Devil deals the cards

You know—I just can’t seem to get my mind off Georgia. Dunno why…unless it’s possibly the steady stream of Klepto-criminals being processed on multiple felony counts in the Fulton County Jail this week.

You know—Cadet Bonespurs, the sorest loser that ever was, and his 18 indicted co-conspirators, an appalling percentage of whom are actual practicing lawyers. They’re all charged with felonies related to the first-ever attempt to illegally overturn a presidential election and obstruct the peaceful transfer of power.

(Even back in 1861, their spiritual ancestors didn’t have the cojones to claim Abraham Lincoln lost the election; they just picked up their cotton bolls and went home. Then they shelled Fort Sumter and started a four-year cataclysm that left their lands in ruins and their leaders humiliated as traitorous losers.)

Twitter (or X; whatever) in particular has got a kick out of the booking mugshots. The flash that bounces off most of their foreheads is frankly kind of humbling for a bunch of mooks who thought they were the biggest hotshots ever and could wrest the government from those legally voted into office.

Well, actually, it wasn’t the worst photograph of Giuliani that’s gone viral in the past couple of years. At least he didn’t have shoe polish dripping down his face. That I could see, anyway.

I’ve been more interested in the shenanigans of Jeffrey Clark, former assistant deputy almost attorney general in charge of oil spills, and Mark Meadows, former chief of staff to Captain Capslock and voter-in-multiple-districts, as they 1) tried to get their case removed to federal court (on the grounds that their activities in overturning the election were part of their duties as federal employees) and 2) whined that they shouldn’t face the indignity of being booked like a criminal until after the feds said whether they’ll take the case or not. Clark in particular was quite shirty—filing his motion late Monday and demanding that the judge decide by 1700 Tuesday. There were also moans about how he (a White man of means and entitlement—not his exact words) shouldn’t have to have to book travel in a rush to Atlanta (from Washington, D.C.; which has about hourly direct flights every day) by Thursday or face the humiliation of being chased down by sheriffs and arrested.

Fulton County DA Fani T. Willis replied pointing out that Clark, Meadows and all their felonious friends were indicted on 14 August and given until 25 August to turn themselves in, which was a courtesy most other criminal defendants don’t get. And that, yeah—air travel is a bummer (pretty much her words), but it’s now only a scramble because Clark and Meadows waited for a week to file their whiny-ass motions, so that’s all down to them.

Moreover—she couldn’t quite work out how strong-arming various Georgia election officials and state employees (Meadows even offered Klepto “campaign money” to one of the officials if it would “speed up” the recount of votes so Georgia could magically discover that Biden had not, in fact won) on behalf of a political candidate was by any stretch of the imagination part of the duties of White House staff, who are paid by the US taxpayers and meant to be doing US business, not political campaigning. (Although you can understand why Meadows might have been confused, since his boss and family regularly violated the Hatch Act by engaging in political activities on our dime.)

She also added that even the former president, Meadows and Clark’s ex-boss, was managing to haul his indicted ass down to be booked, so why don’t they just shut the hell up and comply?

(For the record, the boss was arraigned last night, reporting height of 6'3" and weight of 215 lbs. Right. And I am Marie of Rumania.)

She added, “At 12:30 pm on Friday I shall file warrants in the system.”

The federal judge agreed with her; no stay in criminal processing. There's a hearing on Monday to determine the removal issue. It looks like we’re now moving into the find out phase of this circus.

Anyway—today’s earworm is “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”, by the Charlie Daniels Band.

 

 

Not X-ed out

Okay, someone in the ‘hood did not get the memo about Elno rebranding Twitter.

Either that, or there is a resistance cell somewhere nearby.

 

 

Runs

I understand that the car market—new and used—is bananas right now. Not sure why; probably something to do with the pandemic. Republicans will blame open borders, I’ve no doubt.

So I was interested in this sign on a car parked on the street:

A 24-year-old Honda with 316K miles going for $2500? I have no idea whether that’s a thing or not.

I personally am planning on driving my 22-year-old Saab (currently with 112K miles on it) until the wheels fall off. (Well, more likely until the mechanic can no longer find parts for repairs and maintenance.) So—bravo!

 

 

Twofer

Okay, I thought I was done posting about crape myrtle, but here’s one more.

Because this specimen has two colors of flowers.

I’m guessing that there was some grafting? But I don’t really know.

 

 

Gratitude Monday: we all enjoy a break in the weather

We’ve had a few days where temps only went to the 80s, and humidity wasn’t through the roof. This is quite the anomaly for the dog days of August, and I’m truly grateful for it. The past couple of mornings, my walking circuit has been downright pleasant—in the low 60s! And the occasional breeze.

Yesterday, this fellow popped down on the sidewalk, so I paused to watch him do his wing-stretching exercises. And I was grateful for him sharing with me.

And those are my gratitudes* for today.

Why does Microsoft Word not recognize “gratitudes”? Are you supposed to be grateful for only one thing at a time? Huh.

 

The road leads back

I know you saw this coming, so let’s just get to it.

Today’s earworm is Ray Charles singing “Georgia On My Mind”, honoring Fulton County DA Fani T. Willis slapping Captain Capslock and 18 others with 41 felony counts to do with election interference in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

They include RICO charges, which seems appropriate since the Kleptocrat has been a mobster wannabe since his youth. (It’s also chef’s kiss for co-defendant Rudy Giuliani, who pioneered the use of RICO prosecutions when he was US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Lotta guys in federal slammer are laughing it up and hoping to be block mates with Rudy Colludi about now.

If you dive down into the indictment, released late Monday night, you’ll see a lot of mob-like activities in service of keeping Cadet Bonespurs in office. It’s hard to pick the most despicable and terrifying of the lot, but the campaign of intimidation against election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss—multiple heavy-handed threats to get them to lie about how they processed the counting of ballots—stands out. That went all the way to the top.

The other thing that really scares the bejesus out of me is the literal interference with voting machines in Coffee County, with corrupt voting officials allowing unauthorized whackjobs access to the machines, including downloading data—sensitive data on voters and votes—in service of the conspiracy. Those geshreis you heard Tuesday morning were me shrieking, “What the FUCK???” Everyone involved in that (and similar activities in other states) should be on the fast track to the joint, with no access ever under any circumstances to anything even remotely resembling a computer or connectivity.

So—let brother Ray take it from here.

 

Leaping fungus

Saw some mushrooms popping up along the W&OD trail the other day. I liked the pattern they made, so of course I took a photo.

But I cannot see mushrooms on the hoof without thinking of the dancing ones in the Nutcracker Suite part of Fantasia. So I went to YouTube to watch them again and was startled by the racist trope. (It’s been decades since I last saw the film.)

However, it turns out that this particular segment is “The Chinese Dance”; here’s what it looks like as choreographed by the Mariinsky Ballet:

So I’ll stand down.

 

 

 

Piling on the beauty

Last week I was taking some more pix of the gigantic hibiscus when I realized that something—some insect—had been chowing down on some of its leaves.

And it occurred to me that they’d created something that formed its own lacy beauty. 

Then, there were these sockets that anchor the blooms.

So much to admire.

 

 

Macro plastics

Monday is recycling day here in the ‘hood. Fairfax County stopped taking glass a few years ago, so you have to take that down to designated dumpsters (there is a grand total of two in the People’s Republic). Dunno what happens with them—the county probably dumps them in the landfill with everything else, but at least you feel like you’re making the effort.

They do continue to accept plastic, aluminium and paper. So I suppose we should be grateful.

However, I noticed one of my neighbors had this out for collection, and I was appalled:

I don’t know what period of time this barrelload covers, but how can people go through this many 16oz plastic bottles of water? The ratio of content to container is just criminal; why can’t you at least buy gallon bottles and pour glasses? Or get five-gallon delivery?

I absolutely despair.

 

 

Gratitude Monday: An attitude of gratitude

Saturday I went to a party hosted by a friend and former colleague at a major enterprise software company. We’ve known each other for 20 years. (She’s been with the company for 36 years; I lasted 15 months.)

The community center of her development was absolutely chockers with people who’d come from all over for the celebration, which she called “Joyful Time!” There was uncertainty about what was being celebrated (she disabused anyone who thought it might be her birthday, which is in October, or perhaps her earning an MBA from the University of Maryland at a certain age), but really, everyone came because of Jacquie herself.

She explained that she was throwing the party because for so long we haven’t been able to hold get-togethers, so it was about damn time. And she expressed gratitude for everyone there; every person in the room is important to her and she’s grateful for all of us.

Well, so am I. For my first party since the Before Times. For seeing Jacquie for the first time in probably 19 years. For meeting her family and friends. For getting out of a Confederate state. For being reminded of grace and gratitude.

I’m reminded of an exchange Jacquie and I had back I the office:

Jacquie: We gonna get you some attitude.

Me: You know—I’d have thought that attitude was the one thing with which I was singularly supplied.

J: We gonna get you some sistah-attitude.

Well, alrighty then.

Here’s a shot of Jacquie and her sisters.

And here’s the crowd who came to celebrate.