One thing is clear - the media has completely failed in its duty to inform us of the truth of the takeover of our country.
While we still have them I would urge you to subscribe to Heather Cox Richardson, The Atlantic, Bob Lefsetz [free] and the last major news organisations left with a modicum of integrity, the New York Times and the Guardian US.
TV news is corporately muzzled by its billionaire owners who are afraid of the wrath of "Him".
The best place for news is our late night hosts, plus Jon Stewart, the Daily Show guys and John Oliver.
Anyway - we are plugging on! Enjoy!
1/ "How Democracies Die"....an excellent article by Thom Hartmann, on the 12 steps dictators use to consolidate power.
Guess what? We're there already....
People are baffled. Why are Trump and his Republican lickspittles so intent on gutting our government, destroying our alliances and reputation around the world, and screwing working class people while transferring over $50 trillion from them to the morbidly rich? Historian Kevin M. Kruse captured the zeitgeist brilliantly, reflecting widespread public bewilderment when he posted over on BlueSky:
“We’ve had fuckups in the White House before, but never a president who seemed so deliberately intent on being a fuckup. It’s been said before, but if these people were actual agents of an enemy power seeking to divide, dismantle and destroy the USA they wouldn’t be doing anything different.”
2/. George Packer in The Atlantic with a must read article - "America's Zombie Democracy".
He writes on the erosion of our democracy and the rise of the fascist state.
It's the way we are living now - all seems pretty normal, but don't dig too deep
It didn’t feel that way this morning, when I took my dog for his usual walk in the park and dew from the grass glittered on my boots in the rising sunlight. It doesn’t feel that way when you’re ordering an iced mocha latte at Starbucks or watching the Patriots lose to the Steelers. The persistent normality of daily life is disorienting, even paralyzing. Yet it’s true.
We have in our heads specific images of authoritarianism that come from the 20th century: uniformed men goose-stepping in jackboots, masses of people chanting party slogans, streets lined with giant portraits of the leader, secret opposition meetings in basements, interrogations under naked light bulbs, executions by firing squad. Similar things still happen—in China, North Korea, Iran. But I’d be surprised if this essay got me hauled off to prison in America. Authoritarianism in the 21st century looks different, because it is different. Political scientists have tried to find a new term for it: illiberal democracy, competitive authoritarianism, right-wing populism. In countries such as Hungary, Turkey, Venezuela, and India, democracies aren’t overthrown, nor do they collapse all at once. Instead, they erode. Opposition parties, the judiciary, the press, and civil-society groups aren’t destroyed, but over time they lose their life, staggering on like zombie institutions, giving the impression that democracy is still alive.
3/. And here we are......Tom Tomorrow nails it again.....
4/. David Wallace-Wells with a pretty depressing article on China's overwhelming lead in green energy, in a time when
we are going full tilt in the opposite direction.
It’s a theme I’ve highlighted, too, over the past few years, including in a recent essay on the state of climate geopolitics for The Times Magazine. Ten years since the landmark Paris Agreement seemed to promise a whole new era for climate politics, the rich world has mostly abandoned warming as a matter of political concern — and the spirit of global solidarity on which those climate goals were supposedly built.
But renewables are storming forward anyway, thanks in large part to the spectacular rise of China as a green-industrial behemoth. By any objective measure, the pace of the global transition remains woefully inadequate. But last year, renewables accounted for 93 percent of global power additions — and as of July, 74 percent of wind and solar projects worldwide were being built by China.
5/. Over and over and over......
6/. Bob Lefsetz on the return of Kimmel last week......
You don’t poke the bear.
Let’s say you’re called into the principal’s office. And this puffed-up authority figure starts coming down on you, reciting your so-called offenses… You hang your head and listen. You stay quiet. You certainly don’t bark back, because of the CONSEQUENCES!
The principal has the power and you don’t. You will ultimately be gone, but the school will remain. The institution is bigger than the individual. Therefore, you must heed its rules, however insane they might be.
But not Jimmy Kimmel.
The course of behavior was clear. Jimmy needed to do a bit of a mea culpa and then go completely off topic, steer clear of the controversy, but Kimmel LEANED IN!
My inbox is full of right wingers telling me Kimmel isn’t funny and he and late night will soon be gone. That’s completely missing the point, in a world where what is said today may not even be remembered tomorrow. The future has never appeared less locked down. The nation is in turmoil. You fight your battles today, because the war might be over by tomorrow.
And in case you didn't see it, here it is......wonderful!
7/. Heather Cox Richardson masterfully explains how the military summit went down this week.....
She quotes Trump's actual words and you can clearly see, like all of our top brass, he is completely demented......
But if you read/watch MSM your takeaway is troops to be used on US soil.....nothing about the insanity and racism,.
Last Thursday, September 25, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suddenly announced he was calling about 800 of the nation’s top military generals and admirals, along with their top enlisted advisors, to meet at Marine Corps Base Quantico, in Virginia, today. Such a meeting was unprecedented, and its suddenness meant military leaders across the world had to drop everything to run to Washington, D.C., at enormous financial cost for the country. Under those extraordinary circumstances, speculation about what Hegseth intended to say or do at the meeting has been widespread.
Now we know. This morning, in front of a giant flag backdrop that echoed the opening scene from the movie Patton, Hegseth harangued the career military leaders, pacing as if he were giving a TED talk. The event was streamed live to the public, making it clear that the hurry to get everyone to Washington, D.C., in person was not about secrecy. https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-30-2025?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=20533&post_id=174999513&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjozOTYxMTgzLCJwb3N0X2lkIjoxNzQ5OTk1MTMsImlhdCI6MTc1OTMwNTYyMiwiZXhwIjoxNzYxODk3NjIyLCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMjA1MzMiLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.oiM2cBbaMZkI3sDbWqJjTtkgwFVRoLBqC1OKXySALb0&r=2cwgv&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
8/. Time for an AI mini-movie.....three minutes....."God is a Cockroach".....
9/. A typical day in DC.....
10/. George Monblot on what is really going on in Gaza......
Alandless people and a peopleless land: these, it appears, are the aims of the Israeli government in Gaza. There are two means by which they are achieved. The first is the mass killing and expulsion of the Palestinians. The second is rendering the land uninhabitable. Alongside the crime of genocide, another great horror unfolds: ecocide.
While the destruction of buildings and infrastructure in Gaza is visible in every video we see, less visible is the parallel destruction of ecosystems and means of subsistence. Before the 7 October atrocity that triggered the current assault on Gaza, about 40% of its land was farmed. Despite its extreme population density, Gaza was mostly self-sufficient in vegetables and poultry, and met much of the population’s demand for olives, fruit and milk. But last month the UN reported that just 1.5% of its agricultural land now remains both accessible and undamaged. That’s roughly 200 hectares – the only remaining area directly available to feed more than 2 million people.
11/. A new ad for pregnant ladies.....30 seconds...
12/. Fight your way through this article - Andrew Sullivan with a fascinating take on where our society has gone.
Well worth reading, if indeed you still read anything.....which if you are a boomer you probably do....
I’m sure some of you had something like this moment if you were an adult in the 1990s, but this conversation has stuck in my mind over the succeeding years. At The New Republic when I was editor, one day the business manager, if I recall, decided to bring up a weird subject at the weekly editorial conference. He didn’t usually say much. But he nervously cleared his throat, and stiffened his sinews to ask: What did we think we were going to do about this new thing called the Internet? If discourse went online, as everyone seems to think it will, what would happen to the magazine?
Various dismissals and grumbles followed. “But is it good for the Jews?” was the final, sardonic response, and we all laughed. But I remember saying that if the web was what it seemed to be, then magazines would surely cease to exist, because they depended on a weekly or monthly group of writers and articles, held together, by paper and staples. Take the paper and staples away, and nothing coheres in the same way. So we’re doomed, I confidently said.
13/. Tom Tomorrow skewers our billionaire owned media......
14/. A classic commercial.....the Ballet Beer ad.....1 minute...
15/. The title of this is "Listen to the Dictator".......Trump and his goons always tell you exactly what they are going to do.....
Hundreds of senior military officers sat in the crowd this Tuesday as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump wasted their time. They had been called in from around the world, a world that sits in an increasingly precarious position. The trip was no doubt arduous and exhausting. And, for their troubles, they got to listen to a Fox & Friends host lecture them about merit and physical standards, and a president ramble about whatever in the hell crossed his addled mind.
Hegseth’s performance was among the most cringe worthy I’ve seen in modern politics. This unqualified fraud thought it was a good idea to strut around stage and emphasize the “warrior ethos,” which, from what I can tell, amounts to ignoring the Geneva Convention and lamenting the armed forces as being “too woke.” It was embarrassing and if there’s any comfort I took from this spectacle it’s that those in the crowd were serious people who doubtlessly saw through Hegseth’s bullshit and, in the long run, any fascistic threat has a moment where the military has to make a decision whether to side with the state or the people. I’m not hanging my hat on the hope that this soured the potential for the state to win out, but it’s also not out of the question. It was…that bad.
Trump’s address was, in a word, insane. Those of us who pay attention to his comments know that he is in rapid decline, but this performance and the one recently at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service really underscore how severe it is
16/. Republicans despise the poor.......
17/. Just been on vacation abroad? Get a shock at your roaming data charges?
Here's the answer - an ESim card.....
On a week-long trip to Paris last year, I racked up nearly $100 in data charges on my iPhone, with taxes and fees. Ditto for a separate, eight-day trip to Spain, which was even more pricey. And, in what I now jokingly call an act of piracy, my three-week trip to seven countries – including a seven-day cruise – cost me over $300 for data.
I (eventually) learned my lesson, and a little research yielded a simple solution that can make life a lot easier: Switching to a local carrier for your travels. This used to entail a visit to an airport kiosk or a mobile store to get a fingernail-sized plastic SIM chip installed in your phone, but a new feature called an eSIM lets you handle it all from your phone before you even leave. My eSim for Paris cost $11 for 5GB of data, plenty for checking emails, using Google Maps, and browsing social media (although I was careful not to upload photos until I had wifi access). In Spain, I spent $10 for 5GB.
Here’s how it works, and how to use it on your next trip abroad.
18/. An AI short about waking up the old Gods......
Definitely a little weird....2 minutes.....
19/. If you are poor and live in the stupid South it's a crime to be pregnant.....
In the first two years after the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, prosecutors in 16 states charged more than 400 people with pregnancy-related crimes, new research released on Tuesday found.
Of the 412 cases tracked by Pregnancy Justice, the vast majority took place in the US south, targeted low-income women and involved allegations that women broke laws against child abuse, endangerment or neglect, according to the research, which was compiled by the reproductive justice group. About 300 prosecutions took place in Alabama and Oklahoma. In 16 cases, law enforcement charged women with homicide. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/30/pregnancy-us-women-crimes-study?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
20/ Kind of what happened.....
21/. A must watch medical ad, just in case you have these symptoms.......2 minutes....
22/. There are some really good shows out, and here the Guardian summarises them with a synopsis - the full review is there if anything tickles your fancy!
We are watching Wayward and House of Guinness - really good so far.....
Summed up in a sentence “House of Guinness is Like Succession but about a booze dynasty in 19th-century Dublin, Steven Knight’s latest show is full of smarts, heart and sex appeal. It’s a career peak for him.”
What our reviewer said “As the shouting, fighting and drawing-room tensions escalate, and sex proves to be as much of a hindrance to clear thinking as money (the casting of James Norton, pheromones fairly radiating from the screen, is a big help there), House of Guinness matures into a romp that you can hardly resist.” Jack Seale
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/sep/27/house-of-guinness-to-olivia-dean-the-week-in-rave-reviews?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
23/. Not sure if you are catching the new South Park episodes, but it's worth [gulp] subscribing to Paramount just for these.....
In the three weeks since South Park last aired, things have changed. The assassination of rightwing pundit Charlie Kirk exploded already fiery political tensions, with the Trump administration and its base embarking on a campaign of retribution the likes of which haven’t been seen since the McCarthy era, and stating, without sufficient evidence, that Kirk’s murder was the result of a wide-ranging leftist plot. Scores of people in the public and private sectors have been punished for commenting on the situation, most notably late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, whose show was briefly pulled off air after the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, put parent company Disney under pressure to do so.
Suffice to say, the situation is far too dire to worry about where a cartoon sitcom fits into it all, but South Park is a special case. The first episode of season 27 revolved around the politically motivated cancellation of Stephen Colbert, another late-night talkshow host critical of Donald Trump, while the second directly lampooned Kirk.
Today's video - widely acknowledged to be one of the best car chases ever filmed [until Baby Driver!]- from "Bullitt" with the wonderful Steve McQueen....who BTW did all his own driving!
"Bullitt" chase scene inside San Francisco.....3 minutes.....
Complete "Bullitt" chase scene including the highway.....
7 minutes....
Today's golf joke
This guy brings his best golf buddy home, unannounced, for dinner at 6:30 after golf. His wife screams her head off while his friend sits open mouthed and listens to the tirade.
"My bloody hair and makeup are not done, the house is a f****** mess, the dishes aren't done. Can't you see I'm still in my f****** pyjamas and I can't be bothered with cooking tonight! Why the f*** did you bring him home unannounced you stupid idiot?"
"Because he's thinking of getting married."
Today's Mensa joke
Some years ago, there was a Mensa convention in San Francisco. Mensa, as you know, is a national organization for people who have an IQ of 140 or higher.
Several of the Mensa members went out for lunch at a local cafe. When they sat down, one of them discovered that their salt shaker contained pepper, and their pepper shaker was full of salt. How could they swap the contents of the two bottles without spilling any, and using only the implements at hand?
Clearly -- this was a job for Mensa minds.
The group debated the problem and presented ideas and finally, came up with a brilliant solution involving a napkin, a straw, and an empty saucer.
They called the waitress over, ready to dazzle her with their solution.
"Ma'am," they said," we couldn't help but notice that the pepper shaker contains salt and the salt shaker contains pepper."
But before they could finish .......... the waitress interrupted. "Oh -- sorry about that." She leaned over the table, unscrewed the caps of both bottles and switched them.
There was dead silence at the Mensa table. |
Today's Jewish joke
A Catholic, a Protestant, a Muslim, and a Jew were in a discussion during dinner.
Catholic: "I have a large fortune....I am going to buy Citibank!"
Protestant: "I am very wealthy and will buy General Motors!"
Muslim: "I am a fabulously rich prince.... I intend to purchase Microsoft!"
They then all wait for the Jew to speak....
The Jew stirs his coffee, places the spoon neatly on the table, takes a sip of his coffee, looks at them and casually says: "I'm not selling."
The Apple Watch joke
A Navy pilot walks into a bar and takes a seat next to a very attractive woman.
He gives her a quick glance then casually looks at his new Apple watch for a moment.
The woman notices this and asks, "Is your date running late?"
No,” he replies, “I just got this state-of-the-art Apple watch, and I was just testing it.”
The intrigued woman says, “A state-of-the-art watch? What’s so special about it?”
The pilot says, “It uses alpha waves to talk to me telepathically.”
The lady says, “What’s it telling you now?”
Well, it says you're not wearing any panties.”
The woman giggles and replies, “Well it must be broken because I am wearing panties!”
The pilot smirks, taps his watch and says, “Darn thing’s an hour fast.”
Medical joke
A flat-chested young lady went to Dr. Smith about enlarging her tiny breasts:
Dr. Smith advised her. "Every day after your shower rub your chest and say, 'Scooby doobie doobies, I want bigger boobies.'"
She did this faithfully for several months and it worked. She grew terrific D-cup boobs!
One morning she was running late, got on the bus and in a panic realised she had forgotten her morning ritual. Frightened she might lose her lovely boobs if she didn't recite the little rhyme, she stood right there in the middle aisle of the bus,
closed her eyes and said. "Scooby doobie doobies, I want bigger boobies."
A guy sitting nearby looked at her and said. "By any chance, are you a patient of Dr. Smith's?"
"Why, yes I am. How did you know?"
He leaned closer, winked and whispered......
"Hickory dickory dock..."
