While the rest of you suffer under heat domes and wildfire smoke, we here in north central Alberta have been swamped with record-breaking rain for two months. Basement has had flooding 3 times in the last month with incredible rainstorms that have flooded streets and underpasses. My brother and I devised a water evacuation system for the basement that consists of a shop vac emptying into a 60 gal poly barrel and an electric transfer pump to run it outside to the street drain. Timers are set for the vacuum to run every half hour.
Went to bed last night during the start of the overnight storm, barrel was empty. Woke up at 5, heard the vac making a weird sound, went to investigate. Barrel was full. Vac was full. Water on the floor. Fired up the transfer pump, ran 60 gal into the storm sewer and hauled the vac ouside and emptied it. Mopped the floor and fired up the floor fans. Restarted the vac and set for every 15 min. An hour later, barrel is now 1/4 full. Pouring rain outside, water pooling on lawns. Feels like I'm bailing the Titanic. Rain forecast for all day today and tomorrow.
Mr. Mick is hiding in his dry cardboard box upstairs while all this noise goes on.
I love SiriusXM DJ Earle Bailey. He is so subtle in his disdain and dismay for what is happening in the country. Commuting home of Friday, I heard him say this when he was doing his back announce of the previous set.
"When I feel frustrated with the news and stuff it's just one of those songs I wind up playing. Warren Zevon, God bless his soul. Send lawyers, guns and money. The shit has hit the fan. Yeah, I saw that on TV. Hangman Jury, I'd like to see that on TV. Aerosmith."
Also: due to connecting flights, we wound up having to stay overnight in Frankfurt, so we took the opportunity to explore. Went to new old town and they were setting up for Pride (which was yesterday) and it was just all so cool! We hung out and drank spritzes and beers and just people watched.
Lady Vorpal and I were in Ireland in June and everywhere we went there were Pride flags, parades and events. In tiny towns there were rainbow flags in the shop windows... it was delightful.
so true! or, putting her face on everything including the sides of buildings in DC., coins, dollar bills & passports; devastating the east wing of the White House without permission, planning an arch of triumph to celebrate herself, not to mention amassing literally billions of dollars in office...
Shit, all Hillary had to do was have the flu and she was DYING. People didn't like her laugh, Kamala's either. THIS is why I don't think I will ever live to see a woman elected president. We are going backwards as far as representatives too. I guess I will die ANGRY.
So back home after 2 weeks. I must say while I enjoyed all the espressos and will continue to do so, I missed the simplicity of just making a pot of coffee.
Tulsi Gabbard’s brother jailed for ‘trying to lure children’ to hotel room: report
Batarti Gabbard, the 55-year-old brother of former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, was arrested Friday for allegedly trying to lure children to a hotel room in Honolulu, Hawaii using “gum and money,” the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Saturday.
“Batarti Gabbard, aka Bhakti Gabbard, allegedly approached several children, including a boy, age 9, and offered them gum and money to accompany him to his hotel room, according to police,” the outlet reported. “He also asked the children for their names and wrote them in a notebook, police said. The children refused to go with him and the suspect walked away.”
Didn't he, and her husband, have some trouble with that sort of thing before? Seem to recall the internets postulating that she got into bed with Trump to help her brother and husband out of their legal troubles
You might be right. I only come here for "news" these days and I learn a lot here and in the comments but I have tuned out lots of the noise these days.
Harry is a happy cat as he and his reflection watch the birds this morning, while the air quality is not in the dangerous range it is nice to have the balcony door open.
Most of these guys, and they are 99% guys had already been rejected from all of the police forces they had applied for. Say what you wish about our "Boys in Blue" but the forces leave something to be desired in their hiring practices. Billions of dollars of taxpayer-financed legal settlements don't lie.
Guy never held a job for more than three years and they were all jobs like firefighter, prison guard, enforcement agent.
<As part of its standard vetting process, ICE conducts background investigations that help evaluate potential employees’ “character, conduct, trustworthiness, integrity, and loyalty to the United States,” the agency says on its website.>
“In the reproof of chance lies the true poof of men: the sea being smooth, how many shallow bauble boats dare sail upon her patient breast, making their way with those of nobler bulk! But let the ruffian Boreas once enrage the gentle Thetis, and, anon, behold the strong-ribb’d bark through liquid mountains cut, bounding between the two moist elements, like Perseus’ horse: where’s then the saucy boat, whose weak untimber’d sides but even now co-rivall’d greatness? either to harbour fled or made a toast for Neptune. Even so doth valour’s show and valour’s worth divide in storms of fortune: for in her ray and brightness the herd hath more annoyance by the breeze than by the tiger: but when the splitting wind makes flexible the knees of knotted oaks, and flies fled under shade,—why, then the thing of courage, as rous’d with rage, with rage doth sympathize, and with an accent tun’d in self-same key retorts to chiding fortune.” – William Shakespeare, 𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘢 1.3
Ahem, PSA https://substack.com/@tootsstansbury/note/c-297551872
So 2+2=5 afterall.
"A statistical revamp is about to lower inflation, at a critical time"
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/a-statistical-revamp-is-about-to-lower-inflation-at-a-critical-time/ar-AA28dQ1h?
LOL! A new euphemism for LYING.
Well fuck my power is out
Is it storming there? Hopefully it won't be out long!
That's it... I'm building an Ark.
While the rest of you suffer under heat domes and wildfire smoke, we here in north central Alberta have been swamped with record-breaking rain for two months. Basement has had flooding 3 times in the last month with incredible rainstorms that have flooded streets and underpasses. My brother and I devised a water evacuation system for the basement that consists of a shop vac emptying into a 60 gal poly barrel and an electric transfer pump to run it outside to the street drain. Timers are set for the vacuum to run every half hour.
Went to bed last night during the start of the overnight storm, barrel was empty. Woke up at 5, heard the vac making a weird sound, went to investigate. Barrel was full. Vac was full. Water on the floor. Fired up the transfer pump, ran 60 gal into the storm sewer and hauled the vac ouside and emptied it. Mopped the floor and fired up the floor fans. Restarted the vac and set for every 15 min. An hour later, barrel is now 1/4 full. Pouring rain outside, water pooling on lawns. Feels like I'm bailing the Titanic. Rain forecast for all day today and tomorrow.
Mr. Mick is hiding in his dry cardboard box upstairs while all this noise goes on.
We are all Mr. Mick.
I love SiriusXM DJ Earle Bailey. He is so subtle in his disdain and dismay for what is happening in the country. Commuting home of Friday, I heard him say this when he was doing his back announce of the previous set.
"When I feel frustrated with the news and stuff it's just one of those songs I wind up playing. Warren Zevon, God bless his soul. Send lawyers, guns and money. The shit has hit the fan. Yeah, I saw that on TV. Hangman Jury, I'd like to see that on TV. Aerosmith."
Also: due to connecting flights, we wound up having to stay overnight in Frankfurt, so we took the opportunity to explore. Went to new old town and they were setting up for Pride (which was yesterday) and it was just all so cool! We hung out and drank spritzes and beers and just people watched.
Lady Vorpal and I were in Ireland in June and everywhere we went there were Pride flags, parades and events. In tiny towns there were rainbow flags in the shop windows... it was delightful.
Thanks for both short fillums Ziggywiggy, I needed the monkey one after that French one.
I can't believe one of my favorite authors reads TVM . . .
joycecaroloates.bsky.social
@joycecaroloates.bsky.social
so true! or, putting her face on everything including the sides of buildings in DC., coins, dollar bills & passports; devastating the east wing of the White House without permission, planning an arch of triumph to celebrate herself, not to mention amassing literally billions of dollars in office...
The Volatile Mermaid
@ohnoshetwitnt.bsky.social
Imagine if a woman president spent most her time raving and crying about an election she lost 6 years ago.
Emotional. Unstable. Hysterical. Unfit to lead.
8:50 AM · Jul 18, 2026
Shit, all Hillary had to do was have the flu and she was DYING. People didn't like her laugh, Kamala's either. THIS is why I don't think I will ever live to see a woman elected president. We are going backwards as far as representatives too. I guess I will die ANGRY.
:hugs: It did feel, for a minute there, that we were finally, FINALLY, breaking out of the mold.
But then the MAGAts pulled us right back into it.
Reading TVM is safe. But very few survive getting into an argument in that hot-tub with her,.
So back home after 2 weeks. I must say while I enjoyed all the espressos and will continue to do so, I missed the simplicity of just making a pot of coffee.
Tulsi Gabbard’s brother jailed for ‘trying to lure children’ to hotel room: report
Batarti Gabbard, the 55-year-old brother of former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, was arrested Friday for allegedly trying to lure children to a hotel room in Honolulu, Hawaii using “gum and money,” the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Saturday.
“Batarti Gabbard, aka Bhakti Gabbard, allegedly approached several children, including a boy, age 9, and offered them gum and money to accompany him to his hotel room, according to police,” the outlet reported. “He also asked the children for their names and wrote them in a notebook, police said. The children refused to go with him and the suspect walked away.”
https://www.rawstory.com/tulsi-gabbard-2677243879/
Default:
All pervs.
Didn't he, and her husband, have some trouble with that sort of thing before? Seem to recall the internets postulating that she got into bed with Trump to help her brother and husband out of their legal troubles
I never saw any of that. I just thought she got into bed with Turnip because she's an asshole.
lol that too. I could be thinking of the wrong person, but I coulda sworn it was her.
You might be right. I only come here for "news" these days and I learn a lot here and in the comments but I have tuned out lots of the noise these days.
They’re all like this, aren’t they. All of them. ETA it’s only a matter of time until we find out they eat house pets.
I used to wonder what happened to Nambla. Now we know. It became the GOP
Sure seems like it.
Send lawyers, gum, and money.
snerk
Harry is a happy cat as he and his reflection watch the birds this morning, while the air quality is not in the dangerous range it is nice to have the balcony door open.
https://substack.com/@ziggywiggy/note/c-297544626?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=2knfuc
We let the dynamic duo out on the porch last night after the storms swept through. They were very happy gatos!
Good morning everyone. How are we all doing this morning? Is he dead yet?
*checks. Gets disappointed* come on, universe, you owe us a solid here
It skipped over my birthday last month and I'm STILL mad about it!
I'd even accept a "rushed to Walter Reed" ...
Emergency cognitive test...
"𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺," 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘉𝘊 𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘺. "𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯."
𝗥𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗵, 𝗽𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cglj255jk8ko
Hopefully that Russian [REDACTED] will need a wheelbarrow full of the stuff to buy a turnip soon.
We have started paying with cash at a lot of places lately if they are small businesses so they don't have to pay the credit card fee.
...she felt she had to be anonymous even for that innocuous statement?
"Da!" "Hey, Boris! You not supposed to say it out loud!"
Definitely. Russia's internal controls have been tightening over the past fifteen years, and even more so since the war started.
I think you can get arrested for anything in Russia. I don't blame her for not wanting to be in a newspaper.
Come on WaPo, their vetting policy is either "don't ask, don't tell" or they knew all along about this guy's issues and said "You're our boy."
<ICE officer’s troubled past renews questions about vetting>
https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2026/07/18/ice-officers-troubled-past-renews-vetting-questions-after-maine-shooting/
I imagine the hiring process went something like this.
https://youtu.be/ryvljjccqL8?si=uUqxuOflEb-DV5wC
Most of these guys, and they are 99% guys had already been rejected from all of the police forces they had applied for. Say what you wish about our "Boys in Blue" but the forces leave something to be desired in their hiring practices. Billions of dollars of taxpayer-financed legal settlements don't lie.
Oh, come on now, the press.
They are vetting.
This isn’t a troubled past,
Or checkered past…
Or youthful indiscretion….
This is a violent past, it’s documented and exactly what they’re looking for
Vetting?
Guy never held a job for more than three years and they were all jobs like firefighter, prison guard, enforcement agent.
<As part of its standard vetting process, ICE conducts background investigations that help evaluate potential employees’ “character, conduct, trustworthiness, integrity, and loyalty to the United States,” the agency says on its website.>
Website be lying methinks
Exactly what I was going to type!
Actually, he wasn't volatile enough, but hey, sometimes you have to go with what you've got.
They're not vetting.
There, I did their reporting for them!
Next nym: Jen Is Journalisming.
*preens*
oooooo
Thanks, folks. I'll be here all week.
Tip the veal, try your server.
I even copied and pasted it direct, cause my transposing brain would have totally flubbed the fun spelling and tried to say something else.
Huh. Maybe we have a new word: When your writing is so good that you become, umm...aroused: journalasm.
Edit: of course, the press will now turn this into a lone wolf with mental issues instead of a serious problem with the organization it is.
NPR reports that the Tate Bros have been arrested in Miami by US Marshalls. Good. Get that scum out of my country, and then stop by Mar-a-Lago.
Wow. My shocked face is working again this morning!
Good riddance. They need to rot in jail.
Remains to be seen if they can be sent off to trial in the UK before Stinky steps in and 'rescues' them..
Didn't fuckface intervene on their behalf a couple years ago? I don't recall the details
They should be Exhibits "Y" & "Z" as criminal undocumented immigrants Sic 'em, Stevie Miller.
Hey, MAGA, found your fucking human traffickers. Why are you following a dude who keeps protecting them?
Good morning. From The Commonplace Book:
“In the reproof of chance lies the true poof of men: the sea being smooth, how many shallow bauble boats dare sail upon her patient breast, making their way with those of nobler bulk! But let the ruffian Boreas once enrage the gentle Thetis, and, anon, behold the strong-ribb’d bark through liquid mountains cut, bounding between the two moist elements, like Perseus’ horse: where’s then the saucy boat, whose weak untimber’d sides but even now co-rivall’d greatness? either to harbour fled or made a toast for Neptune. Even so doth valour’s show and valour’s worth divide in storms of fortune: for in her ray and brightness the herd hath more annoyance by the breeze than by the tiger: but when the splitting wind makes flexible the knees of knotted oaks, and flies fled under shade,—why, then the thing of courage, as rous’d with rage, with rage doth sympathize, and with an accent tun’d in self-same key retorts to chiding fortune.” – William Shakespeare, 𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘢 1.3
https://tetmancallis.substack.com/p/july-19-2026