Cancelled

Tantrum toddler Prez Pedo has called for the cancellation of the Freedom 250 concert series because, waddya know, no one wants to be associated with him. He wants to switch things up. Instead of a music fest with past-their-prime performers (who’ve turned down a much needed paycheck because EWWWWW, Trump and Trump = what's-left-of-their-career suicide), Pedo wants to make it into one of his campaign rallies.

Yeah, THERE’S a great idea. Anyone recall his incredibly shrinking crowd sizes? The wide blocks of empty bleachers? The photoshopped crowd shots? The Craigslist ads for seat-fillers? All those people leaving after an hour of his bizarre, incoherent ramblings, incessant self-pitying whining, and bellyaching?

….it’s also becoming increasingly common as observers at Trump’s rallies have noted both empty seats and people departing early, often while he’s carrying on about sharks, windmills and Hannibal Lecter. (source) 

Will Pedo’s dwindling cult show up in DC to watch the crazy old man shit his pants and yell at clouds for two hours? Do they want to watch him do the double jerk-off dance to a recording of YMCA again? I mean, if you’ve seen it once…

How ‘bout that Kennedy Center business? He closed it down for two years supposedly for renovations but, seriously, we all know it was because nobody wanted to be featured there after he forced himself on the joint and plastered his name above JFK’s. Pedo gleefully, dictatorially desecrated a memorial to an enormously well respected president who was murdered while in office and then had a hissy fit when there was pushback.

Those “two years” (no doubt similar to his “two weeks”) the Center would be shut down? That was entirely about ducking the embarrassing reality of not being able to get anyone worthwhile to perform there. The Kennedy Center had to be shuttered until he was out of office. Any renovations that might have been done would have been a total scam. He would’ve been funneling payments into his own pockets the whole time.

Which makes me wonder, how much in kickbacks is he making off the reflecting pool repair and paint desecration job? And how much did he make when he turned the Rose Garden into a third-rate mall food court?

Oh and that birthday cage fight he’s having for himself on the South Lawn, I understand that some of the UFC fighters are starting to back out. 

Sean Strickland declined, saying: 

“So, if there was some kind of inclusion for fans, it’d be more … but like, just to go hang out with the f—ing Epstein list? I’m good, dog. I’m good, dude.”

Brandon Royval: 

"I don’t give a f--- about any of our political figures right now, and it's like to fight in front of them seems like some f---ing ‘Hunger Games’ type of f---ing s---. I don’t give a f--- to fight in front of some f---ing billionaires and rich people that could give a s--- less about me."

Tom Aspinwal puts it straight up and diplomatically: 

"Mate, it’s just boring. So boring. I don’t even have a comment."

Maybe Pedo could just have some of his loyal lapdogs get in the cage instead? I mean, I think the Valhalla household would def consider Pay Per View access for the following bouts:

• JDouche Vance vs the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Couches 
• Lindsey Graham vs Lindsey Graham
• Stephen Nosferatu Miller vs a vial of holy water and a clove of garlic
• Moses Johnson vs Holy Mike Pence (WHICH spineless jellyfish will TRIUMPH?!)
• Kegseth vs a bottle of Stoli
• Cruella De Noem vs a pack of wirehaired pointer puppies bent on revenge
• Former AG Bleach Blondi vs Special Counsel Jack Smith (It’ll be a fucking surgical blood bath!)
• Former Intelligence Secretary Tulsi Gabbard vs Kamala Harris (surgical blood bath chapter II) 
• Education Secretary Linda McMahon and pro-wrestling exec vs an elderly sloth (this will be a spelling contest and my money’s on the sloth.)
• MarkWayneJimBobFloydCleetus Mullin vs a broken rake
• RFK Jr. vs a rampaging horde of torch wielding, insanely angry pork tapeworms, hellbent on payback for his unlawful imprisonment of their larvae in his diseased, filthy brain.
• And finally, we'll bring Jeff Epstein back from the dead so he can go up against every woman that he trafficked, raped, molested, said a mean word to or looked at funny when they were helpless girls, AND their lawyers. He will be alone, unrepresented.

I'm just asking but, gee willikers folks, didn’t Pedo win EVERY swing state? Shouldn’t he be a little bit popular? I mean, is it normal for a country’s leader to be so desperately hated? Do 70% of Israelis hate Netanyahu? Do the vast majority of Russians despise Putin? Is Kim Jong-un unpopular in North Korea? Can we trust popularity polls in a dictatorship? 

Inquiring mind here and shit.

At this point, if Pedo really wants live music at his humiliating ME Fest, he’s gonna have to go with his faithful, elderly Z-listers, “Kid” Rock and The Nuge (if he’s still alive) and then maybe even actually pay them.

I AM Crabby Appleton

This morning I woke with the villain Crabby Appleton in my head. Why?

Crabby was the main nemesis of gee-whiz boy hero Tom Terrific. His eponymous show was played on Captain Kangaroo. Tom Terrific wasn’t a great cartoon. I remember, even as a kid, being wholly unimpressed with the animation and story lines. I mean, I had some fucking standards! Tom was some lame blonde kid with a dopey canine sidekick, Manfred the Wonder Dog. I did not see the “wonder” aspect. More like "I wonder WHAT."

Other than Crabby Appleton, my only other memory from the Captain Kangaroo show – which ran from 1955 to 1984 – is ping ping balls surreally flooding down from the ceiling. Punch line to a joke, I guess.

I was used to watching ‘50s era Bugs Bunny and Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons. Tom Terrific was some seriously weak sauce. 

Crabby Appleton, by the by, was also short-lived Los Angeles rock/pop band in the early ‘70s. Sadly, I've no memory of them.

Another little factoid, I don’t know if you recall the rumor, the urban legend that Mr. Green Jeans, of Cap Kangaroo fame, was a heroin addict. I remember hearing this during my everything-adults-told-us-were-fairy-tales-and-lies period (which I've, maybe, never come out of) and just shrugged my shoulders, thinking “of course.” After much googling, I haven’t found any back up for this salacious bit of gossip.

Anyway, the actor, Hugh Brannum, who played Mr. Green Jeans had been a jazz musician, playing bass with Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians before joining up with the Captain.

Related, I always envied my little sister. Children’s television got WAY better, far less stupid between the late ‘50s and late ‘60s. I mean, she got Sesame Street, Electric Company, and Zoom instead of fucking Romper Room, Howdy Doody, and Captain Kangaroo.

Just so’s ya know, Crabby Appleton probably, though it can’t be absolutely, unshakably proven, had nothing to do with the meteor that exploded off the coast of my fine state of Massachusetts yesterday at precisely 2:11 p.m. FYI, Jen, Ten, Oni, and I live right on the damn coast. 

Naturally, I didn’t hear it (deaf, don’cha know) and, though I’ve seen reports that folks felt their houses shake, Ten and I didn’t feel a thing here in Valhalla. Neither did we see a flash or a bolide screaming across the sky. It was a rainy day though. Also, we were both busy doomscrolling. Cake was deep into his afternoon nap. He had no time for drive-by fireballs. 

I wonder if the meteor had anything to do with the dream I woke from this morning. I was sitting in a hospital hallway with my sister. For some reason a nurse had to draw blood. Standard testing stuff, I guess. The nurse couldn’t get a vein in my arm though. He tells me he’s going to draw from my BRAIN instead. Last image before snapping awake was of a big ass needle aimed straight at my head.

How was I feeling? What was my DreamLand response. Was I freaking? Ahhh, not so much.

 “Oh, okay. Let’s just get this over with.” I’m entirely too used to this shit. I’m tellin’ you!

I don’t believe there are any meteors in the forecast for today. We’d probably have been given a heads up but Pedo and his billionaire henchmen have cut all the agencies that would have kept an eye on this. So, if I haven’t been crushed under a flaming space boulder, I’ll see you tomorrow.

Cheers!

Badly Glitching Robots

Why does he stand like Rosie from the Jetsons? Is he a badly glitching robot? Was he created in a lab by one of Leon or Bozo’s ill-paid, worked half to death, slapdash tech teams? Will Trump blow up soon like one of their rockets?

When they go low, we go high” was a catastrophic misunderstanding of how to fight fascists. These people live on fear, pageantry, dominance, and borrowed menace. What they cannot survive is mockery. Call Stephen Miller an ugly fuck. Mock Trump’s orange rotisserie tan. Laugh at RFK’s haunted bronchial gargle. Strip the costume off. Make them ridiculous, because they are.
~ Lyle Fass 

What is psychopathy?

Psychopathy is a neuropsychiatric disorder marked by deficient emotional responses, lack of empathy, and poor behavioral controls, commonly resulting in persistent antisocial deviance and criminal behavior. (source) 

Sound like anyone you know? A President of the United States perhaps?

Some examples of the traits of psychopaths:

• Glibness/superficial charm (if you can call his middle school level bullying insults “charm,” yeah sure)
• Grandiose sense of self-worth (obvs)
• Need for stimulation/prone to boredom
• Pathological lying (if his mouth is open, he’s lying)
• Conning/manipulative (that’s his whole brand)
• Lack of remorse or guilt
• Callous/lack of empathy
• Parasitic lifestyle
• Poor behavioral controls
• Promiscuous sexual behavior (promiscuous RAPEY behavior – Epstein Island, the teen beauty pageant bullshit, Stormy Daniels, E. Jean Carroll, his own goddamned daughter!!!, etc. etc.)
• Lack of realistic, long-term goals (can you say Iran?)
• Impulsivity (hello Canada and Greenland!)
• Irresponsibility (Iran again!)
• Failure to accept responsibility for one's own actions (Jesus, everything is always Biden’s or Obama’s fault, never his)

Psychopaths rely on their superficial charms and deceit. Their deepest fear is being exposed as the fraudulent, empty, criminal suits they are. Being publicly humiliated shatters the mammoth self-image they desperately need like helium to stay inflated and flying.

With Trump’s belligerent tariff bullying, constant threats of and actual acts of war, the economic devastation brought about on our own country, and the vicious, murderous ongoing assaults by his ICEhole goons, Pedo has become profoundly unpopular around the world and at home.

Even his faithful red states are losing their Trumpy boners. 

The largest declines in net approval highlight just how much ground Trump has lost since taking office.

Wyoming: +47 → +22 (down 25 points)
Kentucky: +23 → 0 (down 23 points)
Nebraska: +18 → -4 (down 22 points)
Alaska: +9 → -12 (down 21 points)
Florida: +9 → -12 (down 21 points)
Oklahoma: +31 → +10 (down 21 points)
Nevada: 0 → -20 (down 20 points)
Maine: -12 → -31 (down 19 points)
Ohio: +8 → -11 (down 19 points)
Utah: +20 → +1 (down 19 points)
(source) 

Did you see? Yesterday, US district judge Christopher Cooper ordered Pedo's name stripped off the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He ruled that the joint, a memorial, can’t be renamed without an act of Congress. HA HA!

“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”

The judge added: “The Court has concluded that the Board overstepped its statutory bounds by unilaterally renaming the Kennedy Center after President Trump.”
   ~~~
Cooper also temporarily blocked the center from closing this summer for proposed renovations, two months after Trump announced its two-year closure. (source) 

Pedo naturally had a complete tantrum toddler melt down on his little social media laundry, Truth Toilet. Sadly, this personal disappointment, this cockblocking of his ego hasn’t led to a sudden terminal event. Yet.

Let’s keep this going. Throw more legal challenges at his stupid, ill-conceived Soviet style, raggedy Rococo, nouveau douche, Epstein Ballroom. Let’s make damn sure he can’t put up his masturbatory Arc de Trump too. These monuments to one imbecile’s ego would be absurd in the best, most prosperous of times. Now? With inflation soaring due to Pedo’s wars of choice in Iran and Venezuela, his tariff horseshit, and other horrific blunderings –the very idea of these self-glorifying erections is violently obscene.

The best offense and defense (besides going after him with a laser focused, Godzilla sized team of lawyers) is to mock him widely, incessantly, and massively. Everywhere he turns, he should see how little, how inconsequential he is. Along with his team of ball gargling renfields, he’s made himself this annoying, unwanted, and ridiculous.

Speaking of ball garglers – Stephen Miller totally looks like a mad scientist tried to grow a person from expired mayonnaise, wet tissue and distilled resentment. Every time Miller speaks, a half dead mosquito flies out of an old, dented, metal filing cabinet. Intelligence passes by him but can’t find a reason to stop for a visit. Death walks in but can only shrug and wonder “what’s the point.” In the end, all that remains is a haunted, moldy potato in a suit. 

White Trash America

Construction crews have begun the next step in the white trashification of the White House. They’re building a “cage” on the lawn for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event which will be part of Pedo’s “Great American State Fair” – the Freedom 250 extravaganza.

I hear the concert series portion of the 16 day event, announced with an array of big, BIG 🙄 performers (i.e not the usual losers seen with Pedo), is turning into the Great American Shit Show.

At least seven of the nine performers – people like Martina McBride, Morris Day and The Time, The Commodores, and Young MC have already backed out. Why? Turns out they were misled.

The artists were never told about any political involvement with the event. And despite the claims by the organizers that the event is nonpartisan, SPIN magazine describes it as ‘Trump-backed.’ (source) 

Freedom 250 was launched by Pedo late in ‘25. It purposely, deceptively describes itself as a "national, non-partisan organization leading the celebration of our Nation's 250th birthday." Shitzenpantz appointed Keith Krach, who served as an under secretary of state during his first term, as the organization's CEO. Make no mistake, this IS a Trump-backed org and anything to do with Trump is ALL about him.

The goal of the event is to make Dipshit Demento Donnie look magnificent and munificent – the grand impresario, the magnanimous dictator providing his adoring subjects entertainments to celebrate that he allows them to live in his country.

In order to get real, actual talent though, the organizers had to hide the fact that the concert series was a Trump deal. No sane artist wants to be associated with that world destroying, idiot madman. If nothing else, playing on Donnie’s stage is career suicide. At least one group wasn’t even asked about performing – their name was just included on the posters.

Can you say “desperate” kids? Sure ya can.

“Unfortunately, what was presented to us as a celebration of our country has evolved into something much more divisive than what I agreed to be a part of,” the frontman (Bret Michaels) of the band Poison said in a statement on social media.
   ~~~
The first to drop out, hours after Wednesday’s announcement, was Morris Day, who called his scheduled participation in the summer concert series on Washington DC’s National Mall a baseless “rumor”. 

Later on Wednesday, Young MC posted a message that began: “I have informed my agents that I will not be performing at the Freedom 250 event.” 

“The artists were never told about any political involvement with the event,” he added, before casting doubt on the claim from Freedom 250, the group created by Donald Trump to organize the celebration of the US’s semiquincentennial, that the series was nonpartisan. 

And on Thursday, the Commodores, C+C Music Factory, Martina McBride and Milli Vanilli all either dropped out or expressed surprise that they had ever been booked.  (source) 

Now, if the audience was just Pedo’s halfwit, white trash MAGAts, the planners could’ve put any two-bit talentless hack on stage. Hell, MAGAts’ll cheer and dance to a stack of yodeling turds – e.g. “Kid” Rock, Jason Aldean, Ted Nugent. Why didn’t they book these clowns? Because those barking butt plugs don’t draw the big crowds they’re looking for. Those old boys are crowd repellents.

Optics would be muy, muy bad. A serious embarrassment for Dear Leader.

Vanilla Ice will still be performing. I know. WHO?! Bobby Van Winkle is almost 60-years-old now. His big claim to fame is the song Ice Ice Baby which he wrote when he was 16 – 42 years ago. That’s just ridiculously sad. It reeks of all those pathetic old dudes who still brag about their glory days on the gridiron way back in high school. Bobby can feel reassured that he’s still hip and now – the infamous puppy killer Kristie Noem and undead Stephen Miller enjoyed grooving to his four decade old artistic spewings at Mar-a-Lago on New Years Eve. 

I saw someone describing the White House’s decor as "Temu Versailles.” With the big “wrestling” cage and stands going up out front though, it’s beginning to look more like a traveling carnival had a headlong collision with an ‘80s rapper and a museum dedicated to Liberace, curated by three totally tweaked out meth heads. All of the over-the-top bling, none of the pizzazz.

What can you expect from a man who, as John Oliver put it, looks like a clown made of mummified foreskin and cotton candy.

Don't Do It, Texas!

Who comes up with these state tourism slogans? Most of them are fairly tame. Montana’s “The Sky's the Limit” is nice enough. Some are cute, like Rhode Island’s – “Fun-Sized.” Oregon’s used to be “Stay Weird.” AWESOME! It’s now “We Like It Here. You Might Too.” Kind of Gen-X cool.

Texas? I believe it’s currently “Don’t Mess with Texas.” If voters elect Ken Paxton as their next senator, they’ll need to change that.

Texas with Paxton? How about: "Texas, the Child Abuse State" or "Texas is for Pedophiles." You know, like "Virginia is for Lovers" only disgusting, skeevy, heinous, and illegal.

Paxton might or might not be in the Epstein files – since the release was purposely, chaotically bungled, inconsistently redacted and completely half-assed we may never know – but he’s MOST DEF a big supporter of child abusers.

In addition to supporting Prez Pedo, Paxton helped his pedophile pal, attorney Adam Hoffman, (formerly of  China Spring, Texas – now living somewhere in Nebraska) get out of the consequences of his vile crimes. Hoffman was convicted of first-degree felony continuous sexual abuse of a young child over the course of THREE years, starting when the kid was in third grade (so, about eight-years-old!). Hoffman faced a possible sentence of life without parole. Instead, Paxton got him a deal. Magically, Hoffman’s years of raping a child turned into a mere misdemeanor with a 30-day jail term. ONLY after this became a major campaign issue for Paxton was Hoffman’s sentence doubled to a measly 60 days. 

Adam Hoffman – 
child rapist now living 
somewhere in Nebraska

Here’s the kicker though – Hoffman was released from jail Monday, after just 29 days of his tiny-ass 60 days sentence. Why? "good behavior." Yeah sure, I’ll bet. Oh and Hoffman won’t be required to register as a sex offender and he’ll be allowed to practice law again.

Paxton looks after his own. Ken Paxton is for Pedophiles. That’s his slogan.

On top of that, he’s an idiot, thieving, three count felon.

On CBS News: 

Reporter: Ken Paxton has taken to calling you ‘Talafreako’

Talarico: If Ken Paxton is worried about freaks, he should stop giving Epstein-style sweetheart deals to pedophiles. This is the guy who just released Adam Hoffman from jail, an admitted child rapist, after one of Ken Paxton’s wealthy lawyer friends got involved in the case. 

OUCH! Now THAT’S how it’s done! Sharp, sizzling hot, and right out of the gate.

And attorney general, Ken Paxton sued schools that didn't display the Ten Commandments inside their classrooms.

Some of the Commandments include:

The mugshot of Ken Paxton, a smug, pedophile enabling, 
ethically and morally twisted and bankrupt, greedheaded,
thieving, predatory collection of cellular matter.

Thou shalt not commit adultery 
     Paxton has had multiple extramarital affairs. 

Thou shalt not steal
     In 2015, Paxton was indicted on three felony securities fraud charges. In May of 2023, the Texas House of Representatives impeached Kenny-boy on 20 articles, including misapplication of public resources, bribery, and abuse of public trust. 

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor
     Paxton was impeached for making false statements in official records – see above.

Speaking of bearing false witness, Texas Republicans are actually dancing around with lies, saying:
"He (Talarico) says it's immoral to eat meat!"
"He thinks there's 23 different genders!"
"He's a vegan!!!”

‘da fuck?

Talarico didn’t say any of this and he’s not vegan, as if anything’s weird or wrong with being vegan, fer fuck’s sake. The fucked up thing is that this spreading lies and smears shit actually works. 

A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.
~ attributed variously to Mark Twain, Winston Churchill, and Jonathan Swift 

In 2020, eight of Paxton's most senior aides (including his First Assistant AG, multiple deputy attorneys general, and his Director of Law Enforcement) reported him to the FBI for alleged bribery and abuse of office. Not political opponents, but his own people.  

They were fired. Of course they were. A court later awarded $3.3 million to four of them after finding the AG's office violated the Texas Whistleblower Act. Texas taxpayers paid that bill. Of course the taxpayers versus the guilty parties did.

Paxton is dirty as all hell. From the tippy top of his thumb shaped head and bad haircut to the tip of his, doubtless ugly and ringwormed toes, the man’s corrupt and shedding festering malfeasance with every breath he takes.

His opponent James Talarico? He’s a former middle school teacher, and Presbyterian seminarian. Unlike Paxton, he’s on the side of regular folks versus the multi-millionaire and billionaire-class.

But sure, Paxton calls Talarico ‘Talafreako.’

Outside of Prez Pedo, the Grifter in Chief, Paxton is the most corrupt politician in America.

Stephen Nosferatu Miller started yesterday posting that Talarico is trans. Again I ask – ‘da fuck? Off the wall take from a blood sucking fiend and infamous diseased-rat eater but, ya know, okay.

Miller was called ugly in return and then had his wife run to Fox to screech that her poor liddle rat eater was being horribly abused. Who knew? Nosferatu’s actually an ultra delicate snowflake and needs his harridan to defend him!

Possibly he’s just mad because Talarico can go out in sunlight without bursting into a cloud of a thousand bats.

DEPORT ICE!

In case I haven’t mentioned this a zillion times already, and I know I have, NOTHING from this facist fucking administration can be trusted.

I know. Like…DUH!

The governor of New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill, Senator Andy Kim, and U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez went to check out the reports of wickedly substandard conditions at the Delaney Hall concentration camp in Newark, New Jersey. Prisoners had organized a hunger strike to protest the disgusting, befouled food and inadequate, woefully subpar medical "care."

Detained migrants said they found live worms in their meals of beans and salad. They also complained of crowded rooms with no air conditioning, and they told stories of their cases being ignored by judges or bonds being denied, all in an attempt to force them to self-deport. (source) 

The people protesting, despite what the apparatchiks are spewing, were peaceful (NOT rioters!). Then the ICE goons started shooting pepper balls and mace at people and into the crowds. Why?

Cover. Homeland Securities thugs were trying to smuggle out Martin Soto, the leader of the hunger strike. His pregnant, American citizen, wife was one of the protest organizers. ICE needed a distraction so, naturally, they turned to violence. They tried to incite a riot.

Anne Telnaes

ICE and the concentration camp’s for-profit operator, GEO Group, want to transfer strike leaders to out-of-state facilities (Louisiana or Texas) in order to deflate annoying protests. Also, in doing this, they separate prisoners from their lawyers. If prisoners can't access their lawyers or the courts, they’re kept in the for-profit prison longer. The longer they’re locked up, the more money GEO Group makes. This is, basically, state sponsored human trafficking. Oh and if/when prisoners die due to contaminated/tainted food and lack of or substandard medical care? BONUS for Stephen Nosferatu Miller and his oafish, potato-brained, henchman MarkWayneBobRayRonFred, who want all insufficiently white right-wing fascists offed posthaste.

ICEholes got a bit carried away in their orgy of barbarism though – they pepper sprayed a senator. That’s gonna make for some nasty,  unavoidable, and embarrassing headlines, eh?

Kim initially tried to broker a temporary agreement between the demonstrators and federal agents, in which the agents would scale back tactical teams and immigrant advocates could inspect cars leaving the facility to see if detainees were inside.

But in the meantime, agents began pushing the crowd backward, firing less-lethal rounds containing an irritant toward the protesters and making several arrests.At times, Kim stepped between the protestors and agents putting his arms up in a “stop” motion as the scene grew chaotic.

“I tried to find a way through this … to be able to have this happen non-violently,” the senator said in a phone interview a few hours later.

“I ran up and put myself between the ICE officers and the crowd, and that’s when they started to shoot at us with the pepper balls — as well as using the pepper spray — and were tackling people."

Kim said his eyes and throat were still “burning” and his hand “hurts a lot” but added: “It’s not about me.” (source) 

Sounds like they shot at him directly. Targeted him, in fact. ICE – they don’t exactly hire the best and brightest, do they? We all knew that though. They hire desperate, emotionally stunted, intellectually unburdened, barbarity prone moldy turnips with poor impulse control.

What’s happening with the Martin Soto, the targeted prisoner? An emergency petition for his release has been filed in federal court.

Mike Luckovich

“At this point, petitioner’s detention no longer resembles ordinary civil immigration custody,” the filing by attorney Alexandra Minogue argues. “It has evolved into escalating punitive confinement marked by retaliatory termination of all family visitation, threats of solitary confinement, deteriorating detention conditions, allegations that detainees were served food containing worms, attempted movement during active federal habeas proceedings, and profound psychological harm inflicted upon a pregnant United States citizen spouse and medically vulnerable children.”

Soto was deceptively, heinously, brutally moved to another concentration camp in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Minogue was able to talk with him there on Monday.

“[Martin] appeared visibly ill and substantially underweight and displayed bruising to his arms, wrists, and ankles consistent with forceful restraint,” Minogue declared in the filings.

At the time the emergency motion was made, according to the filing, “[Martin] remains housed in solitary confinement conditions and wildly restricted to access to counsel as well as terminated visitation for his family.” (source) 

DEPORT ICE – KEEP THE IMMIGRANTS!!!

Spending tens of billions of dollars from American families to perpetrate cruelty against people who aren’t violent criminals or felons is a waste of money and wrong…. Our government should focus on helping Americans afford their lives, not lock people up in for-profit detention centers where corporations like GeoGroup and CoreCivic make billions. No profiting off of human misery.
~ Senator Andy Kim 

Distractions

Yesterday Jen, Oni, and I watched the third and final installment of Good Omens – a teevee show created by Neil Gaiman, based on the novel cowritten by him and Terry Pratchett. I was surprised to see that there even was a third season given the myriad sexual “misconduct” (to couch it ever-so-gently) accusations, by multiple women, against Gaiman. 

I mean, dude’s not exactly a popular old boy right now. Maybe he never will be again. His agents, publishers W.W. Norton say they won’t work with him again. Anansi Boys publisher Dark Horse Comics have dropped him. The UK stage production of Coraline has been canceled, and Disney has put production of the movie of The Graveyard Book on hold. There’s not been a formal public boycott but I think his popularity, excepting his hardcore fanbase, is def fading. (puts in mind Trump’s dwindling cult)

I was never a big Gaiman fan – always seemed there was something missing. I felt I should be into his stuff – all the cool kids were and, from the book jacket copy it seemed like I would be. But…meh. Always, disappointingly meh. //shrugs//

The book Good Omens worked for me probably because it was a collaboration with Terry Pratchett. Terry Pratchett brought in humor and a more down to earth, don’t-take-yourself-so-damn-seriously tone.

Good Omens the teevee show – Gaiman served as showrunner (similar to being the conductor of an orchestra – showrunners have primary creative control). Pratchett’s sensibility was maintained though. I was wondering, now that the world knows what a depraved, mentally fucked, creepazoid dick he's alleged to be, would there actually be a third season.

Yes and no. 

Deadline reported that Amazon will end production of Good Omens with a 90-minute final episode to be produced this year, instead of a full third season. "Gaiman contributed to the writing of the series finale but will not be working on the production and his production company the Blank Corporation is no longer involved," Deadline said. (source) 

I absolutely loved the book and first two seasons of the teevee series. Even knowing that Gaiman had little to do with the last 90-minute episode, I felt conflicted in watching. I mean, the bastard’s still denying what all these many women claim. He’s making money off me viewing this episode. Still, I watched and felt, at the outset, a bit hypocritical. Okay, that feeling is lingering.

The show was completely brilliant though. Much more Pratchett than aren’t-I-deep-special-and-artsy Gaiman.

No spoilers from me! Okay, two very minor ones. God is a Black woman and the devil is an old, twisted white guy. That’s not actually a surprise though.

Another show we’ve been trying on – Bunheads. 

It's a fish-out-of-water story – a once-promising classically trained ballet type dancer becomes a Vegas showgirl. Gets tired of bright lights/cheesy life, marries an impossibly nice, rich guy who she barely knows. He conveniently dies in a car crash leaving her a huge property in rural California, complete with angry, mentally unstable mother-in-law who teaches at a home ballet school. Drama and shenanigans ensue.

It was created by Amy Sherman-Palladino – the same person who did The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel! How could we go wrong?

Well, lemme just tell you. First, Bunheads is built like a house with no interior structure – there’s no load-bearing skeleton holding the storyline up. Blanket forts and sandcastles have more structural integrity. The writers seem to get bored easily and *BAM* shift gears mid episode…repeatedly. Willy nilly, they add lap robe additions or afghans for the blanket fort’s new sunroom or whatev.

Also, we’re to somehow believe this 30+ year-old Vegas showgirl drops her entire life, drunkenly marries a near complete stranger, moves with him away from all her friends to a new state, all because of one bad audition for a more artistic/less showgirl-ish role?

As for the the mother-in-law – after watching Trump over the past 10 years, I think we’re all becoming adept at diagnosing a potential narcissist. Plus, I don’t need the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Illnesses (DSM) to figure this woman’s bipolar too.

Really, the writers could try building a coherent story instead of relying on gags and what ifs thrown out at desperate midnight WE’VE GOT A DEADLINE IN EIGHT HOURS brainstorming session.

No wonder the show only lasted one season.

Dogs with Guns

A dog “accidentally” shot a woman with a shotgun.

According to Scottsbluff police, the owner of the truck had pulled into the convenience store….The dog triggered a shotgun that had a live shell in the chamber, causing the firearm to discharge. (source)

The victim, a woman, was in a car stopped at a traffic light when the dog shot her. Her injuries were thought to be non-life-threatening. FYI, this is Nebraska – Scotts Bluff County is seriously Republican. They’re so right wing, they probably gave that dog a medal and extra treats for shooting a woman.

Here in the US, even our pets are gun happy loons. This is why we don't keep firearms in our house in Valhalla. Bast only knows what Cake, Skitter or Walter would do if their dinner was late.

Couple of black bears walked up to a Sparta, New Jersey home. One rang the doorbell with its nose. The news article does not mention whether these bears were Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, door-to-door solar salesmen, greasy GOP canvassers or ICE goons hunting for prey.

New Jersey Fish and Wildlife said black bear sightings have been reported in all of the state's 21 counties. Residents are urged to prevent encounters with the animals by securing food, trash and any odors that might entice them. (source) 

The bears eventually left, without the door being answered. Possibly these were just nice, neighborly bears who were looking to make new friends and maybe borrow a cup a honey? 

Just FYI, black bears are generally shy and avoid humans. I certainly would if I could. While they are capable of killing people (as, presumably, am I), the last time that happened in New Hampshire (just fer instance – they have a big-ass population), was back in 1784. That’s so long ago, by then Trump had only filed for bankruptcy once or twice.

A lone emu was found wandering along the road in Duson, Louisiana. What the fuck? Why was this poor emu out on its own? Emus are social beasties AND May is mating month. Love is in the air and shit.  Shouldn’t this bird be somewhere making the beast with two backs (or however they do it)? You know, making little baby emus?

By the by, these giant, flightless babes have an interesting repro/family practice.

For most birds, producing an egg is just the start of a female’s parental duties, which include tending to the eggs and, depending on species, possibly feeding and caring for the hatchlings. Not so for emus: Once the female lays the eggs, her responsibilities to the brood are complete—but a male emu’s work is just beginning.
   ~~~
Tending the nest is a huge investment for an emu dad. He rarely eats or drinks during this time, and can lose up to half his body weight, says Ryeland. (source) 

The expectant daddies incubate the eggs – an eight week period, turning them as much as 10 times a day. He survives on stored body fat and any morning dew he can reach from the nest. Talk about dedication! What’s mom doing? Some stay and defend the nest until the chicks start hatching but most head out to find a fresh mate and a new nest. They don’t waste the short mating season on just one dude.

Imagine how different the world would be if humans were like this.

On a slightly different note – have you heard about the Emu War of 1932? This was a short, unsuccessful military operation in Australia.

Three members of the Royal Australian Artillery were assigned to cull roughly 20,000 emus using machine guns, but both the weapons and tactics employed proved wholly unsuited for the task. The assignment was made in response to petitions from local farmers complaining of emus destroying their crops. After two months, fewer than 1,000 emus were reported killed. The failure was the subject of national and international ridicule. (source) 

The soldiers opened fire – the birds scattered. They were not the easy targets the army had taken them for.

It soon became clear that one emu in each group served as a lookout to warn the others, giving them time to escape. Meredith stated publicly that the emus could “face machine guns with the invulnerability of tanks.” Such statements made military action against the emus increasingly unpopular, with opponents arguing that such treatment of emus was inhumane. (source) 

The army was persistent but, ultimately, the emus won.

I’m pretty much always gonna be on the side of the beasties. Maybe not the ones in any of the Alien movies though. That sheep and the other creatures in Alien Earth make the xenomorph and face huggers seem positively quaint.