Bad News Good News

There was another school shooting here in the land of the armed, the home of the PTSD. Of course there was. There’s too many guns in this damn county and any yahoo can pick one up for a song and a bag of doughnuts. You’re underage? No worries! Your parents probably left their loaded pump-action shotgun sitting out on the dining room table last night.

A 16-year-old shooter opened fire at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, killing three children and a teacher before he was shot dead by a community member, authorities said at an evening news conference. (source) 

The children were 5, 8, and 11 years old. Nothing in the news yet about the teacher. Additionally, a 7-year-old and 54-year-old were hospitalized.

I only mention it but one of Ten’s grandchildren goes to the Silver Rail elementary school. Yes, his grand is home and fine but Jesus fucking Christ Almighty! Three of his grandchild’s schoolmates didn’t go home last night. One, possibly, spent the night in hospital. Three sets of parents are devastated. WHY does this happen?!

Reports are that an unnamed armed bystander saw the shooter, followed him, took him out, and then vanished like the Lone Ranger into the mid-afternoon.

Wild West much? Rare case of a brave, good guy with a gun?

Meanwhile, here on the East Coast, I had a good if tiring day in Hospital Land yesterday. The tumors along my spine are stable — that is, there’s no growth worth mentioning. YIPPEE!!! As for my brain — there’s been a slight increase in size in one of my meningiomas but, at this point, it’s nothing to break out the scalpels or radiation beams over. More YIPPEE!!! Naturally, after few misdiagnoses* over my many years on this spinning planet, it takes me some time to cool down, trust, and get happy about the decree.

 * (The worst, most extreme misdiagnoses was the one that came close to leaving me a paraplegic )

AND in Podiatryville, the infection is now officially gone. About fucking time too. I am now in the healing stage and will hopefully be able to wear shoes again soon. That’d be awesome since winter’s coming AND Jen and I leave for our little Iceland vaca in a few weeks. YEA!

 'scuse me now, I gotta get cleaned up for a 10AM Zoom doc appointment. I LOVE appointments where I don't have to leave the house! 

MGH Day

I have a full day ahead of me at my home away from home — that’d be Mass General Hospital, of course. 

Nothing heavy, necessarily. I mean, first up is my thrice-yearly check-in with Doc Plotkin, my NF2 neurologist. This follows my October first MRI-athon. I don’t *think* I’m in for any big, awful news (a la YOU NEED MORE BRAIN SURGERY NOW, NOW, NOW!!!) but we’ll see what Mr. Wizard has to say. 

I checked my test results (posted on MGH’s Patient Gateway site) and the write up is, weirdly, much less detailed and less extensive than usual. What up with that? I know I’ve still got quite the active tumor farm goin’ on up top so … did the MD/tech writing the report just get overwhelmed by all the nasty lumps they had to describe? Maybe typing up my tumor report triggered carpal tunnel syndrome or gave them a bout of tendonitis?

Next up is a check in with one of my podiatrist about the big toe on my goddamn, fucking left foot which has been subject to stupid fucking infections, on and off, for the last year. I hope to Christ we’re nearing the end — that I’m finally healing properly. If so, I’ll undergo one last procedure at the beginning of December and THAT should end this horror show.

So, time for me to clean myself up and pack a bag for a day of sitting around in waiting rooms, hoping for good, or at least not bad, news.

I will try my best to stay away from the news. Gotta say though, it’s kind of fun to watch trillionaire Leon MusKKK throwing his former bestie, the billionaire Pedo Prez under the bus. 

Starshield, what Ukraine uses to fly its drones, is the Pentagon-funded version of MusKKK’s Starlink. Leon’s company SpaceX builds and operates Starshield but the systems are owned and ultimately controlled by the U.S. government. Kegseth and Pedo decide speed, usage, or operational restrictions. They're the ones who chose to throw a spanner into the works — to give Russian forces a larger advantage.

The old fuck’s doing everything he can to destroy our (former) allies and lose the midterms.

Nick Anderson

Walter Wants to Know What's Up

Walter has questions and concerns

I saw a snippet of the new press secretary’s first time on stage yesterday. Of course I couldn’t hear it (deaf here) and there was no closed captioning on the video. I was able to pick up an awful lot from her appearance and body language though. 

Before I share my brief thoughts on that, I gotta ask, did Katie Zacharia get the press secretary job because:

✅ She’s young appearing, thin, and has long, straight, bottle-blonde hair?
✅ She looks good on camera? (“good” as defined by ancient saggy billionaires who need industrial strength boner pills just to *think* about maybe getting a stiffy in the next day or two)
✅ There’s a slight resemblance to Ivanka?
✅ She totally looks like she’d be right at home with the Fox “news” couch crew?
❓❓❓ Is Pedo possibly bored with his current stalker/diaper nurse, Natalie Harp, and is casting around for a new sewage filled nappy changer? Question — will Nat go full Fatal Attraction on Prez Pedo? Are there boiled bunnies in his future? Ya know, "I'm not gonna be ignored, Don!" I could see it.

Katie’s supposedly got a law degree — she claims to have a JD from Pepperdine. Cool if true. She also says she passed the bar exam “when she moved to China,” but hasn’t or won’t name the state(s) where she took and passed said exam(s). Hmmmmm … seem fishy. I’m smelling cod just now with a hint of trout. You?

Just in case I was misreading her “when she moved to China” response — I considered that she was perhaps saying she took the exam in China so that she could practice law there. Foreigners can’t sit for the bar exam in China though. Also, foreign lawyers living in China can't interpret, advise on, or practice Chinese law. So … nope.

There is no record anywhere of her taking the bar here in the U.S., let alone passing it. So, Katie’s not a lawyer. Not even a parking lot one like the comically ornamental mouthpiece and Melania look alike, Alina Habba.

She’s just someone with a law degree … allegedly. 

Back to her performance. Remember, I just saw a tiny bit and it was without sound or context. What I came away with was that this was some impatient, privileged, prima donna, adolescent type who’s never been in a professional setting and has absolutely no idea how to behave or present herself in such an environment. 

• She didn’t hold her head relatively still as she spoke. Instead she seemed to twitch, tilt, swirl, and turn — she was in near constant motion. Almost like she was having some sort of seizure.
• Her hair (hair extensions) continually fell into her face which was exceptionally distracting. After a minute I just wanted to scream — GET YOUR HAIR OUT OF YOUR FACE, YOU’RE NOT AT A DISCO!!! 
• The facial expressions! Goodness, this chica clearly has ZERO emotional intelligence, professionalism, or the maturity you’d expect from a high school graduate. I felt as though I was watching a 12-year-old having a tantrum with their mother. 

WHY can’t I go to the mall?! Sheila’s mom is letting her go! EVERYONE else’s mother lets them go! You’re SO UNFAIR!

Online commenters have said she was comically bad. That she could barely read the script she’d been given. More than a few remarked that they’re hoping she lasts because she’s just SO laughably, screamingly bad.

Malcolm Ferguson at The New Republic wrote:

Her cadence was clunky, closer to that of a fourth grader reading school announcements over an intercom than a polished political communications professional. It’s clear she was never meant to be more than another blonde conservative placeholder on Fox News. The SNL spoof feels imminent.

This woman is actually 42 and the mother of FOUR children. I can only hope the spawn are being raised by intelligent, subversive nannies.

And then there was her bizarre presumptive announcement that “We have asked the ambassador (of Greece) to resign.” Very interesting that the spokesperson who just got there feels so comfortable using a personal pronoun about an executive office decision.

Also too, normally some admin type would put out a statement saying the Ambassador will be making a statement soon. Gargoyle would have been allowed to announce her resignation. Saying she has been asked to resign is *cough* unusual.

I hope she has at least another time or two at the podium before showtime Saturday. Ya know, to give the SNL cast a little more material. From her first brief performance, it looks like she could easily become a regular feature, like Weekend Update.

Mostly Words

What is the evil eye?

A glance believed to have the ability to cause injury or death to those on whom it falls; pregnant women, children, and animals are thought to be particularly susceptible. (source) 

But not men? Eh, on further scrolling around the interwebz it seems that, depending on the culture, the evil eye doesn’t discriminate. Men are not spared its consequences in, for example, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and South Asia. Good to know … I guess.

It’s a wicked shame that we can’t just evil eye the current heinously vile, greedheaded, malevolent, and catastrophic regime out of existence.
~~~
Word for the day:

Ultracrepidarian — (ul-truh-krep-i-DAIR-ee-un)
     noun
:  someone who offers opinions on matters beyond their knowledge.

That pompous ultracrepidarian talked about physics as if he were Stephen Hawking himself. Everything he knows comes from a couple of YouTube videos though.

Shut the fuck up! Don’t be that person … an ultracrepidarian.

They Can Talk

An ultracrepidarian will trip on their own lack of knowledge, so it's not worth arguing with them.

Etymology:

It comes from the Latin phrase ne sutor ultra crepidam, which literally means "let the cobbler not go beyond the sandal." Ultra = beyond, crepidam = sandal/sole, -arian = English suffix denoting a person characterized by something

The term derives from a famous story about the ancient Greek painter Apelles (4th century BCE), as recounted by the Roman writer Pliny the Elder in his Natural History:

Apelles had a habit of displaying his paintings publicly and hiding nearby to hear critiques. One day, a cobbler (Latin: sutor) criticized the way Apelles had painted a sandal in one of his works. Apelles acknowledged the valid criticism and corrected it.

Emboldened by this success, the cobbler then began to criticize other aspects of the painting—elements beyond his expertise. Apelles responded with the rebuke: Ne sutor ultra crepidam (Cobbler, not beyond the sandal!). (source) 

Related — mansplaining

Another fine word:

Habibi — this is an Arabic word that translates literally as "my love" or "my beloved.”

When used for a parent to a child, the word could be translated as sweetie or honey. In a more romantic context, beloved or my love might be more accurate. When used between friends or strangers, it can be represented as “my brother,” or “my friend” or even “bro” or “dude.” (source) 

I just love that Dr. El-Sayed (hopefully soon Senator El-Sayed!) used it when tossing off a comment to Mike Rogers, his opponent in the Michigan senate race. “Good luck out there, habib.”

You know Mike Rogers, right? He’s the multimillionaire right-winger who lives in Florida NOT Michigan.

This is the very same conservative ultra evangelical “Christian” who ‘s suspiciously reluctant to address concerns about people he’s chosen to have as part of his political team.

The former FBI agent dodged one such question while collecting a local endorsement in Saginaw on Wednesday, where a reporter asked why two pastors from the Living Word Church were on Rogers’s Faith Leadership Coalition, months after three elders at the church’s Midland chapter were sent to prison for sexually abusing children.

The dubious personnel inclusions involved Brian Ford of Living Word Church in Ludington as well as Tim Cross, the founding pastor of Living Word Church in Muskegon. Ford defended former pastor James Randolph at trial, before he was sentenced to at least 25 years for first degree criminal sexual conduct. (source) 

Even more on the story here. 

So then, Rogers is ex-FBI and their director, Krazy Eyes Kash, is very forgiving of sheep/man or goat/man or maybe even alligator/man love affairs. The FBI doesn’t judge when it comes to bestiality. AND Rogers is involved with and has hired convicted pedophiles, ya know, as Republicans are wont to do. Kind of makes Mikey look pretty damn dodgy, slimy, and icky, eh? 

Maybe that’s just me though?

Operation Quiet Piggy

Someone on Threads called the Ukrainian bombing of the Russian bot farms “Operation Quiet Piggy” and I’m just dying here! THIS is why Pedo is screeching about wanting Zelenskyy ousted as President of Ukraine. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with the strikes on Russian oil refineries.

This is ALL about Zelenskyy derailing Pedo and MusKKK’s bought and paid for Russian bot disinformation ratfuckers right before the midterm elections.  HA HA!
~~~
Absquatulate
      ab-SKWOCH-uh-layt
According to Merriam-Webster absquatulate is an intransitive slang verb meaning to leave quickly, flee, or abscond — often to escape trouble, an awkward situation, or an obligation.

Etymology?

The word absquatulate came out of an odd fad in America in the 1830s for making playful words that sounded vaguely Latin. Bloviate ("speak pompously") and discombobulate ("make confused") are two other pseudo-Latin coinages from that era. (source) 

Related — the Irish Goodbye.

Not knowing that doing this was something of a tradition or, at least, a common occurrence, so much so that there’s a name for it, I used to pull this social faux pax quite a bit in my 20s and 30s. Why? I believe we’ve established that I’ve a long history of misanthropic behavior and general social awkwardness, yes? Frankly, I never thought anyone would notice my abrupt absences at social gatherings. I also sincerely hoped any interpersonal blunder or crime I’d committed, real or imagined, would be forgotten the minute I vanished. Delulu? Who ... me?

In any case, a dear friend informed me that the Irish Goodbye is in fact quite rude. He was offended by my disappearing acts. I had no idea.

Light dawns over Marblehead and all that.

FYI, in France the Irish Goodbye is known as filer à l'anglaise (leaving in the English style). In England and North America it’s often referred to as a French exit. In Germany it’s a Polnischer Abgang (Polish departure or Polish exit). Brazil? Sair à francesa (leaving French-style).
~~~
Have you heard the latest about Pedo Junior’s ex, Kim Gargoyle? Ya know, she’s the ridiculously unqualified Ambassador to Greece (if Trump could have discreetly made her the Ambassador to Forest Lawn he would have). Her flamboyant criming days didn’t end just because Pedo Jr. dumped her heavily made up, botoxed face. Nope. She’s been busy aggressively promoting a Greek construction/energy firm, bragging about her luxury trips paid for by businessmen, and “asking” a Trump donor to pay a $100,000 credit card bill for her in exchange for access to Trump henchmen with sway. (I guess he was pissed that he wasn't getting a freebie and ratted her out for the ask.)

According to people who heard the conversation and an audio recording reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Guilfoyle was flexing her connections to wealthy Greek businessmen in January as she made an urgent request. She was being blocked from attending an upcoming dinner being held for Eric Trump, and she wanted to enlist an American businessman who was on the guest list to get her in the door. (source) 

Pedro X. Molina

She’s something unforgivable in this world — the tight-assed world of the rich, mysogynistic, pedophile patriarchs anyway. She’s no longer young, dewy, and nubile. Kim isn’t quiet and demure AND she’s not blonde. So, Pedo and his little attack dog Rubio are thinking of sending La Gargoyle to a farm upstate. What a transparent clown act. Those two should think carefully here (dunno if they're capable of that though).

While Kimmy certainly has absolutely no business being an Ambassador (or anything else not requiring an orange jumpsuit and prison issue sneakers) she’s not the worst of Trump’s appointees. That honor goes to Charles Kushner, the Ambassador to France and Monaco. Kushner, in 2004, pleaded guilty to 18 counts of tax evasion, illegal campaign contributions, and witness tampering here in the U.S. Pedo pardoned him and appointed him Ambassador. Since assuming the role, the felon (Charles) has failed in his duties multiple times He’s been a solid embarrassment.  But sure, fire the broad first. 

Here’s the thing, I betcha Kim has a whole lotta dirt that she could share with the incoming administration. Cutting her loose might not be the smartest move. Of course, no one has ever, EVER, not even vaguely, implied that Pedo and his band of imbeciles have the brain cells to do more than get themselves into deep trouble. 

Ms. Gargoyle should avoid walking near second floor (or higher) windows and tall staircases for the foreseeable future.

The Fall

How’m I doin’?

Good fuckin’ question.

I fell out of bed this morning at 4 AM. HOW in the little baby Bast’s name did that happen?! Beats the ever lovin' chocolate dipped cannolis outta me. 

Possibly:

My shuttlecraft hit an asteroid and I tipped out? NB: asteroid’s are not soft. Landing on them is significantly less than cushy.

I was running down the steps of my cousin Della’s Berlin apartment and tripped? Unfortunately, I also ran out of the building right after my shower — my hair was still wet and I’d forgotten to put a shirt on. MONDO embarrassment. Ich könnte im Boden versinken!!!

Beset by clouds of winged monkeys, who were distraught over Margaret Hamilton’s death, I was knocked off course as I tried to roll over in my sleep. Naturally, I fell to the ground.

I was sliding down the side of a mountain and woke up on the floor by my bed?

Have I mentioned that I dream rather vividly? It's true.

Luckily my quilt was wrapped around me and my fall was cushioned. Also, Ten happened to to be awake. He helped me struggle to my feet and got back into the crib. 

Christ almighty, this getting old and infirm business is just one bit of decrepitude and degradation after another. I wonder when I’ll get used to this constant loss of dignity.

While I’m here trying to adjust and rebuild my go-get-em, rise-and-shine, Tubthumping attitude, here, have some lovely pics, memes, comix, and randomness.

Yur welcome.

Gemma Correll

Mike Luckovich

They Can Talk

Paul Duginski

Dave Granlund

LEGO Set I Need, Barbarians, Ivy Fail, etc.

Margaret Hamilton has died. 

No, no, NOT our beloved Wicked Witch. She moved on to Oz absolute eons ago — in 1985 at the age of 82.

I’m talking about Margaret Hamilton, the amazing computing pioneer who led software development for the Apollo program. She’s now gone at 90-years-old.

You’ve just gotta read this tribute to her at MIT News (not paywalled). It’s simply fascinating. If nothing else, you’ve just GOT to read the story about the “the Lauren error” on the Apollo 8 mission which led to “defensive” programming, the practice of building software that could anticipate or fix errors on its own. 

Over two decades at MIT, Hamilton forged new paths in computer science and engineering. Her groundbreaking work included leading the team that programmed the first computers that took humans to the moon. (source) 

In 2016 President Obama awarded her the Medal of Freedom saying, in part:

“Her software architecture led to giant leaps for humankind, writing the code that helped America set foot on the moon.”

Remember when that award meant something and went to people who totally deserved it? You know, pre-Pedo.

Hamilton has her own official LEGO figure in the Women of NASA LEGO set. I WANT this set!
~~~
How to pronounce of Hurricane Isaias: 
 ee-sah-EE-ahs (or ees-ah-EE-ahs), with the main stress on the third syllable (ee-sah-EE-ahs).

Apparently Governor Ron DeSantis is very proud of his unwillingness to learn to pronounce the hurricane’s name. Okay buddy, sure. I didn’t go to Yale and Harvard like young Ronnie and I don’t have hearing like him either (which would make knowing how to pronounce unfamiliar words MUCH easier... ya know?) BUT I was able to do a quick search on my whizbang computer machine and found a phonetic transcription. 

You’d *think* with his big important Ivy League degrees he’d know how to do that too. I guess Ronzo is trying to play the down home, folksie, racist, guy-you’d-have-beer-with card like his fellow Deep South politico, Senator Foghorn Leghorn of Louisiana (magna cum  laude from Vanderbilt, JD from the University of Virginia, and a Bachelor of Civil Law with first-class honors from the University of Oxford). That schtick must really work on the rubes in Florida and Louisiana. How embarrassing for them. DeSantis isn’t even good at it. He and VP JDouche obvs went to the same strip mall Dale Carnegie Training knockoff. JDouche clearly flunked out of the course.

~~~
Cassowary? How the fuck are they not classed as dinosaurs? I believe I met one or three of these when I was hanging at gay discos back in the '70s. They were FABULOUS!

Vampire squid — not a true squid, not an octopus. They’re the sole surviving member of the ancient order Vampyromorphida. Somehow related to squid and octopuses —cousins maybe? How about vampires though? Do vampire squid drink blood, turn into bats, have an aversion to sunlight? Nope. the name MAY be due to their appearance — their dark, reddish-black coloration and cloak-like webbing — very Dracula-ish.
~~~
Just in case you missed the memo — public executions aren’t punishments for crimes, they’re propaganda. They’re a warning. This could be you, if you fall out of line. 

Pat Bagley

The last public execution was the hanging of Rainey Bethea — a Black man convicted of raping a white woman — in 1936.

Roughly 20,000 people gathered in the western Kentucky city of Owensboro, where workers had built a gallows near the riverfront, according to NPR station WKMS. People celebrated with "necktie" parties the night before and sipped soft drinks at the scene in what attendees and historians describe as a festive atmosphere.

"They sold sandwiches and they sold Coca-Colas, and you'd have thought it was a big picnic or something," attendee Bill Shelton recalled in a 2013 oral history interview with the Daviess County Public Library. (source) 

Public executions are carnivals for twisted, racist savages, mutants, thugs, and smooth brained, failed wildebeest impersonators. 

They’re a way to rouse the basest, most primal instincts of the worst amongst us. The MAGAts will be thrilled to itty-bitty bits by this. When Nidal Hasan’s head and heart explode, millions of white men (and I use the term “men” loosely), who can’t remember the last time they could raise the flag without serious pharmaceutical support, will all simultaneously shoot fireworks of jizz across their bedroom/TV room ceilings. This includes the dickless wonder Secretary of War Crimes, who seems to always be trying to prove he’s a big, manly man and not a complete drunken, limp dicked failure.

Republicans — now bringing America live-streaming executions into our homes! This, don’t forget, is the party that proudly proclaims itself pro-life.

How soon will the GOP be broadcasting lynchings, witch burnings, child sacrifices?

The United States — we are nothing more than a completely barbaric hole of greed and depravity.

VOTE, goddammit, VOTE! 

Need Chocolate NOW

I’m tired of all this adult shit. If I have to be a grown up why the purple glitter soaked fuck doesn’t everyone else have to be one? Huh? Answer me that!

Yesterday I had to go into my bank to get  my new debit card. Why? Mine expired at the end of September. Doesn’t the bank normally mail those out a week or two before your card’s death date? Sure … usually … but the mail can’t exactly be trusted right now, can it? Trump and his renfieldian henchmen are fucking the postal system to Hell and back in advance of the midterms. Of course they are. Fucking Republicans can only win by cheating and lying their duplicitous, criming asses off.

Jen, who is my power of attorney, contacted the bank — even went in and talked to them. This was in mid September. She explained that my card had not yet arrived, that it would time out shortly, and I needed to pay bills using that card. Could they give her — again, she's my power of attorney — the card as it’s enormously difficult for me to come in to pick it up myself and the postal service doesn’t seem to be functioning. They said no — they could only hand the card to me but they would send it again “expedited.” 

Expedited
     adjective 
accelerated or sped up : promptly executed

I would have thought, when they used the word “expedited,” they were saying that the card would be sent Priority Mail® or Priority Mail Next Day®. Ya know, so I’d get the card next day or, at most, within two to three days. Nope. Eight days later I’d still not received the card AND I’d been dinged with late charges on two of my bills.

Yesterday, Ten put my wheelchair into Godzilla (our awesome eMINI) and hit the bank. Now, remember that I’m deaf. For communication, I’m using Ten’s phone which has the Live Transcibe app downloaded. I’m in a wheelchair because my stupid left foot’s still fucked up. We were directed to a woman at a desk. From a quick MAGAt-brained assessment I probably appear to be an easily managed, quickly dispatched nothing — a real pushover. 

In the past, I’ve always received excellent customer service at my credit union. Ultimately, that was the case yesterday as well BUT first:

• This woman told me I should continue to wait for my supposedly expedited card to arrive. Ah, NO. (Do I look like I was born yesterday?! No, I do not.). 

• As I was beginning to explain to her what I needed, she interrupted me. This is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. I strive to be clear, concise, and direct in my communication. I’m not throwing an excess of illustrations and clarifications into business interactions. If I could have bullet pointed the convo I would have. How did I I respond to her tragic  customer service fail? I went full metal school marm, sternly saying, “Do NOT interrupt me. I’m speaking.” She actually, seriously flinched and then got one of those “I’m trying to recover my superior position” side smiles on her face. You know, the one that says to the other mean girls “she’s crazy but I have to humor her because I'm on the clock.”

• When I told her I wanted her to print out a card for me (a service they offer and have done for me in the past at NO charge), as I’d no faith the second card they'd sent would arrive before I incurred even MORE late charges, she said they could BUT it would cost me that $10. WHAT? I stopped her right there and said “No, I don’t want to pay $10 for a card that should have arrived three weeks ago.” Possibly I said that I wouldn't be paying that tenner — I was pissed. She waived the fee.

The ordeal ended fine. There was no blood on the floor when Ten rolled me out. I just felt bad for having to get so stern and fierce with this person who, despite their age (mid 50s or thereabouts) and presumed experience, was absolutely clueless at problem solving on the simplest level. Truly logic impaired. Was she more of a twat because she saw me as an old deaf, disabled woman? Did she think I was someone who could be easily fluffed off? Or is she this half-assed with all her customers?

FYI, with age and disability, I’ve become, if anything, more formidable than I was in my feral 20s. Possibly I should not be let out of the house and allowed to talk to strangers any more.