Gingerbread and Sh*t

 As you may (or mayn’t) know, I don’t get outta the neighborhood much. When I do, it’s to go to the Y, rehab or Mass General for one of my never-ending series of appointments. On the way, we pass this bakery and its attached shop. All they make is gingerbread – cookies, houses, and, I assume, loaves. That’s pretty niche and, biz-wise, bold, eh? I mean, gingerbread is all fine and dandy but is there really enough gingerbread love out there to support a dedicated bakery AND a retail outlet?  My town’s not a big tourist stop so the owners have to be relying on locals to snarf up all those goodies.

I stop in there a couple times a year – usually only in December. There’s a variety of ginger cookies and they do make for lovely little gifts. I seem to recall they sell a few types of loose candies too.

Here’s the thing – last time we drove by there, all the windows were plastered with Turning Point USA signs. Weird. Very.

The name of the bakery is still over the front door and the awnings are still up but the windows, from the inside, are covered. Has the bakery closed and been replaced by a Saint Chiclets’ hard-right, extremist, hate emporium? TPUSA is a hate group that grooms children to become imbecilic spooge-bags. They actually pay teens to spread lies and propaganda on social media.  

Maybe the bakery is still there but has covered all their windows with pro-idiot, pro-racist, pro-bullshit posters in support of their "martyred" hero? If so – not a smart biz move. I mean, my town may not be quite as blue as Cambridge but this is still Massachusetts and it is pretty damn blue here. Announcing your bigotry, your hate, and utter, stone boneheadedness is a great way to lose customers. There ARE at least two other very good, small bakeries in town and I’m sure they sell gingerbread in November and December as well.

I read that Saint Chiclets’ hate org is thinking about cancelling their planned Super Bowl halftime show due to lack of interest. Seems they can’t find a right wing star who will draw a crowd. 

Let’s see now….who are the big right-wing musical acts?

There’s 54 year old Robert Ritchie, AKA Kid Rock, who hasn’t had a hit song since 2015. I bet they could get 76 year old Ted Nugent whose last hit was in 1975 — 50 years ago. 48 year old country music singer Jason Aldean might be available. Act fast and 84 year old Beach Boy Mike Love would probably turn up. Hey, give Johnny Ramone, Elvis Presley or Meat Loaf a call! Oh wait, they’re all dead. Nevermind. So much for appealing to the young'uns.

Why is dead Chuckie’s White is Right group trying to put on a different show? They don’t like Bad Bunny’s politics, his color, the language he speaks, the territory he hails from. Basically, they hate that he’s not a zombie white fascist. Sucks to be them, huh?

Hey, did you see this headline? It’s from 2021 but seems appropriate today.

Man Arrested After Allegedly Swinging Full Colostomy Bag at Kid Rock’s Bar 

Twitter account @ScanNashville, which regularly reports on Tennessee police activity, received word that law enforcement had been called to Kid Rock's Honky Tonk Rock 'N Roll Steakhouse to handle a disruptive patron outside the establishment.
~~~
"When the Metro police officers arrived to the location to assist security the defendant took out his colostomy bag from the inside of his front pants area and started to swing the bag around from left to right hitting two of the Metro police officers with his feces.” (source)  

Kid Rock’s bar was throwing a big party to celebrate the lifting of the mask mandates. What a great time and place to be maskless –a crowded bar with sweaty patrons, one of whom is spraying the crowd with shit. I’m just a little surprised the poo flinger wasn’t Kid himself.

Lions and Rhinos and Camels OH MY!

Once again Deranged Donnie has loudly bragged about how well he did on what he said was an “IQ test”. He claimed it was “very hard.” It was the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. It’s meant to measure cognitive impairment NOT intelligence. The test looks at short-term memory and executive function. This is a test a healthy toddler could ace.

He took the opportunity to challenge House Reps Jasmine Crockett and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to take the same exam, calling them each “low IQ persons.”

Jesus, does he never tire of humiliating himself?

I only mention it BUT…

Jasmine Crockett holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Rhodes College, a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center and has been awarded three three honorary doctorates.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez graduated from Boston University cum laude with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Economics and International Relations.

Meanwhile, Trump famously paid someone to take his SATs for him, has been repeatedly named the "dumbest goddam student" by his professor William T. Kelley, and only got into Penn in the first place because his older brother called in a favor.

Diaper Don said “The first couple questions are easy: a tiger, an elephant, a giraffe…” Yeah dude, I ALWAYS confuse lions with tigers, rhinos with elephants, and giraffes with camels. Ummmmmmmm. No.

I took the MoCA a few years ago. It was back when I was in that two year/four neurosurgery hellscape (which coincided with COVID lockdowns and tight hospital visitation restrictions). There were all kinds of different physical therapists coming and going from my room – I guess I was a real mess. I specifically requested that someone give me a damn cognitive test because, with all the stress and the docs opening up my head every other week (or so it seemed), I was afraid that I was losing my mind. I mean, were they taking out more than just those nasty-ass tumors?

The PTs thought I was fine but humored me and administered the test. Yup, my occasional inability to bring a song’s name, a quote or a book title to mind was more about the pressures and anxieties of my, at that time, extra wild life with NF2 than a mental breakdown. Phew. 

In other Prez Putrid news, last Friday, the moldy banjaxed brained toddler approved major disaster declarations for Alaska, Nebraska, North Dakota but NOT Vermont, Illinois and Maryland. Hmmmmm, whatever could be the difference between those two state groups?

While Trump has approved more disaster declarations than he's denied this year, he has also repeatedly floated the idea of “phasing out” FEMA, saying he wants states to take more responsibility for disaster response and recovery. States already take the lead in disasters, but depend on federal assistance when the needs exceed what they can manage alone.

Trump has also taken longer to approve disaster declaration requests than in any previous administration, including his first, according to an Associated Press analysis. (source) 

No rush on approving aid to folks who’ve lost everything but the clothes on their back, right, you overly comfortable, obscenely rich, warped and vicious, recidivist thug.

Despite favoring Alaska because he’d “won BIG” there in the last three elections, it still took him a week to approve relief funds after the remnants of Typhoon Halong hit the southwest part of the state. 

Maybe only the white parts versus the Yupʼik and Iñupiat towns in Alaska matter to our white supremacist idiot president.

Who Was She?

 Who was Martha Gellhorn?

She was a journalist, a novelist, and a top war correspondent who covered most of the 20th century’s major conflicts. She was a hero.

At 24, Gellhorn was hired by FERA (Federal Emergency Relief Administration) and worked with Eleanor Roosevelt and photographer Dorthea Lange in documenting the personal suffering of the Great Depression.

She was on Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

Martha found her way onto a landing craft serving as a water ambulance. In the process, she became one of the only women, and journalists, to land on June 6, 1944. She waded ashore and worked with the medics to get wounded men back to the hospital ship for treatment. When she got back to the hospital ship, she took time to record the conversations of the wounded soldiers from the beach as they waited to be retrieved from the beach on D-Day—again showing the human spirit in the face of war and devastation. (source) 

She reported firsthand on the liberation of Dachau, the Battle of the Bulge, the Spanish Civil War, the Nuremberg trials, the Vietnam War, and the invasion of Panama.

During World War II, TIME called Martha one of Collier’s star reporters. One reason for that recognition was her tenacious spirit and commitment to tell the stories of ordinary people during the war. She demonstrated incredible strength and perseverance. Through her writing, she was able to show how war’s devastation impacts all parts of life. (source) 

One of the first things her Wikipedia entry tells you though, is that she was the third wife of that trophy hunting misogynist, Ernest Hemingway.  What patriarchal snotwaddle, fer fucks sake!

By the by, their four year marriage blew up because the tiny schwanzed jerk was jealous of her talent and career. He wanted a beautiful, sexy, smart BUT ornamental, stay-at-home wifey-poo NOT a partner who was every bit as talented, courageous, and adventurous as he was.

Their marital troubles climaxed in 1944 when Hemingway stole Martha’s credential from Collier’s and traveled to England to cover the impending Allied invasion at Normandy, in her stead. Desperate to cover the opening of a Second Front in Europe, she eventually crossed the Atlantic in a ship filled with explosives after Hemingway blocked her attempts to get a press credential to take a flight. (source) 

Motherfucker STOLE her press credentials and then blocked her from getting others because he was so fucking insecure, envious and resentful of her brilliance and success. WHAT a midget dicked fucker! All his malicious, scheming weaselshit efforts to sink her career, her passion and she was still on the ground at Normandy. Fuck you, Ernie, you fuck!

Gellhorn was an immensely talented, brave, strong, intelligent, liberated, and complex woman.

…Gellhorn’s last years are a primer on how not to grow old. She was bitter about the state of the world, which remained stupid and unjust. She mourned the happy romantic relationship that had mysteriously eluded her. She was plagued by painful ailments and by knowledge of her lost beauty. She found writing excruciating. Perhaps worst of all, the lifelong reader was losing her sight. In 1998, at the age of 89 and ill with cancer, she swallowed a pill that ended her life, dying in a cream silk nightgown. (source) 

Understandable. Very understandable.

There has to be a better way to run the world and we had better see that we get it.
~ Martha Gellhorn 1908-1998

Orwellian Times

Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.
~ George Orwell, 1984

Where can I go for news now that the Pentagon and White House have pushed out or outright banned credible mainstream news orgs? It’s not as though any of those real journos were asking trenchant, hard hitting questions like “What the fuck are you even talking about” or “Why are you lying to us – what are you hiding?” or “What the fuck’s wrong with you?” though. For the Douchebag Administration, reporting anything bearing even a vague, passing resemblance to reality, anything other than complete rosy fantasy and flattery, is heresy bordering on treason.

Bozo Bezos’s Washington Post and Fox (!!!) joined in with the New York Times, CNN, the Atlantic, the Guardian, Reuters, the Associated Press, NPR, HuffPost and Breaking Defense in refusing to sign on to Alky Kegstand’s ultra grown-up, not AT ALL fascist, pinky swear pledge to only report the absolutely totally honest, NOT in any way dogshit propaganda, lies and fabulations that the Grifting Fuck Administration pushes. So now they’re cut off from hearing Donnie and his clown car of sadists’ incoherent blatherings and lies firsthand (which they’d soft-pedal to us anyway).

The Pentagon Press Association, a body that represents the beat reporters, says the new policy championed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “gags Pentagon employees and threatens retaliation against reporters who seek out information that has not been pre-approved for release.”  (source) 

Good for the mainstream media types. Glad they found a spine (or part of one – we'll see). What should I do for news though?

•  Look beyond the headlines that I see on my phone’s News app. 

•  Make a habit of looking at a variety of different reputable sources. Look at news orgs that aren’t based in the U.S. too. It’s smart to get outsider’s perspectives.

•. Look farther than what I see on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok or other social media. If I see a Breaking News post, check for links to a reputable source. Read beyond sensational headers.

Some news source suggestions (none of these are paywalled):

Pro Publica – a nonprofit investigative journalism organization.
Truthout – another nonprofit which describes itself as "dedicated to providing independent reporting and commentary on a diverse range of social justice issues”
Al Jazeera English – an editorially independent, international news outlet based in Qatar.
BBC News 
Associated Press 
NPR
The Guardian
PBS NewsHour

More Orwell:

If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.

 The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.

In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act. 

Eating

These are the donors to Douchebag Donnie’s Dancehall and Bribe-a-teria (the ones that Trump’s willing to ID anyway):

• Altria Group Inc.
• Amazon
• Apple
• Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
• Caterpillar Inc.
• Coinbase
• Comcast Corporation
• J. Pepe and Emilia Fanjul
• Hard Rock International
• Google
• HP Inc.
• Lockheed Martin
• Meta Platforms
• Micron Technology
• Microsoft
• NextEra Energy Inc.
• Palantir Technologies Inc.
• Ripple
• Reynolds American
• T-Mobile

• Tether America
• Union Pacific Railroad
• Adelson Family Foundation
• Stefan E. Brodie
• Betty Wold Johnson Foundation
• Charles and Marissa Cascarilla
• Edward and Shari Glazer
• Harold Hamm
• Benjamin Leon Jr.
• The Lutnick Family
• The Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Foundation
• Stephen A. Schwarzmann
• Konstantin Sokolov
• Kelly Loeffler and Jeff Sprecher
• Paolo Tiramani
• Cameron Winklevoss
• Tyler Winklevoss

You know the Presidential Emergency Operations Center – PEOC, the bunker where the chicken-shit pedo prez hid out during the George Floyd protests? It’s beneath where the East Wing was and where the new Epstein Files Ballroom will be. I wonder if all the rich donors were simply buying safe spots for themselves for when us peasants snap and break out the flaming torches and pitchforks.

It’s a big, super duper secret as to what-all’s down in the bunker but, apart from the theoretical communications crap, toilets, and teevees, I imagine there’s a lockbox containing the Epstein files. 

Just so ya know, the contractor who tore down White House East Wing was ACECO LLC. They’re located at 901 Stoddard Place in Silver Spring, Maryland. Interestingly, I went to their website and all it reads is that it’s “under construction.”

Davidkc on Daily Kos writes, I can tell you from my own experience that ACECO’s website was up and running on Monday night and a fellow Bluesky user told me it was still up as of 9:30 am CT on Tuesday morning. So ACECO went into hiding online just today, likely due to the swell of criticism it is justifiably receiving for destroying an historic government structure that belongs to the American people — not Donald Trump.

By the by:

In remarks to reporters last week, Trump said that two unnamed advisors had told him he could start the ballroom construction immediately, forgoing any oversight or zoning. He said the advisors told him, “Sir, this is the White House. You’re the president of the United States. You can do anything you want.” (source) 

Sure, Jan.
~~~
You may have read or otherwise heard about that big election coming up in New York City. Why should I, or any other non-New Yorker, give a shit about who becomes the mayor of NYC?

The reason to care, it’s a bellwether for the Democratic Party and Dem (and Dem-leaning) voters. Will party leaders and voters embrace youth and change or is everyone gonna stick with the same old same old that’s NOT working sufficiently against Trump’s Fascist Party? Will we back and support a candidate who’s convincingly won the primary?

Can America get behind a candidate who’s NOT a middle aged (or older), white, "christian," man?    

Jesse Duquette

This brings me to Maine and their senate race which is still a year off. WHO will replace the perpetually “concerned” moderate (but has voted the Trump party line 96% of the time) Susan Collins?

There’s Graham Platner who looked REALLY promising. He’s young (41), progressive, says a lot of the right things but there's that Nazi tattoo and more.

His former political director, Genevieve McDonald, a former state representative who resigned on Friday over the Reddit comments, remained very skeptical about Platner’s explanation of the tattoo.

“Platner prides himself on his extensive knowledge of military history,” McDonald said. “While he may not have known what his tattoo meant when he selected the image, it is not plausible he remained ignorant of its meaning all these years.” (source) 

He chose to keep it. Dude also has a history of making racist, homophobic, and misogynistic comments, quips, and slams. He also used to work for Blackwater (or whatever those evil fucks changed their name to so's mask themselves).

People CAN change, evolve and maybe Graham, as he claims, is in the process of becoming a better man. But maybe he’s a Manchurian or Fetterman-esque candidate? How about Graham runs for an office where, if he really hasn’t actually grown up to be a better human, he won’t do national damage? Show Mainers he's ready for the big leagues before pulling a Fetterman.

His opponent in the primary is Maine Governor Janet Mills. If she wins, she would be 79 years old on her first day on the job as senator. OOF!

She may be a fine governor but, c’mon, aren’t there other, younger, candidates for senator?

Yes, there are few others like:
Dave Costello 
Tucker Favreau 
Jordan Wood 

Is it the end of the world if either Mills or Platner gets in? NO. Either would be light years better than Susan Collins or ANYONE from the Pedophile Party.

Not So Groovy

Our job is to protect empathy at all costs, and live groovy lives.
~ Joe Strummer 

FYI – I'm with Joe.

ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom investigating abuses of power, reported recently that more than 170 U.S. citizens have been kidnapped, held and tortured by immigration agents.

“If the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U.S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States,” Kavanaugh wrote, “they promptly let the individual go.”

But that is far from the reality many citizens have experienced. Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents. They’ve had their necks kneeled on. They’ve been held outside in the rain while in their underwear. At least three citizens were pregnant when agents detained them. One of those women had already had the door of her home blown off while Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem watched. (source)

Of COURSE serial liar, sex pest, and rape attempter Kavanaugh lied about the ICEhole actions and it’s no surprise that KKKristi sadistically stands by watching. Studies have clearly shown that people with an animal torture/killing fetish move on to larger, human prey. 

Speaking of indiscriminate bullying, what’s up with Prez Pedo’s hard on for Venezuela.

Winslow Homer – Shark Fishing

WHY is the world’s most insecure and easy to manipulate head case and his pet rabid weasel, Pete Kegstand, blowing up Venezuelan fishing boats and murdering Venezuelans?

The excuse, so far, has been that the fishing boats are actually “narco-terrorists”– they’re supposedly smuggling in drugs, mostly fentanyl.

Problem – fentanyl isn’t made in Venezuela and outboard motorboats can’t reach the U.S. from there without refueling 20 times. The vast majority of fentanyl comes into the U.S. from Mexico at regular ports of entry, NOT via secret tunnels, drones, foot messengers, mysterious Venezuelan fishing boats or catapults. U.S. citizens are bringing most of it in and I’ll bet the bulk of them rock a pasty white complexion too. 

On top of murdering folks in boats (with zilcho evidence that they were guilty of so much as a busted a taillight let alone smuggling dope), over the past couple months there’s been a huge military buildup in the Caribbean Sea. This just CAN’T be about drugs – that’s TOO over the top, even for our drama queen president.

Is Stinky and his incompetent crew attempting a Reaganism? Do they want to do regime changes and turn South American countries into killing fields like Ronzo did to Nicaragua? 

I only mention it but, it didn’t work out well for Ronnie and he wasn’t quite as non compos mentis and doltish as Captain Crackpot. Donnie Doofus is certainly not looking to topple Maduro because the dude’s a human rights defiler (on that point the two are brother). No, getting rid of Maduro is about access to oil and minerals. 

This is about greed, not championing and restoring the human rights of Venezuelan citizens. Yea, I know, DUH!

Tooth Queen

I had a tooth pulled on Tuesday – yes, yezzz – another one. I can’t put this all down to my advanced age, youthful semi-careless dental hygiene, and genetic inclination toward weak dentition. The five back to back long-ass neurosurgeries I had, all with big anesthesia appliances jammed in my face hole, really tipped me over the tooth loss cliff.

This one was extracted from the right side of my mouth – that’s the side that doesn’t have nerve damage. I can easily chew and my taste buds are fully functional over there. That’s key. This is my good side. 

So, until I’m all healed up, fully recovered, I’m doomed to eat soups and pastes that I can only vaguely taste because I really can’t chew or totally fully taste food on my left side.

I hate this!

Luckily I live with a creative bunch.

Last night for our traditional Wednesday Take Out and TeeVee night, Jen picked up Indian food. I had to pass on the veggie samosas and garlic naan BUT I was able to spoon in the saag paneer (sans yummy chunks of paneer) and baingan bharta. She asked them to make it extra spicy too so I could actually taste it. Awesome! 

For breakfast this morning, instead of boring old Cream of Wheat, Ten made me soft scrambled eggs but added some leftover spicy Indian food to it. Fabulous.

I’m thinking, for a future meals, maybe mashed potatoes with pureed veg and hot sauce? Maybe mulligatawny soup? Black beans? A spicy red lentil soup? Maybe some congee? I bet I could graduate to udon noodles in another week or so. I live in a town whose population is 30% Asian. Finding a nice bowl of spicy udon noodle soup should be easy…I hope.

With the daily bombardment of bad news, of democracy’s demolition by Stinky and his party of pedophiles, renfields, and half-wit, barbaric henchmen (yeah, Kegbreath and Noem, I’m looking at you), I need a little joy – some goddamn, motherfucking sunshine. It’s really not too much to ask.

I should be able to snarf fun, tasty meals and snacks. I only mention it – it’s not the season for it but a nice mango or raspberry sorbet would do me nicely.

A follow up on yesterday’s post, I saw this online this morning:

A minor point but, imagine what an architectural reclamation yard would have paid for windows carefully removed from the White House.

Not just the windows. The doors, wood paneling, floorboards, ceiling roses, every handle and fitting. WHAT a supremely wasteful, willfully ignorant, classless, outrageously dunderheaded stack of depravity. In comparison, Trump makes Caligula look sane and rational and Marie Antoinette appear frugal and economically sensible. 

Mahablog’s Trump’s Inner Marie Antoinette is a fine read for today: 

While Trump sides with King Louis XIV’s “L’état, c’est moi” — I am the state — in many ways he’s really more of a Marie Antoinette. Or, at least Marie Antoinette as the French public came to view her before they beheaded her. 
~~~
Marie Antoinette came to be robustly disliked because she was said to have spent the people’s money like a drunken sailor on her own extravagances.

Remind you of anyone we know...hmmm?

The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.
~ often attributed to Albert Einstein but, on investigation, looks to originate with Alexandre Dumas. 

Killer Queen, Queen 

Demolition Man

On July 31st, when asked about his plans for the new White House Ballroom, President Pedo said:

“It'll be built over on the east side, and it will be beautiful. It'll be views of the Washington Monument. It won't interfere with the current building. It'll be near it but not touching it. And pays total respect to the existing building, which I'm the biggest fan of. It's my favorite. It's my favorite place. I love it” (source) 

Unsurprisingly, White House minions aren’t giving any explanation or even a song and dance for FOTUS’s lie. However, they did say that the ballroom would replace the East Wing, noting the many changes made to that structure long before Trump’s presidency. 

So, now they’re saying it’ll completely replace the East Wing? Do I have that right? Also, they’re claiming previous renovations justify a complete teardown?

Is that bit the singing and dancing part?

Now, mind you, the East Wing HAS had changes since it was built in 1902. A second floor was added in 1942. There have been interior renovations over the years but a complete demolition without review by the National Capital Planning Commission, (which oversees federal construction)? Ah…no. Rules, naturally, don’t apply to Donnie Fuckwad.

Treasury Department employees are now forbidden from taking and sharing photos of the destruction and construction. Can you say fascist regime, kids? Of course you can.

A fascist regime is a form of government characterized by dictatorial leadership, a centralized autocracy, and the forcible suppression of opposition and dissent. Key features include extreme nationalism and militarism, a strong regimentation of society and the economy, and the belief that the nation or race is supreme over the individual. These regimes often rely on propaganda and mass mobilization to maintain control, creating a cult of personality around the leader.  

Nick Anderson

The National Park Service, which manages the White House grounds, hasn’t answered inquiries about exactly how much of the East Wing will be destroyed for Trump’s dance hall and bribe-a-teria.  

As Zachary B. Wolf at CNN wrote, this will be Caesars Palace meets the Palace of Versailles. How charming.

Who’s paying for this Vegas on steroids monstrosity? Private donors who have business before the federal government, that's who. People, corporations, are bribing, BUYING, the government in plain sight. Ya know, millionaires and billionaires like Musk who DOGEd his way out of $2.37+ billion in legal liability for his shifty businesses.

Our cheesy, gimcrack level interior designer president, Donnie Demento, has already turned Jackie Kennedy’s Rose Garden into a third-rate mall food court and the Oval Office into a pumped up, cartoon version of a bordello lounge. His idea of art, architecture, and interior design? 

• My favorite color is shiny. 
• I like my money right where I can see it. 
• If it’s gold, I’m sold. 
• Why be unpretentious and understated when you can cram every inch of space with florid, gold painted knickknacks.

   And

• Hi, my name is Ostentatious Insane Twat III

Demolition Man – Sting