Over the years, the impression I’ve gotten is that the man prefers honesty. Besides, you’re the one volunteering to eat it, not him. (I said the same.)
Interesting this business of Demento ordering federal agency employees to inform on their co-workers --- interesting only sadly in the sense of the same chilling scenario which played out in Nazi Germany. First it was workers who "voluntarily" denounced co-workers for their alleged transgressions as Jews, “friends of Jews,” anti-Hitlerites, or gays. Then it was neighbors or even relatives. Didn't have to be true. No more than say, that former NJ serviceman recently grabbed by ICE because well, he "looked" like an undocumented immigrant. This particular cancer can too quickly metastasize to the general population as it did in Hitler's Germany.
And about the notion of mockery raised in the Q&A, I'm reminded of the late English playwright Peter Barnes's two-act ironic, black comedy, "Laughter." The second act is entitled "Auschwitz" and is set in the bureaucratic offices of government employees in Berlin. While the characters in the play seem to be representative of civil servants in any governmental setting, with the same petty concerns and battles, the audience is slowly made aware that they are responsible for the functioning of the Auschwitz extermination center. It exposes the truth of the chillingly pedestrian way the Nazis went about exterminating 6M+ innocents, by confronting the audience and forcing it to laugh uncomfortably at a range of familiar Nazi comic devices and stereotypes. Yet in the prologue to "Laughter," Barnes makes an impassioned tirade against laughter as a politically neutralizing device and the "ally of tyrants." Part of his genius, I suppose, to make you feel guilty for laughing at what he wrote to be laughed at. In that prologue he says: “Comedy itself is the enemy…It softens our hatred…Nothing needs changing when it's all a joke.”
And I think there was good deal of that when it came to electing our second worst president --- second only because he was previously elected. He's amusing. How could a guy that entertaining, that batshit ignorant, be a threat. Didn't really do anything the first time around. Let's give him another chance. Said he would lower the price of eggs and besides, he'll be good for a laugh.
"DEIAtruth@opm.gov", eh? Wouldn't it be a shame if a bunch of wiseacres flooded that email address with fake complaints about fake people? LIke the one below? Which, incidentally, didn't bounce? Or, I should say, wouldn't have bounced, because of course I wouldn't do anything like that?
PS: Bishop Budde is a mensch.
"Wanted you to know that Dr. Martin Feisfuss in DHS has been overheard saying that a Black civil servant in the agency (I don't know their name) was good at their job. I think he doesn't understand what "merit" means.
I respectfully disagree. We see 4000+ emails daily at the mid-sized company where I work and we don't have any way to trace them back to origin. Email is incredibly unregulated. Like most other bits of the Internet. Plus, to have a staff member, or team of staff members, track every email would be a herculean undertaking the likes of which not even a True Believer in the Dipshit Idealogue would have time enough to do.
The reason that you get notifications that an email bounced is because the email header contains your IP address. To a certain extent, those can be traced. So, unless you’re versed in the arts of IP spoofing, there could be some real risk given the saluting and heel clicking that is becoming all too common.
You don’t have the power of blanket warrants, and are nowhere near as petty. It would be easy to flood them with untraceable emails from dodgy mail servers, but it will be just as easy for them to filter and ignore the mail coming from those servers. To get their attention you’d need a .gov or .mil address coming from a legitimate corresponding server, and if they suspect hijinks with regard to one of those, certain people WILL be quite interested.
I’ve worn high tops with both laces and a side zipper. You lace them to get the exact fit you want (tight or loose), and then use the zipper to get them on and off real quick, always leaving the laces in place.
I don't get the food polls. They seem sort of Trumpy. Especially when the only African food is on the "dislike" list but not the "like" list. In fact, I like them all and especially Ethiopian and Thai. You know what I don't like? Liver of any ethnicity. Whale blubber is also on the list, even though I haven't tried it yet. Finally, I really hate food that has listeria in it, or ptomaine (the latter you know is awful as it begins with pt.) And now thanks to Donald the Wurst banning food warnings, I am going to have to eat more of it. It's enough to make me puke.
1. There is no such thing as a ptomaine, as my hypochondria book explained, and Wiki does here: "While the term "ptomaine" exists, it is considered an outdated and inaccurate term in modern science; it refers to a group of compounds produced by bacteria during decomposition, but the idea that these compounds directly cause food poisoning is not scientifically valid, so "ptomaine poisoning" is no longer used in medical practice; instead, the term "food poisoning" is used to describe illness caused by bacteria in contaminated food.
AND
2. There was no "dislike" list. There were two lists only because Substack poll tools limit me to five choices per poll. (Why would I have put "French" on a "dislike list"?)
I stand corrected on the reference to "dislike" and apologize for any aspersions cast. My misreading of it has obviously been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age.
As for ptomaine, it indeed exists. Webster's defines it as: "any of various organic bases which are formed by the action of putrefactive bacteria on nitrogenous matter and some of which are poisonous." However, may I substitute ptomaine with salmonella to make my comment more or less palatable?
Finally, putrefactive is the perfect word to describe our President.
We must get Congress to rewrite the laws on immigration and guest workers. And quit the "murders and rapist" lies. So few even dare to say we need workers.
Oh, I think the all-powerful Big Food or Ag folks (you think Big Oil or Pharma is tough...), the construction giants and their suppliers are already vigorously clearly their collective throats about roughly 20-25% of their workforces that could disappear if Demento's political theater performance is allowed a second act.
If you can read Spy Talk find it and read it today. These people nominated to intelligence jobs by Trump might really be able to undo all of the Government of the USA. Or at least Jeff Stein has me convinced. And spooked.
Speaking of Fud (overheard in a DC precinct of our now acquaintance, "I say it's street food, not roadkill. Get over It!"), I note it's been missing from many a mealtime here. Off your feed these days? Yes, I too find myself regularly upchucking. Very Pavlovian. Seems to happen when in the presence, spoken or visual, of a certain orange creature. Anyway, a return to the gastronomic delights of Fud would be appreciated, and Comfort Fud in particular. Btw, something to keep in mind when eating Thai. Typical or traditional Thai food is to be eaten with a fork and spoon, not chopsticks. You will be given chopsticks by the ever gracious and accommodating Thais if you ask for them, but will be laughed at in the kitchen.
Food? Hard to answer. I was in Vietnam nearly five years total during the war years and would say Vietnamese if it were a choice. Also my first years were in California and I got used to large tamales and other mild forms of Mexican food that I prefer, but find very difficult to find in Maryland. Some seem to think pain is a flavor. I do not. Tough survey to answer, so I say "French." What is not to like about good French bread?
I was disappointed that Vietnamese wasn't an option, too, because that is my number one. I miss Ethiopian food, having moved away from DC almost a decade ago. We always try to get some when we visit now.
Good stuff. One might say you were on fire from the gecko.
I actually really like all of the foods in the first poll, but I said Indian, because….
Too soon?
Over the years, the impression I’ve gotten is that the man prefers honesty. Besides, you’re the one volunteering to eat it, not him. (I said the same.)
I could have replied honestly to any but maybe Chinese. But right now I’m hungry for saag and korma.
I'd rather a nice tasty sangfroid with a great side of karma!
Interesting this business of Demento ordering federal agency employees to inform on their co-workers --- interesting only sadly in the sense of the same chilling scenario which played out in Nazi Germany. First it was workers who "voluntarily" denounced co-workers for their alleged transgressions as Jews, “friends of Jews,” anti-Hitlerites, or gays. Then it was neighbors or even relatives. Didn't have to be true. No more than say, that former NJ serviceman recently grabbed by ICE because well, he "looked" like an undocumented immigrant. This particular cancer can too quickly metastasize to the general population as it did in Hitler's Germany.
And about the notion of mockery raised in the Q&A, I'm reminded of the late English playwright Peter Barnes's two-act ironic, black comedy, "Laughter." The second act is entitled "Auschwitz" and is set in the bureaucratic offices of government employees in Berlin. While the characters in the play seem to be representative of civil servants in any governmental setting, with the same petty concerns and battles, the audience is slowly made aware that they are responsible for the functioning of the Auschwitz extermination center. It exposes the truth of the chillingly pedestrian way the Nazis went about exterminating 6M+ innocents, by confronting the audience and forcing it to laugh uncomfortably at a range of familiar Nazi comic devices and stereotypes. Yet in the prologue to "Laughter," Barnes makes an impassioned tirade against laughter as a politically neutralizing device and the "ally of tyrants." Part of his genius, I suppose, to make you feel guilty for laughing at what he wrote to be laughed at. In that prologue he says: “Comedy itself is the enemy…It softens our hatred…Nothing needs changing when it's all a joke.”
Interesting observation.
And I think there was good deal of that when it came to electing our second worst president --- second only because he was previously elected. He's amusing. How could a guy that entertaining, that batshit ignorant, be a threat. Didn't really do anything the first time around. Let's give him another chance. Said he would lower the price of eggs and besides, he'll be good for a laugh.
I think his previous term will turn out to be the "second worst" compared to the current one.
Okay then, first and second worst president, chronologically or numerically speaking.
Or maybe first, second, third. . . https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2025/01/24/house-republican-proposes-change-to-constitution-to-allow-trump-to-serve-a-third-term-andy-ogles
Perhaps. Congress can make a difference. But they have potential. Now it may be that all of them are crooks.
"DEIAtruth@opm.gov", eh? Wouldn't it be a shame if a bunch of wiseacres flooded that email address with fake complaints about fake people? LIke the one below? Which, incidentally, didn't bounce? Or, I should say, wouldn't have bounced, because of course I wouldn't do anything like that?
PS: Bishop Budde is a mensch.
"Wanted you to know that Dr. Martin Feisfuss in DHS has been overheard saying that a Black civil servant in the agency (I don't know their name) was good at their job. I think he doesn't understand what "merit" means.
-Anonymous tipster"
It’s an interesting thought, but modern computer forensics are too good.
I respectfully disagree. We see 4000+ emails daily at the mid-sized company where I work and we don't have any way to trace them back to origin. Email is incredibly unregulated. Like most other bits of the Internet. Plus, to have a staff member, or team of staff members, track every email would be a herculean undertaking the likes of which not even a True Believer in the Dipshit Idealogue would have time enough to do.
It'd be my luck that I'd do that and they'd show up at my door 15 minutes later, just the way they do in every Tom Clancy book. Nope, not gonna do it.
NSA has the computers.
The reason that you get notifications that an email bounced is because the email header contains your IP address. To a certain extent, those can be traced. So, unless you’re versed in the arts of IP spoofing, there could be some real risk given the saluting and heel clicking that is becoming all too common.
You don’t have the power of blanket warrants, and are nowhere near as petty. It would be easy to flood them with untraceable emails from dodgy mail servers, but it will be just as easy for them to filter and ignore the mail coming from those servers. To get their attention you’d need a .gov or .mil address coming from a legitimate corresponding server, and if they suspect hijinks with regard to one of those, certain people WILL be quite interested.
Nobody has come to the door yet. Oops, I mean I expect that nobody would have come to the door by now if I had done this, which of course I didn't.
I’ve worn high tops with both laces and a side zipper. You lace them to get the exact fit you want (tight or loose), and then use the zipper to get them on and off real quick, always leaving the laces in place.
They do not make them in 10WWWW (which is what I wear). Capitalism has failed me.
Find a shoe maker.
One inaccuracy in the cartoon. It shows Shitler with his hand on the Bible.
I'm pretty sure it was drawn before the Inauguration. No sin.
It's all pawns and Putin is playing.
Only displaying a king and pawns?
There’s also a lot of rooks going on.
I don't get the food polls. They seem sort of Trumpy. Especially when the only African food is on the "dislike" list but not the "like" list. In fact, I like them all and especially Ethiopian and Thai. You know what I don't like? Liver of any ethnicity. Whale blubber is also on the list, even though I haven't tried it yet. Finally, I really hate food that has listeria in it, or ptomaine (the latter you know is awful as it begins with pt.) And now thanks to Donald the Wurst banning food warnings, I am going to have to eat more of it. It's enough to make me puke.
1. There is no such thing as a ptomaine, as my hypochondria book explained, and Wiki does here: "While the term "ptomaine" exists, it is considered an outdated and inaccurate term in modern science; it refers to a group of compounds produced by bacteria during decomposition, but the idea that these compounds directly cause food poisoning is not scientifically valid, so "ptomaine poisoning" is no longer used in medical practice; instead, the term "food poisoning" is used to describe illness caused by bacteria in contaminated food.
AND
2. There was no "dislike" list. There were two lists only because Substack poll tools limit me to five choices per poll. (Why would I have put "French" on a "dislike list"?)
When I was in the Army, the "gut trucks" that came out to sell us overpriced food were called the "ptomaine taverns".
On construction sites, they’ve been called “roach coaches.”
Whew! Larry had me worried that I had misread the second poll!
I stand corrected on the reference to "dislike" and apologize for any aspersions cast. My misreading of it has obviously been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age.
As for ptomaine, it indeed exists. Webster's defines it as: "any of various organic bases which are formed by the action of putrefactive bacteria on nitrogenous matter and some of which are poisonous." However, may I substitute ptomaine with salmonella to make my comment more or less palatable?
Finally, putrefactive is the perfect word to describe our President.
Oh, and I see what you did with "skepticism of a skeptical age," Virginia.
We must get Congress to rewrite the laws on immigration and guest workers. And quit the "murders and rapist" lies. So few even dare to say we need workers.
https://www.fredericknewspost.com/public/ap/5-economic-forces-that-could-shape-the-first-year-of-trumps-presidency/article_d563fd12-034a-588a-9d0f-644722a379dc.html
Oh, I think the all-powerful Big Food or Ag folks (you think Big Oil or Pharma is tough...), the construction giants and their suppliers are already vigorously clearly their collective throats about roughly 20-25% of their workforces that could disappear if Demento's political theater performance is allowed a second act.
If you can read Spy Talk find it and read it today. These people nominated to intelligence jobs by Trump might really be able to undo all of the Government of the USA. Or at least Jeff Stein has me convinced. And spooked.
https://www.spytalk.co/p/new-in-spyweek-trumps-intell-revenge
Gene, Donald Trump wouldn't read to the second sentence of your letter.....because he can't read.
I love the boots.
How long before the First Felon declares ethnic food unamerican and demands McDonald’s at all interstate exits?
Lots of tasty food in North and South America.
Speaking of Fud (overheard in a DC precinct of our now acquaintance, "I say it's street food, not roadkill. Get over It!"), I note it's been missing from many a mealtime here. Off your feed these days? Yes, I too find myself regularly upchucking. Very Pavlovian. Seems to happen when in the presence, spoken or visual, of a certain orange creature. Anyway, a return to the gastronomic delights of Fud would be appreciated, and Comfort Fud in particular. Btw, something to keep in mind when eating Thai. Typical or traditional Thai food is to be eaten with a fork and spoon, not chopsticks. You will be given chopsticks by the ever gracious and accommodating Thais if you ask for them, but will be laughed at in the kitchen.
Food? Hard to answer. I was in Vietnam nearly five years total during the war years and would say Vietnamese if it were a choice. Also my first years were in California and I got used to large tamales and other mild forms of Mexican food that I prefer, but find very difficult to find in Maryland. Some seem to think pain is a flavor. I do not. Tough survey to answer, so I say "French." What is not to like about good French bread?
Gary E. Masters
I was disappointed that Vietnamese wasn't an option, too, because that is my number one. I miss Ethiopian food, having moved away from DC almost a decade ago. We always try to get some when we visit now.