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(Joe Heller, hellertoon.com)
(John Buss, @repeat1968)
(Pat Bagley, The Salt Lake Tribune)
(Jeff Koterba, caglecartoons.com)
(Jimmy Margulies, King Features)
(R.J. Matson, CQ/Roll Call)
(David Rowe, Financial Review, Australia)
(Rick McKee, caglecartoons.com)
(Christopher Weyant, Boston Globe)
(Jon Adams, The New Yorker)
In a sane America, much of what the Malignant Fascist and his incompetent "Secretary of War" Whiskey Pete Hegseth said at today's gathering of the top brass in the U.S. military would be grounds for immediate removal from office and (we would like to think) imprisonment. It's just unbelievable this is happening in America in 2025. Excerpts from NBC News (our emphasis):
Hegseth
Hegseth told officers that if they don’t like what they're hearing from him, they should leave the service.
“If the words I’m speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign,” he said.
In his remarks, the defense secretary ticked off 10 new directives for the military, including new physical fitness standards for all troops and the hundreds of officers in the audience, and touted his efforts to rid the military of “wokeness” and “dudes in dresses.”
Some officers may disagree with the direction he is taking the military, Hegseth said. He aded that they may be so inculcated with what he called the culture of previous administrations — led by “foolish and reckless political leaders” that created the “Department of Woke” — that as a result they should leave the service. Others, he said, want to be warriors and will stay.
“We may lose good people,” he said.
Trump
Trump threatened to fire military leaders he disliked "on the spot."
"I'm going to be meeting with generals and with admirals and with leaders, and if I don't like somebody, I'm going to fire them right on the spot," he said.
His remarks to reporters came shortly before traveling to address military officials in Virginia.
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The audience was quiet when Trump walked onstage, which is typical for a military event.
Trump, though, began his remarks by noting that he has "never walked into a room so silent before."
Some in the audience laughed, prompting Trump to joke, "Don't laugh, you're not allowed to do that."
"Just have a good time," he added. "And if you want to applaud, you applaud. And if you want to do anything you want, you can do anything you want. And if you don’t like what I’m saying, you can leave the room. Of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future."
People laughed, and Trump told the audience to "feel nice and loose."
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Trump dedicated part of his speech to criticizing Biden's use of the autopen.
"How would you like to have your thing signed by an autopen?" Trump said. "You know, when I have a general and I have to sign for a general, because we have beautiful paper. They're gorgeous paper. I said, 'Throw a little more gold on it. They deserve it. Give me — I want the A paper, not the D paper.'"
Later, Trump praised his own signature, saying, "I love my signature, I really do. Everyone loves my signature."
"I always think to myself, 'How can you have an autopen sign this?'" he said. "It's just so disrespectful to me. It's just totally disrespectful."
Biden's use of an autopen is a favorite attack of Trump's, although it's not clear how often Biden used an autopen. Trump has previously used an autopen, too.
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During his speech before the military brass, Trump revived his previous idea of making Canada the 51st state of the United States.
He said Canada called him a couple of weeks ago and Trump claimed its leaders expressed interest in being part of the missile defense shield Trump has dubbed the Golden Dome.
"They want to be part of it, to which I said, 'Why don't you just join our country? You become 51, become the 51st state, and you get it for free," he said. "So I don't know if that made a big impact, but it does make a lot of sense ... because they're having a hard time up there in Canada now, because, as you know, with tariffs, everyone's coming into our country."
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has emphatically said that his country would never join the U.S.
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Trump said in his remarks that Portland, Oregon, "looks like a war zone" and that "this place is a nightmare."
"It looks like a war zone, and I get a call from the liberal governor. 'Sir, please don't come in. We don't need you.' I said, 'Well, unless they're playing false tapes, this looks like World War II, your place is burning down,'" he said. *
Trump mocked the governor of Oregon, who he said claimed his law enforcement personnel had Portland under control. The president said he told the governor that the city is a "nightmare."
Trump has authorized the deployment of the National Guard to Portland, but Oregon and the city have sued the administration over the move.
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Trump characterized the country as being at war at home, explaining he was refocusing the military to help law enforcement domestically. He praised the National Guard troops in D.C. and railed against other Democrat-led cities such as San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.
"They're very unsafe places, and we're going to straighten them out one by one," Trump said. "And this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room. That's a war, too. It's a war from within. Controlling the physical territory of our border is essential to national security. We can't let these people in."
The president also argued that the country was "under invasion from within."
"After spending trillions of dollars defending the borders of foreign countries, with your help, we’re defending the borders of our country from now on," Trump said.
The Malignant Fascist rambled on for over an hour with his usual litany of lies, delusions, projection, racism, and loony tales. In case it's not immediately obvious, this attempt to politicize the military and use it against the citizens of this country is full-scale, saying- the- quiet- part- loud authoritarian fascism. We can only hope those listening to these deranged, un-American statements will be true to their oaths to the Constitution and not bow to the orders of a would- be dictator.
Some reactions here and here.
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The Trump government shutdown/Epstein files distraction --
Strap in, it's going to be a ride. Prediction markets forecast a 76% chance the federal government shuts down tomorrow. kalshi.com/markets/kxgo...
— Justin Wolfers (@justinwolfers.bsky.social) September 30, 2025 at 7:10 AM
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If Trump would just release the damn Epstein files he wouldn’t have to shut down the government to distract from them.
— Ron Filipkowski (@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) September 29, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Whiskey Pete Hegseth lectures his betters. Result? Silence --
Hegseth: "As history teaches us, the only people who actually deserve peace and those who are willing to wage war to defend it. That's why pacifism is so naive and dangerous."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) September 30, 2025 at 8:23 AM
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can you imagine sitting in that audience as a three-star flag officer — decades in the service, multiple post-grad degrees and a virtually unequaled level of command expertise — and being forced to watch this dunderheaded dry drunk give an off-brand jordan belfort seminar?
— jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) September 30, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Are they not entertained?
— Lindsey Rachev (@lrachev.bsky.social) September 30, 2025 at 10:02 AM
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Cadet Bonespurs threatens to fire military brass he doesn't like. Totally normal --
Trump: "I'm gonna be meeting with generals and admirals and with leaders, and if I don't like somebody, I'm gonna fire them right on the spot."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) September 30, 2025 at 9:01 AM
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The Gaza "peace deal" is an ultimatum --
I keep reading headlines about a Gaza peace proposal. It’s an ultimatum from one side—Israel and the US—to Hamas with no one actually representing the interests of the Palestinian people.
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf.bsky.social) September 29, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Rep. Jeffries responds to Epstein buddy Malignant Fascist's sick AI post --
This is one of the most demented things Trump has posted
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) September 29, 2025 at 9:22 PM
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Jeffries answers Trump’s fake gross AI video with a real Epstein besties pic
— The Tennessee Holler (@thetnholler.bsky.social) September 29, 2025 at 10:11 PM
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Louisiana's MAGAt Governor wants to please Daddy --
"We are asking the Department of War to deploy to our cities" should be a statement that ends any Governor's political career.
— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn.bsky.social) September 29, 2025 at 9:52 PM
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Diaper Don in his own words --
“Nobody’s been better to Israel than Donald Trump” — Teleprompters, UN cuts, and Netanyahu nods
— Diaper Diplomacy Unofficial Mirror (@diaperdiplomacy-m.bsky.social) September 29, 2025 at 8:58 PM
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ICYMI yesterday, Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker spoke about the fear and chaos being visited by the deployment of the Malignant Fascist's legion of "jack booted thugs" upon Chicago. This is what a Democratic President would look like.
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on CNN yesterday, responding to the corrupt Malignant Fascist's threat to block Federal funds for New York City if Mamdani is elected mayor:
“We will fight for every single dollar that the city currently receives from the federal government...I look for examples across this country that showcase the best way to respond to Donald Trump’s threats is responding with strength. And what we see in California is an attorney general of the state has estimated that for every dollar they spent on lawsuits against the federal government’s threats to withhold funding, they won more than $30,000 in what would otherwise have been lost.” (our emphasis)
As Mamdani points out, the MF is wasting significant amounts of taxpayer funds illegally trying to deny funds from states and institutions because they won't bend the knee to him. Congressional Dems and others in the MF's sights can take that lesson from the likely future mayor.
(photo: Rob Kim / Getty Images)
Stephen Colbert talks about the Malignant Fascist's Portland/ Epstein files diversion, the MF's "medbeds" post that's yet another proof of his ignorance and dementia, and his vindictive Comey indictment and the unqualified "Maybelline Terminator" who filed two versions of the indictment with the court. Good times.
If you have time, check out Jimmy Kimmel's return to Brooklyn last night, too.
"We, the undersigned federal worker unions and organizations, implore you to reject any bad budget deal in the name of protecting federal employees. We are directly impacted when the government shuts down: our members would no longer be able to work, get paid, or fulfill their mission of serving the American public. But we believe the most important thing is fighting against the centralization of executive power and for the long-term survival of the critical services the federal government provides, even if that means allowing the government to temporarily shut down. Next year’s budget must ensure adequate funding for critical public services; guarantee that appropriated funds are spent to provide those services; and oppose the Trump Administration’s efforts to further weaken the programs, protections, and services that tens of millions of Americans rely upon..." -- first paragraph of a letter from the Federal Unionists Network and 35 supporting unions to Sen. Schumer and Rep. Jeffries today, in anticipation of their meeting with the Malignant Fascist and his congressional gauleiters, MAGA Mike Johnson and Sen. Thune. These potentially directly- impacted employees are telling Democratic leaders not to cave, and those leaders must not or they need not call themselves leaders any more.
Right wing Israeli Prime Minister and accused war criminal Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu met today with his supporter and soulmate the Malignant Fascist ostensibly to discuss the growing horror in Gaza, which has caused numerous nations to recognize Palestine as a state. From the Associated Press:
"Days after his defiant speech at the United Nations rejecting demands to end the war in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to confer with his most important supporter.
But Monday’s meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington comes at a tenuous moment. Israel is increasingly isolated, losing support from many countries that were long its steadfast allies. At home, Netanyahu’s governing coalition appears more fragile than ever. And the White House is showing signs of impatience.
The question now is whether Trump, who has offered steadfast backing to Netanyahu throughout the war, will change his tone and turn up the pressure on Israel to wind down the conflict."
Netanyahu, who in his last meeting with the MF handed him the letter to the Nobel Prize committee cynically nominating him for the peace prize, will do his unctuous best to turn the MF's impatience into renewed support for Israel's continued bludgeoning of Gaza and for affirming his opposition to a two-state solution, including annexation of most of the West Bank. Expect some tut-tutting from the MF about delays in getting a ceasefire, but no concrete steps that would impede the rampaging Israeli Prime Minister whose political fate rests on keeping the war going as a "wartime leader."
The Epstein files coverup / Portland distraction --
I 💖 Portland!
— wlard (@wlard.bsky.social) September 28, 2025 at 1:48 PM
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The Stephen Miller presidency --
we need evidence of two things: first, that trump can distinguish fantasy from reality and second, that trump is actually president
— jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) September 29, 2025 at 8:25 AM
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Stephen Miller having any involvement with deadly strikes on Caribbean boats adds to the suspicion that US forces might have killed migrants, not drug traffickers. Blowing up rather than interdicting and arresting traffickers would still be both illegal and bad strategy. But if migrants even worse.
— Nicholas Grossman (@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social) September 29, 2025 at 10:44 AM
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Striking stories about Stephen Miller as a young man. Worth noting in particular how his racism is intertwined with contempt for manual workers - a good example of how race and class hierarchies in the US are mutually reinforcing. on.ft.com/4nl7NH6
— JW Mason (@jwmason.bsky.social) September 29, 2025 at 10:07 AM
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Stephen Miller is a clear and present danger to all citizens of the USA 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
— LexUltimaVeritas (@lexultimaveritas.bsky.social) September 29, 2025 at 10:57 AM
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The government shutdown, swaggering thuggery, and insecure weaklings --
The cult of swaggering thuggery. A collection of insecure weaklings.
— MedBed Hat (@kenwhite.bsky.social) September 29, 2025 at 11:03 AM
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The Michigan shooter doesn't fit the MAGAt- preferred narrative --
The alleged shooter in Michigan. Weird that Vance and Patel haven’t tweeted out this info. 🤷🏽♂️👇🏽 www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan.bsky.social) September 29, 2025 at 1:34 AM
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By far the most corrupt President in American history --
Business is booming in the Middle East for Trump. Deal after deal after deal.
— Ron Filipkowski (@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) September 29, 2025 at 7:05 AM
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Slow- footed and slow- witted ICE goons don't get their man this time ... --
ICE Nazis in Chicago tried to kidnap a food delivery worker but my man was too fast for those slow bastards
— WuTangIsForTheChildren (@wutangforchildren.bsky.social) September 28, 2025 at 9:07 PM
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... but succeed in nabbing a US citizen and human rights defender --
A US citizen & human rights defender identified as Rachel S. was abducted & beaten by ICE Trump regime forces in LA, then transported to the hospital and then a detention center, local rights defenders demand an investigation. She is heard screaming: "Let me go! I am an American! I was born here!"
— Anonymous (@youranoncentral.bsky.social) September 28, 2025 at 7:30 PM
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Ryder Cup fans reflecting MAGAt America --
Congrats to team Europe for winning the Ryder Cup. Historic and well deserved. Our fans were disgraceful. An embarrassment to the US team and the game of golf. No class, dignity or grace…just like their cult leader in the White House.
— Just Jack (@just-jack-1.bsky.social) September 28, 2025 at 10:26 PM
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"Trump" not a fan of Bad Bunny performing at the Super Bowl 😆 --
Donald Trump is outraged at Bad Bunny getting the Super Bowl halftime youtu.be/OaKQMxpIDm4?...
— J-L Cauvin (@jlcauvin.bsky.social) September 28, 2025 at 10:40 PM
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NBC News is reporting that the deranged person responsible for the shooting and fire at a Michigan Mormon church yesterday was Thomas Jacob Sanford:
The person accused in a fatal shooting and fire Sunday at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, is a 40-year-old area man with a military background.
Thomas Jacob Sanford is from Burton, a city of nearly 30,000 people roughly 6 miles from Grand Blanc Township. Both are suburbs of Flint.
Police said the attacker rammed the church with a vehicle, got out and opened fire with an assault rifle. James Deir, special agent in charge of the Detroit Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said he also appears to have used an accelerant to start a fire.
At least four people were killed in the attack, two of whom were shot, and eight were injured.
Officers killed Sanford in a parking lot behind the church, police said.
The FBI’s special agent in charge of the bureau's Detroit field office, Reuben Coleman, said Sunday night that the bureau is looking for a motive. [snip]
Sanford joined the Marine Corps in 2004, according to Marine records, and held the titles of organizational automotive mechanic and vehicle recovery operator.
In 2007, he started a nearly seven-month deployment under Operation Iraqi Freedom and left the corps a few months later, the records show.
Sanford achieved the rank of sergeant and had his last duty assignment at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina before he left the Marines in June 2008, according to the records.
He was awarded the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal, the records show.
An image uploaded to Facebook in 2019 shows Thomas Jacob Sanford wearing a “TRUMP 2020” shirt...
The common denominator of these assassinations and attacks, of course, is mental illness and social isolation. None of this information has stopped the ever- raging Malignant Fascist from turning this awful incident into an "attack on Christians" before more facts are known. Just what we expect from the inciter- in- chief. But we know that, at least in 2020, Sanford was a supporter of the Malignant Fascist, something that we seriously doubt will be mentioned by the FBI or local authorities (or much of the media).
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MAGA Droney is back with the story of the reckless Malignant Fascist's use of lethal force against.....whom exactly? It's apparently whomever he wants it to be in his warped, and vengeful view. If it's drug smugglers as he claims, why not interdict them and learn about their suppliers and organization? Because he wants to provoke a reaction from the Venezuelan government which would give him license to attack.
Please consider supporting Tom's work by going here.
Officials in Oregon have filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration from deploying National Guard troops in Portland, adding to legal battles against President Trump’s use of troops in major cities.
The state of Oregon and city of Portland filed a joint lawsuit Sunday against Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over the deployment of the National Guard to the city.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court, calls the deployment of National Guard troops to Portland “heavy-handed” and unlawful.
The president, in a post on his Truth Social platform Saturday morning, directed Hegseth to “provide all necessary Troops” to deploy to Portland. The move stems from protests outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in the city, with Trump claiming the building was “under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.”
The court filing, though, argued that the protests have involved fewer than 30 people in recent weeks and no arrests have been made since mid-June.
“Defendants’ heavyhanded deployment of troops threatens to escalate tensions and stokes new unrest, meaning more of the Plaintiffs’ law enforcement resources will be spent responding to the predictable consequences of Defendants’ action,” the lawsuit states.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D), appearing at a press conference alongside state Attorney General Dan Rayfield (D) and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson (D), called the deployment “an abuse of power and a disservice to our communities and our service members,” according to KOIN 6 in Portland.
Kotek also marched with residents in downtown Portland on Sunday, saying in a post on social platform X that “we don’t need military intervention here.”
As governor, Kotek controls her state’s National Guard. The lawsuit alleges that Trump does not have the authority to seize control of the Oregon National Guard under Title 10, Section 12406 of the U.S. Code, which gives the president the capacity to federalize state national guards if the country is facing an invasion or rebellion or the president “is unable with the regular forces to execute the law.”
The lawsuit also says Trump’s order violates the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states that authority not delegated to the federal government is reserved for states. It also says the move violates the Posse Comitatus Act, which bars federal troops from being used for civilian law enforcement.
“Defendants have thus infringed on Oregon’s sovereign power to manage its own law enforcement activity and National Guard resource,” the lawsuit says. “Far from promoting public safety, Defendants’ provocative and arbitrary actions threaten to undermine public safety by inciting a public outcry.”...
Democrats need to fight back against the Malignant Fascist with every tool available. Chicago is seeing masked ICE thugs on its downtown streets as of Sunday. It's "Code Red" time.
As the Supreme Court is about to revisit some major decisions, one of the nine justices - and a key member of the conservative majority - has offered his view that there’s nothing sacred about precedent.
"At some point we need to think about what we're doing with stare decisis,” Justice Clarence Thomas said about the legal term that protects stability in the law. "And it's not some sort of talismanic deal where you can just say 'stare decisis' and not think, turn off the brain.”
Thomas offered that view in a rare public appearance at Catholic University's Columbus School of Law on Sept. 25.
He was asked about the factors he considers when deciding whether a past decision was wrong and did not address any pending cases.
In the term that begins next month, the court will revisit a nearly century-old ruling protecting the heads of independent agencies that President Donald Trump has repeatedly challenged as he’s sought greater control over the government. [snip]
The administration has asked the court to uphold Trump’s changes to birthright citizenship, threatening a 127-year-old Supreme Court ruling.
In another case, the Republican Party argues a 2001 decision limiting how much political parties can spend on advertising and other messaging in coordination with a federal candidate no longer makes sense.
And the court could gut a key provision of the Voting Rights Act that it has previously backed.
Those are all cases the high court has agreed to hear or is expected to hear.
Less certain is whether the justices will want to revisit the 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.
A former Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses in 2015 because of her religious beliefs has asked the court to do that.
But many legal experts think it’s unlikely the court will consider her appeal...
Here's a tip for those "legal experts": don't ever believe there's a bottom to what these six p.o.s. Republicans in robes will do. They see this as an historic window in time to undo as much of 20th Century jurisprudence as they can get away with. In the Republican MAGAt government trifecta, they don't want to be the one branch not puling its fascist weight.
President Donald Trump on Saturday shared an apparently artificially created video of himself promoting a cure-all bed with origins in conspiratorial corners of the internet.
The video, which has since been deleted, was intended to resemble a Fox News segment on the show hosted by the president’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump, featured an AI version of Trump promising access to new medical technology. This segment has never aired on the network.
“Every American will soon receive their own medbed card,” said the false rendering of Trump. “With it, you’ll have guaranteed access to our new hospitals led by the top doctors in the nation, equipped with the most advanced technology in the world.”
The “medbed” conspiracy theory has spread during recent years in QAnon circles online. It is a modern manifestation of an older tradition of belief in quack doctors and miracle cures and is rooted in deep distrust of government and medical institutions.
During America’s UFO-spotting craze beginning in the early post-World War Two II period, conspiracy theories emerged that the US government had reverse-engineered technology from alien craft it had secretly retrieved to create advanced healing technologies.
The conspiracy theory that the government kept this healing technology secret, and only provided cures to select elites, played into a more widely held, and still debated belief that the government was withholding information about UFOs from the public.
The QAnon conspiracy theory movement emerged in 2017, and some in those circles have long believed Trump would make available this supposed secret miracle-curing technology.
In the artificial video Trump posted and then deleted, he touts the benefits of the supposed therapy...
This "medbed" is a perfect metaphor for the quacks, charlatans, crooks, and incompetents running the Malignant Fascist's regime. We can easily imagine Brainworm or Dr. Oz endorsing this (or having a financial interest in it). The Malignant Fascist is a dangerous buffoon, an impulse- driven toddler with his little communication toy. What stupid times and stupid country we live in.
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Because we can only view NGC 2775 from one angle, it’s difficult to say for sure. Some researchers have classified NGC 2775 as a spiral galaxy because of its feathery ring of stars and dust, while others have classified it as a lenticular galaxy. Lenticular galaxies have features common to both spiral and elliptical galaxies.
It’s not yet known exactly how lenticular galaxies come to be, and they might form in a variety of ways. Lenticular galaxies might be spiral galaxies that have merged with other galaxies, or that have mostly run out of star-forming gas and lost their prominent spiral arms. They also might have started out more similar to elliptical galaxies, then collected gas into a disk around them.
Some evidence suggests that NGC 2775 has merged with other galaxies in the past. Invisible in this Hubble image, NGC 2775 has a tail of hydrogen gas that stretches almost 100 000 light-years around the galaxy. This faint tail could be the remnant of one or more galaxies that wandered too close to NGC 2775 before being stretched apart and absorbed. If NGC 2775 merged with other galaxies in the past, it could explain the galaxy’s strange appearance today.
A Hubble image of NGC 2775 was previously released in 2020. The new version adds observations of a specific wavelength of red light that is emitted by clouds of hydrogen gas surrounding massive young stars.
[Image Description: A galaxy seen face-on, with a slightly elliptical disc that appears to have a hole in the centre like a doughnut. In the hole, the core is a brightly glowing point that shines light out beyond the edge of the disc. Around the hole is an inner ring of dust, and at the galaxy’s edge is a thicker outer ring of dust, with a swirling web of dust strands in between. Blue stars and red nebulae are visible behind the dust.]
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, F. Belfiore, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team
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Be sure to check out the "Sunday Reflection," below, marking Hubble's death 62 years ago today.
(click on images to enlarge)
(Monte Wolverton, caglecartoons.com)
(Marian Kamensky, caglecartoons.com, Austria)
(Mike Smith, Las Vegas Sun)
(Ed Wexler, caglecartoons.com)
(John Darkow, Columbia Missourian)
(Drew Sheneman, Tribune Content Agency)
(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
(Michael de Adder, The Globe and Mail, Toronto)
(Michael Ramirez, Las Vegas Review-Journal)
(Taylor Jones, caglecartoons.com)
(Jon Adams, @citycyclops)
"Eventually, we reach the utmost limits of our telescopes. There, we measure shadows and search among ghostly errors of measurement for landmarks that are scarcely more substantial." -- Astronomer Edwin Hubble (11/20/1889 - 9/28/1963), from The Realm of the Nebulae (1936). Hubble was a tremendously influential figure in astronomy with his proof of other galaxies beyond our own, and his "Hubble's Law," which demonstrated that the universe is expanding. The telescope named after him has allowed astronomers to further understand the origin and nature of the universe.
(photo: Johan Hagemeyer / Public Domain; background: Hubble image of NGC 2174 - NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team)
Speaking out against the Malignant Fascist's and Stephen Miller's goon squad gets some elected officials on The List:
The White House released a list of nearly 30 elected officials -- all of them Democrats -- who the Trump administration said incited violence against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents throughout the U.S.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker were at the top of the list, which was published just days after a suspect opened fire on an ICE facility in Texas. [snip]
The White House named the following elected officials on the list, as well as quoted each of them:
- Gov. Tim Walz smeared ICE as the “modern-day Gestapo.”
- Gov. Gavin Newsom likened ICE to “secret police,” calling them “authoritarian” and proclaiming a “right to push back.”
- Gov. JB Pritzker claimed the country is becoming “Nazi Germany” because ICE is “grabbing people off the street and disappearing them.”
- Rep. Robin Kelly smeared ICE as the “Gestapo” and a “betrayal.”
- Rep. Jasmine Crockett compared ICE to “slave patrols.”
- Rep. Sylvia Garcia referred to ICE agents as “thugs.”
- Rep. Delia Ramirez attacked ICE as “a terror force.”
- Rep. Pramila Jayapal called ICE agents “deranged,” accused them of “kidnapping,” and said “resistance” to ICE is “inspiring.”
- Rep. Rashida Tlaib said ICE is “terrorizing our communities” and “turning our country into a fascist police state,” and called it a “rogue agency.”
- Rep. Ayanna Pressley said ICE is “terrorizing our communities.”
- Rep. Max Frost compared ICE operations to “some of the worst horrors and crimes against humanity” in history.
- Rep. John Larson said ICE is “the SS” and “the Gestapo.”
- Rep. LaMonica McIver incited people to “shut down the city” because “we are at war.”
- Rep. Stephen Lynch smeared ICE agents as “the Gestapo” and “nondescript thugs.”
- Rep. Dan Goldman compared federal agents to “secret police” who must be unmasked.
- Rep. Becca Balint called ICE agents “vigilantes” who can’t be trusted.
- Rep. Ilhan Omar said ICE agents are “vile and beyond cruel,” and that the agency should be abolished.
- Rep. Nikki Budzinski called ICE agents “dangerous and reckless.”
- Sen. Bernie Sanders asked people to “figure out a way to stop ICE from what they are doing as soon as possible.”
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren claimed ICE is “intentionally stok[ing] fear” and “tear[ing] communities apart.”
- Rep. Hakeem Jeffries implored people to “fight” the Trump Administration “in the streets” and declared ICE agents “will be unsuccessful” in protecting their identities “no matter what it takes.”
- Boston Mayor Michelle Wu compared ICE agents to the neo-Nazi group NSC-131.
- Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson accused ICE of being “secret police” who are “terrorizing our communities.”
- Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass spread a disgusting, fabricated hoax that ICE “kidnapped” a woman on her way to work.
- Rep. Gil Cisneros claimed ICE has “terrorized” people through “racial profiling.”
- Rep. Eric Swalwell said it was his “priority” to ensure ICE agents “are no longer faceless,” comparing them to “some 1800s bank robber or some KGB officer in Russia.”
- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said ICE “should not exist.”
- Rep. Kweisi Mfume challenged the Trump Administration to “a street fight.”
- Rep. Jerry Nadler accused ICE agents of “hiding misbehavior because otherwise why would they be wearing masks?”
Of course, none of the statements quoted is untrue or falls outside of First Amendment protection. They're simply not what the authoritarian fascists want you to say, so First Amendment be damned. They also want those listed to be cowed and to serve as a warning for others who might speak out.
What's next? Bogus, harassing prosecutions? That might be the least of the worries, since this list puts a target on the back of each of these Democrats, including at least two potential Democratic presidential candidates, which is really what it's all about. You can be certain there's an unpublished list of others who've spoken out, been arrested, or otherwise have run afoul of the burgeoning police state of the Malignant Fascist.
(Image: a different list that the Malignant Fascist's regime is on its way to completing.)
As we noted on September 25, the most incompetent, authoritarian and dangerous Secretary of Defense in U.S. history, Whiskey Pete Hegseth, has put out an order for the top commanders of our armed forces around the world to meet Tuesday at Quantico, VA, for a speech on the "warrior ethos." Here's some updated information from ABC News:
"At next week's unusual gathering of several hundred senior U.S. generals and admirals, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will deliver his message of restoring the "warrior ethos" to the U.S. military and present new standards toward that goal, according to five U.S. officials.
Many of the senior military officers will come to the Marine base at Quantico, Virginia, from all over the United States and from around the world to hear Hegseth in an event that could last just 30 minutes, according to two officials.
ABC News has previously reported that only officers in command positions and not staff positions are being summoned to the gathering and that they will also be joined by the senior enlisted adviser in that unit.
Five U.S. officials told ABC News that the rare gathering will allow Hegseth to personally tell the officers about the warrior ethos he envisions for the U.S. military and the path forward. [snip]
Several questions have been raised about the increased security requirements that will be needed at the large Marine base located 35 miles south of Washington, D.C.
Questions have also been raised about the significant travel and lodging costs that would be associated with transporting so many senior military officers and their senior enlisted advisers to Quantico, said two U.S. officials." (our emphasis)
Whiskey Pete's gathering is intended primarily to demonstrate that he can summon senior officers on a whim to blather about a "warrior ethos" that they know about far better than him, and damn the expenses and waste of their time preparing and traveling to a brief session. A memo, Zoom meeting or other modes of communication aren't adequate for Whiskey Pete; he needs to strut his stuff in front of them personally. Here's Steve Schmidt's take on the farce:
"Can you imagine the disrespect that the generals feel for the drunken National Guard major whose press department recently lied about his receiving the 'Bronze Star Medal for valor?'
Can you imagine the disdain that senior professional soldiers feel for a man accused of rape, who entered into a confidential settlement agreement with his alleged victim?
Can you imagine the embarrassment for someone who is festooned with Christian nationalist tattoos, who has desecrated the Armed Forces with this insanity?
Can you imagine the shame of men and women who talk about honor, duty and integrity as they rise to attention for the entrance of Secretary Pete and General Caine, first chairman of the Trump Force?
How many ambitious generals are in the room?
How many have a knife in their hand and stars in their eyes?
How many see opportunities to advance right to the top? How many want to show the secretary a picture of themselves in a MAGA hat at a church service while in uniform?"
There will probably be some willing to cash in their honor and oath to the Constitution to join Whiskey Pete's authoritarian cabal. But the majority will undoubtedly see the danger to the nation, especially as the Malignant Fascist orders National Guard troops into American cities and installs loyalists in the Pentagon's civilian management. Stay tuned and vigilant.
BONUS: The unstable Malignant Fascist is now planning to attend the MAGA indoctrination, apparently to take the spotlight from Whiskey Pete and likely to rail against his "enemies" / air his grievances in front of our military leadership.
(photo: Bottoms up, Whiskey Pete. Fox News)
