Defy. Resist. Dissent.
Welcome to the Deep Freeze. When the Gulf (of Mexico) coast is forecasted to receive as much as twelve inches of snow, it’s time to pack everything up and stay inside for a while. We’re keeping the kids home from school today because, once again, it’s too damn cold for them to be standing at a bus stop. The ground was frozen to a degree that dirt crunched beneath my feet when I took the dogs out. My bones ache deep into their marrow. The animals are tightly snuggled together to preserve their body heat. I couldn’t write a more harrowing beginning to a novel of apocalyptic horror if I tried.
No one here watched the inauguration. We’re just not that into insipid stupidity. I’ve not read ‘the speech,’ and I won’t. I don’t mind fiction all that much, but I’m not into pompous self-aggrandizing from someone who is barely literate. No one who stood in the Capitol Rotunda yesterday has my respect. I refuse to acknowledge any authority they might claim. I will not use their names. I actively resist this entire administration and everything it attempts to do.
I didn’t turn off my news tickers yesterday, primarily because I was afraid that I might miss something legitimately newsworthy. While I was hoping for a mass suicide event in the Rotunda, I’ll settle for President Biden commuting the sentence of Leonard Peltier on his way out the door. Understand, a commutation is not the same as a pardon. This champion of Indigenous American rights is still technically under arrest but can finish out his days at home where he can receive the medical care he needs. The FBI can go pound sand on this matter. Peltier has always claimed innocence and there is plenty of evidence to support that claim, but because two federal agents were killed all the feds care about is having a scapegoat. Peltier has never been dangerous, but I remain hopeful that his words inspire an uprising.
The true criminals begin with the oaf who wouldn’t bother to put his hand on the Bible while taking the oath of office. You know, that thing that begins with “I swear…” If he’s not swearing on the Bible, then what’s the authority on which he’s swearing? His actions deny there being any authority greater than himself, which means it is up to us to prove how wrong he is.
Other low points of the day include but are not limited to the following:
- The Punk signed an executive order beginning the process of withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization.
- Revoking protections for transgender troops. The military doesn’t keep a unified list, so the whole concept becomes a deep invasion of personhood and privacy.
- Declaring a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border, suspending refugee resettlement, and ending automatic citizenship for anyone born in the U.S. Given that birthright citizenship is protected by the 18th Amendment, the Punk is effectively violating the Constitution on this one.
- Temporarily suspending all U.S. foreign assistance programs for 90 days pending reviews to determine whether they are aligned with his policy goals. Spoiler alert, funding already approved by Congress is obligated to be spent. The Punk does not have the power to stop it.
- Halting offshore wind lease sales and pausing the issuance of approvals, permits, and loans for both onshore and offshore wind projects. Does the Punk understand what he’s doing? No. Does this have everything to do with preserving oil money? Yes.
- Directing the Homeland Security and Justice departments to prepare for him to use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows the president to deport any noncitizen from a country considered an enemy of the U.S. No one in the US is safe regardless of immigration status.
- Rescinded a 2021 order signaling the Education Department would use Title IX to protect against discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. This action puts your children in danger.
- Withdrawing from the Paris climate treaty. Again. Mind you, we are the only industrialized nation foolish enough to take such a step. So, you know that snow in the Deep South? This is just the beginning.
Worth watching: Early this morning, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi had a phone call. “We jointly support the development of a more just multipolar global order and work to ensure indivisible security in Eurasia and the world as a whole,” Putin told Xi in remarks carried by the Russian state TV. “Joint efforts by Russia and China play an important stabilizing role in global affairs.” This is a frightening development as our two largest ideological enemies threaten to control more of the world. Keep an eye on this matter.
I don’t expect there to be a great deal of good news over the next four years. For that reason, I’m upping my use of AI-generated imagery on these posts. For the past few years, I’ve re-edited and re-imagined photos from my archives, but the situation we find ourselves in at this moment requires a change. Photos from my archives are from a happier time. They were full of fun, exploration, and frivolity. All that is gone and I’m not going to destroy my photos by trying to make them fit the disgusting and ridiculous circumstances we are in.
Not that any of this matters. Fewer than 100 people view any given update. That’s not exactly a movement that threatens to upset anything. Still, at some unknown point in the distant future, I want our descendants to know that someone put up a fuss. If the world collapses into this chaos, it won’t be because I didn’t try to warn you.
Personally, I’m going to sit here and drown my sorrows in caffeine.
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
The Pot Simmers
Let’s start this morning by everyone waving at the Chinese bots that routinely check every new post except for Sundays. Why bots need to take Sunday off, I don’t know, but they do. Smile and say “Xi is a criminal” as you wave. We don’t want them to get the mistaken assumption that we’re going to be friendly with them just because we’re pissed about our own government.
There’s a lot of fake news running around and, sadly, much of it is coming from the White House. Here’s some of the top bullshit.
There is so much that is bothering me this morning. Were you aware that DOGE Reportedly Cuts FDA Employees Investigating Neuralink? This is the company that wants to implant chips in people’s heads. The FDA previously found Musk’s company was engaging in “objectionable conditions or practices.”
Gaby De Vale has an interesting take on the DEI purge. She’s of the opinion that all the DEI talk is a smokescreen for a war on the Civil Rights Movement itself using WWI-era eugenics principles. After reading her article this morning, I’m not seeing any major problems with her claim. This should be alarming on an incalculable scale.
This just happened: French President Emmanuel Macron called a second emergency meeting of European allies on Wednesday to devise a united response to President Punk’s remarks embracing Vladimir Putin’s narrative that Ukraine is to blame for the war. All of Europe is now of the opinion that Felonious Punk is in Putin’s pocket and they’re adjusting policies accordingly.
Threats of a 25% tariff on cars, drugs, and chips are causing a lot of people to begin stockpiling items they fear might be affected. Even Walmart is affected, though don’t worry, the Walton family is still making obscene amounts of money.
I’m bothered that the West Texas measles outbreak isn’t getting more attention. The count is now up to 58 cases and includes vaccinated people for the first time. This is not something that anyone needs to ignore. Outbreaks like this can explode exponentially in just a few days’ time.
All of this is overwhelming and that’s exactly what the administration wants. Fighting on multiple fronts is exhausting and most of us have neither the time nor the energy to fully engage in any of it. Sure, people are upset. Yesterday, a Southern Indiana man was arrested for making threats online against the Muskrat. The dude happens to own an AR-15, so he’s being held without bail. That’s where we’re at.
But then, one can argue that the whole of society is in the shitter. One local school is being charged with claims that it cultivates an ‘atmosphere of violence.‘ This is the same school from which Kat graduated. It hasn’t been a great school ever, but when bloodshed becomes an everyday occurrence then we have to question not only what is wrong with government, but what is wrong with us.
This is not the life we wanted. If we want it to change, we have to start acting in uncharacteristically aggressive methods. I’m over anyone telling me to ‘let it go’ or that ‘love will find a way.’ That might work in your personal relationship, but it’s not going to cause the world’s three strongest dictators, Punk, Putin, and Xi, to back off their atrocious plans.
Can I get real for a second? Canada was already making plans for war with the US over the whole statehood question. Now, all of Europe is banding together to prepare to take on the Axis powers of the US, Russia, and China. We are no longer the good guys.
Inevitably, this leads us to the question: What are you willing to do to get our country back?
I encourage you to think outside your comfort zone. Being comfortable will get you killed.
We are at war.
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