Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Second rate reporter says what?

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

They don’t have outfits that big. nor codpieces that small.

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Fear and negativity are contagious, but so is courage!

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

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On The Road – ema – Japan Day Parade 2024

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Happy Monday!   We are quite the travelers this week, should be fun!

If you have been thinking about sending in some pictures, now would be a great time to do it.  We have a full week this week, and then just 3 posts in the queue for the following week.

(click the schedule below for a larger, non-blurry image)
On The Road - ema - Japan Day Parade 2024 10

ema

This was my first Japan Day parade (27:51 min full parade YT video) and I was a bit iffy about attending. I mean, a parade without pipes and drums, and marching bands, how does that even work? Let me tell you, it works just fine! 

I loved the parade and found it to be entertaining and informative. They had groups representing both large cities and small islands, and traditional and modern Japanese culture. One thing that stood out for me, almost every group had at least a few itsy–bitsy kids and elderly people as full participants. My absolute favorites were the mini ballerinas – so uncoordinated, yet so committed – who stole the show.

They even had a group of Demon Slayer actors from Japan for a sword fighting scene. I was not familiar with Demon Slayer but I did enjoy the show. The actors were committed, the fight choreography was quite convincing, and a good time was had by all.

There was also a street fair with origami, calligraphy and, let’s be honest, what everybody was there for, Japanese street food. It was the most crowded street fair I’ve ever seen, and people were waiting in long food lines and having a great time. Unfortunately, I was filming so I didn’t get a chance to sample any of the treats. Next year. And speaking of next year, you know it’s a good parade when, as it’s ending, you’re already looking forward to attending next year’s event. So, if you’re in the city next year, I strongly recommend you attend Japan Day parade 2025.

(All the links, unless otherwise specified, are to the start of the segment mentioned, and each segment is about 1 min long.)

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First, some traditional drums and a fan dance.

Cold-Eyed Dawn Open Thread: ‘Even Donald Trump has trouble getting New York’s attention’

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Because it’s a holiday weekend, and a gift link… The ever-reasonable Philip Bump, at the Washington Post:

… By dropping into the middle of a predominantly Black and Hispanic community in the Bronx, Trump was, among other things, doing the same thing: trolling the left and his critics. He hoped to get a rise out of his opponents, and he did.

At least among those who noticed he was there.

The rally had a footprint in the neighborhood, but a modest one. Despite the insistence of some Trump allies, the Bronx rally wasn’t huge. The hilltop where he spoke allowed for people to spread around the podium on all sides about 40 people deep, though it rarely extended that far. It was a small-club performance by design, not an arena show.

It was, however, much more diverse than any Trump rally I’ve attended. His audiences tend, like his voting base, to skew heavily White. This rally had a disproportionate number of Black, Asian and Hispanic attendees, reflecting the surrounding community. Many of those in attendance were, in fact, from the Bronx; others were from other places near New York City: Westchester County to the north, or out on Long Island…

The rally had the familiar microeconomies that accompany Trump as he campaigns. There were merchants outside selling hats (a visor with fake orange “Trump hair,” for example) and T-shirts. (“I WAS THERE!” one popular shirt read. “BRONX NEW YORK / TRUMP.”) A number of people had placards showing Trump’s mug shot photo from his arrest in Georgia, but those were being given out by the campaign. There was also a surfeit of members of the pro-Trump media universe that has been fostered by the overlap of his popularity and the advent of cheap tools for streaming content.

Some of America’s more famous hustlers also showed up. Former New York congressman George Santos was there, as was Billy McFarland of Fyre Festival infamy. As rapper Sheff G made his way through security, fans called out to him from the line of people waiting to get in. He would later join Trump onstage, each of them dealing with the criminal justice system in New York City. This was the first Trump rally I’ve attended where the smell of marijuana was pervasive, though it was not the first park in the city where I’ve experienced that…

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Sunday Night Open Thread

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I do love me some Jack Smith.

https://twitter.com/7Veritas4/status/1794553084363895088

Full text:

Dear Donald,

I’m sorry you stepped outside your MAGA bubble and got beat up like a rented piñata at an anger management seminar.

To remedy this harsh dose of reality, you could announce a MAGA rally next week in a safe zone, sell a few hats, issue some “they’re out to get me” fundraisers, post some Taylor Swift concert crowds and claim them as your attendees.

Hope this helps.

Yours truly,

Jack

Open thread.

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War for Ukraine Day 823: The Butcher’s Bill for Kharkiv

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Painting by NEIVANMADE. It has a white background an in the center are Soldiers in green doing air defense by firing at incoming Russian missiles in the upper right. The missiles are red and yellow. In the upper left, written in green, is the text: "SAVE THE BRAVEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD!" Below the Soldiers, also written in green, is "SUPPORT FOR KHARKIV"

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

Quick housekeeping note: Rosie is doing fine as she heads into the second week off in between chemo treatments. Currentyly she’s sprawled out across the middle of the bed. And she just sat up because she knows I’m typing about her. The brown bomber – Ruby – is, as usual, curled up just next to me. Thank you all again for the good thoughts, well wishes, prayers, and donations. They are all greatly appreciated.

I’m going to keep tonight’s update on the shorter side.

As of 10:02 PM EDT – about 45 minutes into drafting tonight’s update – air raid alerts have gone up over all of eastern Ukraine and into the central Ukrainian oblast of Kirovohrad.

Before we get into the post proper, I wanted to take a moment and talk about this post from the Auschwitz Memorial. I saw it on Bluesky, but it’s easier to use their tweet..

A heartbreaking moment that was saved by an SS photographer at Auschwitz II-Birkenau during the deportations of Hungarian Jews.

It was taken 80 years ago, most likely in late May 1944. A little child finds a dandelion in the grass and is handing it or showing it to an older boy.

All the people in this picture had already gone through the arrival selection and were awaiting to be murdered in a gas chamber. They were killed shortly after.

Please repost this unique document.

I’ve seen this picture many, many times before. At Bluesky, when I reposted it per the Auschwitz Memorial’s request, I suggested that you could title it:

“Innocence Last.” Or “The last moment of innocence.” Or “Prelude to the death of innocence.”

But what really struck me this morning is that at the moment I saw the Auschwitz Memorial post, there are young children in Ukraine, Gaza, Myanmar, Sudan, and at least a half dozen other places that are doing something similar to this long lost toddler because they are too young to understand the cruelty they are being subjected to. As well as the horrific reality they are experiencing. So they pick a flower and hand it to an older sibling. Or play with a toy that has managed to survive a missile or drone strike.

The Russians, of course, continued to bombard Kharkiv today:

Here’s the butcher’s bill from yesterday’s attack on Kharkiv:

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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Sunday Evening Open Thread: A Bright Spot in Idaho News

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I don’t know if Mr. Posey will ever see a dime of this, but I’m glad he was publicly exonerated. From the local Couer d’Alene Press, “Jury awards $1.1 million to drag performer”:

A jury has awarded more than $1.1 million in damages to the drag performer who sued a blogger for defamation.

The unanimous verdict was returned Friday. The jury found that blogger Summer Bushnell defamed Post Falls resident Eric Posey when she accused him of exposing himself to the crowd while he performed in drag at the Coeur d’Alene City Park bandshell in June 2022…

Jurors awarded Posey $926,000 in compensatory damages for defamation. Because Posey proved that Bushnell knew her allegations were false when she made them or that she made the accusations with “reckless disregard” for the truth, the jury awarded additional punitive damages in the amount of $250,000.

The day of Posey’s performance, June 11, 2022, Bushnell posted a video of herself discussing the mass arrest of Patriot Front members near City Park, as well as footage from Posey’s performance.

“Why did no one arrest the man in a dress who flashed his genitalia to minors and people in the crowd?” she said in the video. “No one said anything about it and there’s video. I’m going to put up a blurred video to prove it.”

The next day, Bushnell published an edited video she had received from local videographer Jeremy Lokken, which included a blur over Posey’s pelvis. Bushnell told others that the blur concealed “fully exposed genitals” and urged people to contact police.

The edited video garnered many thousands of views, sparking national news coverage and a police investigation. City prosecutors ultimately declined to file charges and stated publicly that the unedited video showed no exposure…

“The jury’s verdict demonstrates a clear message to this community that you have to be truthful,” said Wendy J. Olsen, one of Posey’s attorneys. “The jury did good, hard work. They rendered a tremendous service to the community.”

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Naps, TV Notes & Pink Birds (Open Thread)

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I’m not much of a napper but have been advised to give it a try. I’m bad at it so far. If I sleep during the day, I end up spending most of the the overnight hours either on the sofa watching TV between two snoring dogs or on the porch, listening to the swamp symphony. Here’s what that sounds like.

This weekend, I watched the latest episode of “Hacks,” (HBO Max) featuring the wonderful Jean Smart as aging Boomer comedian Deborah Vance and Hannah Einbinder as Ava Daniels, Deborah’s writer-collaborator and Gen Z foil.

This week’s episode centered on “cancel culture,” and damned if “Hacks” didn’t pull off a show on that thorny topic that managed to examine the issue thoughtfully while mostly avoiding self-righteousness or dismissiveness.

“Hacks” made the too-often overlooked point that celebrities with giant megaphones who get “canceled” might lose a gig in a worst-case scenario, but they’re never really silenced and go right on being rich, famous and influential.

“Hacks” portrayed at least some of the folks who took offense in the context of the show as sincere people who want a culture that does better by all its constituent parts rather than as a ravening mob gleefully out to ruin someone.

The lesson was that a hack is someone who refuses to learn and grow. Impressively nuanced, and Bill Maher, Jerry Seinfeld and the other cancel culture whiners should take note.

A new season of “The Great American Baking Show” has dropped on the free Roku channel. Haven’t watched it yet, but the British version got me through some tough times, particularly after the 2016 election.

I’ve also learned a few things about baking from watching that show. Baking has never been a strength for me. I’m a home cook who likes to improvise; I tend to struggle with discipline and precise instructions. (Probably a life metaphor in there somewhere).

Bill is watching “Outer Range” on Prime, which features Barbra Streisand’s stepson Josh Brolin as a rancher with a supernatural pasture. The concept is intriguing (big hole in a pasture that facilitates time travel when people, animals, etc., jump or fall in), but there doesn’t seem to a cohesive plot, just a series of loosely connected vignettes.

So when I try to watch that, I usually end up wandering off to listen to the frogs sing and the owls hoot and the insects trill. It makes more sense.

Open thread!

PS: Here’s a gift link to a WaPo story about flamingos’ triumphant return to Florida. Last year after Hurricane Idalia, we talked a bit here about flamingo sightings in the state. I couldn’t be happier about the prospect that flamingos are repopulating the area — God knows we need their vivid goofiness now more than ever!

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Susan Tate – Emerging Artist, A Short Essay

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If you would like your talent featured in Authors in Our Midst or Artists in Our Midst, just send me an email message and we’ll make it happen. Don’t be shy! I have no more Artists or Authors posts in the queue, so please get in touch if you would like to be featured.

Let’s give a warm welcome to Susan Tait!

Emerging Artist, A Short Essay 

by Susan Tait

I remember the day when I picked up a tube of ultramarine blue paint, and thought, “If I buy this, I’ll have to eat soup for a week.” 

I did eat soup for a week. Didn’t regret it. I needed to paint what I saw in my head as I plowed through novels—The Word for World is Forest by LeGuin inspired me to paint a forest a night, firelit under the stars. I was ten, and art was already my Imaginary Friend, but made visible each time. 

As a young adult, I thought art as a profession was for people in art school. My art was just how I dealt with the chafing of daily life. 

A few decades go by. I spend COVID drawing and painting. By 2023, the stack of notebooks and canvases and photos in the garage had gotten deep enough to require floor-to-near-ceiling racks. My friend Matt said to me, “What are you doing to do with it all?” 

“Um, I’ll let my son deal with it after I’m dead?” 

“You’re an asshole,” he said, not unkindly. 

I laughed. I couldn’t deny that if I didn’t think I was any good, no one else would ever have a say in the matter. Did I have the courage for that? Was it enough that sometimes I liked my own work? I didn’t know. 

Two weeks later, the county announced its biennial Call for Entries for artwork to display in the library system.  

I’d spent three years studying Abstract Expressionism in life drawing and painting. Did I dare submit nudes?  

The first staff member I asked looked at me as if I’d suggested hanging porn. Her eyes dropped and she mumbled something about speaking to the exhibition manager.  

I sent four landscapes and a nude, and got a qualified “we’ll let you hang one [nude].” Meanwhile, MAGA is trying to ban books and close libraries, there’s switching going on in the stacks, a guy in a MAGA hat keeps showing up to test tolerance. I decided none of us needed the aggravation. I just sent the landscapes. Just get some things in without making trouble the first time, I told myself. If they like these, and me, I’ll get another chance. Maybe. 

And then I twisted an ankle and discovered a bunion. The day before the installation, my mother died. 

Two other people hung the work while I zoned in and out. 

White wall, from left to right: Prairie Schooner, Boat at Hagg Lake, Dogwood Hill, and TV Nature Park (looking south). Collectively known as “Hymn to Summer.” BJ stealth commenter The Lodger is standing at the far left inspecting the hang. We thank Emily Craft, of the Washington County Library System, for her help. 

Introducing the Works 

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