OOF!

 I’m inpatient at Mass General (blogging from the glitchy telefonino) and have been since yesterday morning.

Jen took me to the Urgent Care facility in the next town over from us (to avoid having to drive into the city) and they were beyond useless. Basically, they said “yup, you’ve sure got an infection all right. Nothing we can do about it here so you’ll have to go into the emergency room.” Lovely. Had I known that Urgent Care places are the rough equivalent of a school nurse—able to diagnose a cold or an ouchie once you tell the nurse you have one or the other—I would have gone directly to the ER without the pointless extra step.

Anyway, MGH REALLY likes me. They kept me and have been pouring gallons of antibiotics into my veins while waiting for the results of blood tests to come back. Today there will be other tests, more waiting, doctors, and SPECIALISTS! All for what started as an ingrown toenail.

At this point, I’ve not been given any idea of when I might go home. The docs still don’t know why I’m not getting better.

I’m not thrilled about this. In fact, I feel a bit shocked. How did I get here?! How did a simple ingrown toenail turn into a mystery infection and a god-only-knows-how-many-days stay in the hospital?

Also, I only mention it but the rooms are much nicer over in the neurosurgery recovery building. bitch, bitch, bitch…HEY, I gotta go with my strengths here!

More Fun in Invalid Land

Well, I’m off to Urgent Care again. 

We went there this past Tuesday after it became clear that my little ingrown toenail issue was beyond the over-the-counter meds and warm soak’s ability to cure. Yeah, it was infected. The doc prescribed an antibiotic which, after five days, seems to have made only the most minor of dents in the pain, redness, and swelling. Shit's spreading. Joy.

I suppose the fact that it's not working on my problem should come as no surprise. I’m a complicated patient and I was diagnosed at one of those Urgent Care facilities versus my doctor's office. Granted, it's a joint associated with my hospital and doc’s office so they have access to my history and all my records. Still, the Urgent Care doc spent, at most, just five minutes, if that, with me and was clearly in a rush. Hopefully whoever's on duty this morning will be more focused, less harried.

Before we head in this morning I’ll make an organized list. 

• Symptoms – what are they, how long I’ve had them, how they’ve developed.
• Complicating factors that may effect diagnosis and/or presciption – vascular and neurological issues.
• Concerns – this has been going on for nearly three weeks now. What the fuck?! Why am I not getting better? WHEN will I start feeling better? WHEN can I comfortably wear socks and shoes again. I mean, this is New England and it’s practically winter fer fuck’s sake!

Okay, must calm down. I’m just SO sick of being sick.

Psycho Killers

I thought Cheney and Rumsfeld were psycho killers. They were pathological warmongering freaks. Hegseth’s more of an off-the-charts ruthless, unfathomably disturbed, egocentric, tiny dicked moron. With his "kill everybody” orders, he makes Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, and Jeffrey Dahmer look like amateur hour wannabes.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, following the first striking of a boat in the Caribbean in September, issued a verbal directive to U.S. service members to "kill everybody" with a second strike that would leave no survivors, according to a new report from the Washington Post.

The Post reported that the second strike was conducted at Hegseth’s discretion and carried out by the counterterror group SEAL Team 6 after two survivors of a vessel allegedly carrying narcotics were spotted. The vessel originally held 11 individuals before it was struck by a missile off the coast of Trinidad.

“The order was to kill everybody,” one of two people with direct knowledge of the operation told the Post. (source) 

This, mes amis, is a brill example of an illegal order. You know, the sort that Senator Mark Kelly mentioned in the video address that he and five members of congress, all veterans, made where they reminded service members of the oath they took to the Constitution.

Article 92 and Obeying Orders
Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), Article 92, service members must obey lawful orders. Failure to obey a lawful order can lead to serious punishment, including court-martial.

 But there is a key qualifier: the order must be lawful. If an order is manifestly illegal, service members not only may refuse it — they have a duty to do so. Obeying an illegal order can expose a service member to criminal liability.

When Is an Order “Manifestly Illegal”?
Not every questionable order counts. Courts have held that for an order to be manifestly illegal, its unlawfulness must be clear and obvious. Classic examples include:

• Orders to target civilians. 
• Orders to falsify official documents. 
• Orders to commit crimes such as theft or assault.  (source) 

You remember the senator from Arizona, don’t you? He’s the former navy combat pilot who flew 39 combat missions during Operation Desert Storm. He was an astronaut. Piloted the space shuttle. He knows his stuff. 

OF COURSE Kegsbreath is huffing and puffing and threatening the elected, former military, leaders who made the vid. Mr. Secretary of “War” himself gave out the peak motherfucker of all illegal orders.

Why was it illegal? Because the civilians weren't armed combatants. They may have been up to no good, but they posed zero threat to US military forces. Killing them was nothing but stone cold, gratuitous, jack-off murder. 

Sec. Douchenozzle went full metal war crime with his kill them all order. He violated international humanitarian law according to the 1907 Hague Peace Conference and that shit’s on tape. 

How about Admiral Frank Bradley and Seal Team 6 who carried out his orders? Should they all be brought up on murder charges? Absolutely.

Psycho Killer – Talking Heads 

Questions

History is fascinating but extremely hard to live through.
~ Heather Cox Richardson

Does this this seem sus or is this just me?

An Afghani national, who used to work with the CIA, was vetted and granted asylum by the Trump administration. He just happens to suddenly become a radical IsIamicist and shoots two National Guardsman six days after a federal court ruled that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to DC was illegal. Conveniently, this gives Trump justification for more deployments.

This also validates keeping ICEholes levels amped up to 11. 

I have questions. 

• Rahmanullah Lakanwal, drove from his home in Bellingham, Washington to DC…why? He could have attacked National Guardsmen in LA or Chicago. Driving 2,819 miles to DC seems pretty damned onerous and theatrical. How do you keep up an insane, murderous, terrorist rage for 2,819 miles, especially through highway traffic and with nasty rest stop junk food and bathrooms?

• Why do Box Wine Jeanine Pirro, Noem and Trump keep blaming Biden for Lakanwal being in the US when he was vetted and granted asylum by Trumpy’s admin? This is some real grade school “the dog ate my homework” weasel shit. Does anyone believe these bozos anymore? 

IF this was for real terrorism and not just another episode in Trump’s reality TV presidency (think Butler, PA, Charlie Kirk – sure, people die but only on set), the Department of Homeland Security is fucked. I mean, with Noem at the top, OF COURSE it is but look at who she hired to lead a terrorism prevention task force – Thomas Fugate. A couple years ago he was mowing lawns and bagging groceries. Now?

In these circles, two main theories have emerged to explain Fugate’s unusual ascent. One is that the Trump administration rewarded a Gen Z campaign worker with a resume-boosting title that comes with little real power because the office is in shambles.

The other is that the White House installed Fugate to oversee a pivot away from traditional counterterrorism lanes and to steer resources toward MAGA-friendly sheriffs and border security projects before eventually shuttering operations. In this scenario, Fugate was described as “a minder” and “a babysitter.” 
~~~
The former Homeland Security official said the decision “means that the department founded to prevent terrorism in the United States no longer prioritizes preventing terrorism in the United States.” (source) 

So, he’s just some stooge, placeholder while Noem dismantles the agency and gets on with the important biz of booting brown people out of the US. Gotcha.

• Also, was Krazy Kash’s FBI too busy redacting names from the Epstein files or guarding his country music girlfriend to pay attention to, ya know, terrorism in the nation’s capital? Unless of course this was just another of Demento’s theater pieces. In which case…nevermind.

• Were Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, no more than political props to this administration of barbarian monsters?

• Is ALL this insanity done in service of keeping that rotting stack of orange cosmeticized flesh out of jail?

By the by, I’m now convinced that Kegseth and Noem are the same person. Have you ever seen the two of them together at the same event?

They’re about the same size and shape with similar coloring. Both are way more concerned with surface appeal over substance. They have lying, posturing as big he-man tough guys, and cosplaying in common.

Okay, if they’re NOT the same person, I’m guessing they’re twins, separated at birth. Makes perfect sense, right?

Slothdom

Sloth
     noun 
1a : disinclination to action or labor : indolence 
1b : spiritual apathy and inactivity /the deadly sin of sloth

2 : any of various slow-moving arboreal edentate mammals (genera Bradypus and Choloepus) that inhabit tropical forests of South and Central America, hang from the branches back downward, and feed on leaves, shoots, and fruits

To be clear, today, still healing from that horrible, icky ingrown toenail – which, despite best efforts and care had become infected – I’m leaning toward slothdom. I will NOT actually be morphing into a slow-moving arboreal edentate mammal though. No. You see, that would take far too much effort and I’m just not up to it. Surely you can understand this.

Given that it is Thanksgiving (AKA Pie Day – not to be confused with Pi Day), I will most likely hit on my second favorite deadly sin – gluttony. After all, we will have grilled brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes, and, most importantly, pecan pie later. 

As to the Seven Deadly Sins, I deplore Pride, Wrath, Lust, Envy and Greed. Gluttony and Sloth I pretty much plan my day around. 
~ Robert Breault 

Clearly this is a man after my own heart.

Whenever I feel the need to exercise, I lie down until it goes away.
~ Paul Terry 

I’ve heard that hard work never killed anyone, but I say why take the chance?
~ Ronald Reagan 

I truly hate to admit that I agree with anything that Raygun has ever said but…well…even a stopped clock and all that. 

Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.
~ Jules Renard 

I have seen slower people than I am and more deliberate... and even quieter, and more listless, and lazier people than I am. But they were dead.
~ Mark Twain 

You show me a lazy prick who’s lying in bed all day, watching TV, only occasionally getting up to piss, and I’ll show you a guy who’s not causing any trouble.
~ George Carlin 

Too bad we can’t put this entire administration to bed. You know, with snacks, juice boxes, and teevee shows (NOT Fox).

 I like the word 'indolence'. It makes my laziness seem classy.
~ Bernard Williams

 Indolence is the sleep of the mind.
~ Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues 

Can’t say I agree with the old marquis. Sometimes we have to let our brains float – just drift. Some of my best ideas come when I let my consciousness off leash. Giving my mind an occasional time out, a mental nap, a bit of laying in the meadow staring at clouds time is ultimately productive. Maybe I’m misinterpreting Luc though? I'd ask him but he seems to be all dead and shit.

It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them. 
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

On this long weekend, I am very much looking forward to being stupid with my old friends. It’s something at which I’ve exceptional talent.

Lying Liars

In case you were unaware, Republicans are liars. If  their mouths are open, it’s a safe bet they’re spewing fabrications. Bank on it.

Borrowing from Mary McCarthy, who was snarking on Lillian Hellman, every word they utter is a lie including “and” and “the.”

This morning’s example?

KKKaroline Lievitt’s nephew’s mother has been snatched up by ICE.

The woman, Bruna Ferreira, has an 11-year-old son with Michael Leavitt, Karoline Leavitt's brother.

Ferreira migrated with her family to the United States from Brazil as a child and is currently in custody at an ICE facility in southern Louisiana. 

Michael Leavitt released a statement Tuesday, saying that his "only concern has always been the safety, well-being, and privacy of [his] son."

In a conversation with WCVB-TV sister station WMUR-TV, Michael Leavitt, a New Hampshire resident, said that his son lives with him and his wife full-time, but that Ferreira has maintained a relationship with her son. (source) 

ICE says she’s a criminal illegal alien and has a previous arrest for battery. Reality? She came here under DACA – the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the program that shielded immigrants from deportation.

"Bruna has no criminal record whatsoever," Pomerleau (her attorney) said. "I don’t know where that is coming from. Show us the proof. There’s no charges out there. She’s not a criminal illegal alien.”

Cross wearing KKKaroline is from New Hampshire, often referred to as the Alabama of New England. In the Live Free or Die libertarian delulu Heaven, she failed to get elected to public office and is still in deep debt. I think it’s safe to assume she was attempting to show off her proximity to power and do her brother Mikey a favor by getting rid of his pesky ex.
~~~
Sometimes it’s really hard to know what’s satire and what’s real. After reading a bunch of Noel Casler tweets and threads, I looked at this Halfway Cafe post on Substack and I’m just not sure.

From a 2020 interview Noel Casler did with Greg Olear:

GO: Four of the biggest bombshells you often talk about on Twitter are Trump’s incontinence and use of adult diapers; his drug addiction; his STD; and his creepy relationship with his daughter, Ivanka—your former boss. 
Let’s take them one at a time. First, incontinence. To play devil’s advocate, why does it matter that he wears adult diapers?
NC: It matters because his incontinence stems from his decades of stimulant abuse and fast food diet. He pretends he’s the model of physical health, when instead his bodily functions are being dictated by his drug addiction—and he tries to cover it up. So it’s evidence of his incompetence, and one of the main reasons for the NDAs. The crew nicknamed CA (Celebrity Apprentice) “The Shitshow,” because he would soil himself during tapings, often after flying into a rage and cursing out the Script Dept. Because he couldn’t read a three-syllable word.

GO: Is Trump illiterate?
NC: He is severely dyslexic, and has been his entire life. Ivanka would joke about it off camera.

GO: The drugs are obviously a much bigger deal. Anyone who’s watched him during the last three years—and especially during the pandemic pressers—can see that there are times when his affect is radically different. The press will describe him sometimes as “subdued.” Can you detail what you’ve seen?
NC: He snorts Adderall as his maintenance high. When he gets too wired, this is tempered with benzodiazepines. There’s also a robust use of cocaine and methamphetamine in the Trump orbit, and I’ll leave it at that….NYC is also full of folks with anecdotes of Trump’s drug use. They come up to me and share stories all the time. Look into the Dr. Bornstein stuff if you want to know more, and ask yourself why Trump sent [his bodyguard] Keith Schiller to strong-arm the doctor and steal his medical records, shortly after being elected POTUS.   

GO: Next: Sexually transmitted disease. I don’t think this is important, except that it tells us something about his character, or lack thereof, if he has herpes and goes around having unprotected sex—and, even worse, sexually assaulting and raping women.
NC: Yes. “Captain Valtrex” was another nickname for him. He sent his secretaries to the CVS on 57th Street to pick up his scripts for that herpes treatment. He used the name “John Barron” on some of these prescriptions.

Now, compare this to the satire of Halfway Cafe: 

• Trump has never once ridden in a car with Melania or Barron because Melania forbids it.

• Trump is a big fan of the Swedish pop group ABBA, and on motorcade rides liked to blast “Dancing Queen,” and when he hears the lyrics, “You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen,” he tells the driver, “Epstein used to love this song.”

• The Secret Service had to start offering bonuses to drivers of the presidential limousine because Trump smelled so bad. The agents quietly went on strike in January at the start of his second term, and refused to drive him without extra “stench pay.” It made Trump furious because the strike made him miss a few days of golf.

• Following every meeting with an Asian diplomat or leader, Trump talks with an exaggerated Asian accent for fifteen minutes.


• Every Secret Service agent has heard Trump recommend they spend their next vacation in Moscow because “Russian girls are into some crazy stuff.”


SEE!? Satire is now indistinguishable from reality!

Rumor and Sigh

Sermons and Deeds of the Antichrist, Luca Signorelli

Far be it from me to engage in rumor mongering and petty gossip BUT, I’ve just read that EriKKKa Fae is eight weeks pregnant and Chicklets, her mebbe not so dearly departed, “martyred” husband has been dead for 10 weeks. Hmmm. Interesting if true, huh?

I wonder if maternity pants come in skin tight black leather? 

This could explain why Usha has been seen without her wedding ring recently, no?

Wonder if White Trash Barbie and Jethro Dull have started picking out baby names? Crypto Platinum if it’s a boy and Diamond Trillionaire if it’s a girl? Maybe they’ll go traditional and name their spawn after their heroes? Donald Elon if it’s an egomaniac and Marjorie Taylor if it’s a neanderthal?

Wait…will this baby be the antichrist or does Barron already have that title? I mean, Demento's youngest looks the part but he’s totally lacking on the charisma front. Isn’t the antichrist supposed to have a bit of the old razzle dazzle, some serious duende? Yeah, I don’t think Barron’s it and, judging from Egregious Erika and the socially incompetent VP, any hatchling they might produce is bound to be equally unintelligent and uninspiring.
~~~
All you need to know about what an explosively unstable disaster this man is for this country is that Dick Cheney voted for a black female liberal Democrat over him. You don’t need to know anything else to know what a gardenhose full of diarrhea this presidency has been.
~ Jimmy Kimmel
~~~
Kegbreath is threatening to recall Sen. Mark Kelly to active duty in order to court martial him. Why? Because Kelly correctly quoted military law.

The Pentagon on Monday threatened to recall U.S. Senator Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain, to active duty status in order to prosecute him after what it described as seditious behavior by the former astronaut and decorated veteran. (source) 

WHAT a dipshitted, panty-waisted, no-nothing, grandstanding weasel shit!

From the Military Task Force FAQ page on refusing illegal orders: 

Do I have the right to refuse illegal orders?
 
Yes! All members of the military have the right, and in some cases have the duty, to refuse illegal orders. Your oath is to the Constitution (which incorporates international treaties ratified by the U.S. on human rights and the law of war), not to the Commander-In-Chief or to any other individual in the chain of command.

Much more at the site. Go read before the fascist fucks make it go bye bye. 

It’d be smart for the folks, particularly the ones blowing up fishing boats in the Gulf and off the coast of Mexico, to familiarize themselves with 1968 Vietnam and My Lai.

Some hours after having gathered the villagers together, Calley approached Private First Class Paul Meadlo, who was watching the Vietnamese. Calley asked Meadlo “if he could take care of that group.” Calley then walked away but returned a few minutes to ask Meadlo why he had not taken care of the villagers. Meadlo replied,  “We are. We are watching them.” Calley responded, “No, I mean kill them.” Calley and Meadlo then opened fire on the unresisting, unarmed villagers with their M16 rifles, killing the entire group.

This, however, was only the beginning. 
~~~
Besides the killings witnessed by Thompson and his helicopter crew, Calley and his platoon also committed other crimes, including rapes and other sexual assaults. These are only sometimes mentioned in literature written about the murders at My Lai, and no soldier was ever charged, much less prosecuted, for these sex offenses. (source) 

The soldiers who obeyed their officer's illegal orders were tried and some were even convicted. Their defense was, they were only following orders. Sound familiar? Kind of Nuremburg-y? Those orders were to kill civilians and waddya know, that’s illegal.

Army lieutenant William Calley, by the by, was sentenced to life in prison for personally murdering 22 people during the massacre. He served just three days in prison and three years of cushy house arrest, thanks to Tricky Dick Nixon. Calley died just last year at the age of 80, in a Florida hospice. I hope his death was painful and drawn out.

When will we get to the other side of this Hell? Will I live to see it? Will I live long enough to see Hegseth, Noem, Miller, the head of ICE – Todd Lyons, and every other fascist, lying fuck in this administration go down?

Don't Sit on My Jimmy Shands – Richard Thompson 

Irritants and Images

Some things annoying the hell outta me this morning:

1.  My ingrown toenail. I’ve never had one before and didn’t know what it was. I felt sure my foot was rotting off. It HAD to be gangrene or root rot or something else desperately serious. Right? I mean, it’s not like I come down with easy, run of the mill, boring-ass illnesses like basic common colds, right?

Nope, it’s just a standard, no frills ingrown toenail. Nothing to get excited about. WHY isn’t this all better yet though?!

2.  Headline in The Guardian this morning 'Something good just may be happening,' Trump says on Ukraine talks…

Oh fucking PLEASE. Just spare me. This is just more of the same bullshit reality tv teaser crap. The man (and I use the term loosely in regard to Prez Pedo) is completely out of touch with what’s actually happening in the world. For him, war and peace are no more than story arcs in his presidential reality tv series.

'Something good just may be happening’ – he’s just teasing the next episode. WILL Zelenskyy get off the island. STAY TUNED!

3.  Being deaf. This is complicated. On one hand, there are serious benefits, like:

I’m unbothered by:

• Big ego-ed, mansplaining midget dicks. They tend not to have the patience required to smoothly posture and preen at me – especially when I insistently make it clear that I don’t read lips and they’ll need to write out by hand whatever they wish to communicate.

• Tantruming toddlers and crying babies

• People talking loudly on their phones in public

   BUT I DEEPLY miss:

• Music (major understatement!)

• Hearing accents. Jen, Oni, and I just watched an episode of Shetland and I SO wish I could hear how the actors speak. I wonder if the accents are accurate. 

I was remembering the last time I was up in the Orkney Islands.  I was at a cèilidh with a bunch of folk from Scotland as well as native Orcadians. I still had hearing then and had no trouble understanding the Weegies and Inversneckies but the Orkneymen? Oof! I felt like such an idiot every time I had to ask them to say that again slower.

By the by, when you hear Boston accents on television or in the movies they’re rarely true. 

• I miss the sound of the rain, the wind in the tall grass, the waves falling, and meows.

4.  The Supreme Court 

5. Leon Musk and his anti-democracy troll army who masquerade as American patriots. The trolls hail from Eastern Europe, Russia, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and India. Dude really needs to go the way of all Spinal Tap drummers. I’m partial to him suffering Mick Shrimpton’s or, better still, Chris "Poppa" Cadeau’s fate. Your thoughts?

AND now some pics.