Friday Stuff

John Oliver takes a pretty deep dive into the nutso MAHA stuff...and yeah, it would indeed be nice if the Trump “Education Secretary” could actually read a list of food ingredients…and as far as I’m concerned, when an “influencer” is involved in governmental decisions, that’s a blaring warning siren for yours truly…and yeah, the whole “getting rid of food dyes” thing is a typical wingnut straw man argument IMO…and I’m glad to see Calley and Casey Means get the treatment they deserve…and why am I not surprised to see The Swanson TV Dinner Heir in this; yeah, Tuckums, it’s “Coca-Cola” (facepalm)…and a “liver smoothie”?? Oy…and this Calley Means character just thinks that food is tied to everything?? In a way, I’m not surprised to hear a grifting character like this guy peddle horse dookey like this for our ruling gaggle of frauds and idiots (and yeah, Calley Means definitely checks the box for “condescending prick” all right…and no, he doesn’t know a damn thing about SNAP either)…and oh yeah, the Meanses are also pretty much anti-vax, because of course (and I’m old enough to remember Michelle Obama pushing schools to offer healthier foods, but she was met by mostly scorn and derision even though she was absolutely right)…and man oh man, is Linda Leach-Hughes on the mark here (NSFW/H)...

…and by the way, the next time you’re on YouTube, search for “John Oliver Song Of The Summer”; I’m not saying another word...

...and Jesse Dollemore tells us that Trumpette U.S. House Rep Nancy Mace in South Carolina claimed to support infrastructure spending in her state that she voted against...there was a time when people like Mace and other assorted idiots in her party (some of the ones Jesse mentions and many others) were outliers, but they’re pretty much mainstream now (and yeah, I don’t think the Gropenfuhrer sleeps either, at least not without a fistful of Ambien...that would explain his late night ranting posts)...I will acknowledge that Mace is a particularly nutty representative of the Trump Party, somehow trying to turn verifiable truth and reality against a reporter asking a perfectly reasonable question about her lie (and that probably makes Mace the Repug front runner for governor, I realize...and nice work by Jesse to mention Yambo killing the Murphy-Lankford Senate bill on immigration so it wouldn’t interfere with the election last year)...



...and Kyle Kulinski tells us that 80% of the country now says immigration is a good thing, up from 64% the last time the question was asked; definitely a response to the ICE illegality and Trumpian madness...a pox on this country for being led by the “party of Lincoln” into believing that we could both demonize immigrants AND maintain our economic quality of life; this country has run off the backs of minorities for nearly as long as it has existed, and I don’t seriously expect that that circumstance will ever change...good point by Kyle that attacks on immigrants are the tip of the metaphorical spear that will be used against other minorities our ruling regime want to oppress (or they’ll definitely try to do that anyway...NSFW/H also)...



...and John and Yasmin Khan of The Damage Report ask, “what are the wingnuts in a froth over today?”...are they trying to defend immigrants from attacks by ICE? Attacks on LGBTQ individuals? Efforts by the Trump gang to completely ignore climate change? Our degraded economy and dwindling prestige on the world stage? Hell freaking no...they’re probably cheering it all on...it turns out that they’re mad about the new Cracker Barrel logo...seriously (including Uday Jr. naturally, blaming “the gays” and “woke,” for God’s sake...corporate rebranding happens all the time for one reason for another – get a freaking grip)...



...actually, as long as we’re on this subject, I have to admit that I’m partial to the design of this logo...

...and oh, it looks like James Dobson, formerly of Focus on the Family, has died...I’d forgotten about Dobson’s role in fighting for Proposition 8 in California (here)...nothing like hateful bigotry masquerading as piety and rectitude, is there?...



...on the other hand, to pay tribute to someone who deserves it, RIP Rhode Island Judge Frank Caprio, showing his trademark compassion from the bench to a Vietnam veteran here...



...and on the subject of the afterlife, I now present the following from Mr. Newberger...



...and I know I’m overdue for a newer tune, and I hope this will suffice to take us into the weekend.

Thursday Stuff

David Pakman gives us yet another example of alleged “Christian” Karoline Leavitt ridiculously lashing out at reporters for asking perfectly reasonable questions...”only a reporter from the New York Times would ask that” as if that’s supposed to be some kind of insult (maybe to a third-grade mentality, I suppose)...and “closing of seven global conflicts around the world?” What the hell is she even talking about? Does she know?...and oh yeah, supposedly Mango Mussolini single handedly ended the India-Pakistan conflict; meanwhile, in the world of reality as noted here...

“India has been consistently maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries... Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said in Parliament that no leader of any country asked India to stop Operation Sindoor.” (the code name for India’s military action against Pakistan).

And by the way, when it comes to former President Biden and Ukraine, I give you this...



...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ tells us about residents standing up to ICE in LA and D.C., including a tow truck driver pulling away an ICE vehicle...nice work...story reminds us about the little boy with stage 4 kidney cancer deported to Honduras in April...I think Shuster is right when he says that the gang from Cheetoh Hitler is just looking for an excuse to ratchet up the force and jackbooted thuggery, since that’s all they know to do and don’t give a damn about doing anything else...oh, and by the way, trying to get rid of mail-in ballots, among other things, will really put the screws to our military, who Repugs claim to support (I’m old enough to remember all of those “Support The Troops” bumper stickers during the days of Dubya’s Not-So-Excellent Adventure in Iraq)...



...and Tennessee Brando discusses Hunter Biden basically quoting journalist Michael Wolff in saying that Melania was introduced to Cantaloupe Capone by Jeffrey Epstein, supposedly, so OF COUURRSSE Hunter Biden is getting sued...discovery should be very interesting if this goes forward...yeah, deciding to leave Wolff alone tells you what their threats are really all about...and yeah, unfortunately, as Brando says, we have to deal with the beyond wretched Kim Davis all over again, because revenge is in season from the typical wingnut bottom feeders (NSFW/H)...



...and Thom Hartmann reminds us that Our Ochre Abomination is the latest incarnation of the utterly destructive American right...and as far as I’m concerned, that quote from LBJ about “the poorest white man” remains true today...and Robert Reich estimates that the wealth transfer from the middle class to the one percent bastards is about 80 trillion to date, and if anybody know what they’re talking about on that subject, it’s Reich (hope you’re sitting down as you read that)...and 1½ trillion dollars in student debt? Yep, along with a whole bunch of other mind-numbingly awful statistics...we knew that gun violence was the leading cause of death of children, and the only other place in the world where that happens is freaking Gaza!...I’d heard Thom’s discussion of the 80-year-cycle of upheaval before, and it’s scary (but not surprising I guess) to find out that we’re on target for another uprising, whatever form that takes...



...and speaking of Reich, he brings us Five Steps to Fight Trump’s Fascism...speaking for myself, I’ve sent a bunch of Emails to Bri-Fi, as well as occasionally to Fetterman (I don’t waste my time with McCormick, though I guess I should), and even though I may be pretty much p*ssing in the ocean, I know I need to keep doing it...lots of good ideas in this clip (more here and here)...



...and I’m going to try and lighten things up a bit, since we’re still in the summer for a little while longer...today is the 105th birthday (would have been I mean) of Christoper Robin Milne, the son of author A.A. Milne, who wrote the Winnie-The-Pooh books featuring his son as a lead character...that brings to mind this tune from awhile back.

Wednesday Stuff

Jesse Dollemore tells us about someone from the D.C. ICE Gestapo saying that “liberals already ruined it” (as in this country, apparently)...yeah, that was a brainless thing to say, but egging on these thugs wasn’t smart either, I have to tell you...and of course, Trumpette Tricia McLaughlin tries to completely spin a wildly different scenario in opposition to what we plainly saw on display...Jesse opens up a can of “whoop ass” at the end, and he’s right to do so (mildly NSFW/H)...



...meanwhile, The Good Liars take a look at D.C.’s newly militarized presence...yeah, “nothing to see here” on 1/6, but Pumpkin Pol Pot now has to call out the military to fend off anybody throwing a Subway sandwich...uh huh...



...and Rachel Maddow gives us a bunch of data on Our Ochre Abomination’s truly abysmal polling regarding a whole host of issues, leading to an overall rating that its truly underwater (can’t imagine how brainless that 40-41 percent are who keep giving Yambo decent ratings)...and it look like “Bongo” is on his way out at DOJ? C’est dommage..



...and I happened to come across this clip almost by accident recently, and I don’t think I need to add much to it (NSFW/H also)...



...and I think this tune from Mr. Newberger is particularly apropos in light of this ridiculous story...



...and this is another selection that I’ve always associated with summer, so here it is (trying to stretch it out as long as possible even though the days are gradually getting shorter – sigh).

Tuesday Stuff

(I think the cartoon is intended to take a jab at this.)

This clip from More Perfect Union informs us that Tucson, AZ just rejected a bid to build a massive Amazon data center, to be built by Beale Infrastructure, backed by Blue Owl, a $30 billion investment firm...looks like Beale tried to go behind the backs of the people of Pima County to get the project approved, which would have annihilated the water supply and doubled the water rates paid by residents...and oh, this Rex Scott character on the Pima board doesn’t think the residents should be allowed to vote on the proposal, huh (more here)? Also, part of what Combover Caligula doesn’t want anyone talking about, as noted near the end of the clip, is the pre-emption of the rule of local municipalities in decisions like this via his dictatorial executive orders (and I can see this ruling, or those like it anyway, ultimately going to the beyond wretched SCOTUS of Hangin’ Judge JR, and I think we know what will happen in that awful event)...



...and Leeja Miller gives us the latest AI-related developments; it looks like US computer chip maker NVIDIA struck a deal with China to sell the H100 chip (works better for AI) with a 15% cut going to this country, supposedly (I don’t trust anything involving the Trump gang)...Biden put an embargo on selling the chips to China, and Pumpkin Pol Pot did also in his first term, but apparently we’re not doing that now...so now, we’re going to allow the H20 chip (not quite as powerful as the 100) in exchange for rare earth metals from China (important discussion of those metals in this segment)...this is all a bit of a corporate “fan dance,” if you will, because, as noted in the clip, China is getting the chips anyway through Malaysia, but just at a higher cost, but the national security implications are indeed real (and I didn’t know that Ukraine is a player also when It comes to rare earth minerals)...the info on the amount of water needed to run data centers running off AI technology is staggering (echoing the prior clip somewhat), along with other related energy needs...and yes, I share Miller’s exasperation with the fact that getting the one percent bastards to pay their f*cking fair share of taxes would indeed solve a lot of what plagues this country...the stuff about AI integration with advanced weapons systems is truly scary, along with enhanced surveillance of course...I know I’m going out of order on her videos a bit, mainly because It’s hard to keep up with them, even though they’re well done for sure (NSFW/H)...



...and will you look at this? Repug U.S. House Rep Don Bacon of Nebraska is basically pointing out that Cheetoh Hitler’s tariffs are a disaster, with 5-6% of his state’s GDP from his farmers disappearing - David Pakman tells us about it...



...and Jen Psaki discusses D.C. residents commendably opposing #47’s takeover...video also recalls all of the "Jade Helm" idiocy from 2015, with “Cancun Cruz” leading the way on that of course...not surprising, but still utterly pathetic to see Repug politicians cheering on autocratic rule with a proposed federal takeover of “Democrat-run” cities (here)...

...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ tells us of Our Ochre Abomination’s caddy caught cheating for him at golf, trying to do a “drop” of where his ball supposedly landed after a tee shot (nice comments on this from Rick Reilly)...and oh yeah, there’s also the business of displaying the presidential seal at his courses, which is a clear violation of a federal statute...yeah, this isn’t the most important issue by a longshot, but it amplifies what a cheap con artist Combover Caligula truly is...



...and happy 80th birthday to Ian Gillan of Deep Purple.

Monday Stuff

Belle of the Ranch gives us her rundown on the recent meeting with #47 and his “bestie”...all Yambo had to do was not try to negotiate away Ukraine giving up land and that country’s possible entry into NATO, and Our Treasonous Orange Pustule failed on both counts...and ”Article V-like protection”; I know this nightmare of a *presidency is a looong way from over, but that needs to take place already for sure...I thought Belle was pretty strident here, and I also think she’s 100 percent correct (the Tom Sawyer reference was particularly apropos)...



Update: As predictable as flatulence after indigestion (here).

...and John of The Damage Report lets us know about the latest grift from Don The Con, which is supposed to be some fragrance for either $199 or $250 (a truly ironic doodad given the failing personal hygiene of Mango Mussolini)...yep, just crank out more junk for the pitiable rubes who keep getting suckered into buying this stuff...and oh yeah, Yambo is making our Secret Service pay through the proverbial nose for carts and port-a-potties at his stinking golf courses...ummm, could someone please contact the @DNC to find out if they intend to respond to this garbage??...



Update 8/26/25: I would say that this speaks volumes about the usual gaggle of Beltway idiots in charge of "Team D"; apparently, they're more concerned with appearing on "Real Time" and "Morning Jo(ke)" to tut-tut over those baaaad "socialist" Democrats like Zohran Mamdani as opposed to, y'know, ACTUALLY WINNING DAMN ELECTIONS!

...and Brittany Page tells us that it appears that our DHS is apparently running a contest to see how many white power symbols they can put up online (and Page is a particular SME in this area, having grown up under that influence, though she now commendably refutes that)...and naturally, “I’ll Drink To That” Hegseth authorized the destruction of thousands of photos from a DoD database depicting accomplishments of minorities...we also revisit the Beyonce ad nonsense with “Maniac Megyn” Kelly, who might as well just wear a brown shirt and burn a cross on her lawn to make it official (and Page is totally spot-on in saying that we should never accept “racism lite”...it is ALL repugnant)...I have to admit that I didn’t know the “1488” significance, but as Page points out, you can be damn sure that the “white power” bunch is aware of it...Page is also correct when she says that we shouldn’t cede any ground on LGBTQ and race matters (immigration also) to the lunatics we’re up against...



...and RIP Terence Stamp, appearing here in “The Limey” (incredibly NSFW/H)...



...and Seth Meyers lets us know that Combover Caligula has apparently brought “cancel culture” to the Kennedy Center Awards in a “Closer Look” segment...it’s possible that “wokester” might be the single most “OK, boomer” term I’ve ever heard in my life...and as far as Louisiana Repug Sen. “Foghorn Leghorn” goes, I give you this...good job to take shots at “America’s Mayor” also...Meyers does a great job IMO of pointing out just how much the wingnuts end up telling on each other more or less with every faux outrage on their part...almost don’t have the words to truly communicate my disgust with Our Ochre Abomination for every moment of his indignation over not getting an award he thinks is due to him...and “asphalt type person”...ugh – three-plus more years of this...



...and like many of you I’m sure, I watched the recent HBO documentary on Billy Joel, which was very well done IMO...I’m sure we all can relate to “personal baggage” in our lives, and Joel has that for sure, though he of course has managed to create some truly amazing music over his career perhaps in spite of that...we really don’t know the lives of any famous people since they’re in another orbit, but I thought the documentary gave us a bit of insight into Joel as well as Christie Brinkley and other members of Joel’s family as well as those he has worked with in the music business...I knew that Joel’s one-time manager Artie Ripp totally screwed up the production of Joel’s first LP Cold Spring Harbor, which is truly a shame since I think it’s a tremendous recording...if you’re able to watch the documentary on HBO MAX, I highly recommend it...when it comes to Joel, this may be my favorite tune from his body of work stretching over decades (and best wishes to Joel when it comes to dealing with his health issues).