Today I came downstairs dressed for my Mothers Day brunch date with Kate, and told Alan it was such a thrill to go someplace where I wasn’t wearing workout clothes or a swimsuit. I had on the excellent red lipstick she gave me for Christmas, a black jumpsuit and full eye makeup. Such a crazy getup in this dressed-down world.
It was an excellent brunch — mushroom flatbread for me, fish and chips for her — and a spicy margarita. And it would have been perfect, but just before I left, I learned that the motherfucking president of this stupid fucking country plans to accept the gift of a Qatari 747, and has greased the skids with his stupid motherfucking toadies who have all signed off on it, and I’m sorry, but it pissed me off. Excuse my language.
I will say it now: I cannot wait for this asshole to die. His casket will float to the surface of whatever golf course his wife decides to bury him in, the ground will be so soaked with urine. And then we can drag it into the street to be set on fire before shooting what’s left of him into deepest space with a warning note in all the languages of the world and some digital space language we can invent, that whoever finds it should do the same, and then whatever asteroid it lands on should be targeted by a nuke and blasted into so many shards that not one shred of his DNA should remain.
Not that I am terribly angry. If I were, I’d suggest we do the same to his entire issue, including FSWOUS, Melania.
How in the world is this OK. HOW? The limits on presidential gifts aren’t that high. I know others have ignored them in the past — Ronald Reagan alone collected enough expensive horses to hold his own rodeo — but they never belonged to him, and when he died, the survivors went to retirement arrangements, as far as I can tell. But even a blooded horse is not a half-billion-dollar jet, no doubt equipped with state-of-the-art listening devices, all for a man who’s spent the last week gibbering nonsense about dolls and pencils as he gilds the White House like a fucking casino and you can tell I’m upset because I’m writing run-on sentences.
Grr.
How about some pretty-pretty pictures. I almost did a Saturday Morning Market, but I was too busy juggling eggs and bedding plants.
Now get to work, plants. It’s almost mojito season, and I’m looking forward to some shishito peppers on the grill:
Have a good week. Don’t fly in or out of Newark, or maybe anywhere, huh?
susan said on May 11, 2025 at 5:34 pm
You clearly need this shirt. She makes a fine mug with that on it, too. I have both, because every morning I wake and am hoping…. The shirt, by the way, is a HUGE hit at protests. As is the pitchfork I carry.
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Dorothy said on May 11, 2025 at 6:05 pm
Susan when I first saw that a couple weeks ago, I desperately wanted to buy that shirt, but in a few seconds I knew I could not wear it around my curious granddaughter. Her parents wouldn’t have approved of it, so I decided not to. BUT – Nancy I’ve felt that way about him for a very long time, and it’s just intensified ever since the election, and I knew we’d have four more torturous years of him again. I swear I wake up every morning thinking “Did he die overnight?” That’s not an exaggeration. That’s how much I despise him.
Also I can’t see how he can accept such a gift. It seems like there has to be some way that it can be refused even after he accepted it. Are there ANY honest lawyers in that White House?!
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nancy said on May 11, 2025 at 6:33 pm
Already got it, Susan.
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David C said on May 11, 2025 at 7:01 pm
I completely understand why he’s taking the jet. I saw pictures of the inside and it’s tacky in a very Trumpian way. I’m sure, like Nancy said, it’s packed to the brim with bugs. Not that anyone needs them anymore. He probably phones up Daddy Vlad and tells him everything anyway. What Trump doesn’t tell him, Kegseth does. I’d love to have the shirt too, but they’re too crazy and too armed to wear it in public
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Sherri said on May 11, 2025 at 7:48 pm
This is the shirt I’m wearing the most: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1865873369/comfort-colors-the-only-minority
Along with this one: https://www.etsy.com/listing/986018030/love-thy-neighborequal-rights-shirtbe
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Deborah said on May 11, 2025 at 7:48 pm
Next Sunday the 18th I’m flying to NM. As I said here before, I’m not worried about my safety (but maybe I should be?) I’m mostly not looking forward to delays and scheduling problems.
Me too regarding His death, it can’t come soon enough. Although in the meantime he sounds pretty desperate to get his tax bill passed. He’s probably going to put the acceptance of the airplane off until the bill passes, then after that who knows what he’ll do.
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Deborah said on May 11, 2025 at 8:31 pm
Also, as to what’s happening with the FAA is par for the course with the Republicans, they tried to do this with the USPS too, they want it to fail so they can privatize it. Musk wants to take over the control of air safety with one of his companies. They want everyone up in arms and afraid to fly.
Trump’s latest Tweet about what he’s supposedly going to do for Pharma costs is also a bunch of bull, it’s an EO not a law, it has no teeth won’t save anyone a dime but his base will eat it up for a while anyway, after a few months when nothing changes with what they’re paying maybe they’ll wonder but even then they’ll just say we all have to suffer for him because he’s their lord and master.
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susan said on May 11, 2025 at 8:37 pm
yes, me too.
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Mark P said on May 11, 2025 at 10:45 pm
It’s now perfectly okay for the head of this regime to take bribes, as long as they come after the desired act. The Supreme Court has determined that they are not bribes, they are gratuities, or tokens of appreciation. I’m sure Clarence Thomas was all in on that one.
Not that it makes any difference to Trump.
This surely is the most blatantly corrupt administration in all of our sordid history.
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alex said on May 12, 2025 at 8:15 am
Celosias, marigolds and herbs. Yay!
This week I begin my annual planting — veggies, flowers, the whole shebang. I’ve got so many projects that I don’t know where to start, but I hope to spend less screen time thinking ugly thoughts and more outdoor time contemplating beauty.
This year I’m seeing scads of baby ash trees growing out of my flowerbeds. I haven’t seen any ash trees around here in years — they’ve all been killed by the emerald ash borer — but I suspect some may still be putting up a fight in the woods nearby and that squirrels are burying the nuts here. Dying trees are known to produce massive amounts of seeds.
Well, off to make hay while the sun shines.
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Jeff Gill said on May 12, 2025 at 8:23 am
Hmmm. Death, aside from my other issues with it, gets us Vance. So I’m okay with not having the shirt.
Meanwhile, his fairly apparent ongoing deterioration shows up this morning (or last night?) in his latest massive contortion of the Executive Order process. The most disturbing thing about all this is either a) it hasn’t even occurred to him a future non-MAGA POTUS could do all this, since EOs are the whiteboard next shift announcement of legislative actions, or b) he has, and is just thinking he will make sure the next president is Don, Jr. or whatever and he’s not worried about an election turning this newfound “power” to legislate by fiat over to the other side.
Meanwhile, I watch on social media as people I used to think were just crabbed or cranky or mildly racist go off on jags about how all vaccines are pretty much the same as chemtrails and the mass enstupidifcation of fluoride, and how it’s obvious (based on bizarre readings of slowed down video clips and such) that Zelenskyy & Macron are “obviously” coked up drug fiends. I met a couple from New Jersey who came to town specifically on their way to visit family in Illinois for a stop at the Octagon Earthworks, and at one point she said “so, is this a pretty Trumpy county?” The dance of verification & clarification that it was okay to speak freely was a semantically fascinating three-step process. I had to assure them “you are correct.” She’d made a comment on checking out of their hotel room that morning and been startled by the sharp glance the desk clerk gave her.
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nancy said on May 12, 2025 at 4:20 pm
It does get us Vance, but Vance has .000001 percent of the macho charisma the yokels respond to. I think he’s more easily stood up to, if only because competitors will see him as someone they can take down.
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Dexter Friend said on May 12, 2025 at 8:58 am
It’s true that both Ford and Carter took $1mil each from Japan for their libraries, but Reagan pocketed $2mil for a short speech soon after leaving 1600.
This was just pocket cash for the now second-worst POTUS ever. Yes, 45-47 is now truly a king, the KING of the fly-buzzing shit pile. I waited until this Qatar jumbo-jet 747 fiasco until I de-throned Reagan. But 747s have been sent to that old-plane graveyard years ago; they premiered in 1970 ( I remember, because I saw the first one on display at SFO
which was parked beside the Bayshore Freeway so we motorists could see it. My jaw dropped. )
747s are obsolete, no longer in general use. The way of the Conchords.
The new Trump jetblimp is a re-purposed relic, then?
In November, millions voted against their own best concerns, and these people would vote the same way today if they had to.
The Democrats have many bright men and women that would be great presidents, but can they win in 2028?
Josh Shapiro, Wes Moore, Pete Buttigieg, AOC, Amy Klobuchar, Jasmine Crockett are but a few. Can any beat Vance? People may sabotage themselves again, and yell praises at their own ignorance.
Trump-Homan insist the writ of habeas corpus is just another weed to trample, and their is little outrage but for a few thousand hand-held signs at a thousand protests nation-wide. I hear very little from Congress at this outrage. It took years of protests before Congress finally de-funded the atrocity in Viet Nam.
Or the USA would still be there. Think about that one.
God Bless Our Troops…but keep an eye on where they are.
(uncredited quote): ”
When the “failed arrestment” of the aircraft became apparent, the two pilots ejected. Both of the pilots were recovered and early indications found that they suffered minor injuries, the official said. F/A-18 jets cost some $70 million each.5 days ago”
2 fighter jets lost to Davy Jones locker. Just a little loss…$140,000,000.
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Dexter Friend said on May 12, 2025 at 9:14 am
there not their. Goddam auto-correct sabotaged me …again.
Oh, a friend tried to correct me for the way I spell that favorite profanity. I have spelled it without the “n” since 1965 when I read J.D. Salinger’s classic, “The Catcher in the Rye”. That’s how Holden Caulfield “spoke” it: goddam. Period.
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Sherri said on May 12, 2025 at 2:21 pm
Still crickets from Republicans in Congress? Is there anything Trump could do that they would stand up to? Why are they even there?
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Deborah said on May 12, 2025 at 3:41 pm
Republican congress is only there to extend the tax cuts for billionaires and give them even more.
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Jeff Borden said on May 12, 2025 at 4:52 pm
If you check out the photos of that garish aircraft from Qatar, you’ll know they hit tRump in his sweet spot.
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basset said on May 13, 2025 at 11:13 am
Just to get away from entirely appropriate anger and outrage for a minute… how is Kate’s house coming along?
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nancy said on May 14, 2025 at 8:23 am
Nicely! She still has some decorating and unpacking to do, but her dad is finding bargains online every day and she’s very happy to be there.
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Sherri said on May 13, 2025 at 6:58 pm
I’m disgusted by the way some organizations are contorting themselves to make Dear Leader happy. The latest? Major League Baseball, who has decided that the permanently ineligible ban on Pete Rose ends at death, so if the Hall of Fame wants to out ol’ Charley Hustle in, that’s just fine with them. This after, of course, Trump said it should happen.
Let’s recall why Rose was on the permanently ineligible list. MLB has a rule, 21(d), that has been around since 1921 and is prominently posted in every major league clubhouse, to remind ball players that you absolutely can not bet on baseball games that you’re involved in, or you’ll be permanently ineligible.
Rose, after lying about for years, finally admitted that he bet on games he played in and he managed. Unlike Shoeless Joe and the Black Sox, he didn’t do because the owner of his team was a ridiculous skinflint who wouldn’t pay the players anything close to what they were worth; Rose had the opportunity to take advantage of free agency and negotiate contracts that paid him well. He didn’t it because he was a gambler.
He was also an asshole. As a manager, he put himself in the lineup to pursue his personal quest of beating Ty Cobb’s hits record, ahead of playing better players to win more games.
He also allegedly had a sexual relationship with a girl under 16 back in the 70s, and when it came to light later, his response was “It was 55 years ago.”
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Jeff Gill said on May 13, 2025 at 8:59 pm
While I share Basset’s sensible question . . . I thought I’d post here what a (I thought) formerly sensible person in my community is saying, and I think she represents the more [wince] thoughtful Trump supporter here. And this village was 57% Harris, 39% Trump, for context.
“If you’re getting your tariff news from mainstream journalists, it’s likely you’re unaware that a key component in the China equation is stopping the flow of fentanyl.
It was before the first tariff was applied.
China has quietly killed more Americans than all wars combined with fentanyl, with a majority being young male adults (otherwise considered “fighting age.”) China’s stated, written, public plan for decades included this goal (take the US down without firing a shot) and this approach has been hugely successful.
Combine that with the number of illegal entries of Chinese under Biden … well dressed, clean, carrying roller suitcases; the uptick of China purchases of land surrounding American military bases in the US; and the Chinese hold on industries such as marijuana in Maine – which their Senator just testified about last week in Congress, and you start to get a picture of how critical it is to STOP them.
Journalists screeching about the rising cost of poorly made products at Walmart don’t give even the tiniest shit about the people who those prices effect. If they did, THIS is what they’d have been reporting about the whole time.”
She posted that with a link to a piece about Bessent saying he’d had (in February) very productive conversations this past weekend with a top Chinese official about fentanyl. The comments include a range of our local elected officials in this county cheering her on. I can’t even begin to figure out where to push back against this world view.
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Jeff Gill said on May 13, 2025 at 9:03 pm
And as for Sherri’s point, in this image from Don Larsen’s 1956 perfect game, you can see it twenty feet high in center field.
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Sherri said on May 14, 2025 at 12:11 am
I don’t know anything about an uptick of Chinese purchases near military bases, but most of my new neighbors are Chinese. They’re just ordinary families, working for tech companies, though, not here illegally.
Are there Chinese here illegally? I’m sure there are, though they probably didn’t enter the country illegally. They’re more likely to have overstayed a student visa. You know, sort of like Elon Musk did.
Trump has named fentanyl as a reason for making Canada the 51st state, too, which makes no sense at all, since then there wouldn’t even be a border to stop it.
And, fentanyl deaths have been dropping, significantly, since the peak in mid 2023.
But none of that matters to Trump supporters.
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Jeff Gill said on May 14, 2025 at 7:21 am
Not this person I’m quoting, but some who have liked and/or commented favorably on her post, when we were trying to do harm reduction in this county before 2020 as fentanyl was rising as a public health issue, said “let ’em die.” Why were we working so hard to provide Narcan for people who would (it did happen here) overdose 3 or 4 times in a day? “Let ’em die if that’s what they want.”
See “This Is Ohio” by Jack Shuler. (A good book in any case.)
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