Mortos
Mortos's JournalTonight I will raise a cup of tea and nibble a McVitties Rich Tea Biscuit in her memory
I know the Queen of England was an imperfect human being, and she was born into wealth and privilege that few will ever know, but I am saddened by her death. My family and I lived in Great Britain for five years. I have always felt a bond and affinity for the people of the British Isles and the royal family. Queen Elizabeth steered her country through world wars, terrorist attacks, scandals, and pandemics with solemnity, tradition, and steadiness. She was the longest reigning monarch in history. Queen Elizabeth almost always handled herself with a sense of dignity and grace that is woefully missing in many of today's leaders.
From her coronation speech on June 2, 1953:
"As this day draws to its close, I know that my abiding memory of it will be, not only the solemnity and beauty of the ceremony, but the inspiration of your loyalty and affection.
I thank you all from a full heart.
God bless you all."
Tonight I will raise a cup of hot tea to The Queen and nibble on a McVitties Rich Tea Biscuit in honor of her reign.
God save The Queen.
How dare Joe Biden!
How dare Joe Biden.
How dare Joe Biden say that political violence is not acceptable?
How dare Joe Biden say “We the people” are the source of our liberty?
How dare Joe Biden say America should be freer and just?
How dare Joe Biden say the actions of Donald Trump and MAGA republicans are not normal and represent extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic?
How dare Joe Biden say the modern Republican party is threatened and intimidated by Donald Trump and MAGA republicans?
How dare Joe Biden say Donald Trump and MAGA republicans do not respect the Constitution, the will of the people, the rule of law, and refuse to accept the results of a free and fair election?
How dare Joe Biden say Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans are empowering and nominating election deniers to undermine democracy itself?
How dare Joe Biden say MAGA republicans are turning back history to take away rights of privacy, choice, contraception, and the ability to marry the person you love?
How dare Joe Biden defend law enforcement officers who were attacked and condemn the insurrectionists driven to acts of violence and treason by Trump’s and and other MAGA Republican's hateful lies on January 6th?
How dare Joe Biden call out those who would overturn fair elections for partisan purposes?
How dare Joe Biden quote a lifelong Republican and federal judge who said, Donald Trump and extreme MAGA republicans “A clear and present danger to our democracy.”
How dare Joe Biden say we should stop the assaults on democracy?
How dare Joe Biden say we should move forwards instead of backward?
How dare Joe Biden say Americans together can choose a different path forward?
How dare Joe Biden say MAGA republicans embrace political violence, chaos, and lies?
How dare Joe Biden say this is a country that rejects violence as a political tool?
How dare Joe Biden say Americans believe in honesty, decency, and respect for others?
How dare Joe Biden say I am an American president, not of red or blue America, but of all America?
How dare Joe Biden say political poll workers should not face threats from conspiracy theorists?
How dare Joe Biden say that FBI agents should be able to do their jobs without death threats?
How dare Joe Biden say that political candidates should not only have two thoughts on elections, that they win or they were cheated.
How dare Joe Biden say political leaders should not threaten riots in the streets if Trump is indicted for criminal actions?
How dare Joe Biden say we have to stand up for and protect our democracy regardless of your ideology.
How dare Joe Biden say there is nothing beyond the capacity of the American people if we work together?
How dare Joe Biden say injured veterans deserve benefits?
How dare Joe Biden say we cannot let election integrity be compromised?
How dare Joe Biden say “Hate has no safe harbor” in America?
How dare Joe Biden say we should confront extremists?
How dare Joe Biden say all Americans are entitled to be treated with decency, dignity, and respect and deserve justice and a shot at prosperity?
How dare Joe Biden say, “We the people will not let anyone or anything tear us apart.”?
How dare Joe Biden tell Americans to “vote, vote, vote!”?
How dare Joe Biden say we should have reasonable gun laws?
How dare Joe Biden say drug prices should be cheaper?
How dare Joe Biden say we should try to reverse climate change by passing the largest green energy bill in the history of our country?
How dare Joe Biden say America is a beacon to the world?
How dare Joe Biden say we should come together as a nation?
How dare Joe Biden say the United States of America is the greatest nation on earth?
How dare Joe Biden say, “God bless you all.”?
This speech (and everything above was something President Biden said) was not some angry old man screaming hateful venom against a political party or half of the American electorate as MAGA extremists would have you believe. This was a patriotic and necessary response to extremism, political violence, lies, and conspiracy theories, and it’s about time.
We are well beyond Michelle Obama’s advice to go high when they go low. Trump and MAGA extremists have been attacking our democracy, Democrats, rule of law, and Joe Biden with vile and vicious lies for decades. This speech was a mild rebuke of those constant and unhinged attacks, but it was a good start. Biden and the Democratic Party need to start fighting back against the people who have been throwing sucker punches and low blows forever without any repurcussions. If they go low, kicking them in the fucking teeth is the way to deal with bullies. It’s the only thing they respect.
The fuck your feelings crowd needs a safe space after this speech. Give ‘em hell, Joe! Or simply continue to tell the truth and make them think they are in hell.
https://twitter.com/TimHannan/status/1565665107761405952/photo/1
Trump once said he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not lose support
Judging from the reaction of Trump cult members, he could also steal national security documents on his way out of the White House and sell them to the highest bidder and not only not lose any supporters but have many of these fucking nutjobs pledge their lives and AR15s to defend him from culpability.
These people are crazy and literally parrot talking points from FoxNews, Newsmax, and OAN in defense of the indefensible. Within hours of the search warrant being made public, a right-wing person I know was talking about starting a civil war over a legally applied, probable cause under oath submitted, judge approved criminal process because their god baby said he was the victim of a "weaponized" judicial system controlled by vengeful Democrats.
Jesus Christ, these people are insane.
The amount of evidence that would be necessary for a judge to approve this warrant must have been overwhelming, and the potential for ongoing criminal activity of the most severe nature would have to be unimpeachable and without question. Because of the political fallout we are seeing from Trump and his minions, this would not have been conducted without multiple levels of oversight and legal approvals.
I believe Trump not only had documents that were of the highest importance to our national security but that he also was sharing information with one or more of our enemies for profit or simply for the satisfaction of his huge fucking ego.
The FBI left a copy of the search warrant at Mar-a-Lago. If Trump and his screeching minions think there has been a miscarriage of justice and the search was based on political revenge rather than evidence of a crime, all they have to do is publish the warrant, unredacted, and let the public judge its probity.
He won't because that warrant contains damning evidence that he committed a serious federal felony.
Elvis Movie Review
I have been watching Elvis and impersonators of Elvis for as long as I can remember on big and small screens. On the day Elvis died (August 16, 1977), I was at my Grandma's house, in the bathroom (ironically), when she said, "Elvis died." I couldn't believe it, and I watched reports from the national news broadcasters and live footage of heartbroken fans as they gathered around the gates of Graceland to mourn. 11-year-old me cried with them.
No celebrity death affected me more or since. I idolized Elvis, collected his trading cards, and tried replicating his amazing voice and moves (I failed at both). Grandma Jarboe even made me a white jumpsuit with a wide collar and flared legs, and I completed the ensemble with a wide white belt and bejeweled belt buckle made of vinyl and rhinestones.
When I first saw the trailers for the new Elvis movie by director Baz Luhrmann, I didn't have high hopes. The actor portraying adult Elvis looks like him but not exactly, and this biopic has been done before with varying results.
One of my best friends is the biggest Elvis fans I know. We watched Elvis films as we worked at the now defunct Suncoast Motion Picture Company in the 1990s. I texted her to see if she would be interested in attending this film with me. She, like I, was tepid on the film at first. But after I read the New York Times review of the film, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/23/movies/elvis-review.html, I knew we had to see it. And I knew that, in a style befitting the King, I had to rent an AMC theater to watch it privately, without a bunch of a-holes checking their phones every 5 minutes.
This movie is a long one, clocking in at 2 hours and 39 minutes. It covers Elvis's childhood to his death at 42, but I watched the entire thing transfixed (with one pee break). Austin Butler morphs into Elvis in a way I have never seen any other performer do. The way he speaks, the way he moves, the way he sings, and the way he drops his head and gazes at the objects of his affection with those baby blues is uncanny.
Tom Hanks plays Col. Tom Parker, who was never a colonel...or a Tom...or a Parker. He was, instead, an unscrupulous carnie of a man who latched on to a poor uneducated family with a uniquely talented son, desperate for a way out of crushing poverty, and parasitically sucked the life and money out of Elvis until he literally killed him.
But this movie is much more than a cautionary tale, with intricate attention to detail and a pounding soundtrack of original Elvis songs, some sung by Austin Butler, some sung by Elvis, and a lot sung by the modern Black artists like the ones who inspired Elvis reminds us how powerful and moving the King of Rock and Roll, at his best, could be.
All of the iconic costumes are reproduced in a way that makes us appreciate what a unique style icon Presley was and removes the taint of kitschy polyester bell bottoms adopted by half-assed impersonators (like me) that turned Elvis into a running pop-icon joke. Graceland too, is shown in a way that replicates how the hipness of a nouveau-rich hillbilly with seemingly unlimited money would decorate with the limited style options of the 1960s and 70s.
Director Baz Luhrmann captures the innate primal sex appeal of Elvis that made young girls scream and throw their white cotton panties on stage, which terrified their conservative repressed parents and government officials. He also shows us the dangers of too much money, too little financial acumen, and too much trust.
Elvis believed those around him would take care of him, including his manager-for-life, his father and the "Memphis Mafia," a group of family and friends he financially supported, and they all let him down. They all chose to shoot him up with amphetamines and handfuls of downers and shove him out on stage, regardless of the cost mentally and physically, to keep the money rolling in.
Elvis, the movie, is also an allegory about how soulless, ethically empty capitalist profiteers latch on to those with talents and work ethics that they are personally devoid of and bleed them financially dry while personally profiting. Col. Tom Parker is no different than any number of modern-day billionaires who ride on the backs of the poor and working class who make them rich. These financial parasitoids literally destroy the hosts that feed them and move on to the next victim(s) with no concern for the shattered lives and families left behind.
This film, I predict, will receive multiple Oscar nominations, including; costumes, original score, best supporting actor (Tom Hanks), best director (Baz Luhrmann), and best actor (Austin Butler). It is a beautiful and touching piece of filmmaking that retells a story we all know from a dazzling new perspective. You should see it in the theater (rent your own if you can, Elvis would approve).
Thank you, Elvis. Thank you very, very much.
Elvis - A+
The devastating difference between Democrats and Republicans
President Obama ordered the attack that killed 9/11 terrorist Osama bin-Laden
President Biden ordered the attack that took out 9/11 terrorist Al Zawahri.
Trump ordered the attack on American patriots defending the U. S. Capitol, police officers, the U. S. Congress, Senate, and Vice President Mike Pence.
Two Democratic Presidents used democracy to destroy terrorism. Republicans and Trump used terrorism to try to destroy our democracy.
Multiple pictures and videos emerge of Highland Park Shooter show he is Trump MAGAT
Here is a picture of this worthless piece of shit attending a rally for another worthless piece of shit.
He and his dad, Robert Crimo, Jr. appear to both be big Trump supporters.
Suspect in Chigago mass shooting
Bobby E. Crimo III
Bobby Crimo (Born September 20, 2000), known professionally as Awake The Rapper, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor and director from Chicago, IL. The hip hop phenom is mostly known for his hit song On My Mind which was released on October 8, 2018. The track has amassed millions of plays so far across online streaming platforms.
Next up on the SC Docket; Stoning to death those who don't keep the Sabbath holy
If we are going to use Christian theology as the primary source for deciding United States law, then at least be consistent. The moral guidelines in the Christian faith are the Ten Commandments. If the practice of abortion is outlawed because of the seventh commandment (thou shalt not kill), then we should also enact statutes that codify the eighth commandment (thou shalt not commit adultery).
If women and girls are forced to carry every fertilized egg to term then every man or boy who provides the sperm that fertilized that egg should be forced to immediately marry and support; with exceptions for rape and incest (ya'll cool with that, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas?) the fertilized egg with healthcare, food, shelter, education, clothing, etc. for the next 75 trimesters (remember, life begins when you enter your password for Netflix and chill) for the child and eternity with your betrothed.
If women and girls are forced to commit for life to a fertilized egg, so should the sperm donors. If we are going to use the bible as our guideline for law and become a fascist theocracy, at least be consistent.
Next up on the docket; Supreme Court authorization for states to stone to death those who don't remember the Sabbath and keep it holy and those who worship graven images like, I don't know, red inscribed hats and whatever the fuck this is...
GynoGun Church, Inc.
Just spitballing, how about women's health care/gun range/church/corporation combo clinic (GynoGunchurch, Inc.?). Right-wing christofascists' heads will explode as they try to reconcile their views of unlimited gun, corporate, and religious rights (only for Christians, other religions need but apply) and their strongly held beliefs that women are simply baby vessels with no liberty or rights to control their own bodies, autonomy, or future.
Extra credit for anyone who can design women's medical devices that look or sound like guns (a semi-auto speculum, perhaps) and birth control pills shaped like bullets.
How to counter "Guns aren't evil" memes
How to respond to this bullshit meme making the rounds on social media:
Evil is facilitated by guns that can fire 70 rounds per minute into the bodies of 9 and 10-year-old children.
Evil is facilitated by companies that mass produce weapons designed for combat and market them to civilians.
Evil is facilitated by an organization that exists primarily to buy politicians who then block any legislation that would attempt to address the epidemic of gun violence in America including universal background checks and red flag laws that would make it harder for people with mental illness to buy guns.
Evil is facilitated when a mentally ill homicidal coward can easily buy two assault rifles, 70 magazines, and a thousand rounds of ammunition days after his 18th birthday and days before going on a killing rampage at an elementary school.
Evil is facilitated by politicians who justify, rationalize, and blame everything (including teachers) except the common denominator linked to every mass shooting for the last decade, their beloved assault rifle.
Evil is facilitated when we do nothing as innocent bodies of children, women, and the elderly, ripped apart by bullets, fill our funeral homes and graveyards.
Evil is facilitated when people decide the right to own weapons of war outweighs the rights of fourth-graders to watch Lilo and Stitch without being executed at point-blank range.
Evil is facilitated when cops stand in a hallway, doing nothing, for 76 minutes while children bleed out from gunshot wounds suffered at the hands of a weak coward armed with a weapon that performed with the exact lethality and mutilation for which it was designed.
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