Strange Fruit

Black people do NOT hang themselves.

More to the point – Black people do not lynch themselves.

The cops would like us to believe differently. Of course. The authorities are ultra quick to dismiss these as suicides.

Look how many come up in a quick internet search. This is hardly comprehensive.

Tasia Fortune, 29-years-old – August 3, 2026, Jackson, Mississippi 
Jerard Jackson, 28-years-old – June 30, 2026, Rothbury, Michigan 
Justice Kai James 21-years-old – June 21, 2026 Albany, Georgia 
To’Nea Miller, 27-years-old – June 18, 2026, Miami, Florida  
Cedric Tahuye, 36-years-old – June 6, 2026, Harrisburg, North Carolina 
Juliana Nzita, 16-years-old – May, 8, 2026, Charlotte, North Carolina  
Kyle Bassinga, 21-years-old – February 18, 2026, Marietta, Georgia  
~~~
Earl D. Smith, 58-years-old  –  June 18, 2025, Albany, New York 
Trey Reed, 21-years-old – September 15, 2025, Cleveland, Mississippi 
Javion MaGee, 21-years-old – September 151, 2025, Vance County, North Carolina  
Torrance “Tory” Medley, 39-years-old – November 13, 2025, Brookfield, Wisconsin
~~~
Dennoriss Richardson, 39-years-old – September 28, 2024, Sheffield, Alabama 

Trevonte Jamal Shubert-Helton, 29-years-old – February 21, 2024, Hiawassee, Georgia
~~~
Yolna Lubrin, 31-years-old – September 28, 2023, Orlando, Florida
~~~
Omari Bryant, 18-years-old – December 5th, 2020, Homerville, Georgia 
Robert Fuller, 20-years-old – June 10, 2020, Palmdale, California 
Dominique Alexander, 27-years-old– June 9, 2020, NYC, New York
Malcolm Harsch, 38-years-old – May 30, 2020, Victorville, California
~~~
TeTe Gulley, 31-years-old – May, 2019, Portland, Oregon 

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
~ George Santayana

 I realize that the billionaire class needs to keep those of us in the lower echelons fighting amongst ourselves. If we're battling over the color of our neighbor's skin or their religion or who they like to knock boots with or what they have in their underdrawers, then we're too busy to see that these Richie Rich motherfuckers are robbing us blind.

Those mutant moolah maggots want to return the U.S. to a gilded age when slavery was legal, women were the property of their fathers or husbands, before Native Americans were considered U.S. citizens, and it was illegal for us all to vote. You know, back when rich white assholes owned the playing field and made all the rules.

They already have their damn mansions, yachts the size of aircraft carriers, golden monuments to themselves, hot and cold running servants, and blow up doll wives. They also need us dead? Who's gonna shake up their fresh Watenshi gin martinis? They might sprain an eyebrow if they try doing it on their own.

 Rather shortsighted of these twats wouldn't you say? 

Strange Fruit, Billie Holiday 

Darwin and Dunning-Kruger

Dan Piraro, in a post about, essentially, our dying  country (it’s monstrously banjaxed at the very least), mentions the Darwin Awards.

One famous recipient mailed a letter bomb with insufficient postage. When it was returned to his address, he opened it and blew himself up. This seems the perfect metaphor for those who voted for the United States’ 45th and 47th president, the Naranja Narcissist.

Thanks to decades of flag-wrapped propaganda disguised as news, a (barely large enough) minority of US citizens fell in love with a spoiled-rich-kid-turned-failed businessman-turned-reality-show-phony who claimed to hate all the same people they did, and used him to mail a letter bomb to the rest of us. Now, his inability to do anything other than talk like a schoolyard bully while stealing people’s lunch money has caused their democracy to blow up in their faces. (source) 

My only quibble with Piraro’s assessment of who should be awarded the Darwin is that Prez Pedo's flag waving, addlepated, white trash cult must share the win with the wealthy (yeah, I’m looking at you MusKKK, Bozos, Zuck, Thiel, Adelson, the Uihleins, the Winklevoss Twins, etc.) who were well aware of Trump’s utter incompetence as well as his brain’s batshit totality. They backed him anyway, contributing millions to push the election in his favor. They thought he was controllable, that he was their tool. They were complete fools and we’re the ones paying the price, not them.

If we the people/the government held the Confederacy accountable for treason; if Ford hadn’t pardoned Nixon; if Reagan hadn’t rigged the Iran hostage crisis in order to win the presidency; if Oliver North and John Poindexter had not been pardoned for their Iran Contra crimes; had George W. Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld paid the price for the crimes committed at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay would this nation be in the vile, fractious, sick and most likely terminal condition that we are today? 

Gore Vidal famously said, “We are the United States of Amnesia, we learn nothing because we remember nothing.”

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
~ George Santayana

Bizarro, Dan Piraro

I mean, HOW is it even possible for a person who has been convicted of 34 felonies to be elected to the highest office of the land?!!!! Without laws on the books prohibiting convicted criminals, all it took was basic Republican chicanery, skulduggery, and gaslighting. Add in the apathy and complacency of the masses. Shake on a dose of naïveté and idiocy – “that can’t possibly happen here!” “I just don’t like her laugh” and “burn it all down!” et voila, we have a dead country.

A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims… but accomplice.
~ author unknown. Possibly Rudyard Kipling. Often misattributed to Orwell. 

Piraro asks, “Can an entire species be a victim of the Dunning-Kruger Effect?”

 The Dunning-Kruger Effect is when someone overestimates their knowledge and abilities because they’re lacking self-awareness – they can’t see their own lack of knowledge and ability. Essentially, it’s when you’re too stupid to know how stupid you are. 

e.g. Trump is a Dunning-Kruger President. He has a Dunning-Kruger administration. His children are Dunning-Kruger. He has a Dunning-Kruger wife and a Dunning-Kruger MAGA cult.

Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge.
~ Darwin

Pearls Before Swine, Stephan Pastis

Manners

There are a ton of very good guidelines for living in a civilized society – most of which Pedo’s Republican Party defy daily but we won’t delve into that today. I want to bring up a few basic ones.

😺  Saying please, thank you, and excuse me never goes out of style. Holding the door for the person behind you is nice, especially if they're older or using some sort of mobility device.

🤧  Covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze is more than good manners. In this age of RFK jr. authored healthcare devastation, it may well save someone’s life. 

🖐🏽  If you’re in a group with strangers, go on and introduce yourself to the people you don’t know. 

👩🏽‍⚕️  Address people by their name or title. I call my myriad docs by their title and last name – Dr. Plotkin, Dr. Miller, Dr. Jacobs, etc. etc. ad infinitum. If they say “oh, you can call me Scott/Dallas/Deb” I will but otherwise, no.

👂🏽  Listen to others without interrupting. When there’s a break in their talking, ask open-ended questions. Engage in active listening. 

🗣️  On having a conversation? DON’T monologue! Engage in active listening!

🍽️  You’ve been invited to a dinner party? Bring a bottle of wine or flowers or both. Frankly, cannolis are always welcome and appropriate. Also, it’s better to arrive 10 minutes late to a dinner party than half an hour early. If you’re early to a dinner party, you’re bound to catch your hosts still prepping or dressing after putting the finishing touches on the meal they’re about to serve. Awkward. Also, do NOT be more than 10 or 15 minutes late unless it can’t possibly be helped (10 car pile-up on 93N, babysitter canceled last minute and you're calling for a replacement, dog threw up on the Bokhara and I must clean it up NOW). In that case call the host, make your apologies, give an estimate as to how late you might be and ask if you should still show. Maybe you could still make it for dessert and coffee?

 🍽️   Dining: Wait for the everyone to be served and the host to sit down before digging in. 


📞  Phone: Do NOT check your phone while you’re having conversations. If you’re having dinner, coffee, drinks, whatever, with a friend, TURN OFF YOUR DAMN PHONE! Now, I understand there are exceptions. You may be expecting an important, can’t-miss-this call. Let your friend know that you MIGHT need to interrupt your time with them to take that specific call. Do NOT engage in other random texts or calls. For fucks sake, focus on who you’re with!


👥  Don’t Stand So Close To Me: The good thing about COVID times was the six-foot distancing standard. I really liked not having strangers breathing down my neck in grocery store lines. While six feet is a bit much now, we can still maintain an extended arms length (coupla feet) when standing in queues … can’t we? 


😳  Handling Embarrassment: Be gracious and smooth when you or someone else makes a mistake. Don’t light someone else’s *oopsie* up in neon lights. Be a mensch. Sure, you can highlight your own *oopsie* for laughs if you want but never do this to someone else.


👥👥  Sidewalks: Walking with a group of people? Do NOT take up the whole sidewalk. Walk in twos. You don’t own the damn sidewalk!

👥  Escalators: Single file! Also, right side is for standing, left side is for passing/climbing. Remember this!


🚂  Elevators, Train and Bus Doors: Let people fucking exit before you try to get on, for for god’s sake!


📫  RSVPs: Be quick to respond to invitations, even if you’re saying you won’t be going. 


🌝  Social Media: Don’t air out your private, sensitive shit on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or whatever social media site you use. Especially avoid doing this with people you work with. I mean, you can do this but brace yourself for fireworks and consequences (which may include lost employment, friendships ended, no contact relatives, etc. Go ahead, ask me how I know!).

🐛  Manspread at your peril! When you manspread you’re advertising to the world that you’re an incredibly insecure jerk with a schwanz that’d make a roundworm look tall and thick. Put your legs together you soft sackless radish!

💦  Wash your hands after using the can! What – you’re trying to be RFK jr? Are you gonna start snorting coke off the toilet seat next?

And use a damn coaster! Never put your beverage down on a wooden table unless there’s a coaster underneath it. Coasters are our friends.

Goddamnit.


Overwhelmday

You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf. 
~ Jon Kabat-Zinn

Life is not, in fact, just one damn thing after another. Those damn things have a nasty tendency to either happen all at the same time or annoyingly overlap each other.

Take this week:

• I had my foot procedure Tuesday. This, after a month and a half of battling a persistent infected ingrown toenail. I couldn’t exercise, (my mood stabilizer). Walking was difficult and wearing shoes was impossible. My mood and morale going into the doc’s office was already basement level with a sewer view. For what it’s worth, the procedure was painless and seemed to go well. I’m in recovery and wait and see mode now. Hopefully I’ll be able to start ellipticaling again soon. 

• Related, we have a chair lift. It was installed after the surgery when I lost the use of my left leg. Since getting my leg back, I haven’t needed to use it UNTIL this big toe trauma. Motherfucker worked a few times and then crapped the fuck out. Luckily, Ten was able to get a mechanic to come out. Parts must be ordered though. This isn’t a quick OR cheap fix. Good thing I can now mostly manage the stairs, with assistance. 

• Cake has been not-on-purpose urinating EVERYWHERE. This includes the bed. When he’s sad, scared, insecure, feeling sick, or just out of sorts, he comes to bed. 

Ten and Jen took him to the vet last week. He was diagnosed with a UTI, given a shot, and seemed to be all better. Over the last few days, the infection has returned and Valhalla is once again Cat Pee World. I DO feel deep empathy for my sweet boy but, goddamn, I’m tired of waking up in damp spots and I know Ten’s tired of changing and washing the bedding twice a day. Cake has another vet appointment this afternoon. Hopefully this can be resolved.

• As I mentioned yesterday, another NF2 fighter has died WAY too young. 

• The news.

ICE is planning to spend between $10m and $20m on gloves capable of delivering electric shocks.  Holy Electrocutioner, Batman!

Demonstrations of the gloves in use appear to show it inflicting pain. The Instagram page for Compliant Technologies is filled with videos of police officers being subjected to the glove in demonstrations. Many of them grimace or yell, and almost all of them fall to the ground. The Associated Press first reported on ICE's plans to equip its officers with the technology. 

In one video, the founder of the company, Jeff Niklaus, introduced a demonstration on an officer with the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Department. After being shocked with the glove, the officer screamed and dropped to the ground, briefly debilitated for the moment the glove made contact with his skin. (source) 

Arming those drooling sadists with shock gloves, on top of all the weaponry and freedom to abuse that they already have, is just an astounding leap in barbarism. I’m betting Miller came up with this idea with MusKKK after a long night of Heil Hitlering, snarfing Cheetos, and reading comic books.

“That's your solution? Have a cookie?' Astrid asked. 'No, my solution is to run down to the beach and hide out until this is all over,' Sam said. 'But a cookie never hurts.” 
~ Michael Grant, Gone

Doctor Nissa Marie Novas

WAY back in late February of 2022 Michie O’Day shared that her dear friend and our fellow NF2 warrior, Nissa Marie Novas’ battle was winding down. As it turns out, she had four and a half more years in her. Nissa took the last train to the coast this month — she was 51. 

Every NF2 (neurofibromatosis type2) case is different. The variations and severity of NF2’s symptoms seem endless (to me anyway). On reading a brief interview with Nissa at the Children’s Tumor Foundation, it seems like she got ALL of this damned disease’s manifestations. Here are a few:

• Vocal cord paralysis (causes swallowing issues, choking or coughing occurs when eating or drinking, and just generally creates difficulty with speaking or breathing properly) Over this past year I’ve started showing signs of this. *BIG FUN!*
• Vision problems (cataracts, severely dry eyes, retinal detachment)
• Facial nerve paralysis
• Muscle weakness
• Vertigo
• Tinnitus
• Severe headaches
• Loss of balance
• And, of course, deafness

Oh, we’re also at risk of developing of kidney or renal failure from all the meds versus NF2 itself. Funny that, eh?

Ya know, just when I was all set to throw a big pity party for myself and shit, I see what other people have to deal with. I’m just never gonna get to be a princess, now, am I … hmmmph.

Part of Nissa’s answer to the question What’s it like for you that people can see your tumors and the impact it has had on your life:

“The truth is all forms of NF are ongoing, progressive, constantly changing, and without a cure. People associate NF tumors and their treatments with cancer, while there are certain NF tumors that can become malignant or cancerous, for the most part, NF tumors are very different. While chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation are all used as treatments, they are never curative and there is no remission. At best, treatments slow progression of symptoms, but it’s never over. It never ends.

It’s constantly destroying your life and you’re constantly trying to rebuild it. Everything is hard every day. And it gets harder. The losses and grief are continual. You are constantly hurting, struggling, questioning your self worth, adapting, fighting to survive. NF is not just a tumor disorder. It’s also a communication disorder. It’s a mobility disorder. It’s an emotional and psychological disorder. It’s a life disorder. Yet, somehow, we go on. We overcome against all odds. We are born warriors/fighters.” (source) 

Nissa was diagnosed sometime around 1993 – 12 years after my diagnosis – and remarked “No one knew much about it or seemed to be actively learning about it. My doctors handed me the diagnosis and gave me a good luck pat on the back and sent me on my way.” 

This reminds me of how abso-fucking lucky I was to have:
A) moved to Boston post-carnival life
B) been hysterically, theatrically nagged into getting diagnosed early (I was 23) by my cousin Carmel

Boston – Mass General Hospital – was, and still is, where the big research was done on NF2. I was – this doesn’t happen often – in the right place at the right time AND had an in to the best neurologists and surgeons.

Us NF2ers are like Sisyphus. We are forever rolling the boulder of surgery, recovery, meds, radiation, recovery, physical therapy, more fucking surgery, more physical therapy, ad infinitum, uphill only to find — oh, lookie there! Hello new fat, menacing tumor/complication/symptom! Welcome to the party.

Then there’s the fun symptom guessing games that, sometimes, even the best doctors in the world can’t answer — is this numbness/weakness/pain in my foot, throat, neck, back due to nerve damage? A new tumor? An infection of some sort? A vascular issue? Or am I old and just slept on it funny?

Every time a fellow NF2er bites the dust my morale takes a hit. Each death rings a bell and it takes a little longer for me to start Tubthumping again.

I get knocked down
But I get up again
You're never gonna keep me down 

Doctor Nissa Marie Novas was an Emergency Medicine Physician practicing in Prince Frederick, Maryland until NF2 robbed her body of its abilities to do the job. 

Clown's Spawn

Brainless Boebert’s idiot spawn’s at it again.

Her eldest moron, Tyler — you remember him, right? He’s the one who, at 17, knocked up his, supposedly, 15-year-old girlfriend. It seems he was either too stupid to understand the importance of condoms OR his radish brained, comically inept parents *oopsie* never gave him a heads up. Oh wait, probably both. 

Loser Lauren and her ex have the parenting skills and basic intelligence level of Homer Simpson. None of their kids stand a chance. They've been saddled with a genetic predisposition for complete clownfuck imbecility as well as their parent's infamous and firmly established white trash reputation. 

Ya know, I take it back — comparing Lauren Boebert to Homer Simpson is an insult to boneheaded, two dimensional cartoon simpletons everywhere. So unfair of me

Shit, Lauren and what’s his name make Homer look like look like a cross between Donna Reed, Atticus Finch, and Marie Curie. Maybe throw in El-Sayed as long as we’re at it.

Lauren’s oldest error, now 21, has just been busted AGAIN on multiple felony charges. What might those be? Glad you asked! Like all faithful Republicans he’s allegedly sexually exploited a child.

According to Colorado court records reviewed by American Muckrakers, case 2026CR234 was filed in Garfield County District Court on August 6, 2026. The People of the State of Colorado v. Boebert, Tyler J lists five counts:

1. Sexual exploitation of a child, induce/entice (C.R.S. 18-6-403(3)(a)), a Class 3 felony
2. Sexual exploitation of a child, possession with intent (C.R.S. 18-6-403(3)(c)), a Class 3 felony
3. Sexual exploitation of a child, video (C.R.S. 18-6-403(3)(b.5), (5)(b)(II)), a Class 4 felony
4. Contributing to the delinquency of a minor (C.R.S. 18-6-701(1)(a)), a Class 4 felony
5. Contributing to the delinquency of a minor (C.R.S. 18-6-701(1)(a)), a Class 4 felony (source) 

What’s that mean? It sounds an awful lot like this 21-year-old man, with a really bad porn ‘stache, was, at least, hitting on a school girl, trying to get her drunk, with plans to film himself (and maybe his friends) raping her.

Mind you, this latest obscenity of Toilet Head Tyler's, is on top of his 2024 arrest for “four felony counts of Criminal Possession ID Documents - Multiple Victims, one felony count of Conspiracy to Commit a Felony, and over 15 additional misdemeanor and petty offenses.” Him and his criming chums broke into cars, stole shit, including credit cards, and then used those cards at local McDonald’s (of all places!) and gas stations. He and his band of idiots were caught on camera and easily identified in part because Tyler was wearing a hoodie from his parent’s bar, Shooter’s Grill. WHAT a celery brained spoon! He’s a real chip off the old subpar Boebert block, isn’t he?

Colorado’s Republican Congresswoman Boebert spawned a repeat offending criminal and child sex abuser. How very Republican of her. I’m sure her Lord Trump will be ever so pleased … if he remembers who she is.

Stuff

Today’s a good day for flowers, random art, and memes wouldn’t ya say? I mean, it’s Monday. We’re in the middle of a fucking heatwave, our government has been overrun by astoundingly dimwitted, authoritarian, plutocrats (all of whom have the looks and charms of a greased up rabid weasel crossed with a moldy potato), and it’s August. There’s no damn holiday to look forward to this month. Yeah … okay, there’s my birthday but after the first hundred or so the thrill is gone. Ya know?

I need motivation to get up and get going today. I’m in less pain but still, essentially, in a holding pattern. Tomorrow is the dreaded foot procedure which will HOPEFULLY put an end to this months long absurd bullshit that keeps fucking with strength and balance building exercising. I know it’ll be painful. Today I have to pull up all my Zen mindfulness shit. You know, focus on the pain, embrace it, breathe into it. What shape is it? Is it hot or cold? If it was a color, what would it be? All that groovy Alan Watts shit.

Without further ado and shit here’s a street art capture I found yesterday. I don’t know where it lives, where this was taken but the text is Italian.

What’s it say?

L'uomo non ha soldi per fornire di acqua zona aride del pianeta

Man lacks the money to supply water to the planet's arid regions.

Pero ha soldi per cercare acqua xu altri piametri

But he has the money to look for water on other planets.

La domanda e ci sono forme di vita intelligente sulla terra?

The question is: are there forms of intelligent life on Earth?

The answer? There are but they’re not the ones who hold the power.

I need an emotional support dragon!

San Francisco's Mission District

Pearls Before Swine, Stephan Pastis

Reykjavik

Somewhere in Thailand

To Sloth Or Not To Sloth

It’s Sunday and I’m once again overwhelmed by stupid ass health bullshit and the goddamned news. Must be another day ending in "y" huh?

The good news is that, since I halted my efforts to resume my meager workout routine, my foot and ankle don’t feel SO cataclysmically wretched this morning. This is also the not great news as I NEED to exercise for both my stupid mental and physical health. While I am the Serena Williams of sloth – being inert is my natural state – I know that I must move, move, move my bod.

Vanessa Stockard

At least I’m not having this particular debate with myself this morning :

To head into the ER or not to head into the ER, that is the question. 
Whether to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous wait times (and overwhelmed medics who aren’t familiar with my extensive medical history)
Or to sit tight, take Tylenol, Ibuprofen, and wait until Tuesday’s scheduled appointment

Yeah ... whatevs Will. I’ll try hobbling around the house later but NO elliptical and see how things go. //sigh//

Meanwhile, here in the Evil Empire formerly known as the United States, Prez Stinky’s personal shyster’s been appointed attorney general. No surprise there. The only no votes from the on-the-take, pedo promoting Republicans were Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. Collins is up for reelection this year and is behind in the polls so had no choice but to do the sane thing. No clue what Murkowski’s motivation was.

Construction on Pedo’s big, gaudy-as-an-Elizabethan-era-drag-queen, already-in-progress Epstein Ballroom has supposedly been stopped by a federal appeals court. Sure. As if the courts have ever prevented the Tantrum Toddler from barreling through and doing whatever the fuck he wants anyway. See Venezuela and Iran for reference, bitte sehr.

AND wildfires are everywhere.

Top 10 in the US (per Live Wildfire Map):

1. Big Grass Fire (Malheur County, OR) ~ 504,385 acre burned (39% contained)
2. 0445 Crosswhite Fire (Wheeler County, OR) ~337,749 acres burned (75% contained)
3. Coleman Creek Fire (Harney County, OR) ~308,721 acres burned (89% contained)
4. Tartar Fire (Washington County, ID) ~158,027 acres burned (87% contained)
5. Kaiser Canyon Fire (Okanogan County, WA) ~138,268 acres burned (62% contained)
6. Sinlahekin Fire (Okanogan County, WA) ~137,611 acres burned (34% contained)
7. Widemouth 2 Fire (Millard County, UT) ~114,957 acres burned (27% contained)
8. Babylon Fire (San Juan County, UT) ~107,189 acres burned (97% contained)
9. Second Flat Fire (Harney County, OR) ~105,501 acres burned (86% contained)
10. Aspen Acres Fire (Custer County, CO) ~101,965 acres burned (72% contained)

Dave Whamond

In Canada there’s the Bald Range Fire in British Columbia. The entire province is under a state of emergency. Tens of thousands of people have had to evacuate. Currently there are 105 wildfires burning in British Columbia. 

In Greece ~111,198 acres of land burned across Greece’s Attica region from July 31 to August fourth. 

Indonesia has closed all access to Mount Bromo national park in East Java as a wildfire expands. Since it began on Monday, it’s consumed 435 acres. Indonesia is having an unusually intense dry season this year, in part due to the El Nino weather pattern.  

And we nasty humans keep building data centers which consume up to 5 million gallons of water daily. We’re destroying the only planet we know we can live on – the only planet we have access to. 

Humans – we’re none too bright.