Don’t be a D*ck

The actor Wil Wheaton has said that’s his personal motto and advice to anybody. It’s good advice. This story got me thinking about that advice…

Sarah McBride targeted in heated exchange about her gender in congressional hearing

Okay, there are a lot of different opinions about how transgender people should be treated and what guidelines should be established in society to account for them. I get that. But what Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe did, was just being a dick. Just a rude asshole.

Update: GOP lawmaker explains why he called trans Dem ‘Mr. McBride’: ‘I don’t have to participate in his fantasy’
Yep. He’s a dick

Y’know when I was teaching there was a guy who lived on the street next to the school. He had a fenced in yard and gated drive with a “no trespassing” sign. A just below his American flag on his flagpole was a flag that read “Fuck Biden”. Every Middle school and High School bus in that town drove past his place twice a day. What a lovely message for the kids to see. I lost count of how many T-Shirts I saw with Trump giving the middle finger, or with the slogan “Trump 2024, Fuck your Feelings” or flags, banners and stickers that said “Let’s Go Brandon” (which at least is better). And then there was the story of a guy who had a vinyl wrap made for his pick-up truck tailgate that showed Biden hog-tied in the bed of the truck, charming. A couple days ago good ‘ol Elon called Sen. Mark Kelly a “traitor” for visiting Ukraine (an ally of the U.S.!). Chances are if you know someone who might qualify as a dick, they probably voted for Trump. This does not mean I think everyone who voted for Trump is a dick, nor do I think that everyone who deserves that moniker voted for Trump. Just that my observations indicate he won that minority group by a landslide.

How do I know? Strangely, I haven seen any “Fuck Trump” signs, flags, stickers, or shirts. I’m sure they exist, but I’ve never seen any. All this reminds me of a comedy sketch…

Oh, and one more thing. it reminds me of some advice my old boss Hassan told me, “Boy, you lay down with dogs, you wake up with fleas.”

It also reminds me of a Mr. Boch quote, “No one was every harmed by acting like a lady or a gentleman.” Be a gentleman.

Silencing Science

Not that it was a surprise that Trump/Musk and their crew would do this, it just stinks.

National Cancer Institute Employees Can’t Publish Information on These Topics Without Special Approval

Jeeze. We have an unqualified celebrity, conspiracy theory lawyer running our public health system. Not a doctor or public health official, no qualifications whatsoever. Fantastic. Oh boy I’ll bet those right wingers who were worried about free speech will angry about this, right? Lol, nope. Their defense of free speech is highly specific.

UPDATE: – Even more stupidity…

Experts Warn of Public Health Risks as the Trump Administration Eliminates 2 Critical Food Safety Committees

and…

Trump considers easing safety screenings for chemicals

Assuming the United States still exists then, only three years, 10 months and 9 days more to go.

Elon Musk is Deranged

Maybe it happens to everyone who has too much power, too much money and too much praise. But Elon is not a stable person. Nor is he trustworthy.

Musk calls Sen. Kelly a ‘traitor’ over trip to Ukraine, Kelly hits back

Senator Kelly is a former Navy pilot, a former astronaut, and an elected representative of his state. Musk is a rich, unelected crybaby who has been allowed to have way too much say. He has no right to call anyone “traitor” let alone someone like Kelly. Now he wants to destroy Social Security, a program that millions of U.S. citizens rely on.

Musk eyes Social Security and benefit programs for cuts while claiming widespread fraud

What is Wrong with Elon?

Grift on a Grand Scale

Yes, it’s slow to get started (you could really skip the first 5 minutes), but Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) spells out just SOME of the corruption that has sprung up within the Trump/Musk administration so far. It is totally worth the 28 min. watch. This is why hundreds of prominent Republicans who held positions in previous Republican administrations begged voters NOT to vote for Trump.

I say again…

Grift

As Elon Musk works at destroying the Social Security that millions of Americans rely on, And Congress eliminates the Medicaid and SNAP programs that keep our poor children healthy, take solace in the fact he’s doing really well.

Starlink benefits as Trump admin rewrites rules for $42B grant program

Gotta love those clever Trump voters who figured out a team of billionaires would be the best to recreate our government. You know billionaires care about us, right?

I’ve Finally Read Jeff Smith’s Bone

Bone is a graphic novel I’ve been aware of but never read. Recently I took the plunge and bought the Complete Bone Saga in the original black and white. 1400 pages of Good stuff! While I don’t think it’s as ground breaking as Watchmen, or The Dark Knight Returns, or as important as Maus, it’s an expansion of what the graphic novel format can be. Really Jeff Smith admits, he was trying to channel Walt Kelly’s Pogo and it shows.

Bone

It’s a good yarn, entertaining for adults or kids. Fone Bone and his cousins Smiley Bone and Phoncible P. “Phoney” Bone get lost escaping Boneville and the results of one of Phoney’s many scams. Large rat creatures, dragons, talking animals a major quest and a war of good versus evil follow. If you like stuff like that, and I do, I highly recommend it.

When America Makes a Promise, Expect Trump to Break It

Remember the Kurds? Y’know I didn’t want to believe that Trump was a Russian asset despite the mounting evidence, but his actions since taking office scream Putin. Greenland is owned by Denmark, a NATO country who allows the U.S. to have both an Air Force and Naval base in Greenland. We patrol the “Northwest Passage” and keep it safe due to our commitments to our NATO allies. But if the U.S. owned Greenland, Trump could cede control of the Arctic Ocean to Russia. Panama has strict sanctions against Russian ships using the canal, but if the U.S. owned the canal, it could unilaterally drop those sanctions. What a gift that would be to Russia! Like breaking the bond between the U.S. and Western Europe, or substantially weakening the functionality of our government.

Now this…

Exclusive-Trump plans to revoke legal status of Ukrainians who fled to US, sources say

We made a promise, those people trusted us. But so did the Kurds. The thing I struggle to understand is, are his followers okay with breaking promises or just okay with him breaking promises?

UPDATE! – I was wrong, the Panama Canal has a doctrine of neutrality and already lets Russian ships through. Scratch that conspiracy theory I fell for. This is why I have to check my sources before I publish. Fact-checking is essential Y’know.

Kennedy Says Measles Outbreak is “a Call to Action”

Yeah, but if someone hadn’t enriched themselves for years using their celebrity to make dumb suburban moms doubt the efficacy of vaccines, we probably wouldn’t HAVE an outbreak. Dumbass. Herd immunity requires high percentages of vaccination. It cannot be a “personal choice” since the choice is asking for the right to sicken others.

As measles outbreak grows, HHS secretary says vaccination is a personal decision that can protect individuals and communities

Times Change

“We don’t want to see anybody die,” – Marco Rubio (late January)

On second thought, Daddy and Musk say we are okay with that – Marco Rubio (late February)

The Trump Administration Said These Aid Programs Saved Lives. It Canceled Them Anyway

Musk’s Purges Suddenly Take a Horrific Turn—and Wreck an Ugly MAGA Lie

I remember how excited I was when “Plumpy nut (RUTF) was developed. No more kids starving! And it was cheap, and it supported American farms!

Yeah, feels good to be an American these days.

The Real Manipulation Machine is the One You Build for Yourself

Some folks believe the left manipulates the media. It’s a convenient conspiracy theory because it allows one to discount that which challenges their opinions. I read a post recently, called Inside the Manipulation Machine. I liked that the author bases the beginning of his article on a book I very much enjoyed called “Amusing Ourselves to Death” by the brilliant Neil Postman. Although he summarizes the premise of the book he does not reference it. Which seems dishonest, since he’s clearly read it. Basically we went from a visual species to a verbal species to a species capable of understanding the written word. Then we de-evolved with first radio (verbal communication) and then television (visual communication). Now our caveman brains are easily manipulated. So Obama manipulated them!

Wait! What?

Continue reading

Thank Goodness Someone is Finally Testing Vaccines!

Now we will finally know if vaccines actually work!

Now That Trump Has Banished the Woke From Science, These Truth-Telling New Scientific Papers Reveal What COVID Vaccines Actually Do to Children

Oh, wait. They work. And they always worked? Gee. What a surprise. Maybe they’ll invent one for Measles.

By the way, Fun Fact: The first person to mandate inoculation was George Washington during the Revolutionary War. That woke S.O.B.

What is Wrong with Elon?

An interesting take on Elon’s business acumen from someone who worked for him…

Also interesting, this was posted four months ago and really gives some insights…

In the end, I think both Elon and Trump are pretty easily misled. That seems crazy, but is it? Both have attachments to conspiracy theories that are definitely not true.

J.D. Vance’s Speech to Europe

I’ve waited awhile before commenting on JD’s European speech. I have a friend who thought he did really well. I am less enthusiastic. But he did highlight what I believe are two misconceptions, one held by liberals, and one held by conservatives. In the end, his speech was shocking, and partially, in my opinion, true.

He started by saying that Europe’s greatest threat is internal. Attempts by European governments to restrict speech that may offend others are silly and counter productive. This is a good point. I have always felt that liberals need to understand that especially in the United States, there is no such thing as the right to not be offended. Instead, there is indeed a right to offend. Comedians like Lenny Bruce, George Carlin and Richard Pryor established that a long time ago and I stand by it. Okay, that part is true, but is it really Europe’s BIGGEST threat? Continue reading

Ohio Republicans Go After Unions, Again

I have been able to retire because I worked in two separate jobs with a union. My dad’s union job helped him retire when his body gave out, and many of my older friends got to go to college because their dad was paid fairly because he was in a union. Reagan started the movement against unions and interestingly enough worker pay in the U.S. stagnated after that. In 1982, after just five years on the job (part time), I had medical benefits, dental, eye and even legal coverage. I had two weeks of paid vacation per year and was halfway to being vested in a pension plan. I was also making over $10.00 per hour (in 1982!). Not bad for a college job. The same job today has nowhere near those benefits even though it is still a union job. It also pays only about 50% more than it did then, over 40 years later!