On Counting & Giving Thanks

 

On Poison Fruit & Tainted Turkeys

 

On Pick-ups, Pirates & Picked Pockets

 

On Arrivals & Expectations

 

I could have used this one several weeks ago, following the time change when the darkness descended, the Christmas music started up on XM, and the shops in town started putting out their lights and Winter Holiday décor.  From my perspective this shift seemed to have taken place even earlier than last year. 

However, the biggest surprise, and most recent irritation involving change, was the arrival of Amazon's AI, Rufus  It showed up last night as I was trying to follow a link on YouTube to an item on Amazon.  What turned up in place what I was looking for was a orange screen full of AI's recommendations for me, with no obvious way to close it down.  In order to move past the visual clutter of that intrusion and find what I was looking for, I had go back to the link, get the name of the item, and type it in the Amazon search bar.  Taking those extra steps finally brought me to where I'd have immediately gone without Rufus blocking the way. SonM says there might have been something off with the link I was using, as others I've tried since from that same site have led me right to the item, without "Rufus" bringing up my past history along with a host of fabulous deals it thinks I might want.   I haven't yet decided what to do about this latest AI assist other than feel visually assaulted and along for a another ride I'm not sure I want to take. 

I'm tired of being pushed and sold, and once again will need to sort through the clutter, figure out what matters most to me, and look for ways to enjoy "The Holidays" and the winter months to come.   We did manage to drop 500 tulip bulbs and daffodils for naturalizing into the yard before the weather turned,  using a new 2" auger attached to the cordless drill.  That method worked great, better than the old step-on bulb planter my brother welded up for me years ago, and I now have the imagined surprise of those bulbs blooming in the spring to hold me through the cold and snow! 

 Another late fall surprise encountered this year (which I hadn't noticed before in the the seven years we've been here), was a woods full of blooming Witch Hazel with hundreds of tiny yellow spider-like flowers decking out the branches of bushes situated around the oaks.  Turns out there is a nocturnal moth that stays active during freezing weather, and flies around in November pollinating them. And that leads to the formation of seed pods (w/ 2 seeds per pod) capable to "discharging" (shooting!) those seeds 10-30 feet when they open the next fall.  Sometimes all it takes is something as unusual and naturally wonderful as this amid all the hype to help me find center again.  

On Playbooks & Finger Pointing

 

On Privilege & Disfavor

 

On Cover-ups & Truth Trickling Out

 

"According to Patel’s findings, the CIA took extraordinary measures to conceal the truth. The agency used public money to manipulate analysts, rewrite assessments, and bury an origin story that threatened the political storyline the left had banked everything on. Trump was right about China. Fauci was wrong. The media was wrong. And the bureaucracy moved heaven and earth to keep that reality under wraps...Fauci played the patronizing scientist. The legacy media enforced the talking points. Big Tech censored any dissent. The establishment insisted the virus emerged from some Wuhan wet market and treated anyone who questioned that tale like a threat to democracy.

Patel explained the cost of this cover-up: “We’re two years down the road from that, three, and that story has been written, you know? That iron has been cast. So half the public is like, ‘What are you guys talking about? That’s a right-wing conspiracy.’” That describes the fallout perfectly. The establishment spent years gaslighting Americans. They told the public to ignore common sense. They mocked anyone who dared say the virus came from a lab, even though the evidence pointed straight toward Wuhan. Now the truth trickles out in slow, frustrating drips, and millions of Americans shrug because the lie has calcified—just like how millions of leftists still believe that Trump colluded with Russia."

Quote from Matt Margolis' Nov 16, 2025 post on "Kash Patel Drops Covid Origin Bombshell", with cartoons from several years ago added here as accompaniment. 

On Smoke & Wood Chucks

 

On Name-calling of One Kind & Another

 

On Confusion & Ownership

 

On Board For the Ride & Free Stuff

 

On Life Support & Insertion

 

Theyt've been promising a civil war,

but it's getting awfully uncivil on the Left.

The big showdown on the shutdown is a disaster for the Demos and, if the real purpose was to deliver last Tuesday for their machines, they may find it wasn't worth it.

What we have is a brewing all-out war between the crazies and the old Commies. If the Demos aren't careful, we may see Congressional (and judicial) term limits.

The showdown was a disaster for the Demos. Anytime Donald Trump offers a carrot to the other side, the other side better watch out. This time was no exception. Chuckie had a chance to give in, but didn't take, assuming, as always, the Rs would fold. They didn't and the Demos got zip, absolutely nothing for a month of Sturm und Drang. Moreover, many Demos tried a little CYA by admitting that, yeah, the whole "starving babies" gag was all they had and the "natives" (fake but accurate) were getting restless as the hardcore screamed about a cave, which, let's face it, is what it was.

Now you have Kathy Hochul refusing to fund Madmani's little Animal Farm, along with Donald Trump. And the illegals are still on their way out the door.

I can only hope all the people who did those TikTok videos where they're crying over the starving people and broken families got paid well. Some of them were quite credibile.

Until you noticed there were no tears, no wet faces, no sniffling, no quivering lower lips.

And there will be tons of ads next year showing people like the Dick from IL denouncing the whole thing for what it was, holding people hostage for their eating money. If this doesn't convince a lot of Demo voters the the memorable advice of the Silhouettes                                  

yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip
Mum-mum-mum-mum-mum-mum, get a job

I'm afraid there's little hope.

On Show & Response