ICEstapo at Work

The ICEstapo raided restaurants in San Diego, kitted out in full tactical gear in order to arrest cooks, waiters and sihwashers.

They threw flashbang grenades at the onlookers. Sooner or later, those goons are going to adopt Chinese methods of crowd control.

Decades from now, if this country survives, all of the old folks will tell their grandchildren that they were opposed to MAGA and Trumpism. Sort of like all of the old French dudes were in the Resistance.

Caturday

Chip, of course;

Musk the Druggie Kills Kids

All of this was foreseeable by anyone with a pulse and a functioning sense of compassion.

Musk/DOGE's funding cuts of USAid have killed three hundred thousand people and have continued to kill a hundred people an hour.

Even if he wasn't on drugs at the time, former illegal alien Musk is a psychopath who cares about nobody other than himself and maybe a couple of his kids.

And for sure the SFG doesn't care. For them and their administration, cruelty is the point. They, plus RFK, jr., think it's great when people die due to lack of access to food or from infectious disease. They are eugenicists who think that more death improves the gene pool.

It is a short stroll from eugenics enthusiast to gas-chamber operator.

Elon Musk is the World's Richest Dope Fiend

Elon Musk engaged in extensive drug consumption while serving as one of Donald Trump’s closest advisers, taking ketamine so frequently it caused bladder problems and traveling with a daily supply of approximately 20 pills, according to claims made to the New York Times.

The world’s richest man regularly consumed ketamine, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms during his rise to political prominence, anonymous sources familiar with his activities told the Times. His drug use reportedly intensified as he donated $275m to Trump’s presidential campaign and later wielded significant power through his role spearheading the “department of government efficiency”, or Doge.

Somebody who was using that many drugs and who wasn't a billionaire would be residing in either rehab or prison. But Trump let him destroy our government.

But he's rich beyond belief, an asshole buddy of the FLOSS and a nazi to boot. It'll be a long time until people stop calling Teslas "Swasticars". Not to mention every driver of a Cybertruck is advertising that they have more money than brains.

Couch Boy is One of the Dumbest People in D.C.

First, take in this piece of historical ignorance:

Apparently he has too busy boffing furniture in Ohio to have ever hear of Operation Paperclip. He's never heard of Wernher von Braun?

Weird and stupid. Or ignorant and weird.

Because It's Friday

White Pass & Yukon RR:

Arresting Migrants

Jess Piper made the point that if the ICEstapo is only arresting the migrant workers and not the employers that hired them, it's not immigration enforcement.

It's racism.

It's like arresting the hookers, but not the johns.

What Passes for Good News Under the Orange Demented Fascist

The economy didn't contract as much as they feared.

The economy was growing for the last three years under Biden, ever since the pandemic ended. And then this Felonious Fool came along and began crashing everything. Of course, you'll never get his cult-followers to acknowledge that.

Rotary-Swinging These Down, Here

One Corrupt Fuck Pardons Another

Former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, whose promising political career was upended by a corruption scandal and two federal prison stints, has been pardoned by President Donald Trump.
...
Rowland served 10 months in a federal prison camp after pleading guilty in 2004 to one count of conspiracy to steal honest services.
...
After finishing his prison sentence, Rowland found new life as a popular AM radio commentator.

But in 2014 he was convicted of conspiring to hide his work on political campaigns and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison.

Felons of a feather. If you're a Republican convicted of corruption, a fraudster whose mother can make million dollar bribes contributions to the Orange Felon's Slush Fund or a right-wing domestic terrorist, you, too, can get a pardon from the Convict-in-Chief.

In other news, Taco Tuesday has been changed to MAGA Monday. This is why.

Trump Tariff FAIL— TACO Day!

His "Liberation Day tariff orders were ruled to be unlawful.

The overnight ranting on Truth Social (aka Two Lies in One) will be fucking epic.

Tell Me, Again, How Republicans Champion Free Speech

When they are going to check the social media history of kids coming to go to school in the U.S. to ensure that they only sing the praises of the Donald the Orange MAGA God, then no, they don't.

Free speech to MAGA is like free speech in the USSR, China, or Nazi Germany: The freedom to agree with the government. MAGA and this Administration operate like the antebellum South, in that any dissent is to be crushed.

Frankly, at this point, only a fool would come to school here.

Speaking of school, since the Bozos in Charge think that the policy of the government should be that higher education is bad and trade schools are good, tell me this: Who is the Trump family is going to trade school? Is Barron going to be a plumber? Are any of his grandkids going to become carpenters, electricals or welders? How about any of the kids or grandkids of his senior staff or cabinet?

Anyone? Beuler? Beuler?

You know the answer to that, of course. All of them are going to go to college, and not some pissant land-grant state school, either. Trade schools are for the MAGA plebes, not for the Trumpian elites.

Wise-Wording These Down, Here

Another Day, Another Solemn Event Defiled by Trump

So not only did he wish people a "Happy Memorial Day" (kind of like wishing someone a "happy yahrzeit"), he then used part of his speech that traditionally is made to honor the fallen to launch into his usual litany of personal attacks and grievances. I'm only surprised that he didn't end it with a plug for his crypto grift.

What saddens me the most is all of those self-styled conservatives, the people who usually pride themselves on being patriots and honoring those who died in the service of this country, are so utterly silent at spectacle of the Short-fingered Vulgarian verbally rubbing shit all over the Tomb of the Unknowns.

But it's what I have come to expect of them. Loyalty to Trump über alles is their SOP.

National Greed and Sloth Day

Yes, an ongoing rant.

Today has nothing to do with whose who died serving this country. It's all about starting the summer vacation season, a three-day holiday and, most importantly, enriching all sorts of retail and travel industries.

We Have Been Poisoning the World

Birds with some much plastic in their stomachs that they crunch to the touch.

Toxic algal blooms on a scale previously unknown.

Increases of microplastics in human brains. (But no, Brainworm Bobby is more worried about vaccines.)

I don't know what the tipping point is from our fouling the planetary ecosystem. But if one comes, the effects may hit at a speed and scale to which we can't adapt.

And nobody can honestly say that we didn't have it coming.

Your Sunday Morning Old Prop Noise

The Shuttleworth Trust Airshow:

REAL ID Doesn’t Mean Shit If You Have a Brown Skin

A U.S.-born citizen who was wrestled into the dirt, handcuffed and detained in a vehicle as part of an immigration raid had a REAL ID on him that was dismissed as fake, the man's cousin said Friday.

Video of the arrest, aired by Noticias Telemundo, showed authorities grabbing Leonardo Garcia Venegas, 25, while at a job site in Foley, Alabama, on Wednesday and bending his arms behind him. Someone off-camera can be heard yelling, "He's a citizen."

Garcia told Noticias Telemundo that authorities took his ID from his wallet and told him it was fake before handcuffing him.

ICEstapo can't tell a real ID from a fake, especially one with all the security features mandated by DasGov. Probably because ICEstapo goons aren't real police, just cosplaying thugs. Like their boss, the poodle shooter.

Truth About the FLOSS and Antisemitism.

To him, it's only a cudgel to use on universities. But in his own administration, it is accepted.

Exhibit 1:

Kingsley Wilson, a deputy press secretary at the Department of Defense who has come under fire from Democratic and Republican lawmakers and Jewish communal organizations for promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories, has been promoted to serve as the department’s press secretary, the Pentagon announced on Friday.

In past administrations, being a bigot was the kiss of death. You'd be out the door before they had read the sports pages in the papers reporting it. But no, this racist piece of shit gets promoted.

So if you believe that the FLOSS cares about antisemitism and Jewish students, you've been lied to. Smarten up, dudes.

Some Real Truth.

The only difference between a MAGA hat and KKK hood is that the KKK were ashamed to show their faces.

[image or embed]

— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec.bsky.social) May 24, 2025 at 1:04 PM

Caturday, Guest Critter Ed.

He's a little wary of cats. He hasn't seen Chip since he was a pup.

Not Everyone Wants to Work For Quislings; Law Firm Ed.

Four top partners at Paul Weiss announced late Friday that they were leaving the law firm, a major blow to the firm in the wake of its decision to cut a deal with President Trump to head off an executive order that would have restricted its business.

The partners — Karen Dunn, Bill Isaacson, Jeannie Rhee and Jessica Phillips — will form their own law firm.

The corrollary for "who would want to hire a law firm which can't stand up for itself" is "who would want to work for such a firm"?

I wish them well. And may Paul, Weiss continue to bleed talent and, ultimately, implode.

Because It's Friday

Hauling hooper cars.



Supposedly back in the steam era, 20% of the freight trains were comprised of railroads hauling coal for themselves.

ICEstapo's Immigration Speedtrap

Remember when the Orange Fascist and his minions all said that they would go after the worst of the worst when it comes to immigration enforcement?

They're not doing that. They are going after those who are trying to follow the rules, by snatching up migrants who are showing up to court for their cases.

They are just as evil as the cops running speed traps to meet a quota. Because that's just what they are doing. They are going after the easiest to find in order to satisfy the FLOSS and the Puppy-Killer.

There Should Be a Giant, Blinking “For Sale” Sign Over the West Wing

Donald Trump will host the top holders of his cryptocurrency at a gala tonight at his private golf club near Washington DC. ... The attendees are winners of the US president’s meme coin competition. Last month, Trump announced that the 220 crypto wallets with the largest holdings of $Trump between 23 April and 12 May would win a ticket to a private dinner at the Trump National golf club. The top 25 holders would also be invited to a “Private VIP Reception” with the president beforehand.

Since this con job of a crypto coin benefits The Short-Fingered Vulgarian directly, he might as well have a mailbox at the entrance where attendees could deposit envelopes of cash. This is Boss Tweed or Chicago Machine levels of corruption on a vast scale.

More worrisome it is not on the road possibility at lower level government officials will decide to take cash for their services. You want a permit for something-- grease some palms. We could end up with Central American shitholes-level of corruption, thanks to the COFF.

Spackling These Down, Here

Why The Short-Fingered Vulgarian Doesn't Have a New Air Force One

Back in 2018, the FLOSS wanted a new Air Force One. His bright idea, at the time, was to buy one of the newish planes in the boneyard in Victorville and have it modified, instead of buying a new airplane and having it built as AF1.

The Orange Dumbo chortled how cheaper it was to buy an airplane from the boneyard. But those in the know, which included almost everyone with a pulse, pointed out that the final cost would be a lot higher, as retrofitting costs more than putting in the required upgrades as the airframe is built (the 747 production line was still open). Plus, retrofitting takes much more time.

But nooo, Demented Donnie knows all and nobody can tell him anything different.

And that's how it has played out. It's taking a very long time to build the new AF1s.

Which is why he strong-armed the Qataris to give him Bribe Force One.

Meanwhile the President of South Africa insulted the Dimwit of Queens to his face and he didn't even know it.

ICEstapo: Lying and Inhuman

Remember how they said they're only going after criminals?

They lie. They're going after the lowest of low-hanging fruit, like people applying for citizenship who have paperwork errors.

Like this guy. Because they have quotas to fill. Just like a cop in Linndale, Ohio.

Catapulting the Propaganda, 2025 Ed

DNI Tulsi Gabbard (yes, I throw up in my mouth every time I type that) ordered intelligence analysts' reports revised so that the Short-Fingered Vulgarian could claim justification for due-process-free deportations.

New emails document how a top aide to Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, ordered analysts to edit an assessment with the hope of insulating President Trump and Ms. Gabbard from being attacked for the administration’s claim that Venezuela’s government controls a criminal gang.

Have we, and Republicans especially, not learn the folly of adjusting intel reports to suit the politics? Have we forgotten that Bush and Cheney lied the country into a protracted and costly war just because they wanted to have the war and so they fabricated the basis for it? Have we forgotten the cost in blood, money and national reputation for that war? Have we forgotten that Putin seized on that war as justification for two of his?

We elect stupid and venal people, at times.

Internet Gobbledygook = Garbage

Illinois’ prominent Chicago Sun-Times newspaper has confirmed that a summer reading list, which included several recommendations for books that don’t exist, was created using artificial intelligence by a freelancer who worked with one of their content partners.

Social media posts began to circulate on Tuesday criticizing the paper for allegedly using the AI software ChatGPT to generate an article with book recommendations for the upcoming summer season called “Summer reading list for 2025”. As such chatbots are known to make up information, a phenomenon often referred to as “AI hallucination”, the article contains several fake titles attached to real authors.

“I went into my library’s database of Chicago area newspapers to confirm this isn’t fake, and it’s not,” a post on Bluesky by Book Riot editor Kelly Jensen says. “Why the hell are you using ChatGPT to make up book titles? You used to have a books staff. Absolutely no fact checking?”

"Freelancing content provider using AI", instead of "staff reporter" sounds like a recipie for utter garbage. And so it was.

I wonder, sometimes, how many people could get themselves from one place to another if they were handed a map.

Dumbing These Down, Here

"See no corruption, hear no corruption."

The Thieves are Meeting in the House of Representatives

The House Rules Committee has scheduled a meeting for 1 AM tomorrow morning morning.

“The day is for honest men, the night for thieves.”
-Euripides

Nobody schedules a meeting for the middle of night unless they are completely ashamed of what they are about to do. So this is going to be the meeting where the GOP guts all social services and hands out massive tax cuts to billionaires.

And maybe, just maybe, brings on a full-blown police state.

Anyway:

Trump Cabinet: Stupid, Stupid Sycophants

Puppy-Shooting Noem's deliberate ignorance was on full display at a Senate Hearing:

In a recent Senate hearing, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem made a concerning misstatement regarding the constitutional principle of habeas corpus. When Senator Maggie Hassan inquired about its meaning, Noem responded:

"Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country."

Senator Hassan promptly corrected her, stating, "That's incorrect. Habeas corpus is the legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people. If not for that protection, the government could simply arrest people, including American citizens, and hold them indefinitely for no reason."

Habeus corpus is a fundamental principle in anglo-American jurisprudence that dates back almost 900 years. It's been called "the great writ of liberty", the principle that the state cannot hold people without cause. It is so fundamental that the Framers of the Constitution didn't believe they needed to say that it existed, only to specify the rare circumstances when it could be suspended.

For a public officia, Noem's studied ignorance should be disqualifying.

What's a Little Price-Fixing Between Friends?

In Florida, gas stations are charging a buck a gallon more for using credit cards.

Shit like that is usually unsustainable without some collusion between the gas station owners, who all know each other. But nobody in the DoJ is going to be looking, because Bribe-Baby Bondi has everyone chasing maids and groundskeepers who are not legal residents.

Speaking of that, has anyone seen the ICEstapo raiding the meatpacking plants? i'm guessing that's a pretty solid "no".

Trump Solicited the Airplane Bribe

The Trump administration first approached Qatar to inquire about acquiring a Boeing 747 that could be used as Air Force One by President Donald Trump, four sources familiar with the discussions told CNN. That’s contrary to the narrative from the president that Qatar reached out and offered the jet as a “gift” to him.

In short, they went looking for airplanes to buy or lease, at least that was the original idea. The Qataris, who were sitting on this massive white elephant of an airplane, were open to the idea. But somehow, somewhere along the line, the transaction was changed from paying Qatar with money to letting them them bribe Trump.

But fret not, Gentle Reader. The Republicans will twist themselves into knots to explain why this is all OK, because reasons.

MCAH-- Most Corrupt Administration in History.

100 Years Ago.

An American president wouldn't accept a free pie.

Of course, Silent Cal followed the most corrupt presidential administration of the 20th Century, so there's that.

Will "Sky Palace" replace "Teapot Dome" as a synonym for the corruption of the presdient at the time?

Oklahoma is for Morons

As part of the latest Republican push in red states to promote ideologies sympathetic to Donald Trump, Oklahoma’s new social studies curriculum will ask high school students to identify “discrepancies” in the 2020 election results.

Alchemy will be taught instead of chemistry, creationism and spontaneous generation in biology, flat-eartherism in geography class and so on.

Because MAGA don't need no book learning to install the tiny screws in iPhones.

Your Sunday Morning Prop Noise

Ford Trimotor:

MAGA Hypocrisy

They were all fine with Ka$h Patel posting a video which showed him killing prominent Democrats, including President Biden, with a chainsaw:

Kash Patel, Donald Trump’s pick for FBI Director, shared an AI-generated video of himself chainsawing Members of Congress, political opponents, and media outlets.

Dangerous and disqualified. pic.twitter.com/2hcDu7ORPA

— Senate Judiciary Democrats 🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryDems) January 25, 2025

But they are twisting themselves into knots of outrage because James Comey posted "86. 47." As noted in the cited article, conservatives repeatedly said "86 46" when Biden was president and nobody was investigated by the Secret Service. The Director of Homeland Security did not have a conniption fit.

Boy howdy, have things changed.

MAGA is a bunch of sensitive snowflakes who can dish it out, but they can't take it.

Heckuva Job, Trumpie

In order to avoid tariffs for companies that do a lot of international trade, they're moving those jobs to Canada.

Meanwhile, thanks to the Trump/Musk "cut shit so billionaires can pay less in taxes", swaths of the U.S. no longer have 24/7 weather forecasting services. They;ve also cut weather balloon launches.

Because only idiots like those two think that you can improve forecasting by cutting data used in forecasting.