Trump Is Waiting for the Saudis to Tell Him What to Do

Trump wasn't so sold on the Saudis earlier:

Beyond the sheer horror of an American president putting the decision as to whether or not we go to war in the hand of a government that is not really friendly to us, ask yourself this: How much shit did they buy from Trump (condos, his yacht) to get him to roll over like a beaten puppy that Cadet Bone Spurs will go to war if Jared's BFF wants it?

I know of no treaty with the Saudis that commits the United States to go to war on their behalf. You may recall that Robert Gates, who was SecDef under both Bush-II and Obama, once said that the Saudis are willing to fight Iran to the last American. But here is Trump, once again, playing butt-monkey to an autocratic/theocratic regime.

He's going to wait for the Saudis to tell him what to do?

Trump says the Saudis are a good country to help because they pay for things with "cash." pic.twitter.com/yzSBf3LD7w

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) September 16, 2019

Does Saudi money buy our fealty? If they need to hire a mercenary force, why aren't they talking to Betsy DeVos's baby brother? So, for Saudi gold, Trump is going to hire out the U.S. military.

Congrats, all you future Gold Star mothers and father! Your kids died to keep Price Bone Saw safe.

We can't wait another sixteen months. Impeach this fucker!

Moscow Mitch Does Not Approve

Moscow Mitch from Moscow Mitch on Vimeo.

Assholes With Guns

This guy at a recent farm market in Alexandria, VA:

Jeans shorts, head down, yakking on a cell phone, AR with a cheap-jack scope, a bipod, and a front sight that blocks out the scope. A true fucking nimrod. Nobody who is on the fence about gun rights will jump to favoring gun rights when seeing clowns like this. They'll go the other way.

Fucktards like this guy and his girlfriend are helping to make the case for restrictions.

The Alexandria Farmer's Market takes on city property, so Virginia's open-carry laws control.

My bet is that they will hold the market in the future on private property, so they can ban these rifle-toting attention whores.

Good going, morons.

Trust This Guy About Iran?

Remember, as Trump's administration tries to make a case for going to war with Iran, that this is the same guy who spent days and days covering up and lying about a hurricane forecast.

Got Evidence, Mikey?

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has blamed Iran for the attack Saturday on key Saudi oil infrastructure. On Sunday, senior U.S. officials again said the American government believes there is no doubt Iran was responsible, saying satellite imagery and other intelligence, show the strike was inconsistent with one launched from Yemen, where Iranian-backed Houthi rebels had claimed responsibility.

"We knowed they done it" is not proof.

We've been down this road before, with Bush43's administration hyping up bullshit and speculation in order to justify the war of aggression that both Bush and Cheney wanted to launch.

The difference here, though, is that Trump's not inclined to satisfy the warmongering wet dreams of Pompeo and his ilk.

Duluth Cops Are Not the Sharpest Tacks in the Box

Police do not believe the burning of a nearly 120-year-old synagogue in Duluth, Minnesota, was a hate crime.

Investigators have no indication that the suspect arrested, [Some Asshole], was motivated by hate or bias, Duluth Police Chief Mike Tusken said in a Sunday news conference.

I am of the position that the default position for burning down a synagogue, let alone any other house of worship, is a hate crime unless there is strong evidence to the contrary.

Sharpiegate Snark

After the Fridge is Nuked, You Can Still Drink the Beer

Yes, beer can survive a nuclear attack. So can soft drinks. The flavor might be a bit off, so there is finally a good reason to have some Coors Light on hand-- it can hardly taste much worse.

Basically, some scientists figured out how to be able to buy and drink beer on the government's dime and time. I have no idea if Brett Kavanaugh's dad was involved in the project.

Your Sunday Morning Jet Noise

Lear 45

Trump Hates LED Lights Because They Make Him Look Orange

I wish that was a joke. But it's not.

“The lightbulb. People said what’s with the lightbulb? I said here’s the story. And I looked at it, the bulb that we’re being forced to use, number one to me, most importantly, the light’s no good. I always look orange. And so do you. The light is the worst.”

Except that the only reason for Trump's orange look is Trump:

Tamzin Smith, a portrait photographer in Rockville, Md., pointed out that Trump’s orange complexion is visible even when he is photographed against white backgrounds. If bulbs were responsible for casting a warm glow, anything white in a photo of the president — including the background, a white shirt, or even his teeth — should also be orange.

“You can see that even when his teeth are white, his skin is orangey-red,” Smith said. “It’s definitely not the lighting.”
...
[Makeup artist Jason] Kelly said it is generally recognized among makeup artists that Trump’s application of bronzer is atypical. “When I see him, I see a line of oxidized bronzer around his hairline,” Kelly said. “The application is like a kindergartner did it.

“Bronzer shouldn’t be applied from forehead to chin. It’s meant to contour the face,” he continued. “Putting it all over is just going to make you go orange.”

Caturday

A friend's cat. The cat is 11.

Because It's Friday

Weapons of War, Beto?

Beto O'Rourke wants to ban "weapons of war".

How about these, Beto?

These were all, at one time or another, weapons of war.

So was this, by the way:

And this:

As far as I know, the first metallic cartridge used in war was the fearsome .22 short, fired from this:

Saying you're going to ban "weapons of war" is intellectually dishonest, Beto. But I suspect you both know that and don't give a shit.

I also suspect that Beto is too young to remember what happened on November 8, 1994.

Good Christians Practice Slavery?

A dozen leaders of a California-based ministry have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that they lured homeless people into forced labor with the false promise that they would be provided meals and shelter, prosecutors said this week.

Instead, the authorities said, they were imprisoned in group homes and coerced to forgo welfare benefits and panhandle up to nine hours a day, six days a week “for the financial benefit of the church leaders.

At this point, what's in the story are allegations, of course.

But if the allegations are proven in court, then the defendants should be put into cells and the doors welded.

Brexit Crash-out May Be Interesting

The British government, under orders from Parliament, published the Operation Yellowhammer contingency assessment. It's only eight pages.

Some acronym help:

• HGV = Heavy Goods Vehicle.  AKA lorries.
• BDG = Border Delivery Group.  It's an inter-agency Bristish group that sprang into existence to figure out how to go from essentially no border to a hard border.
• SEM - Single Electricity Market, which serves Ireland, both the Irish and British parts.
• DHSC = Dept. of Health and Social Care.
• DEFRA = Dept. for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
• HMT = Her Majesty's Treasury.
• DCMS = Dept. for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
• HO/NSS = Home Office National Security Strategy.
• UKN = United Kingdom Nationals; the poor buggers who reside in or retied to EU nations.
• HMG = Her Majesty's Government.
• DWP = Dept. for Work and Pensions.
• FCO = Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
• BEIS = Dept. for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
• NIO/NICS - may have something to do with insurance.
• DA - beats me.
• LA - Probably not places the bureaucrats would rather be than have to deal with this shit.

If you want to know what any of the above agencies, look them up on yer own.

Biggest "No shit, Sherlock statement: "Low income groups will be disproportionately affected by any price rises in food and fuel."

The Musical Stylings of John Hinckley, Jr.

The man who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan is interested in getting a job in the music industry, possibly in California, his lawyer said at a court hearing in Washington on Tuesday.

Patti Davis isn't having any of it.

9-11 +18

First, this post will take you to others I've written about the aftereffects of 9-11. I think I've said what I needed to on that score.

As of tomorrow, a person who was born after the Twin Towers fell will be a legal adult and can sign up to go fight in the forever war that came about as a result. If there was ever a chance to "win" in Afghanistan, it was tossed away by Bush the Spendthrift on his way to fight a war of aggression against a nation that had nothing to do with the matter then at hand. But he and Dick the Torturer went out and lied through their teeth to justify it. Bush's Misbegotten War destabilized the region-- ISIS is a stepchild of the Iraq War.

As far as I know, senior members of the Bush Administration still cannot travel overseas for fear of being arrested for war crimes.

I Hired You People to Try to Get a Little Track Laid, Not to Jump Around Like a Bunch of Kansas City Faggots!

No problem, Boss!

Sharpiegate Continues

The Secretary of Commerce threatened to fire top employees at the federal scientific agency responsible for weather forecasts last Friday after the agency’s Birmingham office contradicted President Trump’s claim that Hurricane Dorian might hit Alabama, according to three people familiar with the discussion.

That threat led to an unusual, unsigned statement later that Friday by the agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, disavowing the National Weather Service’s position that Alabama was not at risk. The reversal caused widespread anger within the agency and drew accusations from the scientific community that the National Weather Service, which is part of NOAA, had been bent to political purposes.

NOAA’s statement on Friday is now being examined by the Commerce Department’s Office of Inspector General, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times, and employees have been asked to preserve their files. NOAA is a division of the Commerce Department.

The National Weather Service “must maintain standards of scientific integrity,” the inspector general, Peggy E. Gustafson, wrote in a message to NOAA staff members in which she requested documents related to Friday’s statement. The circumstances, she wrote, “call into question the NWS’s processes, scientific independence, and ability to communicate accurate and timely weather warnings and data to the nation in times of national emergency.”

Can anyone honestly believe, after this, that Trump is not mentally ill? We're now going to be treated to yet another investigation that basically calls into question Trump's fitness for office.

He's not. He's nuttier than a boxcar of almonds.

Trump is looking for his analog of Trofin Lysenko. Here's hoping that he never finds one.

Kickbacks: It's Not a Bug, It's a Feature,

Attorney General William P. Barr is planning a holiday treat for his boss.

Last month, Barr booked President Trump’s D.C. hotel for a 200-person holiday party in December that is likely to deliver Trump’s business more than $30,000 in revenue.

Barr signed a contract, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, for a “Family Holiday Party” in the hotel’s Presidential Ballroom Dec. 8. The party will feature a buffet and a four-hour open bar for about 200 people.

Oh sure, Buttmonkey Barr has reasons for holding his party there, but they're bullshit. No large hotel runs its reservations on 3x5 cards; double-booking a function room is implausible.

What this sounds like is the old days, when city workers were expected to kick back a portion of their pay to the party.

Corruption is a feature of the Trump presidency.

Your Sunday Morning Jet Noise

The first flight of the Boeing 367-80:

I don't know if the sound was added later. There's not a lot of footage of Dash 80 out there.