When I sit in the middle of a busy road drinking margaritas, I always make sure to put my salsa on the opposite side of my political sign, because what political statement isn't made stronger by salsa drips?
The Supreme Court and in particular the Chief Justice has had it in for the Voting Right Act since Day One. The last time they interfered was to disallow a map being redrawn because it was too close to an election (by about half a year) This time they disallowed a map when early voting had already started. Their argument that racism is already dead is belied by the speed in which southern governments move to disenfranchise Black votes.
"Regretful Trump voters now taking their cue from Candace Owens, and not believing anybody’s shooting at Trump. Oh, “shots will be fired” indeed. (The Bulwark) Trump is Jim Jones and they all deserve it. (Paul Waldman at the Cross Section)"
In the meantime, some 74-year-old in Spokane, WA made several calls to The Villages sales center to issue "threats" against at least some of those employees:
"... The Spokesman Review newspaper in Spokane, Wash., reported that the sales center received 11 threatening phone calls from a number, later traced to Martindale in Spokane, in a short period Saturday morning, court records show. He used profanity, complained about Trump’s Friday visit to The Villages and made threats, the employees told authorities.
The sales center employees reported the threats to local law enforcement who relayed them to the U.S. Secret Service.
“Me and my friends are getting our semiautomatics and are coming to blow you guys up because of that scumbag Trump,” Martindale allegedly told one of the employees, according to the newspaper report...." ( Note that these threats were made on Saturday, while Trump was safely on the Doral golf course in Miami )
It's kinda weird that he called The Villages sales center, since they really had next to nothing to do with Trump's visit - the Republican Party of Florida had confirmed that Trump would be visiting, but that doesn't mean they had been the ones who had "invited" him. The event was held at the local charter high school, which is administered by the Sumter Co. School District. Neither entity has any direct ties to The Villages sales center ( which isn't part of the "quasi-governmental" organizations that make up The Villages ).
One has to wonder why some asshole 3000_ miles away would bother with calling in threats? As it is, I had not heard anything about this, despite the fact that these calls were made Saturday, and it's now Wednesday when this little local news website picked it up. One would think that some of the more "regular" newspapers would have reported it ( Leesburg Commercial, Ocala Sun-Times, even the Orlando Sentinel carry stories about The Villages ). Hell, even the Sumter Co. Sheriff's department made no press release or notice on their website.
The Louisiana Republicans might just be stupid enough to redraw the boundaries yet make no provision for a revised filing deadline for candidates in the all-new districts. Either way, they're inviting a lawsuit that has a good chance of success at the district court level before it reaches the Outlaw Fifth Circuit. The Booger Eater Caucus in the TN Legislature (which is most of 'em) are up against the same issue. They're talking about changing the filing deadlines, which have already passed for the primary elections set for August. But they're also talking about wrapping up their work in just 3 days, and this kind of thing usually takes weeks. So there's a likelihood they'll screw it up and invite more lawsuits; the likelihood is compounded by the fact that they're, well, booger eaters. (Look for them to tout fried boogers as a good source of protein next year when cuts to public school funding--TN is already the lowest in the nation--force even more difficult choices.)
Reading a fascinating book on owls right now, “What An Owl Knows”. Thanks to that I now know the largest owl is The Blackiston’s Fish Owl.
Listening to Psaki last night, there seems to be a lot of suspicious things being approved to spend our taxes on at overinflated prices on “No Bid” contracts that are friendly to the regime. I shouted Abscam!
I think we’re going to be horrified when we follow the money. My spidey sense tells me that a whole lotta Rethuglicans are getting kickbacks and that’s why they are doing nothing. They aren’t interested in stopping their gravy train. Hence, lawyers.
That the VA was following colleagues of Petti while they mourned is a better example of a Deep State than anything the MAGasses have ever come up with.
I get the warm-fuzzies when proper grammar is used “at which this man can’t fail” instead of “ which this man can’t fail at.” Yes, I come from a long line of Grammar Police.
There's no hard and fast rule that a preposition cannot come at the end. It was assumed to be that way because the latin "pre" means before.
Unlike rules like the comma always goes inside the closing quotation marks, any assumptions about position fall before the demand for clear, unambiguous communications.
"Trump and the fossil-fuel cabal may be able to extract a few billion dollars in profits by keeping America stuck in a dirty-energy past. But in so doing they will also ensure that the United States is left behind, and that the future belongs to China."
China has one major advantage over the US that's not gonna change. The US government and its energy policy is run by the fossil fuel business. China does't have oil, or oil companies running their government.
Plus, while reading several articles about the expansion of non-oil-gas energy throughout the world, it occurred to me that trump is setting up the USA to go down the same economic abyss as Russia or Saudia Arabia, or... . The more a country relies on the sale of oil or coal or metal or other natural resources, the less diverse the economy, the more likely the economy is to go belly up.
There's a delicious irony that President Drill Baby Drill is going to destroy oil dependency and usher in clean energy. Its extra sweet because all the oil companies, the Gulf States and people who wanted cheap gas supported Trump and he screwed them over good.
Did I miss it? I had been hoping for HeWhoMustFuckOff getting all intensity about Navy battleships and how he knows EVERYTHING about battleship and saying some new batshit battleship thing to distract me from (waves hand in AOT;K general directions of AOT;K everything) this other stuff going on.
With this blockade mania going on I eagerly await news of the 10 -12 new battleships he has already built setting sail for new and bigger blockade fun. All the Navy has to do right now is accept delivery of the large quantity of diesel fuel needed to make the ships go places and we......
What's that you say? Diesel fuel is somehow adjacent to crude oil?
I just pulled a muscle in my side while pouring mixed nuts into a little ziplock back. Stay tuned for more dispatches from “The Degradation of Nigel R Toppinglift, III” brought to you by our generous sponsor The Inexorable March of Time.
Let us know when you pull a muscle SLEEPING, for fucks sake. (And it’s not like I’ve only done this once or something. More like once every couple months.)
So whichever edgelord asshat leftover from DOGE thought it was an excellent idea to post that hateful, racist, xenophobic shit on Cinco de Mayo, great job buddy. You get a cookie. You out-assholed everyone in that wretched hive of scum and villainy for the day. Let’s see how you do today? I know racist memes on a non-international holiday are not as impactful but we believe in you. ✊
Frazzled-looking barred owl mama in the hed gif: https://martiniambassador.substack.com/p/disheveled-barred-owl
And your meme chat: https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/5337676a-413d-4e01-a204-39a56710c843?utm_source=share
Mama owl ain't got time for beauty!
Many human women agree with her.
Anassa kata, kalo kale,
Ia ia ia Nike,
Bryn Mawr, Bryn Mawr, Bryn Mawr!
She is a queen!
Owl'l be seeing you.
Owl equivalent of bedhead.
I put this on Martini's page but I guess I'll put it here too.
NC Wildlife live cam of barn owl nest, currently three chicks (and I think an egg that never hatched):
https://www.ncwildlife.gov/outdoors/barn-owl-live-cam
Love it!
Babies are so cute, but such a pain in the ass!
(Poor mom getting pushed around!)
Young Bagels was almost scared to death by a barn owl that one time. Anyway, birds are not real.
despite her dishabille, mama is still a Superb Owl
Owls = Cats with Wings = Flying Murder Pillows
With great eyesight and a swivel neck.
Well and truly plucked.
That slow blink at the end, i shouldn’t anthropomorphize, but those eyelids and lashes; she’s such a tired little coquette.
Blue Jay? What Blue Jay?
Hi, thees is good choice, because thees is birb!
The old hooty-owl hooty-hoos to the dove...
I love owls. Thank you.
Who needs a spa day? Mama needs a spa day!
"Uh, you got a thing...there...on your face..."
"Yes, kids,it still only takes 3 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie pop!"
Wise old owl!
When I sit in the middle of a busy road drinking margaritas, I always make sure to put my salsa on the opposite side of my political sign, because what political statement isn't made stronger by salsa drips?
Don't forget Epstein. But also don't forget the disastrous Callais decision:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/voting-rights-act-congress-22243430.php
The Supreme Court and in particular the Chief Justice has had it in for the Voting Right Act since Day One. The last time they interfered was to disallow a map being redrawn because it was too close to an election (by about half a year) This time they disallowed a map when early voting had already started. Their argument that racism is already dead is belied by the speed in which southern governments move to disenfranchise Black votes.
I wonder if he'd prefer "Mulch the rich" instead of tax.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/06/tax-the-rich-racial-slurs-new-york-real-estate
Meh, you say "ballroom", I say "bunker to withstand a siege in January 2029."
Weld it shut, change the wifi password, fuck him.
Heh, just posted the same on the later thread..
Don't forget to add the concrete shell like was done for Chernobyl.
That's what I like about Democrats. We sweat the small details.
"Regretful Trump voters now taking their cue from Candace Owens, and not believing anybody’s shooting at Trump. Oh, “shots will be fired” indeed. (The Bulwark) Trump is Jim Jones and they all deserve it. (Paul Waldman at the Cross Section)"
In the meantime, some 74-year-old in Spokane, WA made several calls to The Villages sales center to issue "threats" against at least some of those employees:
"𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢-𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐦𝐛 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬"
"... The Spokesman Review newspaper in Spokane, Wash., reported that the sales center received 11 threatening phone calls from a number, later traced to Martindale in Spokane, in a short period Saturday morning, court records show. He used profanity, complained about Trump’s Friday visit to The Villages and made threats, the employees told authorities.
The sales center employees reported the threats to local law enforcement who relayed them to the U.S. Secret Service.
“Me and my friends are getting our semiautomatics and are coming to blow you guys up because of that scumbag Trump,” Martindale allegedly told one of the employees, according to the newspaper report...." ( Note that these threats were made on Saturday, while Trump was safely on the Doral golf course in Miami )
Link: https://www.villages-news.com/2026/05/05/anti-trumper-arrested-after-alleged-bomb-threats-phoned-in-to-the-villages/
It's kinda weird that he called The Villages sales center, since they really had next to nothing to do with Trump's visit - the Republican Party of Florida had confirmed that Trump would be visiting, but that doesn't mean they had been the ones who had "invited" him. The event was held at the local charter high school, which is administered by the Sumter Co. School District. Neither entity has any direct ties to The Villages sales center ( which isn't part of the "quasi-governmental" organizations that make up The Villages ).
One has to wonder why some asshole 3000_ miles away would bother with calling in threats? As it is, I had not heard anything about this, despite the fact that these calls were made Saturday, and it's now Wednesday when this little local news website picked it up. One would think that some of the more "regular" newspapers would have reported it ( Leesburg Commercial, Ocala Sun-Times, even the Orlando Sentinel carry stories about The Villages ). Hell, even the Sumter Co. Sheriff's department made no press release or notice on their website.
The Louisiana Republicans might just be stupid enough to redraw the boundaries yet make no provision for a revised filing deadline for candidates in the all-new districts. Either way, they're inviting a lawsuit that has a good chance of success at the district court level before it reaches the Outlaw Fifth Circuit. The Booger Eater Caucus in the TN Legislature (which is most of 'em) are up against the same issue. They're talking about changing the filing deadlines, which have already passed for the primary elections set for August. But they're also talking about wrapping up their work in just 3 days, and this kind of thing usually takes weeks. So there's a likelihood they'll screw it up and invite more lawsuits; the likelihood is compounded by the fact that they're, well, booger eaters. (Look for them to tout fried boogers as a good source of protein next year when cuts to public school funding--TN is already the lowest in the nation--force even more difficult choices.)
Reading a fascinating book on owls right now, “What An Owl Knows”. Thanks to that I now know the largest owl is The Blackiston’s Fish Owl.
Listening to Psaki last night, there seems to be a lot of suspicious things being approved to spend our taxes on at overinflated prices on “No Bid” contracts that are friendly to the regime. I shouted Abscam!
I think we’re going to be horrified when we follow the money. My spidey sense tells me that a whole lotta Rethuglicans are getting kickbacks and that’s why they are doing nothing. They aren’t interested in stopping their gravy train. Hence, lawyers.
That the VA was following colleagues of Petti while they mourned is a better example of a Deep State than anything the MAGasses have ever come up with.
It's all projection with those assholes.
I get the warm-fuzzies when proper grammar is used “at which this man can’t fail” instead of “ which this man can’t fail at.” Yes, I come from a long line of Grammar Police.
Which man can't fail at this?
There's no hard and fast rule that a preposition cannot come at the end. It was assumed to be that way because the latin "pre" means before.
Unlike rules like the comma always goes inside the closing quotation marks, any assumptions about position fall before the demand for clear, unambiguous communications.
Daniel, I am awed and humbled by your superior knowledge - you are definitely a high-ranking officer in the Grammar Police. 😊
"Trump and the fossil-fuel cabal may be able to extract a few billion dollars in profits by keeping America stuck in a dirty-energy past. But in so doing they will also ensure that the United States is left behind, and that the future belongs to China."
China has one major advantage over the US that's not gonna change. The US government and its energy policy is run by the fossil fuel business. China does't have oil, or oil companies running their government.
I thought they had coal, and a shit ton of it, but I don’t know why I thought that. But do they?
China has already buried the US, the US just doesn't realize it yet.
Seems like whenever there is oil involved and big money to be made, there’s a whole lot of corruption. Look at Russia as a prime example.
Plus, while reading several articles about the expansion of non-oil-gas energy throughout the world, it occurred to me that trump is setting up the USA to go down the same economic abyss as Russia or Saudia Arabia, or... . The more a country relies on the sale of oil or coal or metal or other natural resources, the less diverse the economy, the more likely the economy is to go belly up.
There's a delicious irony that President Drill Baby Drill is going to destroy oil dependency and usher in clean energy. Its extra sweet because all the oil companies, the Gulf States and people who wanted cheap gas supported Trump and he screwed them over good.
That's kinda his thing.
But they aren’t crying at their profits. They KNOW how much he loves driving up prices so he profits.
Did I miss it? I had been hoping for HeWhoMustFuckOff getting all intensity about Navy battleships and how he knows EVERYTHING about battleship and saying some new batshit battleship thing to distract me from (waves hand in AOT;K general directions of AOT;K everything) this other stuff going on.
With this blockade mania going on I eagerly await news of the 10 -12 new battleships he has already built setting sail for new and bigger blockade fun. All the Navy has to do right now is accept delivery of the large quantity of diesel fuel needed to make the ships go places and we......
What's that you say? Diesel fuel is somehow adjacent to crude oil?
OH!
Fuck!
I just pulled a muscle in my side while pouring mixed nuts into a little ziplock back. Stay tuned for more dispatches from “The Degradation of Nigel R Toppinglift, III” brought to you by our generous sponsor The Inexorable March of Time.
Let us know when you pull a muscle SLEEPING, for fucks sake. (And it’s not like I’ve only done this once or something. More like once every couple months.)
fuck the inexorable march of time, dammit.
I pulled a hammie walking upstairs. See you on that slow march.
I'm sorry to laugh at your pain, but that was kind of funny.
I'm not laughing, but only because it's guaranteed to make me slip a disc at this point.
Dolly Parton said she used to carry clean underwear in her purse in case she got lucky. Now she carries it in case she sneezes.
So whichever edgelord asshat leftover from DOGE thought it was an excellent idea to post that hateful, racist, xenophobic shit on Cinco de Mayo, great job buddy. You get a cookie. You out-assholed everyone in that wretched hive of scum and villainy for the day. Let’s see how you do today? I know racist memes on a non-international holiday are not as impactful but we believe in you. ✊