…getting sauced.

Good morning from my Hunker-Bunker overlooking the Puget Sound from the hillside of West Seattle. It is a Thursday, the day after Christmas, and the second day of Hanukkah.

Today I plan on cleaning this joint up. My wife came down here yesterday and threatened to clean the place out if I didn’t do something about it myself, and that was all the motivation I needed in order to prevent a potential war.

My Hunker-Bunker is located in the basement of an eight-bedroom three-story house. It’s a self-contained two-bedroom man cave. One room is my server room, and the other is my sound studio. There is a kitchen, a living room and a bathroom down here. The living area is mainly my office, but it has been used for recording purposes in years past. It’s a basement with a great view.

But right now, admittedly, it is a pig stye. We used to have a Molly Maid service every week breeze through here and clean shit up, but the pandemic put an end to that. So I’m almost exaggerating when I say the ankle-deep clutter on the floor has been there since that time. I damn near broke my leg a few weeks ago coming out of the bathroom and walked directly into a printer that was in my path.

I have a friend who owns one of those Got Junk companies, and I gave him a call last night and his crew will be out here later this morning to haul away a couple of trucks worth of junk. Tomorrow, I have a cleaning crew coming in to completely clean this joint.

Wait, what? Did you think that I was going to lift a finger? I’m not only old, but I’m a bit lazy to boot. Gone are the days when I have to clean up behind mine or anyone else’s mess. I’m entitled to pay other people to do the dumb shit. I also get that senior discount, AND I have a coupon from the senior center.

To be honest, this would be the first time that I paid other people to literally do the heavy lifting. I’ve been dealing with some autoimmune issues for the past six years and sometimes too much exertion can trigger a response.

But I digress.

I’ve got some headlines to share that caught my eye this morning. Actually, there were a lot of headlines that caught my eye this morning, but these stood out. It’s subjective, I know. You might look at the same stack of headlines and pick six or eight different ones. But that is you and you are not me.

We are exhausted.

Americans are exhausted by political news. TV ratings and a new AP-NORC poll show they’re tuning out

NEW YORK (AP) — As a Democrat who immersed himself in political news during the presidential campaign, Ziad Aunallah has much in common with many Americans since the election. He’s tuned out.

“People are mentally exhausted,” said Aunallah, 45, of San Diego. “Everyone knows what is coming and we are just taking some time off.”

Television ratings — and now a new poll — clearly illustrate the phenomenon. About two-thirds of American adults say they have recently felt the need to limit media consumption about politics and government because of overload, according to the survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Smaller percentages of Americans are limiting their intake of news about overseas conflicts, the economy or climate change, the poll says. Politics stand out.

Election news on CNN and MSNBC was taking up too much of Sam Gude’s time before the election, said the 47-year-old electrician from Lincoln, Nebraska. “The last thing I want to watch right now is the interregnum,” said Gude, a Democrat and no fan of President-elect Donald Trump.

Poll finds more Democrats than Republicans stepping away from news

MY TAKE:

I don’t care who you are: if you are an American, you are not only burnt out, you are probably feeling that everything is now broken, and the Barbarians are coming in to destroy things further.

No?

Okay, maybe not quite that fatalistic, let’s try:

• You are probably just tired of hearing all the bullshit.
• You have better things to do with your time
• You just don’t give a fuck any more
• You enjoy being surprised all the time
• All of the above and then some

Whatever the reason(s), the fact is that people are tuning out of the traditional news media and are now getting their “News” on Tik Tok and YouTube. Even FaceCrack, Xitter, BlueSky, and dozens of other social media platforms. We’ve created solid news “silos” based on any number of different criterias: political, social, gender, sports, race…. you name it, there’s a platform for you — or one is right around the corner.

The biblical story of the Tower of Babel was to create divisions between groups or nations of people so that they could never come together as a whole and challenge God and better Him.

I see all these efforts to confuse the news and information and label any and everything that doesn’t fit your personal ideology as “Fake News” to be an effort to divide people into smaller groups so that they can not be a force against a power force meant to exploit.

Most people no longer know what is real any more. We all are now infected with misinformation that we hold dear to us, and will refuse to believe otherwise.

We are effectively being brainwashed.

(how’s that for a conspiracy?) LOL

It is a weird headline for a main stream newspaper

How to have a Trumpy Christmas, and make the president-elect richer, too

The Trump Store has a gift for every patriot on your Christmas list.

It’s a little late for this year’s celebrations, but you can get a very early jump on next year and count down with the $38 Trump Advent calendar. Or trim the tree with a $95 Mar-a-Lago bauble or a $16 MAGA hat ornament, sold in nine colors. (A glass version of the hat ornament is $92.) Stuff stockings with an $86 “GIANT Trump Chocolate Gold Bar” and a $22 pair of candy cane socks printed with “Trump.” Prepare a holiday feast with a $14 Trump Christmas tree pot holder and $28 Trump apron featuring Santa waving an American flag.

The profits from these holiday trinkets do not benefit a political committee or a charitable cause, but the Trump Organization, the Trump family’s privately owned conglomerate of real estate, hotel and lifestyle businesses. As the company encouraged customers to celebrate the holidays with Trump gifts for all ages, President-elect Donald Trump personally profited off of his upcoming term in a manner that is unprecedented in modern history — even during his unconventional first stint in the White House.

MY TAKE:

The use of the word, “Trumpy” is what caught my eye. Ordinarily you wouldn’t find “Trumpy” in a WAPO headline — even if it is an OP-ED. It’s just something that you would never see. Sure, inside an OP-ED you might find “Trumpy”, but not the headline itself.

My mind clicks on the little things like that sometimes, when I scan the headlines. I notice the anomalies. I’ve always had the ability to glance at a page and find the misspellings instantly. They jump right out at me. Same if I am looking for a particular word or name in several pages of printed material. I can just look at the page as a whole and it will stand out at me. It’s hard to explain…

Now as far as Trump’s “store” goes, a Grifter is gonna Grift. Always. He must have some Romani blood in him, somewhere down the trunk of his family tree. All his family needs is a motorhome and a “paving” business…

A Leap of faith or logic?

The Bible is pro-trans, Anglican campaign group claims

Guidance suggests not everyone in holy scripture is ‘cisgender’ and that some stories contain ‘clear queer characters’

The Bible is pro-transgender, according to guidance promoted by an Anglican campaign group.

It claims that “not everyone in the Bible is cisgender” – their gender at birth – and says that biblical stories contain “some clear queer characters”.

This argument rests on the treatment of eunuchs in scripture and women taking part in apparently masculine activities in the Bible.

The guidance is contained in resources hosted on the website LGBT Faith UK. A link to the document states: “The Bible affirms trans, intersex and queer people.”

The text begins by stating: “Not everyone in the Bible is cisgender. Nor is everyone in the Bible biologically or anatomically male or female.

“In the Bible, the clearest example of this are eunuchs, who can be seen as the biblical ‘ancestors’ of trans people.”

The guidance states that in chapter eight of Acts, an angel is sent to instruct one of the early evangelists to go and seek an Ethiopian eunuch, who he finds reading scripture.

Philip, the evangelist, delivers the Christian message to the eunuch, and subsequently baptises him.

MY TAKE:

I can make a bible passage mean just about anything I want it to say. I can interpret the bible to mean exactly opposite of what most people see it to be. Whatever context you put it in will usually give the desired results.

Every culture, every religion going back into prehistory has a portion of its population that are gay, gender-bending, etc. None of this is new, other than it is now just out in the open. The twenty-first century “enlightenment”, if you will. Remember, it wasn’t too long ago when the bible was used to justify slavery, or interracial marriage. Society changes, and somehow the bible is able to keep up and adapt by rejiggering the interpretations.

I am sure that a lot of you remember talking about Islam as being “stuck in the 7th century”. If that being the case, how is it that Christianity, developed in the 1st century more “modern” than the newer religion of Islam? The answer I’m always given is that Christianity ‘adapted’ to meet the times, and Islam supposedly hasn’t.

So am I surprised that some sect or denomination of Christianity might find some avenue that would allow previously disapproved members in with full benefits? Not in the least.

Religion is nothing more than a construct.

I’m stocking up on the popcorn

Trump, GOP zero in on Liz Cheney as potential target

President-elect Trump’s fixation on former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) is escalating as he suggests she should be prosecuted for her work on the now-disbanded House Jan. 6 committee.

In the wake of a report by a House subcommittee that alleges Cheney improperly communicated with star witness Cassidy Hutchinson, Trump accused Cheney of committing crimes as she led the panel.

“Liz Cheney has been exposed in the Interim Report, by Congress, of the J6 Unselect Committee as having done egregious and unthinkable acts of crime,” Trump wrote on his social media site, adding that her support “helped the Democrats lose the Election.”

“She is so unpopular and disgusting, a real loser!”

It would likely be difficult for a Trump Justice Department to successfully prosecute Cheney.

Hutchinson first reached out to Cheney, and any work the former member of House GOP leadership did would likely be covered by the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause.

MY TAKE:

Should I get one of those kettle corn pots for the neighbors also? I feel I’m going to need to stock up on the popcorn, because we have four years of entertainment.

Starting with Liz Cheney might be a bit too ambitious. He probably needs to start with game a lot smaller, like his former Chief of Staff who sang his heart out in front of the Grand Jury. He may want to try going after his former mustachioed National Security Advisor first. If Trump’s Justice Department doesn’t get ripped to shreds there, then they can move up the ladder to say, any of the former Republicans associated with the Lincoln Project. If, somehow, he manages to get out of that with at least one limb left, then he may want to REALLY consider taking on Liz Cheney. It would be like taking on the Clintons, the Bushes, the Romneys, or any of the other political dynasties we have in this country. It is a club that Trump can never join. If he goes after one of them, he will be fighting all of them. It will never end will for Trump.

Never mind that there is no case.

Get away – get away – get away – now!

MIDDLE OF NOWHERE We live on world’s most remote island –

– We have to order Christmas presents 6 MONTHS in advance but there are key perks

IMAGINE being so far removed from civilisation that ordering Christmas gifts means planning half a year in advance.

With the nearest town more than 1,500 miles away, the only link to the outside world is a six-day boat trip.

This is the life of the 242 residents of Tristan da Cunha, the world’s most remote inhabited island – but they say there are some perks.

Located in the South Atlantic Ocean, this volcanic outpost is cut off from the rest of the world, with no phone network, no reliable internet, and no airstrip.

With only nine supply ships making their way to the island each year, getting essentials like food, medical supplies, and even holiday gifts requires careful preparation.

Despite the many challenges, the people of Tristan da Cunha have created a unique way of life, built on self-sufficiency, community, and a connection to nature that few will ever experience.

MY TAKE:

One small problem: there are 242 other residents on the island! Just kidding, I need to be the ruler of around 250 people, so this works out fine.

As far as the airstrip goes, I could put one in. I would have to have some equipment airdropped to me, such as a grader, a bulldozer, an excavator…

I’d have a satellite phone, and I’m sure I could get a starlink account from Evil Elon… I could probably use the same kind of equipment a cruise ship uses.

When do we leave?

Some people are just ugly to the core

GOP Congressman Says Dead Palestinian Babies Aren’t All That Innocent

Republican Representative Brian Mast is questioning the innocence of babies killed in Gaza.

A Republican representative believes that Palestinian babies are not innocent civilians but “terrorists” who should be killed.

Florida Representative Brian Mast made the horrifying comment when confronted by Code Pink protesters outside his office on Wednesday.

In a video, Mast can be seen calmly telling the demonstrators, “It would be better if you kill all the terrorists and kill everyone who are supporters.”

When asked if he has seen the images of Palestinian babies killed in Israeli attacks, Mast says, “These are not innocent Palestinian civilians.”

“The babies?” the activists asks in astonishment.

Mast then says that the “half a million people starving to death” should have elected a pro-Israel government.

When one protester points out that much of Gaza’s infrastructure has been destroyed, Mast says, “And there’s more infrastructure that needs to be destroyed.”

“Did you not hear me? There’s more that needs to be destroyed,” he says again for emphasis.

MY TAKE:

There is a lot of misplaced/overinflated blame going on here. I don’t know if this guy was trolling these activists or not, but he DID “go there”, and then doubled and tripled down on it.

The idea that there are no ‘innocent civilians’ in any group of people is not only asinine, but dangerous. There is a reason why there is a Geneva Convention and agreements between all but two nations that there are certain limits that cannot be crossed in warfare.

Most of them have been alleged to have been violated by Israel.

I say ‘alleged’, because while there appears to be ample evidence backing up these allegations, the leaders of Israel are currently facing charges in an International Criminal Court and until they have their day in court, they remain ‘allegations’, not fact.

The reason these conventions exist is to prevent previous war crimes from happening again. Combatants aren’t supposed to use schools and hospitals to hide and fight from, nor are they allowed to target them for the purpose of killing anything that moves within. Generally, you aren’t supposed to target non-combatants and such as journalists and medics.

You wouldn’t want it happening to YOU and YOURS, if the situation was reversed.

But let’s get back to the absurdity that fell out of this guy’s neck:

The idea that a baby or a child couldn’t be ‘innocent” regardless of race or nationality is just evil. I mean, there really is no other name for it.

Some stupid memes for today:

“Grandma was always a blast…”

My question is how did he find out?

“MAGA Kink”

This is true. In reality, Trump hates most of his supporters.

A Classic Case of “Fuck Around and Find Out”

Now his feels are hurt?

Outcomes may vary

Who said they weren’t the same person? Did you ever see the two of them together?

And Woody Wept…

His latest demand was taking back the Panama Canal? Through what, his idea of eminent domain? Is there an “indian-givers” clause in International law? We handed over the Canal, lock, stock, and waterway, to Panama in 1999, and it is now considered Panamanian territory.

If Panama wanted to fill it in with radioactive-encased concrete, then that’s their prerogative.

In fact, you can bet your ass that if the US tried to take it by force, they will blow it up. I certainly would.

And why Greenland? Unlike Iceland, which is green, Greenland is pretty much a frozen place most of the time. When it thaws, it begins to stink like rot.

Sampling and Beats

I have been getting quite the education on sampling and the law lately — especially when it comes to sharing a YouTube video. Unless an artist produces his or her own beats and samples, then you may have to go through a dozen legal owners to get all of your permissions to use.