(Matt Davies via GoComics.com)
What I find even more fascinating is these caretakers are dressed in suit and tie
— Ragnarok Lobster (@eclecticbrotha1.bsky.social) May 24, 2025 at 9:33 PM
The party of death and killing children.
— Clean Observer (@hammbear2024.bsky.social) May 24, 2025 at 1:14 PM
the return of the know-nothings
— Catherine Rampell (@crampell.bsky.social) May 25, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Thousands are marking the fifth anniversary of George Floyd's murder at religious services, concerts and vigils nationwide.
— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) May 25, 2025 at 6:01 PM
On The Road – Albatrossity – April, come she will
NotMax
Annual obligatory watch on Memorial Day..
prostratedragon
“Save Me from Bloody Men”
Baud
I’m not sure I care about the police who are scrambling.
One way or another, people need to learn not to take us for granted.
Baud
Blessed memorial day to those who have lost someone.
Ten Bears
LOL ~ they cut the cops they need for backup ~ gene ee us
Tattoo the Ten Commandments across Johnson’s forehead. Post them everywhere, the Village Square. I am a Human Being, I don’t need to be reminded not to do these things. “Christians”, on the other hand, need constant reminding, need tattoos
There’s an old canard ~ you know, like an old wives’ tale not something an “AI” can connect ~ there’s an old canard about how no one ever went broke underestimating American stupidity … but I think things are starting to turn around and some certain group of people are indeed about to go broke underestimating Americans
MIght say they’ve reached the end of their rope …
prostratedragon
This kind of thing just keeps happening.
Professor Bigfoot
@Ten Bears: It could be their “extinction burst,” but we have to be careful that the stupid bastards don’t take the rest of us with them.
eclare
@Baud:
My dad wasn’t in a war but he served. At his funeral, the army sent a trumpet player and flag team, it was beautiful. They do that for all vets.
Spanky
Who’s the woman in the NPR article? She’s got the Cruella deVille look down cold. And I do mean cold.
eclare
@Spanky:
Isn’t that the WH Spokesperson? Kristine?
RevRick
@Baud: The painful irony is that Memorial Day was originally a remembrance of Union Civil War dead (Decoration Day), and the Big Disgusting Abomination represents a kind of victory for the secessionist South.
Suzanne
@Spanky: I think that’s Pam Bondi.
eclare
Gorgeous flowers satby!
sab
@Spanky: Isn’t that Pam Bondi, Trump’s attorney general?
Ocotillo
@Spanky: Our attorney general, Pam Bondi
edited to add the spit after I typed her name.
MagdaInBlack
@Spanky: The main picture? That’s our mean-girl AG, Pam “Cruella” Bondi.
Quite the piece of work, that one
( and we all chimed in to help on that question)
eclare
@Suzanne:
You’re right. Bondi.
Glory b
I posted this on what I think was a dead thread yesterday, but Harvard is offering its government classes for free.
https://pll.harvard.edu/subject/government
RevRick
@eclare: I remember the first time I officiated at the funeral of a veteran and they did a twenty one gun salute. I startled at how loud the sound was.
Spanky
My mom was right. She grew into the face she deserved.
Suzanne
@Spanky: All the retinol, deep plane facelifts, fillers, and laser treatments…. and it still doesn’t fix MAGA.
Baud
@Suzanne:
Ain’t no Botox for the soul.
Raoul Paste
Cruella as Attorney General. Bizarre and spot on.
eclare
@Suzanne:
Beauty is only skin deep, ugly goes to the bone.
Peale
I’m sure there will be some offset in there to fund the police who cooperate with deportations by allowing them to have the proceeds from confiscating the property of immigrants. And for the rest of us, make sure you never have more than $2 in cash on you, lest you get accused of potentially using that cash to commit a crime.
Professor Bigfoot
Hitler’s dog, Blondi.
Trump’s dog, Bondi.
It does make a weird sort of sense, I guess…
Suzanne
@eclare: I think she’d be prettier with less makeup. But that’s part of the MAGA gender compliance regimen.
MagdaInBlack
@Suzanne: There is a drag artist on you-tube who does very entertaining “Republican Women” make up how-to videos.
Also the men: Matt Gaetz, Vance, Cruz, etc.
Matt McIrvin
@Peale: I need to carry more cash than I do just because it’s the most reasonable way to fund beggars, which I think has become necessary. Not even necessarily the small bills–$20 isn’t what it used to be.
Harrison Wesley
@Glory b: Thanks for reposting that. I’ve passed it along to some people I know who will be interested.
Suzanne
@MagdaInBlack: One of my favorite TikTok follows is Suzanne Lambert (self-described “Regina George liberal”), and she does makeup tutorials. She did a Republican makeup tutorial that had me laughing until I cried.
(Remember that I am an asshole.)
ETA: Her actual makeup tutorials are great. I’m not a big makeup wearer, so I can use the tips for important work days or events.
MagdaInBlack
@Suzanne: I think this one is ” AndMayhemEnsued ” if you’re so inclined to look
p.s. you’re my kind of asshole ;-)
schrodingers_cat
@Glory b: Thanks I will take a look.
Suzanne
@Glory b: You know what else is out there? A bunch of universities released lectures from entire classes on various podcast apps. I never took a Civil War class in college, so I listened to a semester of lectures from a Yale class.
Spanky
@MagdaInBlack: Ain’t no makeup gonna fix those dead eyes or cruel mouth.
MagdaInBlack
@Spanky: Nope.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
Blondi is just one in a line of Cruella’s, DeVos also had the look nailed.
They Call Me Noni
@eclare: My father was active military (Army) when he died so there was the full 21 gun salute and all the pomp and circumstance. I was only 11 and found the gun salute jarring and a bit scary given that he was killed by a gun.
They Call Me Noni
@Peale: Isn’t that plundering? Like what pirates do?
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone😊😊😊
rikyrah
@Glory b:
Thanks for this
rikyrah
@Baud:
Can’t fix what you don’t have
NotMax
@
21 guns are traditionally reserved for only heads of state. A lesser number are fired dependent on rank or office.
oldgold
The Manchurian Cantaloupe has issued a thoughtful “Happy” Memorial Day statement honoring those have given so much – not.
It is a disgrace.
If any other President had issued such a deranged Memorial Day Statement, all hell would have broken loose.
NotMax
Crap. Fix for #43.
@They Call Me Noni
21 guns are traditionally reserved for only heads of state. A lesser number are fired dependent on rank or office.
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Eolirin
@Professor Bigfoot: Even if we survive, we’ll be permanently diminished.
montanareddog
@Baud:
@Suzanne:
I think the botulism toxin enters the souls of these ghouls
Another Scott
@NotMax:
Arlington.media:
At my grandpa’s service there, there were definitely 21 shots fired – 3 very quick cycles for the 7 riflemen. (It was kinda unnerving because the team pointed their rifles at us. !!!)
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
different-church-lady
@Professor Bigfoot: “…but it often rhymes.”
different-church-lady
Wait… I thought they were against defunding the police?
BlueGuitarist
@Professor Bigfoot:
And there’s Pam Bondi’s shameful past as a dognapper.
https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/opinion/columns/2024/11/26/floridas-pam-bondis-dog-drama-plus-has-history-of-being-bought-off/76567753007/
Ruckus
@Suzanne:
It is.
Professor Bigfoot
@oldgold:
Fortunately I had already swallowed that mouthful of delicious coffee when I read this, or it would be ALL OVER MY DESK. XD
Librettist
@Another Scott:
All the National Cemetery internments I have attended had a three volley send off. IIRC firing party numbers vary by availability. Protocol is no less than three, no more than seven.
“On behalf of the President of the United States, [the United States Army, the United States Marine Corps, the United States Navy or the United States Air Force] and a grateful nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one’s honorable and faithful service.”
Professor Bigfoot
@BlueGuitarist: Definitely a servant of evil.
Dognappers, dog murderers…
Ruckus
@RevRick:
It’s loud even if you are expecting it to be or have heard it before.
Guns make noise. Big guns, like a 5 inch gun on a USN ship make a bigger noise. A missile launch on a ship makes noise. A rocket powered torpedo makes noise. Guns make noise. BIG guns make more noise. Ask me how I know.
Another Scott
Meanwhile, …
A thread.
Roger’s a smart dude. He’s not actually puzzled.
All the Federalist Society folks should be hounded until the end of their days to answer these questions though!
Best wishes,
Scott.
Steve LaBonne
@Another Scott: Those hacks do care when one of THEIR oxen is getting gored, viz. Leonard Leo financing lawsuits against Trump’s tariffs.
Trivia Man
@Ruckus: I was on the ROTC rifle team and we had an actual general* visit campus. I dont know if it is standard, but our 21 gun salute was 7 rifles x3 shots each. Best part was we didnt have to stand in formation nearly as long as the rest of our cadre? Unit? Battalion?
*War criminal Westmorland, i skipped his actual lecture and went to see Ben Bova instead. No regrets although it helped me fail ROTC.
Matt McIrvin
@Suzanne: Regina Georgism advocates a Single Tax on trying to make fetch happen.
karen gail
Okay; admitting haven’t read all the comments, yet.
But this caught my eye and off guard.
Trump wants America to build computers and tanks, not T-shirts
Trivia Man
@NotMax: When Truman died my dad took us to the presidio to watch the ceremony. Those guns were BIG! I inspected the shell after up close but luckily was warned it was hot before i tried to pick it up.
Dad had served on that base so we got to hear lots of his barracks stories that day.
Citizen Alan
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Conservatives are the worst, but conservative women are the worst of the worst. Because on top of every other conservative pathology, they are consumed by self hatred and resentment towards all other women who make different life decisions than them and are happier for it.
Trivia Man
@Ruckus: I learned a ship fact yesterday and thought of you. The room holding anchor chains is locked because the rusting process removes all the oxygen from the room.
Suzanne
@Matt McIrvin: Sir, please have your internet for the day. You’ve earned it.
Nukular Biskits
Good late mornin’, y’all.
Hard a hard time powering down last night for some reason so I didn’t hit the sack until sometime after 1 a.m.
different-church-lady
@karen gail: ”Maybe you don’t need thirty t-shirts. Maybe you can have three.”
NotMax
@different-church-lady
“With the tariffs three will be the same price as thirty. Win-win.”
//
dnfree
@Suzanne: “Gender compliance regimen”. Perfect term!
Chief Oshkosh
@Another Scott:
Who cares what they answer? Instead of being hounded, they should be removed from society. We’d be far ahead if we “retired” all of them to a luxury resort island without communication or travel capabilities. Wise use of tax dollars.
different-church-lady
@Chief Oshkosh: Elba?
Ruckus
@oldgold:
It is a disgrace. To the office and to humanity. At least he’s obvious and none of his crap is unexpected. What is/should be expected is that he acts/speaks like an even semi normal human being. But he’s not one – and not even close so we should have the expected response – zero positive expectations. That’s my expectation – zero positive anything.
NotMax
@Chief Oshkosh
One vote for Lower Slobbovia.
:)
Big Fly
Some years ago during my first trip to Germany, I visited the American Cemetery in Luxembourg, where a family member is interred; I wanted to get as much information for my family about ‘R’ as was available (they had nothing but memories), as well as see the place. It turns out it’s the cemetery where Patton is buried and memorialized; one enters the grounds through a surprisingly ornate, open-ended dome. FWIW, I’m a VN vet and not one for sentimentalizing much about such service, but when I first walked through the dome and saw the waves of crosses in the immaculate setting, I could hardly breathe: I felt things I hadn’t for decades — if ever.
On site was a small, white house: the home of the historian/caretaker and the next stop. The gentleman — small-statured; thin-mustached; formal; wearing a black suit with white shirt and black tie and who presented as the epitome of what one might imagine a European librarian or docent would. Or maybe Inspector Clousseau.
Given ‘R’s full name, he pulled from the shelves several large volumes, filled with data about the vets interred: names, dates, circumstances of death. As he pored over them, I learned all about ‘R’s death — very likely shot by a German sniper during a ‘mop-up’ operation; the historian compiled, and copied for me, quite a bit of ‘R’s life and death in Germany: information much treasured by family, and especially by his sisters.
Back to the lead photo: the caretaker loaded me and a bucket of sand onto a golf cart and drove to ‘R’s gravesite, where he respectfully performed the same ritual, using sand from Normandy, enabling photos to take home. My time there was core-shaking.
I write this not only because the opening photo caused this flood of memories, but also to encourage everyone able to visit Europe to find one of several American Cemeteries and spend time there for the beauty of the sites (Europeans, in heartfelt and often-expressed gratitude for our sacrifices, revere and immaculately maintain the cemeteries), but also, perhaps, to reflect upon life, loss, and what is the final result of war.
Peace.
Trivia Man
@different-church-lady: I wore a tshirt last week that i have had since 1980. I dont wear it much, and its a little tight, but still n fine shape.
Harrison Wesley
@Chief Oshkosh: Club Guantanamo!
karen gail
@different-church-lady: the garment making industry needs a lot more people to make things than builders of tanks. I made “good” money working in garment factory when I was paid by pieces rather than hourly; lead people were paid very well because we kept the rest of the floor in work. The best part for me was that when I finished everything in bins I was done for the day; I could go home and spend time with my small children.
Geminid
Last week,Tom Barrack, the US Ambassador to Turkiye,* was named Special Envoy for Syria. As a longtime Trump ally, Barrack enjoys unusual “clout” and a statement he issued yesterday got a lot of attention around the region. Turkish journalist Ragip Soylu posted his take:
Barrack’s statement:
Barrack plans to visit Syria this week. He already met with Syria’s President and Foreign Minister in Ankara this weekend.
* When Barrack arrived in Ankara ten days ago, I checked out his Wikipedia biography. It’s an interesting read.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@Eolirin: not permanently, I hope.
Temporarily. We will have much union fixing and then perfecting to do. I hope your Memorial Day weekend has been a lovely one, too
Melancholy Jaques
@Chief Oshkosh:
I thought we had agreed on FEMA re-education camps
HopefullyNotcassandra
@different-church-lady: not if the funding discourages violence or intrudes on billionaire tax cuts
Ruckus
@Trivia Man:
Now I was in the USN over half a century ago so anything may have changed but our anchor chain was washed and repainted after it was used. EVERYTHING was cleaned and repainted regularly. Including the bottom of the ship. Because salt water and metals – or really any solid objects are not actually compatible, in any way, shape or form. It can take a long time for them to rot to nothing but eventually they will. It’s slow but constant.
Ruckus
@Big Fly:
I saw one military cemetery when I was in Europe – over half a century ago and it was pristine. A small white cross at every grave site. Row upon row of small white crosses. Nothing like a public cemetery here in the states. I can’t describe the emotions but just writing this is bringing back how I felt that day.
Ruckus
@Melancholy Jaques:
I thought we had agreed on FEMA re-education camps
Same thing.
Trivia Man
@Ruckus: “if it moves, salute it. If it doesn’t, paint it.”
true?
Trivia Man
@Ruckus: Will they still allow not-crosses in us military cemeteries i wonder. Star if David, crescent, or other non-Xtian symbols.
Professor Bigfoot
@different-church-lady: Bikini Atoll.
Another Scott
@Chief Oshkosh: The first step in removing them from society is increasing the social stigma of being a member. That includes forcing them to defend their actions, and inactions.
The first step in ending McCarthyism was making him try to defend the indefensible.
FWIW.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Ruckus
@Trivia Man:
Close.
I move and I got painted. Not all of me of course but you paint a ship, you will get some paint on you.
Now the outside of a ship above the waterline was normally painted while in the shipyard, using a small boat and brushes and rollers. The bottom was done while in dry dock – hard to paint the bottom while in the water. The number and name was painted on by people who could spell – and count….
lowtechcyclist
@Big Fly:
My wife’s grandfather is buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, NL. We have visited there twice, and will probably do so again at some point.
lowtechcyclist
@Melancholy Jaques:
If only. Like cult members often do, these people don’t just need re-education, they need deprogramming first.
Ruckus
@Trivia Man:
I have no idea, I was discharged from the USN over 50 years ago.
And to answer your point about locking the anchor room – it wasn’t, at least not when I was in. Do understand that if the ship lost power or the steam turbine that turned the shaft stopped/broke entering/exiting harbor the anchor had to be dropped before the ship ran aground/hit something, because that was NEVER good.
raven
@Trivia Man:
CNN —
Ben Zion Bernstein served in one of the most elite fighting units in the US military during World War II – the First Special Service Force – a select group picked and put through rigorous training for among the most perilous missions.
His first combat mission turned out to be his last.
Bernstein, a technician fourth grade, was killed in the famous battle of Monte La Difensa on December 3, 1943, while storming a steep Italian mountain trying to overtake a Nazi stronghold.
Bernstein’s siblings and their descendants knew he was a war hero, but none of the details of his sacrifice.
They also didn’t know that despite being a proud Jew, he’d been buried under a Latin cross for more than 80 years at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Nettuno, Italy, until a historian named Shalom Lamm contacted them.
Lamm is with a non-profit organization called Operation Benjamin, which works with the American Battle Monuments Commission to help find Jewish soldiers who were buried in American military cemeteries around the world under Latin crosses and correct those inadvertent errors by replacing their headstones with a Star of David.
Several of Bernstein’s nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews traveled to Italy this month to participate in a ceremony to honor him and replace the cross with a Star of David to represent his Jewish faith.
Raoul Paste
@Big Fly: You write well, and I enjoyed your story. So appropriate. Well done.
They Call Me Noni
@NotMax: I suppose then that Dad had less than 21. I do know it was loud.
Elizabelle
@Big Fly: Beautiful comment. Thank you.
And today we remember all the “R”s, like your family member, who did not get a long life, because they were saving us.
Will make a point of visiting a European US cemetery as soon as possible.
satby
@Big Fly: Beautiful remembrance.
satby
@eclare: interesting. That picture was submitted to the garden chat, not for any other purposes. And ownership of that image was not transferred.
Trivia Man
@raven: thanks, that is a satisfying hobby for someone who likes researching history
Miss Bianca
@Big Fly:
Wow. Thanks for sharing this story.
WTFGhost
(license, type=artistic reason=sexist)
Man, they not just calling you Putin’s *BITCH*. They be saying “bitches, amirite? Hysterical, all the time hysterical!”
(/license)
Elizabelle
@WTFGhost: Donald. Not on the rag.
Iron City
Trivia Man: As an ROTC brigade member/person for awhile (it met the PE requirement for the school of engineering…how quaint) I did some firing parties for Memorial Day and 4th of July at several memorials and cemetaries. We were able to provide some fairly real looking “soldiers” with very real M-14s and blanks with a low probability of local VFW or American Legion casualties if they tried doing it with whatever collection of weapons and people they had.
The deal was 7 rifles and one OinC, all cadets, with some responsible adult guidance from a tactical officer, usually a real captain or major. Three rounds from each was 21 guns. I believe that is the same for graveside services, at least the ones I have been to at Arlington. Visiting heads of state and other dignitaries is a different part of the drill and ceremonies manual. I thought Army FM 22-5 Drill and Ceremonies. Looked it up and was correct. 50 years on. Amazing.
They Call Me Noni
@Big Fly: Just beautiful. And now I am in tears. Thank you for this description of respect and gratitude.