• Dolly Redux! I have spent a lot of time thinking about the legacy that Dolly Parton left behind. What's most amazing is that she seems to have somehow transcended politics, despite the fact that she was fairly apolitical. Of all the interviews and videos I've watched over the past several days, I think this one is where Dolly's legacy should lay...

And you know what? I don't think Dolly would mind one bit.

   
• Slop! Something I think Dolly would mind very much? The death of shitty fucking AI songs eulogizing her. It started when I happened across a song by Enya on YouTube which was a tribute to Dolly Parton. I started listening to it and realized it didn't sound like Enya. Then I saw a shit-ton of other AI-generated shit and realized that everybody and their dog were "creating" AI slop tributes by real people who never made them. It's so fucking disgusting. And it pisses me the fuck off that YouTube isn't cracking down on this crap. Because I don't want to hear it. Ever.

   
• Skylines! This looks like it's a glorious LEGO mashup of SimCity and Animal Crossing...

Yeah, can't wait for that. Any time I can spend in a fake world is bound to be better than what we've got going on in this world we've got for reality.

   
• Lanterns! Nothing has me laughing my ass off harder than people claiming that HBO's Lanterns has ruined the character by going "woke." Race was a huge... massively huge... part of the comic book series. This small exchange is but a drop in the bucket...

The introduction of John Stewart was specifically made to add perspective to Black persons in the situations which were normally occupied by white people...

I wasn't reading comics in 1971, as I was five years old, but I very much remember reading the stories as back issues later in life. I was a massive fan of Green Lantern (his comic, along with The Flash, were the first I had ever bought) and I read through many back-issues where these foundations were made. The fact that the characters are being dusted off and revised for modern audiences is not an accident. It's what the foundation of the book has always been. I think Lanterns is honoring the source material very well. I just wish there was more action going on. I'm trying to be patient, but we're running through the series quickly without it.

   
• Dantzig! I never tire of hearing this story, which popped up today. I've copied it from his Wikipedia article...

During his study in 1939, Dantzig solved two unsolved problems in statistics due to a misunderstanding. Near the beginning of a class, Professor Neyman wrote two problems on the blackboard. Dantzig arrived late and assumed that they were a homework assignment. According to Dantzig, they "seemed to be a little harder than usual", but a few days later he handed in completed solutions for both problems, still believing that they were an assignment that was overdue. Six weeks later, an excited Neyman eagerly told him that the problems he had solved were two of the most famous unsolved problems in statistics. He had prepared one of Dantzig's solutions for publication in a mathematical journal. This story spread and was used as a motivational lesson demonstrating the power of positive thinking. Over time, some facts were altered, but the basic story persisted in the form of an urban legend and as an introductory scene in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting.

   
• Recall! Recall! Recall! Can anybody keep up with all the foods being recalled? I sure can't. Which means I'm probably going to die any day now. Which is strange given that everybody said I was going to die from all the COVID vaccines I've had (11 and counting!). If only there was some kind of government agency responsible for keeping our food safe. That wasn't dismantled. By assholes who keep cutting necessary government agencies so their billionaire owners can get even more tax cuts.

   
And now back to my post-vacation nonsense, already in progress.

   
Welp.

I wrote this entry which I have written twice previously then deleted. Then I decided to sit on it over the weekend.

At which point I just said "fuck it" so I can move on.

I apologize in advance. After this, I will have my regular post about cats tomorrow, happy things I found on the internet on Sunday, and a week all about games! But in the meanwhile... sorry.

Monday morning I woke up and couldn't see the surrounding hillsides. It's wildfire season and the smoke was terrible. I walked outside to empty the trash and the haze immediately caused my eyes to water, my nose to run, and my lungs to itch. I have bad smoke allergies, which meant I had miserable times ahead of me.

But my misery wasn't what caused me to have a total fucking meltdown.

Last week Thursday, U.S. Representative John James of the great state of Michigan posted this...

I thought this was the height of ignorance, and was compelled to comment...

"When my state of Washington catches fire and smoke is blowing into Canada, they send help... not cruel and nonsensical threats. What a terrible neighbor you are."

I didn't unload on the asshole, I just chastised him for having such a bad take on the tragic situation happening to our neighbors to the north. He doesn't represent me or my state, so that's all I had to say on the matter.

But then...

THEN...

The next day the president of the United States of America decided to chime in...

"We are holding Canada responsible for the fact that they are not properly maintaining their Forests, and Brush therein, and the United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air, the quality of which is dangerous, and totally unacceptable! I will call the Prime Minister during the day to find out what they are going to do about it. The cost is incalculable! Canada has refused to engage in basic Forest Management and Debris Removal, knowing that such refusal will lead to exactly this result. This is Willful Negligence, and becoming a yearly occurrence, costing the United States Billions of Dollars, which cost of this pollution must of necessity be added to the TARIFFS Canada is currently paying. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP"

And I lost it.

This fucking piece of shit does represent me. He represents all Americans.

I then spent the weekend fuming over the fact that people are dying. Animals are dying. Homes are being lost. Livelihoods are being destroyed. And our Idiot in Chief decided the best course of action was to publicly post a predictably stupid, needlessly cruel, and sublimely ignorant statement like this. As if Canada is having a great time at our expense or something.

So I hammered out a rant to post in the morning, then set it aside to review it and post that night. Except I couldn't. I then spent the rest of the week biting my tongue thinking that eventually my anger would subside. Except it didn't.

And here we are.

Last Summer the fires in my area were particularly bad. The company I work for decided to donate some foodstuffs to help out the firefighters risking their lives. Myself and a colleague drove to one of the firefighter camps to unload a truck, at which time I noticed that there was a Canadian flag off in the distance. Turns out that our neighbors to the North saw how bad things were and wanted to help. Their politicians and Prime Minister didn't start unloading tweets threatening tariffs or accusing us of mismanaging our forests or whatever stupid shit our politicians and our president dropped out of their festering asses.

But it gets so much worse.

Five days before the orange piece of shit vomited up his bullshit, Canadian helicopter pilot Nicholas Dale died fighting a fire. IN COLORADO. Which is part of the United States, if you were unaware.

A Canadian lost their life helping us fight our fires less than a week before Trump unloads on his country.

Disgusting.

There's not a day that goes by that I'm not wishing for the repugnant ass in The White House to take a fucking seat and shut the fuck up.

But this past week I wished for it more than usual.

   
Day four of not being able to stop looking back in anger. I need a drink.

The phrase "taking notice thrice" most commonly refers to a foundational mindfulness technique rooted in Buddhist practice, where an individual mentally repeats an emotion or state three times to detach from it.

And right now I am mentally repeating "rage, rage, rage" in an attempt to detach from it so I can try to get past the all-consuming anger which has been overwhelming me for days.

It's not working.

   
Yeah, I'm still so enraged that I can barely form rational thought.

I am about as mad as I've ever been.

I've written, re-written, and deleted a post about it too many times to count and I'm exhausted.

I suppose I'll see how it goes tomorrow. Maybe I'll have calmed down by then and think of a better approach that won't be a scorch-the-earth approach.

But I doubt it.

   
• Licenses for Luddites! Just a reminder that the Washington State government is regressive as fuck when it comes to digital driver's licenses... but is very quick to tout us as a bastion of technology around election time. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell blow through tax dollars like Kleenex for everything else... why not help us keep up with (checks notes) West Virginia and Arkansas on stuff like this. It's fucking embarrassing, and we're tired of having to carry a license around when our phones are already with us. We're nearly half-way through the states who have them. Will Washington get in before #25 hits? Let's take a look at where we're at, shall we?

• Arizona (since March 2022)
• Maryland (since May 2022)
• Colorado (since November 2022)
• Georgia (since May 2023)
• Ohio (since July 2024)
• Hawaii (since August 2024)
• California (since September 2024)
• Iowa (since October 2024)
• New Mexico (since December 2024)
• Montana (since August 2025)
• North Dakota (since September 2025)
• West Virginia (since October 2025)
• Illinois (since November 2025)
• Arkansas (since May 2026)
• Connecticut (coming soon)
• Kentucky (coming soon)
• Mississippi (coming soon)
• Oklahoma (coming soon)
• Utah (coming soon)
• Virginia (coming soon)

Spoiler Alert: Not. Fucking. Likely. If they haven't pulled the trigger by now, they've likely got zero plans. They've got Big Pharma checks to cash, and that takes priority over everything.

   
• Politics in America! Tell me this isn't how politics work here...

You can't. Because this is exactly how politics work here. No bill is passed "clean" any more... there's always some horrific bullshit tacked onto it.

   
• Narrative! Nobody takes the minutes to verify crap like this before sharing it with the world, and nobody who follows them cares if it's true or not... they believe it because they want to believe it.

Yes. Mamdani went to the ruins of the church... AND DEMOLISHED IT WITH HIS OWN TWO HANDS!! That's how much he hates Christians! Jesus Christ. Do these assholes EVER research this bullshit they shovel? There are people who read this crap AND BELIEVE IT!! And they vote. But not in New York... a place THEY HAVE LIKELY NEVER EVEN BEEN.

   
• Cake! "No one’s gotten a cake for me before. I bought my own cake in the middle of the night and blew out my own candles alone." (Here's a link in case TikTok is being a dick)...

It hurts my heart that there are people so cruel that they would want a fellow human be alone for the rest of their life because of who they love. This man found his person and his community. He's hurting nobody by existing. Let him pursue his happiness, celebrate his birthday with people who care about him, and live in peace. For God's sake... just be kind.

   
• "You didn't mention the donkey!" Given the abhorrent state of the world today, I often find myself scouring YouTube for something funny to distract me. And few things are as hilariously distracting as Would I Lie To You...

If you want more, there's a channel right here.

   
• Witchcraft! I love videos which explain science in a way you can understand it without having a science background. This one had me captivated from the start...

Wild stuff. And very cool.

   
Since it's been a full two hours since my last nap, I guess it's time.

I'm back home again and ready to collapse after a wild weekend, but hanging on long enough to write this... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts...now...

   
• LEGO Giveth, LEGO Taketh Away... I feel bad for the independent store owners getting caught up in this Bricks & Minifigs drama that has nothing to do with them. But the CEO and every police officer and court official are fucking pieces of shit. Absolute trash. I watched this more than a little shocked...

Just goes to show... might doesn't always come from being right. But I don't need to tell you that.

   
• Filmable! George Eastman, the guy who founded Kodak, is one fascinating guy. As a phenomenally wealthy guy of his day, he was incredibly generous in so many ways. But a bit terrible in others. And I knew none of it until I watched this remarkable video...

And, like so much of history, he's just a small part of a much larger story that came after.

   
• Essential Viewing. Religious freedom is a vanishing breed here in the Land of the Free...

Find. Another. Job. is fucking right.

   
• Hummus! Who knew that it would be Ryan Gosling who would give me a cooking tip that's actually worth knowing...

Will I try it? Yes. Yes I will.

   
• Odysseus! Here's the deal... I have read The Odyssey in both full and abbreviated forms. But I didn't truly understand it until I read Emily Wilson's amazing translation. I was thrilled that her work is what Christopher Nolan based his new film. And this video explains why...

Really can't wait to see it.

   
• He'll Come Again. This week's trending topic... Anne Frank's diary is fake and the Holocaust didn't happen. I honest to God do not understand how we got to this point. I have been to Holocaust museums around the world. The evidence is massively overwhelming. As in unquestionably overwhelming. PHOTOS EXIST OF SOLDIERS LIBERATING THE CAMPS! EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY WAS CAPTURED FOR EVERYBODY TO SEE! — As for Anne Frank's diary being "written in ballpoint pen" years before they were invented, thus the diary is fake... that has been debunked multiple times with various evidence findings being released publicly. The thing that is so fucking terrifying about this is that denying one of the most horrific events in human history just sets us up for it to happen again. I can't believe we're this stupid as a society.

   
• So Long! Do not ask me to mourn the passing of an absolute fucking monster. I won't do it.

   
And now I will take a nap and try to recover.

Happy Birthday tomorrow, America!

Just a reminder that here in the Land of the Free™©® you can be straight-up executed by the government for holding a mobile phone and trying to assist your fellow Americans when they require aid from being shoved to the ground by those who are supposed to be protecting us. Then the president will accuse you of being a domestic terrorist because you had a firearm on your person that you were legally allowed to carry (as guaranteed by the Second Amendment), even though it remained holstered. Then the government will tell lies about you having drawn your weapon and announce that you deserved to die even though video footage exists, and the only thing you were holding was your phone. Then the government agents responsible for murdering you in broad daylight will get put on "administrative leave." But, woo-hoo, fireworks or what the fuck ever.

Instead of attending some tacky, unattended, bloated, partisan, for-profit event that's a drain on American taxpayers for America's 250th, I'll be celebrating American heroes who embody the best ideals of what our country could be. Like a 37-year-old intensive care nurse working to help our veterans who put himself between a woman who had been attacked... and the federal agents who shoved her to the ground. At which time he was pepper-sprayed then executed by the government as he tried to help her. Then he was vilified and branded a terrorist by the head of the government, despite the fact that he had done nothing illegal or wrong.

He was just an American trying to enjoy the freedoms which were at the heart of the entire reason this country was built in the first place. And he was a helper...

This country was better with you in it, Alex Pretti.