, and on and on (and we have more on that town hall in Nebraska, where I guess Mike Flood thought he would just skate and everything would be hunky dory...uh, no)...



...and David Doel tells us that Our Ochre Abomination responded to Canadian PM Mark Carney recognizing Palestinian statehood in the most predictable way, with “President Deals” getting his shorts all in a knot...umm, maybe I’m missing something, but recognizing Palestine really doesn’t have anything to do with trade surpluses or deficits, does it? And apparently Carney caved and bought drones and helicopters from us (allegedly for tighter border security), but it seems that didn’t earn Carney any brownie points from our ruling regime...”You cannot negotiate in good faith with a fascist clown,” indeed...also, though I personally would favor a two-state solution with Israel and Palestine, I honestly don’t know how viable that would be at this point...that map concerning recognition of a Palestinian state really tells you what kind of outliers we are on that issue...I also didn’t know how much in the way of arms Canada exported to Israel; again, you’d think that would curry favor with this country, but not it seems...I understand Doel’s point that, if you’re going to tell Hamas to disarm, you need to tell “Bibi” that too, but Carney is trying to do the right thing IMO (yes, baby steps I know); also, it’s WAAAY past time for an arms embargo on Israel from this country...



...and Jesse Dollemore lets us know that Pumpkin Pol Pot wants to federalize D.C. after “Big Balls” of DOGE was apparently attacked by a bunch of kids...why the $#@! was this idiot out with his girlfriend at 3 AM? Not that I condone violence, but if the only thing that happened to this little puke is that he got punched in the nose, he should count his blessings...and as usual (and I know Jesse knows this), the “news” wouldn’t be if Dementia J. Trump lied – the “news” would be if he actually told the truth, this time about D.C. crime...so OK – for example, a U.S. Senator serving in government can get forcibly dragged be masked thugs (here), and the ICE Gestapo can ram a crowd with an SUV in San Francisco, injuring at least one woman (here), but OF COURSE we don’t hear a peep from Cantaloupe Capone about that (slightly NSFW/H)...



...and this clip from Jamie Lowe of Rebel HQ tells us about a Texas woman quite rightly calling out the redistricting scam in her state from “All Hat, No Cattle” Greg Abbott and his fellow Repugs...Marc Elias also points out how this redistricting move has no basis under statutes in Texas or the federal government, but is being carried out on the orders of Mango Mussolini because the “R” party knows they’re looking at a potential political bloodbath next year and they’re desperately trying to hold onto power...report also gets into other gerrymandered state maps across the country and the potential for Dems to turn the tables...”it just took a little fight back” indeed...



...and not content with trying to wreck our government along with our electoral process, Brittany Page tells us how our ruling cretin has ordered his DOJ to stop prosecuting civil rights abuse cases for Americans in prison (in Louisiana in particular, incarcerating prisoners long after the end of their sentences...that applied to a quarter of all prisoners released spending 90 days or more behind bars) and suffering from mental illness (such as in group homes in South Carolina...yeah, let’s involuntarily commit someone because they wanted their medicine...ugh)...and oh yeah, #47’s DOJ has also dropped lawsuits against police departments, including Minneapolis...I knew 20 million people will lose Medicaid coverage sadly (partly because Medicaid is called something else in other states), but I didn’t know about $300 billion in food assistance getting cut (not the total amount I mean)...given how unpopular this is, no wonder the “party of Lincoln” is trying to steal U.S. House seats in “the land of the yellow rose,” and likely elsewhere too (and more on Grant’s Pass v. Johnson is here)...



...and Kyle Kulinski tells us about CEO’s bragging about firing workers and replacing them with AI...not sure about the sourcing of this publication, but I’ve definitely found other links to this asshat named Elijah Clark, who (if there’s any justice in existence anywhere) will be replaced by AI one day himself, though sadly he appears to have a lot of company when it comes to scum bucket management trying to axe the workforce of their companies...”sacrificing everyone at the altar of the one percent” indeed (definitely NSFW/H)...



...and I’m not sure if ICE needs a theme song or not, but if they do, I’d like to nominate this tune...



...and here's another summer selection to help us wind down for the weekend.

Thursday, August 07, 2025

Thursday Stuff


Sam, Emma and the crew from The Majority Report tell us about Combover Caligula’s CNBC fanboy Joe Kernan trying to cut through #47’s BS on the economy...good explanation by Sam on why the wingnuts think too much employment encourages inflation, which – spoiler alert – isn’t true, along with justifiable worries about “stagflation”...with every utterance out of the mouth of Our Treasonous Orange Yam, it’s more and more apparent how “around the bend” he truly is mentally...it’s really difficult to listen to this geriatric POS continue to run his mouth about polling, particularly since this is EXACTLY what we were warned about in the election last year (and maybe he REALLY IS being fed this ridiculous propaganda by his staff about how loved he supposedly is because they don’t want the boss to get mad and start throwing ketchup packets or something)...and oh yeah, let’s say something about Jasmine Crockett and Davy Crockett...as far as I’m concerned, anyone who supported this nematode for *preznit last year should be made to wear ashes and sack cloth...and oh yeah, there are those skeevy remarks about spokes-liar Karoline Leavitt also for good measure (and I'm not sure if we're going to be seeing "revisions" on jobs data any time soon from the BLS, Sam, though we should of course)...



...and along with assorted other madness from our cadre of Trumpist sycophants, Robert Reich tells us that the Gropenfuhrer is trying to gut OSHA, following up on his eviscerating of that government body during his first term...oh, and he wants someone from Amazon to head that agency; you know, the company with ridiculous worker injury rates where employees have to pee in bottles in lieu of actual bathroom breaks (here)...some extremely important labor history in this clip (maybe a few weeks early on this, but the time seems to be right)...



...and I almost decided to ignore this, but it’s so patently absurd that I decided to pay attention anyway...John and Brett Erlich (not them) tell us about wingnut online grifter Candace Owens getting sued by the Macrons (the French president and his wife) over Owens’s claim that the French first lady is really a man...and I agree with John; being the elderly boomer that I am, I can recall a time when we read newspapers/magazines and watched about 6-7 different channels (UHF and VHF – you can Google it), and you largely stayed informed that way (radio too); now, partly because of a greater and greater disintegration of our lives overall, we rely on the dreaded social media for this stuff, which allows charlatans like Owens to flourish, where success is measured by ginning up outrage for views and clicks as opposed to dumb stuff like, y’know, PROVIDING INFORMED COVERAGE AND ANALYSIS OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES (Brett gets a little rude here, but if there’s anyone who merits treatment like that, it’s Owens)...



..and tied to the theme of our ruling regime trying to keep this country as stoo-pid as possible, Belle gives us more on Pumpkin Pol Pot and his same party pals shutting down the CPB and what it means for NPR and PBS (but let’s not forget the funding was zeroed out by congressional Repugs...and oh yeah, I think Bri-Fi had another performative No vote on that one)...and as you might expect, communities that are pretty MAGA are going to get hit hardest first (what a shock, I know – people vote for the “leopards eating faces” party and THEIR faces get eaten instead)...



...and how much negative coverage do you think Fix Noise would have given to former President Biden if HE had spent time wandering on the White House roof for no apparent reason? As it is, we’ll let Mr. Newberger do what he does best on this...



...and when it comes to musical talent, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree for this guy, you might say.

Wednesday, August 06, 2025

Wednesday Stuff


Mike Figueredo discusses Our Ochre Abomination enticing people to join his ICE Gestapo, apparently because morale is low over not arresting hardened criminals, but instead gardeners and babysitters (and contractors at Home Depot); what the $#@! did you expect when you agreed to work for Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence and Goebbels, Jr.?...and I can’t think of a word to describe the hypocrisy of the Trumpers suddenly coming down with a case of the dreaded “socialism” to gin up recruitment...”If there’s anything capitalists care about, it’s not people, but capital” indeed...and so ICE snatched a Palestinian man in this country, sent him back to the West Bank, and he was killed by an Israeli settler – and somehow I’m sure Republicans and Independents in Bucks County bedroom communities who ALWAYS pull the lever for a Fitzpatrick every two years in the U.S. House elections won’t give a fig about that...probably silly on my part to even point that out...NSFW/H...



...and for a demonstration of the result of #47’s ceaseless attacks on anyone of another skin color who are here legally or not, this report from More Perfect Union tells us the story of McAllen, Texas, which was once a thriving community but has since been decimated by ICE raids...aside from the level of criminality of our ruling regime in seizing these people unlawfully (I have a very hard time believing that everyone in this town are “illegals”), there’s the secondary matter of the economic destruction (losing about $10 million in revenue as well as $20 to $25 billion in federal and state taxes - ahhh, smell the freedumb, my fellow prisoners)...and hey, Ken Martin and the @DNC, try freaking paying attention to Gaby Zavaleta at the end of this video, and don’t imagine trying to put the bite on me again for a donation unless and until you do!...



...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ tells us that the “math isn’t mathing” for Cantaloupe Capone...yeah, let’s give drugs for a 500 or 600 percent discount, even 1200...do I hear 2,000?...”A triumphant, roaring celebration of stoo-pidity” indeed...



...and I know I discussed that disgusting lickspittle Scott Jennings previously, but here he is again, denying wholesale starvation in Gaza (more here)...so I guess we’re at the stage where the wingnuts say, “Oh, Israel isn’t denying food – this kid was dying because of inadequate medical care”...WHICH ISRAEL IS ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR, as Kyle Kulinski tells us...and boy, am I glad to hear Kyle go off on “balance”; when THAT became more important to corporate media than verifiable truth and reality, that put us on the slippery slope leading to where we are now (NSFW/H also)...



...and gee, it looks like Stephen Colbert really learned his lesson when his show was cancelled – heh...he gives us the latest on Pumpkin Pol Pot’s adventure on the White House roof, “Bobby Brainworms,” Ghislaine Maxwell’s release to minimum security, the Mike Flood town hall that quite rightly turned into a fiasco, and the “All Hat, No Cattle” Texas redistricting BS, with Greg Abbott taking the lead on that of course...



...and I need a summer tune to try and lighten the mood a bit, and I hope this does the trick.

Tuesday, August 05, 2025

Tuesday Stuff

Richard Ojeda of Rebel HQ discusses FEMA head David Richardson appearing before a House panel over the whopping 20% phone response from his agency to Texas flood victims in the area of Kerr County...and oh yeah, Kristi (“Unsafe At Any Speed”) Noem says the terrible call center response is...ok, everybody now...”fake news,” with Richardson echoing the same BS (fine...here is a link to a CNN story reporting the same damn thing)...and nice work by Dem U.S. House Rep Laura Friedman in particular to call out this nonsense...good job by Ojeda to point out just how much California is bailing out these red state bottom feeders (but again, I would never say that anyone in this country isn’t entitled to the help they need in an emergency)...



...and staying with “the land of the yellow rose,” Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about Dem legislators leaving their state to deny quorum to Repugs who are trying to pass a beyond ridiculous gerrymander of districts in preparation for next year’s congressional elections, and once more, Dem state Rep James Talarico stands tall...and I like the idea of Dems going on the offensive and redrawing congressional maps in their favor (about time, I’d say); hey, if Repugs are going to play this game, so should we (the national Democrats should have found a way to come up with a lefty/progressive version of Americans for Prosperity, the State Policy Network, etc. LONG ago to plan that, but the time to do that is definitely now for sure...and that segment with Marc Elias is spot-on; also, kudos to Dem governors Gavin Newsom, J.B. Pritzker, Kathy Hochul and Wes Moore for sounding the alarm also)...



...and as Farron Cousins points out here, it looks like Generalissimo Trump’s media company may end up going the way of Trump Vodka, Trump Steaks, Trump University, etc. – couldn’t happen to a more deserving cretin (and sooo, they were temporarily saved by buying Bitcoin? As opposed to, y’know, actually trying to improve their scammy, useless product? Figures)...



...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History”...the Israeli Humanitarian group B’Tselem tried to run ad listing the names of dead kids in Gaza, but the ad wasn’t allowed to run (“too politically controversial” for the Israeli Broadcast Agency)...and no, this clip isn’t from last week, but from 8/5/14...gives you an idea of how long “Bibi” has been waging his genocide in that area; actually, it goes back further than that (with John and Ana Kasparian...a truly depressing, but not surprising, update is here)...



...and I'll admit that Mr. Newberger gets a little edgy at times, but that comes with the territory when you're making a living with comedy I know (more here)...



...and here's a newer tune to (hopefully) lift our sprirts a bit.

Monday, August 04, 2025

Monday Stuff


Jesse Dollemore lets us know that, apparently, our neighbors to the north (Winnipeg, Manitoba to be precise) told some “Christian” fascist named Sean Feucht what he could do when he tried to perform publicly – good!...”If their foot is not on your neck, they act like yours is on theirs” indeed...yep, it sounds like Canada politely told this goofball what he could do, to their credit (if Feucht thinks he can draw people to a concert venue, then he should do what other musicians do, namely, have his representation plan a tour and do all the typical business stuff instead of trying to piggy back for free at places where people want to relax and be left alone)...



...and Tennessee Brando tells us here about some character named Vince Ellison who went off on his audience over “DEI, DEI, DEI!!,” threatening to slit throats or something; I guess Charlie Kirk sponsored the event where this Ellison character decided to spout off...and boy, is Brando ever right in that we need to get out there and try to “win hearts and minds” because we’re on the right side of history, as opposed to these MAGA life forms (which, as far as I’m concerned, are also victims of DEI, as in “Donald’s Eternal Insanity”) (NSFW/H)...



...and speaking of madness, Chris Hayes (definitely not him) informs us that the Gropenfuhrer responded to bad labor news by firing the person in charge of the BLS (can’t believe I’m siding with Governor Bully here, but I am) – also, the CPB goes out of business; yep, the worst three months of job growth since the pandemic as Hayes says...indeed the “Dictator 101” playbook is in play (with Daniel Koh and Jared Bernstein...and oh yeah, let’s not forget the Trump-friendly media type asking #47 if you can trust the numbers)...good points by Koh in particular on the ways that the Trumper who takes over the BLS will find ways to manipulate the numbers, with all this insanity coming on top of the DOGE circus also as noted...all of this utter bedlam points to stagflation this fall, with a bunch in charge who won’t have a clue about how to respond, and of course this orange maniac can still rig the Fed and keep pressuring Jerome Powell to say “f” it and leave, especially with Adriana Kugler now gone...good point to draw a comparison between this and not testing for COVID to try and get better numbers on infections, casualties, etc, and I would put this also under the same category as redrawing the hurricane weather map with the sharpie...I don’t say this often, but after watching this, I seriously need a drink...



...and I’m letting TYT back into this for now (Ana Kasparian in particular, with Kate Bettino) because it looks like Alan Dershowitz was denied some pierogis because of his odious politics (here)...I have a feeling this happened at the West Tisbury Farmer’s Market...if I run into the person who did this the next time we make it to the island, I’ll definitely treat this person with a beverage of their choice (and good point by Bettino that, if Dersh were a public defender, he might not have a choice but to defend odious life forms like Jeffrey Epstein, but he’s not, so he didn’t have to...”the privilege is mind blowing” indeed)...



Update 8/8/25: Dersh is still digging his pierogi hole, I see - typical (here).

...and under the heading of what I would call celebrity nonsense, Desi Lydic of The Daily Show (not her) tells us about the brouhaha over the Sydney Sweeney jeans ad; I guess Sweeney is the “flavor of the month” pretty much...I can think of more important stuff to get exercised about, to be honest (and oh yeah, leave it to “Cancun” Cruz to use the dustup to score political points...nice comeback by Lydic), but Uday Jr.’s AI bit with his dad is unsettling on so many levels that I truly can’t name them...and once more, I guess Stuart Varney doesn’t get the treatment he deserves in the media because he sounds British...and oh yeah, “Maniac Megyn” Kelly is still part of the discussion, sadly (“For a story about boobs, it sure has a hell of a lot of assh*les” indeed)...slightly NSFW/H...



...and I need to get back to my summer selections, and I might as well do that with this tune.