Month: December 2018

Athenae, Big Damn Heroes, Do Something, Epic Blogger Win

Lookit What You Did!

Allison Hantschel

Thanks to your generosity, First Drafters, you paid for Christmas gifts for 85 KIDS. The money you raised for the St. Hyacinth Food Pantry bought gift cards, toys, games, mittens and other necessary stuff for the children whose parents shop there each month. I’m heading up tomorrow to help them sort through some more donated things, but this is the nicest part: They’ll all get something new and nice for the holidays, thanks to you! They’ll be able to go get a snack or a treat or something frivolous with their friends without having to worry about it for once. … Continue reading Lookit What You Did!

Athenae, Big Damn Heroes2 Comments

Big Gavel Energy

Allison Hantschel

I’m not one for body language analysis when the shit that comes out of Trump’s mouth-anus is so horrific but honestly, the way he turns away from Nancy while she’s talking and looks at Chuck like, “women, amirite?” should be in some kind of Man-seum. President Trump argues with Nancy Pelosi over government funding and potential shutdown. Pelosi: “I think the American people recognize that we must keep government open … that we should not have a Trump shutdown.” Trump: “A what? Did you say Trump?” https://t.co/nTeGObvgKi pic.twitter.com/v8FbbPEyKR — ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) December 11, 2018 At this point not … Continue reading Big Gavel Energy

Free Republic, Stupid Republican Tricks, The Darnold, Tommy T1 Comment

Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati -Judgement call edition

Tommy T

Hi, readers –  back from Playa Del Carmen. Still unpacking, but there’s time for a short and sweet “Obsession”.

Trump Unleashes on ‘Dumb as a Rock’ Tillerson: He ‘Didn’t Have the Mental Capacity’
msn ^ | 12/7/2018 | Josh Feldman

Posted on 12/7/2018, 3:11:27 PM by detective

President Donald Trump is clearly not happy with comments from his former Secretary of State.

Rex Tillerson got candid today not just about his time at State, but about the President and how “undisciplined” he is. He also claimed that he had to explain to Trump that various things he proposed were illegal.

Trump clearly heard about the comments, and he fired back with some choice words for the man who once reportedly called him a “moron”:

“Mike Pompeo is doing a great job, I am very proud of him,” Trump tweeted Friday afternoon. “His predecessor, Rex Tillerson, didn’t have the mental capacity needed. He was dumb as a rock and I couldn’t get rid of him fast enough. He was lazy as hell. Now it is a whole new ballgame, great spirit at State!”

1 posted on 12/7/2018, 3:11:27 PM by detective
IknowYouAre
To: detective

 

Rex was the third most incompetent and lazy SoS in history, just after Hellary and Kerry the Klown.

Thankfully we had a strategic genius of unsurpassed wisdom and courage in the WH keeping things running !

4 posted on 12/7/2018, 3:15:31 PM by WashingtonFire (President Trump – it’s like having your dad as President)

I can only assume he’s referring to the janitor…
.
After a few Tillerson-bashing / derp state posts, someone finally poses the real question:
To: gibsonguy

 

Question—. If Tillerson is so dumb, such an idiot, etc. Then why in the heck did Trump pick him in the first place?

10 posted on 12/7/2018, 3:21:09 PM by Dilbert San Diego

Good question.
To: Dilbert San Diego

 

He has made a lot of dumb hires. In that respect he is very naive, he thinks everyone is as sincere as he is in service to their country.

18 posted on 12/7/2018, 3:24:09 PM by Dont tread and Live (waso)

So, what you’re saying is that The Darnold is easily fooled?
Duh, motherfucker.
To: detective

 

Sometimes Trump can be ineloquent – but you know where he stands and that is rare in a politician

12 posted on 12/7/2018, 3:22:06 PM by laconic

Alzheimer’s is also rare in a politician, but Reagan spent his entire last term drooling into a napkin.
.
Also:
.

Trump “Gibbery gibbery gibberish, la la me, best, biggest, blaggety blah blah tremendous blageddy gibberish.”

Trump supporter in the stands “We love him because he says what he’s thinking!”

To: detective

 

Every one of you misses the point. The point is not that Trump is “man enough” to tell it like it is. (rolls eyes)

The point is, he – TRUMP – is the person hiring all of these “dumb as a rock” people to Cabinet positions. What does it say about his judgement? THAT, is the point.

19 posted on 12/7/2018, 3:24:19 PM by TangledUpInBlue

To: SaveFerris

 

Exxon is a corpocracy. Trump operates an oligarchy type business. (,,,)

33 posted on 12/7/2018, 3:54:25 PM by Sequoyah101 (It feels like we have exchaged our dreams for survival. We just ha va few days that don’t suck.)

Sssh – you’re not supposed to say that out loud.
To: detective

 

Trump has made himself look petty… again. I really wish he would not do that. If he didn’t do this he would be a really great man. He could defend himself without being so much like a 12 year-old.

35 posted on 12/7/2018, 3:57:47 PM by Sequoyah101 (It feels like we have exchaged our dreams for survival. We just ha va few days that don’t suck.)

No.
No, he can’t.
Trump IS a 12 year-old, and he will always BE a 12 year-old.
More after the temper tantrum.

Continue reading “Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati -Judgement call edition”

Athenae, Elections, Stupid Blue Dog Tricks2 Comments

Clinton (Consultant) Needs to Go Away

Allison Hantschel

For all the talk about how Hillary and Bill need to exit the stage, I think the real cancer on our politics is everyone they employed. Shut UP, Rahm:  “I don’t think you can make it to the Oval Office without being a good politician. And whatever you want to say-and I am in violent disagreement with this president-he was a better politician than Hillary.” He’s also a fascist but let’s respect his SKILLZ, right? Shut UP, Carville:  James Carville said the Democrats will not have a wave election in the 8pm hour of MSNBC’s election night coverage. He said … Continue reading Clinton (Consultant) Needs to Go Away

Uncategorized2 Comments

Eating Well is For Pussies!

Allison Hantschel

I don’t understand how it became an article of faith on the right that vegetables are for girls, or something:  The Obama administration set rules that sought to make school lunches more healthful with exclusively whole-grain pastas and breads, and with nonfat white milk and less salt. It was reacting to an epidemic of obesity in the United States as well as evidence that excessive salt intake is linked to high blood pressure and other health concerns, and that whole grains are more healthful than refined grains. In 2017, the Trump administration announced it was temporarily easing those rules, and … Continue reading Eating Well is For Pussies!

Adrastos, Art, Film, Fog Of History, Gret Stet Politics, Law/Justice, Music, New Orleans, Odds & Sods, R.I.P., Sports, Television3 Comments

Saturday Odds & Sods: Tangled Up In Blue

Peter Adrastos Athas
The Large Blue Horses by Franz Marc.

The weather has been wild and wacky in New Orleans. It was 80 degrees last weekend, then it plummeted to a day time high of 50 a mere two days later. It’s like being an extra in The Pit and The Pendulum. I have no idea what that means but it sounds good.

We had some car trouble this week. We convinced ourselves we might have major electrical issues. It turned out the car needed a new battery. Whew. Dr. A has named the new used car Hildy, after Rosalind Russell’s character in His Girl Friday. Neither Cary Grant nor Ralph Bellamy were consulted.

Am I allowed to brag? I promise not to go all Insult Comedian on your asses. The response to my Neelyisms: Translating Louisiana’s Junior Senator piece has been very favorable indeed. Thanks, y’all. I hope it will further one of my quirkier causes: getting people to stop calling him by his real name instead of my nickname for him. Repeat after me:  In politics, there’s only one John Kennedy, and his middle initial was F, not N. Just call him Neely.

This week’s theme song was written by Bob Dylan for his great 1975 album Blood on the Tracks. Tangled Up In Blue is one of my favorite Dylan tunes. It’s an almost foolproof song, which is why it has been covered so many times.

We have three versions for your listening pleasure: Dylan’s original, a 2017 cover by Joan Osborne, and a live version by the Jerry Garcia Band.

Now that we’re all tangled up, let’s jump to the break. I hope I can find my blue ripcord.

Continue reading “Saturday Odds & Sods: Tangled Up In Blue”

Adrastos, Catblogging

Friday Catblogging: Mr. Drake Goes To The Vet

Peter Adrastos Athas

Paul Drake had his first encounter with the pervert in the white coat aka our vet. He’s usually a confident cat, Jackson Galaxy would call him a “mojito cat.” He was nervous and none too pleased when the rectal thermometer went in. Who can blame him? PD got a clean bill of health and weighed in at 16 lbs 6 ounces. He’s a big boy. Here he is in his carrier: Continue reading Friday Catblogging: Mr. Drake Goes To The Vet

Athenae, Elections, On Wisconsin, Scott Walker's Horcruxes, So Called Liberal Media1 Comment

The GOP, in Wisconsin and Elsewhere, is Anti-Democracy

Allison Hantschel

This is by design:  The bill includes plans to lower voter turnout by adding a third statewide election in the spring of 2020, even though it will cost taxpayers millions of additional dollars and local election officials have come out strongly against it. They want to make it harder to vote early, which will cost taxpayers millions more in legal costs. They want to take control of state economic development away from the governor’s office. They want to replace the elected attorney general with private attorneys hired by the legislative branch at additional expense to taxpayers. Is this democracy at work? I … Continue reading The GOP, in Wisconsin and Elsewhere, is Anti-Democracy

Athenae, On Wisconsin, Scott Walker's Horcruxes

Go Tell That Midnight Rider

Allison Hantschel

Don’t like the election results? Neuter them:  The lame duck legislation would, for example, prevent Mr. Evers from fulfilling a campaign promise to take Wisconsin out of a multistate lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act. It will also diminish the governor’s control over the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, a scandal-ridden public-private agency created by Mr. Walker to foster job creation, by giving the legislature an equal number of appointees to the board as the governor and revoking the governor’s power to appoint the board’s chief executive. In 2011 the country ignored what was happening in Wisconsin, as a gerrymandered minority-majority … Continue reading Go Tell That Midnight Rider

Tommy T, Travel

Today on Tommy T’s obsession with the Yucatan – Dave’s REALLY not here, man!

Tommy T

Hi all – the Barbara and I are currently defying The Darnold’s wall-eyed wishes and crossing the border into Playa Del Carmen.  This is the most beautiful (but definitely not the most expensive) resort in Playacar – the Iberostar Quetzal. Instead of paving over the jungle with concrete and marble columns, they built this place around the jungle, leaving it and its wildlife as the centrepiece. Enjoy these pics from previous trips there – adios!           Continue reading Today on Tommy T’s obsession with the Yucatan – Dave’s REALLY not here, man!

Athenae, Current Affairs1 Comment

On Judging The Dead

Allison Hantschel

Maybe it’s the Catholic in me. Maybe it’s being raised in a world perpetually on the brink of nuclear warfare, as most of my generation were, or being raised by people who were raised by people who grew up during the Depression, when everything you have can be gone in an instant. Maybe it’s the small-d depression, taking all the ugliness of the world and swallowing it whole and letting it sit in my stomach like a marble. Maybe it’s all of those things together, but when I die I fully expect to be judged by the worst things I’ve … Continue reading On Judging The Dead

Athenae, So Called Liberal Media2 Comments

Blame The Right People for Media Failures

Allison Hantschel

The “business model” wasn’t the problem here, has never been the problem, stop this bullshit copypasta from every story about every media company failure:  Mic raised more than $60 million to build a millennial-focused news company but couldn’t find a business model to support its costs, which include a one-floor office in Manhattan’s World Trade Center (an earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the size of Mic’s office). If these people were running a baked potato stand, and spent all their money on glitter glue instead, nobody would be interrogating the viability of the baked potato sales model. They’d … Continue reading Blame The Right People for Media Failures

Adrastos, Bigotry, Comedy, Diary, Fog Of History, Fog Of Scandal, Food and Drink, Immigration, Music, Odds & Sods, Political Crack, Sports, Television, The Darnold, Twitter3 Comments

Saturday Odds & Sods: Deportee (Plane Crash At Los Gatos)

Peter Adrastos Athas
Roots by Frida Kahlo

I’ve been following the horrific events at the US-Mexico border. After a few weeks of relative quiet on the caravan front, the Insult Comedian has ramped up the war of words in this fake crisis. He added a new weapon to his usual arsenal of hot air and bullshit: tear gas. Trump claimed that it was “very safe tear gas” but there’s no such thing, especially since they tear gassed babies. Exposure to tear gas has detrimental effects on childhood development. It’s some nasty shit. I was exposed to tear gas in the Paris Metro many years ago. I don’t recall what the protest was about, but I recall feeling woozy, raspy, and weepy for hours after being tear gassed. I guess it wasn’t the “very safe” kind that Trump is so proud of. #sarcasm

Trump’s ridiculous claim that tear gas is “very safe” reminds me of an encounter with one of my Greek Greek relatives. I called him Theo (Uncle) Panos but he was married to my father’s  cousin. He was a proud and boisterous man who had a small business making and selling taverna-type chairs in the Monastiriki district in old Athens. He believed that everything Greek was the best. It was one reason he and Lou got on so well. I’ll never forget dining al fresco one evening with Panos and his family. There were flies swarming and  I kept shooing them away. Panos laughed and said, “Don’t worry. In Greece, the flies are clean and very safe.”

This week’s theme song was written in 1948 by Woody Guthrie and Martin Hoffman in protest of the racist treatment of Mexican nationals who perished in a plane crash in Los Gatos, California. 32 people died: 4 Americans and 28 Mexican migrant workers who were being deported to Mexico. The media of the day listed the names of the dead Yanquis but referred to the Mexicans solely as deportees.

Sometimes the “crash” in the title is replaced with “wreck” but the song remains the same. Deportee (Plane Crash at Los Gatos) is one of the great protest songs and has been recorded many times over the last 70 years.

We have three versions for your listening pleasure: Woody Guthrie, Dave Alvin & Jimmie Gilmore, and Nancy Griffith.

Now that we’ve been deported, it’s time to jump to the break. We’ll try not to crash-land but I make no guarantees. Now where the hell did I put my parachute?

Continue reading “Saturday Odds & Sods: Deportee (Plane Crash At Los Gatos)”