Tag: history

Fridaz Wandering Political Thoughts

First, happy Samhain or happy Halloween, whatever works for you.

I disagree with Jasmine Crocket. I like the humor but she’s wrong.

Trump is also progressing toward one-party authoritarian rule. When Trump briefed ‘Congress’ about his military activities, he only included Republicans.

Democrats Fume After GOP Shuts Them Out Of Briefing On Trump’s Military Strikes

“What the administration did in the last 24 hours is corrosive not only to our democracy but downright dangerous for our national security,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters on Thursday, warning that the move set a “troubling precedent” that had trampled on the longheld bipartisan tradition of bipartisan briefings of Congress on U.S. military activities abroad.

More at Yahoo.com/news.

Meanwhile, demonstrating his progressive trend of cratering successful organizations, the Trump Destruction Syndrome is evident at the Kennedy Center.

Ticket sales plummet at Kennedy Center after Trump takeover: Washington Post analysis

Ticket sales for the Kennedy Center have continued to plummet in the months since President Trump took over its operations.

Tens of thousands of seats have been left empty at the three main performance venues, according to The Washington Post. 

About 43 percent of tickets remain unsold according to the Post’s daily analysis of the Kennedy Center’s Opera House, Concert Hall and Eisenhower Theater from Sept. 3 to Oct. 19.

More can be read at The Hill on MSN.com

New Trump administration rule bars student loan relief for public workers tied to ‘illegal’ activity

On Thursday, Oct. 30, the Education Department finalized new rules for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which allows people in specialized careers – such as nursing, firefighting, teaching and certain types of nonprofit work – to have their student debt canceled after 10 years of timely payments. The program was mismanaged for years until recently, when former President Joe Biden reformed it, ultimately forgiving billions of dollars in debt for more than 1 million Americans.

This topic shows Trump is now more actively and progressively deciding who is breaking the law and deciding who will be a target based on his discrimination without evidence or due process.

 Specifically, the rules prevent businesses and organizations that have engaged in activities with a “substantial illegal purpose” from being eligible to participate.

Yet it’s not clear exactly what the Education Department will ultimately define as an “illegal” activity. According to the new regulations, such conduct will likely include providing support for undocumented immigrants, gender-affirming care for minors, supporting “terrorism” and aiding and abetting “illegal discrimination.”

More is available at USA Today.

Now some points of interest about current events from the web.

These posts reflect the lack of thinking behind the GOP and Trump’s actions and claims. This isn’t new. These are continuing trends. Trump and the GOP mouth things about the importance of law and order, how much they cherish life, children, and families, and then by their actions, they show that none of that matters. All that matters to them is money, being in control, and power.

The next one reveals so much about Trump. Trump doesn’t understand leadership, history, or Lincoln.

President Lincoln would not have been proud that the priority for the POTUS was to remodel the bathroom as millions of Americans face starvation. Of course, I’m pretty certain that President Lincoln would have been appalled that Trump is off golfing as the Epstein Government Shutdown of 2025 continues.

Yep, that’s the Trump M.O. all the way. Witness those recent talks with China. He created the problem and now he’s strutting around like he’s a genius.

This next one has special meaning to me. My brother-in-law is a MAGA with a ten-year-pin. He’s supported Trump for POTUS from go. He engaged my wife about antifa and tried to claim that it’s a national organization with elected officials, etc. She laughed and said, “You do realize that your father was antifa.”

He responded in surprise, “What?”

And she replied, “Yes, he fought in World War II, didn’t he?”

My wife’s point completely stunned my BIL. As it does with many MAGAts. They don’t understand history or choose to ignore it, and they just don’t think, preferring to parrot inane talking points.

Until they’re forced to confront the truth.

3

Thirstaz Wandering Thoughts

My thoughts are wandering as I sit in the Pittsburgh Airport, looking out at the rain, eavesdropping on others’ conversations. Most of my focus keeps shifting to Mom’s paperwork. Her paperwork is just like our paperwork.

Pulling out every bill from 1998 on, I laugh. Notes are on sheets of paper and bills. Who was spoken to, time and date, result. Most simply end like that. No further updates. There are insurance and banking papers, visits to hospitals, doctors, and specialists, and the ever-present pile of warranties.

We are the same back home. For the last how many decades, paperwork was needed for ‘just in case’ reference. Bills and payment records could go wrong, and it was incumbent on us to prove what we did. Even then, that sometimes isn’t enough and required we the customer to scale the corporate ladder past the drones and managerial kings and queens until a person was reached who could overrule the bureaucracy.

The paperwork at Mom’s has some interesting personal choices. Lot of paper clippings for things done by her children back in 1970 through 2010. Yellowed, brittle clippings of newspaper death notices for family members and friends. Crisp sheets of white papers in file folders with emails from family printed out. Things from me from my last days in the military in 1995. Travel information for visits in 1998, 2005, etc.

Mom is now battling Verizon. We’ve all been involved in this fight. It’s classic enshittification. Gotta sign in to do anything with them. Calling them? Hahahahaha. What a joker you are. Should be a stand up with your own HBO or Netflix comedy special. Calling them provided us with a window when it would be okay to call them. Mom had it down to fifteen minutes and counted it down to one, phone in hand, doing little else. The appointed minute arrived. Mom moved her hand. “Oops.” Gone! Her new wait time to reach them was eight hours later.

Meanwhile, we parsed Mom’s crazy notes for userIDs and passwords. Several were found for Verizon. None worked. One sister then went through the ‘Forgot Password’ route and tried to change the password. Hahahahahaha. Easier to turn an apple into a ruby.

This is modern life, yeah? At least in first world America, and maybe only among my family. I, of course, cheat. I maintain a spreadsheet of passwords. 112 lines. They’re for my accounts and my wife’s accounts. If that thing ever falls into the wrong hands, it’d be disaster for us. It’s encrypted and password protected. Every time I go in for surgery, I remind my wife of the password.

All of this has cause us to resolve, do a pare down. Purge paperwork and warranties. Get ruthless about it, and damn the consequences.

0

More GRRRRRRReattt ‘Toons

They’ll make you laugh, make you sigh, piss you off, and make you cry. It’s a crazy world in the United States. Here are my favorite thought and anger-provoking ‘toons from the latest collection, the Queen of ‘Toons herself, Jill Dennison’s. Check out the rest at her blog and find your own faves.

Da ‘Toons Just Keep On Coming!

0

Twozdaz Theme Music

It’s Twozda, October 28, 2025, in Monroeville. My hotel windows face the north. Long fingers of early morning sunshine stretch out of blue skies and blow up the leaves’ autumn colors into fiery hues. It’s 41 F now. They’re pitching a high of 55 F. Rain is on the way for Thirstda, when we leave.

Mom’s hospital visit yesterday revealed no new problems. No breaks from her falls. No head damage, etc. She’s back with sis at sis’s house. They gave her morphine yesterday and she was confused today. Two big items are loaded for the Mom agenda today. Sis and I will meet with a realtor at Mom’s house to talk about putting it on the market. We also need to find the right size adult night time diapers for Mom. She leaks all night long. Wears diapers but they’re too big. Sis has mats on the bed but the leaking is so pervasive that her sheets end up soaked, necessitating taking off the bedding and washing it. I picked up more bedding yesterday so that the wash can be spaced out a few days. But new diapers are needed. I checked local big box stores for a new solution yesterday but nada was had. It’s diapers with pulls, not undies, needed.

Trump’s continued takedown of the United States inspired The Neurons with “Then the Morning Come” in the morning mental music stream. I was thinking that someday it will be morning in America after Trump is done. Then there will be a general, confused awakening. The GOP will realize the party’s over and go off to nurse their hangovers while the rest of us rebuild. So this Smashmouth song feels right for what’s happening now and what will happen when people visit the future building formerly known as the White House and ask, “OMG, WTF happened?” Many of them will proclaim, “I didn’t know. I had no idea.” Which will just earn them the greatest imaginable contempt from me. For how could you not know unless you’re burying your head and pretending, all is well, this is gonna be great? Yeah, I know, it doesn’t render that easily. Much more complicated, so Trump supporters tell me. Sure.

Then the Morning Comes

Good morning

Paint the town, take a bow
Thank everybody
You’re gonna do it again
You are the few, the proud
You are the antibody
Mind, soul and zen

And the world’s a stage
(And the world’s a faze)
And the end is near
So push rewind, just in time
Thank anybody
You’re gonna do it again

The way that you walk
It’s just the way that you talk
Like it ain’t no thing
And every single day is just a fling
Then the morning comes

Take your knocks, shake ’em off
Duck everybody
You’re gonna take ’em again
You are your foe, your friend
You are the paparazzi
You are the tragedian

And the world’s a craze
(And the world’s a faze)
And the end is near
So push rewind, just in time
Thank anybody
You’re gonna do it again

The way that you walk
It’s just the way that you talk
Like it ain’t no thing
And every single day is just a fling

And when it comes, it moves so slow
Kind of like it’s saying, “I told you so”
Looking back before she goes
Tomorrow’s gonna hurt

And the world’s a stage
(And the world’s a faze)
And the end is near
So push rewind, just in time
Thank anybody

It’s just the way that you walk
It’s just the way that you talk
Like it ain’t no thing
And every single day is just a fling
Then the morning comes

Off to do a little local sightseeing and shopping. Fingers crossed that peace and grace awaken from their slumber and come give us some relief. Till then, hang tight. Cheers

0

Twozdaz Wandering Political Thoughs

Just a reminder of what Saint Ronnie said…not that it matters to the MAGAlodytes. History is not their forte. Nor is critical thinking or bucking their beloved Trump, he who speaks from his ass, but says what they want to hear.

Meanwhile, back where the GOP controls the House, Senate, and the building formerly known as the White House, Trump shows his contempt and hatred for the United States and its citizens.

The poor should starve, says Trump administration

Sure, why not let Americans starve? There’d be less of ’em to grift, sure, but less of them to feed, less of them to criticize Trump, less of them to complain. Plus, with less ‘Muricans out there, simple supply and demand kicks in. Less people = less demand = less inflationary pressures = lower prices = happier people. That’s Trump’s ‘thinking’. All will be happy except those mourning the dead and those with the thinking set to see where all that will lead. Trump never did get the whole empathy and love thing. Never will. “Me, me, me,” is all he ever thinks and says. Which means he’ll screw We the People and the Constitution every time.

Trump really is a radical rightwing despot. So deranged. So radical and VERY LOW IQ. He proves it with his tweets on a regular basis. People read his tweets and ask, “How can this man walk and breathe at the same time? His IQ is too low to walk and breathe at the same time.” If it wasn’t for Putin, Trump would’ve already been imprisoned for his crimes against the United States. Should have happened after his first term. But Putin intervened and said, “No, he is a useful fool. Do what we can to get him re-elected so we can use his hatred of the United States so we can destroy it as an economic powerhouse and democracy once and for all.”

Trump doesn’t understand math. Third grade arithmetic. History. Science. Medicine. Sports. Cheats at everything. Everything. When he took the cognitive test, he paid people off to help him identify the animals. They were cheaply paid off, of course. Took just the promise of money. They’ll never see that money. He always breaks all of his promises.

That’s the Trump bottom line. Terrible person. Breaks everything. Breaking the nation. Destroying the White House. Cratering the economy.

But at least ‘the left’ is upset. So MAGAland is happy.

For now.

0

‘Nother Trump Lie

Trump in July: Ballroom construction will not touch the East Wing

When the White House first released the plans for the ballroom on July 31, Trump told reporters that the 90,000-square-foot addition would be “built over on the east side and it will be beautiful.”

“It’ll have views of the Washington Monument. It won’t interfere with the current building,” he said. “It’ll be near it but not touching it and pay total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.”

Trump Is Wasting No Time in Tearing Down the East Wing

As roaring machinery tore down one side of the White House, President Trump acknowledged on Wednesday that he was having the entire East Wing demolished to make way for his 90,000-square-foot ballroom, a striking expansion of a project that is remaking the profile of one of the nation’s most iconic buildings.

Mr. Trump was unsentimental as news of the demolition spread. “It was never thought of as being much,” he said of the East Wing, which was home to the first lady’s office and spaces used for ceremonial purposes. “It was a very small building.”

From July of 2025 to October of 2025 was all it took for this lie to be revealed.

The East Wing went from being a place where Trump said, “I’m the biggest fan of” it to “It was never thought of as being much.”

Just one more example of his many tens of thousands of lies. Again.

Solid proof of why he can’t be trusted. Again.

Clear substance that nothing matters to him, not even what he said before. Again.

2

Wenzdaz Wandering Political Thoughts

Every time that I think that the Trump Regime can’t piss me off, they sink to lower levels.

Trump Administration Cuts Cyberdefense Even as Threats Grow

Like, WTF. Then, oh, yeah. That makes sense.

It makes sense because the Trump Regime values nothing but wealth. Money money money. Gold! Look how he decorated the Oval Office with faux gold pieces. He thinks that’s impressive. “Look, it’s gold. Shiny.”

And yeah, it makes sense because the Trump Regime thinks little through. Trump farts and takes that as a divine sign that he should do something. Attack someone. Wreck a building. Steal more money. Go golfing. Lie about something. Given his behavior, he farts a lot.

If the cyberdefenses fail, there’d be widespread misery in the U.S. Trump’s actions can affect all aspects of the United States infrastructure and includes shipping, the supply chain, the power grid, business and commerce, and air travel, regardless of whether it’s a red state or blue state, regardless of how the votes went in any previous election. It’ll affect all people if those things fail, regardless of skin color, religion, or wealth. And as those things are used by the military, it impacts U.S. military readiness.

I can close by saying, what a fucking idiot. Again. What fucking idiots run that regime.

Or I can close, see? Trump hates the United States. He’s actively working to destroy it.

But really, it’s clearly both.

1

Twozdaz Wandering Political Thoughts

A round-up of memes and news about the 2025 Trump enshittification of the United States and how patriots respond.

Loggins demands removal of Trump’s AI-generated video using ‘Danger Zone’

Meanwhile as Trump has the White House transformed into a shit house more suited to him and his regime, he steps forward with his micro balls to demand that the DOJ reimburse him for past cases.

Trump Said to Demand Justice Dept. Pay Him $230 Million for Past Cases

President Trump is demanding that the Justice Department pay him about $230 million in compensation for the federal investigations into him, according to people familiar with the matter, who added that any settlement might ultimately be approved by senior department officials who defended him or those in his orbit.

The situation has no parallel in American history, as Mr. Trump, a presidential candidate, was pursued by federal law enforcement and eventually won the election, taking over the very government that must now review his claims. It is also the starkest example yet of potential ethical conflicts created by installing the president’s former lawyers atop the Justice Department.

Just as with much of Trump’s behavior, there is no precedence. No precedence for the Supreme Court to rule someone is above the law.

No precedence for a convicted felon to be elected to the nation’s highest office.

No precedence for Trump’s trashing of the U.S. Constitution.

No precedence for Trump’s contempt for due process and law and order.

No precedence for a grifter to eagerly and actively use their position to enrich themselves and their family.

No precedence for a liar using a fake narrative to use the military to attack We the People.

That’s the Trump Regime, the GOP, and Project 2025, unprecedented in their hatred of the United States and their eagerness to destroy it.

0

Twozdaz Theme Music

Cold and shiny Twozda Morning in October. This is 10/23/2025. 46 F in Ashland, the temperature will frolic into the low 70s with the sun’s herding. Fall’s grasp is as firm as ever, with leaves decomposing and dropping while others hang, shimmering in reds and golds.

Sis has moved Mom into her house because of Mom’s repeated falls and inability to care for herself. No one is there to help her at her house, etc. Sis meets with a real estate agent next Tuesday to pull the levers to sell Mom’s house. An estate sale is being established to sell Mom’s furniture and belongings. Not excited to return to this state, and you know what I mean. This is life. But I’m looking forward to seeing family and being in the area of my youth.

In one of Trump’s continuing rampages to show how much he hates the United States, he’s now having the physical building called the White House destroyed. As it was put in a comment on another site, I am volcanically pissed. Breathtaking arrogance. If anything proves that Trump has no sense of history and gives not a jot of shit about anything except himself, this is it. Destroying the house of We the People and replacing it with his own gaudy, cheap imitation of grandeur is disgusting and infuriating. Project 2025 is certainly well pleased and gleeful. Roberts Court is probably shrugging. They let him trample the Constitution with his overweight ego and obese body, why not allow this effrontery? Sure hope all those MAGA are happy too. Isn’t this how love for your nation is shown, by tearing down its heritage?

Approval for him falls. Disapproval for him rises. Strength to stand against him and his regime increases.

A Daily Kos post by Michael Taylor offers solid insights into the Trump Regime’s war against the United States.

Criminalising an idea: the dangerous fiction of “ANTIFA, the organisation”

Let’s talk about a magic trick. Not the kind with rabbits and hats, but the political kind, where a complex idea is made to vanish, only to be replaced by a simple, monstrous caricature. The latest magicians? Pam Bondi, U.S. Attorney General, and the broader Trump administration, who are attempting to pull off the dangerous illusion of criminalising ANTIFA.

The premise of their act is that ANTIFA is a unified, hierarchical terrorist organisation– a domestic version of ISIS – that can be neatly listed, proscribed, and its members prosecuted. This is a profound and likely deliberate misunderstanding. ANTIFA, short for “anti-fascist,” is not an organisation; it is a political belief and a movement, no more a single entity than “conservatism” or “environmentalism.”

Under cover of criminalizing a concept and calling it an organization, the Trump Regime can attempt to use all of the government’s military and police forces against United States citizens, weakly rationalizing it as part of their fight against ‘antifa’. As Taylor closes:

The real danger isn’t a black-clad protester breaking a window; it’s a government that seeks to break the foundational principle that in America, people are free to believe, and to protest, what they see fit.

Meanwhile, the Epstein Shutdown has moved into its third week, earning Trump’s third government shutdown in five years of ‘leadership’ as the third longest U.S. government shutdown in history.

Without too much surprise, Trump’s Gaza ceasefire is as successful as Trump University, Trump Steaks, various Trump casinos and hotels, and Trump Air. Trump is a magical enshittifier.

I have The Moody Blues performing “The Story in your Eyes” in the morning mental music stream. Between conversations with Papi as I explain we’ll be going away but his favorite house sitter will be here, and thoughts of Trump’s destruction, and, well, changes in life in general, Les Neurons responded with lines out of the song.

Listen to the tide slowly turning. Wash all our heartaches away. We’re part of the fire that is burning, and from the ashes we can build another day.

May grace and peace get up and going and come around to see how we’re doing. Coffee is making itself familiar to the various body functions. Time to rock it. Time to roll it. Until the next, cheers from Trump and his smirking BFF, Jeffrey Epstein.

1

Brilliant Humor Collection

In The Mood For Some ‘Toons?

Interested in doing some laughing, GRRRRowling, and cryin’? Jill D. delivers again. Here are my top four. Man, stopping at four was a challenge. Jill has a magnificent collection to peruse this week. Check out her full post and find your favorites.

1

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑