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Bullet Sunday 888

Posted on Sunday, January 5th, 2025

Dave!I'm just a boy. Standing in front of the blogosphere. Asking it to love him... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Well Hello Hello! YouTube's algorithm has found me some really cool content over the years. But sometimes it comes too late. This small channel of blacksmithing videos was being shut down. The two guys who created it could never seem to get any traction, as they were continuously buried by the algorithm. But then? YouTube promoted their final video. And it finally took off. They ballooned to 15,000 subscribers, and a lot of people who would have watched had they only known about it, commented as such. And so here they are... coming back...

Kinda a happy ending for everybody. I hope they can keep growing their channel. If you want to take a look, it's pretty cool.

   
• Future Dutch! So there I was taking a phone call after putting my television on pause. Eventually the Google screensaver engaged, and I came very close to saying WHAT THE BLADE RUNNER ALTERNATE FUTURE IS THIS SHIT?! And noted that the title of the photo included "Vinkeveen" from the Netherlands. So I looked it up and Google Maps and, sure enough...

Vinkeveen FROM SPAAAAACE!
© Google Maps

Vinkeveen FROM SPAAAAACE!
© Google Maps

Vinkeveen FROM SPAAAAACE!
© Google Maps

That is very cool, isn't it?

   
• Oh, Grand! Just a reminder to everybody who hasn't already used a VPN to watch the new Wallace & Gromit movie on the BBC (they've had it since Christmas)... Netflix finally got off their asses and has it available for streaming in the USA. I'll be watching it again just to show Netflix that this is the kind of awesome content I want to see... not another pile of shit that Zack Snyder crapped out his ass...

The movie is just amazingly well-done and well worth your valuable time.

   
• The Prologue and the Promise! I recently watched a video on the history of Walt Disney World's Epcot. That lead me to a video on one of the earliest pavilions in Future World called Horizons. I always thought it was a bit shit to two times I visited before they closed, but there was a giant mural inside that I loved. Never really knew who painted it until I watched this video. Apparently some genius at Disney thought to hire renowned futurist painter and celebrated "space" artist Robert McCall to create it. And it is stunning...


© Disney and McCall Studios


© Disney and McCall Studios

You can read more about this amazing work (plus see many others) on the artist's website here.

   
• Mixbox! WELP! Looks like somebody finally solved the thing I hate most about painting digitally... pigments never work as they should. Programs like Photoshop and Procreate use an additive model which turns everything into a muddy mess. But now a company has come up with a model which simulates actual pigments. This is incredible...

I hope that the Mixbox technology is added to mainstream apps very soon now... it's amazing to me that it's taken this long to get here.

   
• IT'S THE FOG! The Mystery Government Fog is out to get us! DEFEAT THE FOG 2025! (here's a link in case TikTok is being a dick).

@dr.eric.b #fyp ♬ original sound - Eric

FINALLY! The threat of alien spores is being taken seriously by the health care community! Thanks, Dr. Eric!

   
• Unsurprised! My grievances against PayPal are well documented. They stole money from me. They said that a customer didn't get merchandise I sold to them and reversed the money. I provided USPS tracking showing the delivery. I provided an email from the customer saying that they received their order and that they didn't receive a refund. PayPal didn't give a single fucking shit. They kept the money. And since they are not governed by banking regulations, there's NOTHING I CAN DO ABOUT IT. After pestering them for months, they simply stopped responding. So I closed down the Artificial Duck store and was done. I never made a single dollar profit on the shop, sold everything at cost and exact shipping, and did it for the fun of it all. There's no way I could continue and take a loss because payments are revoked over a total lie.

And now it comes out that these heinous fucking assholes at PayPal are just as bad as we knew they were. They've been fucking over their advertisers and their customers with their "Honey" service. Get a load of this...

Nothing would make me happier than PayPal being sued out of existence and shut down. But that will never happen. They get protection from shitty fucking laws that our government creates because our government is too busy sucking Big Business dicks to give a shit about protecting the citizens that elect them. Welcome to the hellscape that it The United States of America.

   
Alrighty then. Until next Sunday then!

   

Bullet Sunday 889

Posted on Sunday, January 12th, 2025

Dave!Don't look now but the world isn't ending after all... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• AMNK! Oh look. This is my life right here...

And here's Part One...

Yeah. Just like that.

   
• This Moment! Well this was unanticipated. I had no idea that Able Heart had beautiful feel good tracks like this until it popped up in my feed...

Another artist I need to keep an eye on, it would seem.

   
• Viral! NEWSFLASH: Crucial Firefighting Plane Grounded In LA Because Of Idiot Drone Operator. Who gives a crap that homes are burning... I want footage to go viral on TikTok!

   
• SPACE! ELEVATOR! I loathe the AppleTV adaptation of Foundation, but keep coming back to this awesome scene every time I see anything about building a space elevator. It's incredibly well-done...

The trail of destruction as the cable for the space elevator falls acrss the earth is epic.

   
• Baked! Have I mentioned that I still loathe my new Whirlpool oven? After finally fixing it so it will actually work (the element was not fully seated or something), I run into new things to loathe always. In addition to the control panel layout being shit, my latest consistent source of hate is that YOU CAN'T KEEP THE DOOR OPEN WHEN BROILING! WHO THE FUCK DESIGNS AN OVEN LIKE THIS? You can't look through the window to keep watch, it isn't tall enough. You have to constantly open and close the door to look. This is fucking madness. In all my years of using an oven, including my previous Whirlpool, you could leave the door open to broil. I will never buy another shitty fucking Whirlpool appliance again. What a waste of money for something so frustrating. — Seriously thinking of welding the fucking door sensor permanently shut. But then I'd void my warranty? Lord.

   
• Spring Break! NEWSFLASH: 2 bodies found in the wheel well of a JetBlue plane in Fort Lauderdale, airline says. WTF? So... let's think this through. You stow away in a wheel well where the landing gear goes after takeoff. Assuming you can avoid getting crushed by it, you'll then reach a cruising altitude of 40,000 feet where it's freezing cold and you can't get oxygen?!? I just... what could the motivation be for something like this? "Screw New York weather, I'm going to Ft. Lauderdale!" or something? I dunno. Maybe if they didn't have someplace warm to ride out the winter this would seem like a good idea... but if this "keeps happening" it seems as though there should be some kind of sensor to tell the cockpit if there is a presence in the wheel well.

   
Until next Sunday, assuming the earth is still here.

   

Bullet Sunday 890

Posted on Sunday, January 19th, 2025

Dave!I've made it my mission today to start deep-cleaning my home because it's just gone too long without. But I won't leave my daily blog entry hanging... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Furnishings! When I bought my home, I had less than no money. But I had to furnish it completely from scratch for two people because the stuff my mom had was all hand-me-downs that were damaged and falling apart. I ended up buying everything at IKEA because it was cheap (though I did buy the real wood "Hemnes" IKEA instead of the MDF fake wood stuff, because I needed it to last a while). With the exception of my IKEA Hemnes bed, which is a squeaky pile of shit, I'm happy with all the furniture. But it's not ideal. My dream is to learn how to make quality furniture to replace all my IKEA, but wood has just been too expensive. Maybe one day! — Anyway, this is a fascinating video which explains where we're at when it comes to furniture in America...

Yeah, I gotta learn to make my own furniture! Starting with a bed!

   
• -A45! She's not wrong. Just like America's idiotic failure to adopt the metric system, failing to adopt the A4 system is equally stupid...

I am increasingly convinced that the USA clings to stupid as a point of pride, because we do it all the time.

   
• Prophecies Unfulfilled! When Dune: Prophecy began, it had narrative and structure problems but I liked the idea of it all. For the first three episodes they felt like they were building towards something interesting, and I was intrigued enough that I was willing to overlook the flaws. Plus it was beautiful. Then the fourth episode came along and it was awful. It was so bad that it instantly negated the excitement I was trying to hold onto, and it only went downhill from there. It was so badly scripted and so boring, and by the end of it all I didn't give a shit about any of it. Everything amazing about the Denis Villeneuve Dune masterpieces was gone. I was badly disappointed. But not as disappointed as this guy...

Oh yeah, he totally nailed it. And watching this video shows me just how desperate I was to love the show that I was overlooking all the bad things about it. Until I couldn't any more with Episode 04. I hope to God that they manage to write their way out of the dud the show became in its first season, because I really want to have great Dune stories to watch.

   
• Shocking! BWAH HA HA HA HA HAAAAAA: The Vegas Tesla Loop Is A Glorified Crosswalk.

   
• Switch it Up! I bought the original Nintendo Switch the minute I could get my hands on one. I wanted a very good handheld system, and Nintendo pumps out games that are exceptional and fun. I wish I had time to use it more, but I don't, so I am not sure I'll be investing in the Switch 2. Unless there's a game for it that's super-compelling...

What we really need to see are specs. Just once I'd love for Nintendo to release something that's not woefully underpowered when compared to Xbox and PlayStation. Sure, Nintendo is smart in realizing that the game play is more important than anything else... but it's just sad that games which run beautifully on my Xbox drop to a subpar experience on my Switch. It would be different if it was only a handheld system, but it's a television console as well and really needs to be able to keep up.

   
• Climate Changed! NEWSFLASH: 2024 first year to pass 1.5C global warming limit. Online, people are laugh-reacting to this story. Guess they find the challenges and horrors that their kids and grandkids will face to be funny? — As for me? I'm done giving a shit about selfish, uneducated, ignorant, asshole humans. What I care about are the other living creatures on this planet that are facing extinction because of something they had nothing to do with.

   
• The Future is Now! Just over seven years ago, I wrote a post about guns. In this post, which got me some pushback, I said that passing gun control legislation was a stop-gap measure that was doomed to fail because technology would eventually allow people to 3D print any gun they want. Well... surprise: Americans Are Posting 3D-Printed Gun Videos to China’s RedNote With Surprising Success. This right here is what I've been talking about all this time. Banning guns in a day and age where anybody can 3-D print whatever they want in their basement is not going to solve the problem. And what happens when 3-D metal printing technology is mainstream? We need to be creative in how we address gun violence, and yet everybody continues to think old world solutions are going to work in the new world which we live. Just think about the horrors of what will be possible in another seven years. We're late on creating solutions. Soon we'll be too late, and hand-wringing has gotten us nowhere.

   
Back to house cleaning, I suppose. Ugh.

   

Bullet Sunday 891

Posted on Sunday, January 26th, 2025

Dave!I don't know if it's Winter or Spring, but I'm setting my weather confusion aside right now... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Snow Orleans! This should be the dead of winter where I live. But it's been sunny and warm. The snow is quickly disappearing. This will have dire consequences this Summer when we're likely facing drought conditions. But someplace that's not lacking Winter weather? NEW ORLEANS?!??

Snow on Canal Street. in New Orleans!
Photo taken from Louisiana Memories

Snow in New Orleans!
Photo taken from Louisiana Memories

Snowball Fight in New Orleans!
Photo taken from Louisiana Memories

I've been to New Orleans dozens of times in every season. I've never seen snow. It's rarely been cold, even in Winter. So I have no idea what to make of this.

   
• Unexpected Advice! I laughed way too hard and way too long at this. Genius...

I can't watch this enough times.

   
• Final Two! Aw, man. Vera has ended? I had no idea until I watched the last episodes! Brenda Blethyn is magic in the role and I will very much miss the series.

If you like British murder mystery shows, it's worth a look.

   
• FASTER! FASTER! If you've never worked in a restaurant, this is the kid of thing you have to deal with...

Funny if it's not you. Not so funny if you've got a customer screaming at you because you can't defy the laws of physics in your kitchen.

   
• Only at Night! Ya know, I was very excited for the new season of Night Agent on Netflix, but the first episode is so stupid as to be practically unwatchable. I'm no spy, yet I know not to make these many colossal mistakes he makes. It's pathetic and bad. And the main supporting character is an idiot despite being hyped up as "smart." Plus there's no Hong Chau. — The first season wasn't perfect, but it was still good television. Eventually I just skipped to the final episode and couldn't even make it through that. So disappointing.

   
• Transferrance! I've never been so crass as to pester my trans friends with invasive questions. It wouldn't even occur to me to do that because I wouldn't do that to any of my friends. Which is why it's a bit shocking to me how people think that trans persons are obligated to answer even the most private questions about personal aspects of their lives. A couple years ago a friend responded to a ridiculous question by a complete stranger by saying "I'm not comfortable talking about things like this, but here's somebody who is..." and dropped a link to Jamie (AKA Jammidodger). I ran across that video again today, and here it is...

I understand why people might be curious. I don't understand at all why people are invasive to ask weird shit.

   
• Declutter! For 2025 I've committed to tossing/donating a big chunk of my possessions. I've collected way too much stuff over the years, and my garage is packed to the rafters with things I'll likely never use. After four weekends and several carloads dispersed, I've made a noticeable dent. It's been so much work and I have a long way to go, but I will be so much happier without so much stuff cluttering my life. How did I become such a hoarder? And now that my bullets are over, guess I had better get back to it.

   
Now back to our regularly-scheduled Winter. Spring. Winter.

   

Bullet Sunday 892

Posted on Sunday, February 2nd, 2025

Dave!There will be no crying that I don't know where my weekend went... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Well Hello Hello! If you want to escape from the horrors of the world, I love the Black Hammer Artisan YouTube channel. The two guys behind it were giving up because nobody found their videos. Then their goodbye video blew up, so now they're back! They make things with medieval blacksmithing methods and it's so zen to watch...

I hope they get a lot of support from YouTube so they can keep going.

   
• Cursives! Things like this bring a smile to my face even as the world burns to the fucking ground...

I am one of those people who thinks that cursive writing is antiquated and unnecessary. Schools need to teach more modern, relevant subjects that will actually get used. Leave cursive to art and history electives. Though this is a highly entertaining use of a dead writing style, so there's that.

   
• Evaporation Blankets! I always keep a heavy blanket in the car in case I have to help somebody or rescue an animal or something. I ordered a new blanket because the one I had was 20 years old or more and was getting a little brittle. The blanket was not cheap because I wanted something heavy enough to insulate from the ground in the cold. I finally got around to opening it and washing it... and what a disaster. The washing machine was filled with fuzz. And now I've run it through the dryer three times in an effort to get all the fuzz stuck to it to come off... and it still needs to be run again. I swear the blanket has lost half of its volume. This is stupid. Why make a blanket that can't stay together through even one washing?

   
• DOON Fumble! Of all the videos dishing on why Dune: Prophecy was a disappointment, this one is right on target...

I too hope that they recover with the second season because I want to love this series. I think they were so hot to make it be Game of Thrones that they forgot to make Dune. That needs to change.

And while we're at it...

If show runners don't want to be "shackled" to an Intellectual Property and feel the need to "do their own thing"... THEN GO DO YOUR OWN FUCKING THING AND STOP FUCKING UP BELOVED IPs!! NETWORKS NEED TO HIRE SHOW RUNNERS WHO **WANT** TO BE "SHACKLED" TO THE IP! THAT'S THE ENTIRE POINT OF CREATING A SHOW BASED ON IP!

   
• Fare Thee Well, Dream! Welp. The Sandman is done at Netflix. I mean, I'm glad that Netflix is giving the show one more season... but it being the "conclusion" of Sandman when there are loads of stories left to adapt is incredibly sad. I really, really, really wanted a Death: The High Cost of Living mini series. But nope. Neil Gaiman had to end up being a piece of shit, so now this is all there is...

Very sad to all the actors who don't deserve to have their work cut short because the creator of the source material ended up being garbage.

   
• Old is New! It's not all bad news out of Netflix. Here's a returning show that I'm really looking forward to...

Oh man do I hope it's as good an adaptation as the first season.

   
• Fresh Young! Emily left Linus Tech Tips and started her own channel... her intro is pretty great...

Young is very good at what she does, and her being trans has absolutely zero effect on her ability to do it. If people just get the fuck over themselves and just let trans persons exist, then she likely wouldn't have needed to even address it. She shouldn't have to address it. But... here we are. So many people clutching pearls over something that has no effect on them whatsoever. I wish her the best of luck.

   
And that's it for another Sunday. Time to prepare myself for a return to Real Life.

   

Bullet Sunday 893

Posted on Sunday, February 23rd, 2025

Dave!It's a rainy post-vacation weekend, but we're all good... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Jack is Back! God how I love Reacher. The third season just started on Amazon Prime. Alan Ritchson was born to play the part. And the fact that Amazon.com Prime Video puts the money into adapting the stories, and casting good actors, and making it look like a million bucks... well... the show is perfect. If you like action serials, you need to be checking it out...

I am beyond elated that they've already renewed the show for a fourth season. I really wish that they would shoot two series back-to-back each year and get them backlogged so we could get as many of the books shot as possible before Ritchson wants to reture from such a punishing role. Heaven only knows that Amazon can afford it. They're blowing a billion dollars on the gut-wrenchingly awful prequel series to Lord of the Rings travesty.

   
• Short Round! If you don't adore Ke Huy Quan and find joy in his renewed success after watching this, then I don't know what to say to you...

The guy just released a new movie and has four more coming up, so I guess everybody does adore him.

   
• LIES! If you know me, you know I LOVE a good advertisement. This one featuring the main three characters from The Californians (Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, andFred Armisen) from SNL is absolutely perfect...

But it gets better... the leading comment on the video is "STOP SPREADING LIES SNL! The PCH is closed at Santa Monica due to the fires. Stuart would need to take the 5 to the 405 to the 101 then exit Kanan to reconnect to the PCH to get to Point Dume where this is filmed. WUUUUHT ERRRRR YOUUUUU DOOOING?" — Priceless. I still think the Betty White appearance at the SNL 40th Anniversary is my favorite The Californians sketches with its stacked cameos...

How awesome would it be if this was an actual limited series? Peacock needs to make it happen.

   
• Death to Pennies! President Trump has been doing a lot of heinous shit (I mean, my God), but amongst all that he said we're going to stop making pennies, which is something that should have happened over a decade ago, so okay then...

Here's CGP Grey's original video from 13 years ago on the subject, which brought me onboard killing the penny...

Now if he can do away with changing the fucking clocks twice a year and either make Daylight Saving Time permanent or, ideally, split the difference and have us Spring Forward or Fall Back a half hour... that would be great.

   
• Good Bye Miss Yvonne! Lynne Marie Stewart, best known for her role as "Miss Yvonne" on Pee-Wee's Playhouse and "Bonnie" on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, has died...

Lynee Marie Stewart with Pee-Wee Herman!

My favorite thing she's done, however, is this hilarious guest appearance on SNL writer Jimmy Fowlie's series Go-Go Boy Interrupted...

Rest in Peace... you made us laugh, and that's a gift that will never pass.

   
• Carr Ride! Look, I know that Jimmy Carr is highly problematic. That's his entire brand. You know what you're getting into when you tune in because he's never not offensive to somebody. He works hard to be offensive! That being said, the guy is a brilliant comedian if you get what he's trying to do. His latest "Heckle Amnesty" video is amazing...

What gets me is that Jimmy isn't just finding comedy at the expense others... he goes out of his way to find comedy at the expense of himself. Which is why I find him funny. No, I don't think he's as talented as people who are able to find comedy without punching down on anybody at all (Nate Bargatze is the current king in my book). But this kid is doing alright...

I gotta say... with all the punching down on the trans community by comedians, it's refreshing to find those doing the work to be inclusive. This is what laughing with a person instead of at a person looks like. Yeah, he struggles a bit to get those jokes formed because it's a new situation for him... but he's trying his best to adapt without bigotry and, to me, it seems as though he's succeeding.

   
• TransAmerican! I am trying my best to take a seat and renew my efforts to listen to what marginalized communities are facing day-to-day. I have a couple trans friends who mean a lot to me, so I've been subscribing to some trans video channels to help me to understand their lives better. In the Year of Our Lord 2025 in these United States of America, I don't get why people who contribute to society, pay their taxes, and live their life the best they can with the cards they were dealt, are actively persecuted just for existing. A lot of lies and misinformation gets peddled against trans persons, and it makes no sense to me. I guess sending unwarranted hate to others makes a good distraction to keep people from looking at what you're doing? I dunno. In any event, this is a good video to watch if you're wondering what a small group of your fellow Americans are dealing with right now...

I wish I understood how we got to where we're at.

   
Onwards and upwards...

   

Bullet Sunday 894

Posted on Sunday, March 9th, 2025

Dave!I may be feeling nauseous and very close to puking on my keyboard, but the internet must go on... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Deli Bro! I think the reason I'm sick is because working non-stop has finally caught up to me. And so... instead of cleaning my pit of a house, I spent yesterday laying on the couch watching Deli Boys on Hulu. The first episode is available on YouTube, but I don't know for how long...

I loved the show. Which means it'll get canceled. Don't know why I bother getting invested in television any more. None of them seem to be given a chance to find an audience and grow. Like Amazon just canceling The Recruit.

   
• Hot Bill! =sigh= Bill Murray always fires on all cylinders. And he's in true form on Hot Ones... a show I'm flabbergasted he wanted to appear on. But I'm so glad he did...

Is the guy ever not funny? I doubt it.

   
• Fraud! I am begging y'all to freeze your credit reports at the Big Three: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. It may be a pain (especially at Equifax, may they burn in hell for all eternity) but it is a vital protection. I just received an email from BECU telling me that they were "unable to approve your application"... and the email headers say it's from the actual BECU, not a scammer. This is the third time this year somebody has tried to credit fraud me. By having your reports frozen at all three places, new credit can't be established in your name. You will, however, have to un-freeze if you decide to open a new credit card or get a loan. You can read about how to do it here at USA.gov.

   
• Goin' with the Moen Flo! When I had to get my water shut off valve replaced, I went for a “smart” valve that would allow me to remotely shut off my water when I’m away and automatically shut off my water if a pipe bursts. But it also monitors water usage. And it’s pretty good. It can distinguish between a short flush and long flush for the toilet. It can tell me how much water is spent washing clothes and dishes (my dishwasher uses a ridiculously low amount of water). But it’s also misreading stuff, because I’ve not turned on my irrigation or my hose, don’t take baths, and I have a quick shower every morning but it’s not seeing it always...

Moen Flo Water Usage Report.

Guess it’s still learning? Apparently it keeps getting smarter over time. Unlike "Apple Intelligence."

   
• Silly Goose! On one hand, it's nice to know that geese care more about the people in their life than my cats do. On the other hand, this is kinda a cruel trick to play on the poor things...

Jake would just crawl on top of me and go to sleep. Jenny would start meowing at me for food.

   
• What a Drag! I haven't played Dungeons & Dragons for decades. But I still like to watch play from time to time, usually on YouTube. And YouTube knows this, which is why it recommended a show called Dungeons and Drag Queens...

And these aren't any random unknown queens either. Bob, Monét X Change, Jujubee, and Alaska(!) are all top-tier queens! Very cool. And this is season two! I missed the whole first season.

   
• YOU GET LESS MONEY AND YOU GET LESS MONEY... EVERYBODY GETS LESS MONEY! I just finished my taxes! And despite the fact that I had to pay out thousands upon thousands of dollars for eye surgeries, I'm getting less money back than last year. But surely that will change now, won't it? It's hard to tell. Back in October the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy released a A Distributional Analysis of Donald Trump’s Tax Plan and it comes out looking like this...

Trump Proposals Cut Taxes for the Richest 5
Percent, Raise Taxes for Other Groups.

And I was like "Oh thank God!" I was worried for a minute that my taxes wouldn't increase so that millionaires and billionaires can have more money. Turns out I was worrying for no reason, because it looks like more taxes for the majority of Americans is totally what's going to happen! Maybe. This could all change, just like the tariffs have been. But if it does end up being true, hey, at least groceries are cheaper! Oh... wait a minute...

   
And now I need a nap. Blogging really takes it out of you.

   

Bullet Sunday 895 – A Rant

Posted on Sunday, March 16th, 2025

Dave!I am about as angry and disgusted as I've ever been... so let's get to an all new, very special Bullet Sunday which starts... now...

   
• Background. I'm going to give you a bit of background to explain why I'm so fucking outraged today. And it starts with my support of America's soldiers. Not necessarily what they do... because our government can't seem to help abusing and misusing our military... and not all of our soldiers because there have been too many who have done horrific things while wearing a uniform... but generally speaking. A lot of American citizens become soldiers because they don't have many options. They don't have wealthy parents and a trust fund. A lot of them join the military in the hopes of escaping poverty or abuse. A lot of them join the military with aspirations to serve their country and do something important with their life. So, yeah, I respect (most of) our soldiers. My parents were both in the Navy. People I admire were in the service. And so I've tried to do my part for our soldiers... like sending care packages (a great place to start is AnySolder.com)... and promoting and donating to support organizations (like StopSoldierSuicide.org)... and it's why I promote and support organizations for our abandoned and forgotten soldiers (like the National POW/MIA Memorial & Museum). I haven't served, so I try to support those who do.

   
• Our Government at Work. I'm just going to get right to it... the official government website for the Department of Defense (defense.gov) has done something so horrific that, even with all the crazy shit going on, I still have a hard time believing it. Whether or not the current administration will scrub all evidence of this abhorrent act doesn't matter, because I've brought the receipts. As I am typing this, if you search on defense.gov for "Charles C Rogers" (as in Maj. Gen. Charles Calvin Rogers) the top result is recognizing him as a Medal of Honor recipient. If you don't know, that's the highest military decoration available.

The link: https://www.defense.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/2824721/medal-of-honor-monday-army-maj-gen-charles-calvin-rogers/

Which I have screen-shot here...

The links for Charles C Rogers.

And, yes, this is official, even though the search is made through USA.gov...

Showing official government website link confirmation.

But when you click on that, it redirects to: https://www.defense.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/2824721/deimedal-of-honor-monday-army-maj-gen-charles-calvin-rogers/

Look carefully. "Medal of Honor Monday" is now "DEI Medal of Honor Monday"...

DEI Medal of Honor Monday Link

DEI Medal of Honor Monday Link

But it gets worse. His page has been scrubbed...

So not only is our current administration firing veterans, cutting staff for the Veterans Administration, firing veterans, and generally making life worse for the people who serve this country... THEY ARE FUCKING DISRESPECTING AND ERASING VETERANS ON OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT WEBSITES.

   
• Military of the (Right) People. Before I continue on with Maj. Gen. Charles Calvin Rogers, a quick aside. Soldiers are soldiers. It doesn't matter their sex, their orientation, their faith, their race, their social status, or how they choose to identify. They are serving their country, and that's what matters. And it's not up for debate. However... recognizing that people have intrinsic traits which sets them apart from the historically white, male, Christian, straight hero soldier trope that has inundated society (like our "war movies" since the dawn of time), is important. Which is why the official website for the Arlington National Cemetery has added categories under their "notable graves" section to recognize Women's History, African American History, and Hispanic American History (and there should be more categories, in my opinion... where are the LGBTQ+ soldiers?). Well, the site did have these categories. But now? Scrubbed (as reported by Task & Purpose). They still have a section for FOREIGN NATIONALS, but American minorities in service? Nope.

   
• An All-American Hero. If you've got Maj. Gen. Charles Calvin Rogers's name in your mouth, you had better put some respect on it. Via Wikipedia, here is the Medal of Honor citation he received...

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Lt. Col. Rogers, Field Artillery, distinguished himself in action while serving as commanding officer, 1st Battalion, during the defense of a forward fire support base. In the early morning hours, the fire support base was subjected to a concentrated bombardment of heavy mortar, rocket and rocket propelled grenade fire. Simultaneously the position was struck by a human wave ground assault, led by sappers who breached the defensive barriers with bangalore torpedoes and penetrated the defensive perimeter. Lt. Col. Rogers with complete disregard for his safety moved through the hail of fragments from bursting enemy rounds to the embattled area. He aggressively rallied the dazed artillery crewmen to man their howitzers and he directed their fire on the assaulting enemy. Although knocked to the ground and wounded by an exploding round, Lt. Col. Rogers sprang to his feet and led a small counterattack force against an enemy element that had penetrated the howitzer positions. Although painfully wounded a second time during the assault, Lt. Col. Rogers pressed the attack killing several of the enemy and driving the remainder from the positions. Refusing medical treatment, Lt. Col. Rogers reestablished and reinforced the defensive positions. As a second human wave attack was launched against another sector of the perimeter, Lt. Col. Rogers directed artillery fire on the assaulting enemy and led a second counterattack against the charging forces. His valorous example rallied the beleaguered defenders to repulse and defeat the enemy onslaught. Lt. Col. Rogers moved from position to position through the heavy enemy fire, giving encouragement and direction to his men. At dawn the determined enemy launched a third assault against the fire base in an attempt to overrun the position. Lt. Col. Rogers moved to the threatened area and directed lethal fire on the enemy forces. Seeing a howitzer inoperative due to casualties, Lt. Col. Rogers joined the surviving members of the crew to return the howitzer to action. While directing the position defense, Lt. Col. Rogers was seriously wounded by fragments from a heavy mortar round which exploded on the parapet of the gun position. Although too severely wounded to physically lead the defenders, Lt. Col. Rogers continued to give encouragement and direction to his men in the defeating and repelling of the enemy attack. Lt. Col. Rogers' dauntless courage and heroism inspired the defenders of the fire support base to the heights of valor to defeat a determined and numerically superior enemy force. His relentless spirit of aggressiveness in action are in the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

Now... you tell me. Does his Medal of Honor sound like it was awarded because of DEI? If it does, let me fucking remind you that he received this honor in 1968. The Civil Rights Act only came about four years earlier in 1964. And 1968 was time when racism was so rampant that they had to start adding things like the Fair Housing Act (also in 1968) to help curb just how bad it was (or continues to be, if you're paying attention).

   
• Charles Calvin Rogers. Also via Wikipedia, I feel it's important to mention that Maj. Gen. Rogers didn't stop his service after he recovered and got a college degree...

After recovering Rogers attended the US Army War College and received an M.S. degree from Shippensburg State College. He rose to the rank of major general before he left the army in 1984. He later became a Baptist minister, serving U.S. troops stationed in Germany. After a brief battle with prostate cancer, he died in Munich, Germany, at 61 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, United States.

He served right up until he died, far from home while ministering to the needs of his fellow soldiers. That kind of dedication should be celebrated, but instead his page gets scrubbed from the Department of Defense.

   
• Fuck. This. Bullshit. The purpose of this post is to draw attention to something that's incredibly fucked up and wrong. The level of disrespect that has been heaped upon a literal American hero needs attention. And while I don't really want to drag this post into dirty politics, it's pretty hard not to. Because it's not just Maj. Gen. Rogers being slighted by the current administration. Even a cursory look at the headlines shows that the military (in general) and veterans (specifically) are getting fucked (and this is after polling showed that veterans supported them to the tune of 61%).

   
• Veterans Haven't Left the Fight. Protesting is still technically legal in this country. Although that seems to be changing... you can't even protest a fucking car without being labeled a domestic terrorist by the President now-a-days (which is apt because the President Himself has turned into a car salesman). Perhaps in short order all forms of protest, an American right since the country was formed, will be banned and protesters shipped to prison camps. And if you think that's impossible then you haven't been paying attention (nor do you know your history). Thankfully, veterans just don't give a fuck and are taking the fight to politicians directly...

And so it goes.

   
Here's hoping that next Bullet Sunday I can get back to my regular nonsense.

   

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