The Long Road Out

Well, here we are.  I'm increasingly beginning to feel like Anne Franck, reporting in from the attic.  I'm actually in business class on a United flight back from London…but you get the point.  The noose is tightening in the US, and I'm not sure whose throat the fingers are encircling.  We are indeed a small boat lost at sea, to paraphrase the Chinese assessment.  The poor Taiwanese.  More friends cast over the sideboard.   So what joy has the world experienced thanks to our tiny rabid mob? The insults are over for Zelenskyy if he's still alive---The US forced him into a contract he couldn't refuse (think of the great outcome we got from this extortion in Turkey—now they have Erdogan!).  The Trump organization gets exclusive benefit of the sale of rare earth minerals (turns out we don't care about the scarce resources after all!  We just want the cash!  More $TRUMP.).  Furthermore, only the Trump organization can do re...

Mike Meyers, fresh on SNL, apparently referred to graffiti he'd seen in a Conservative riding in Winnipeg. It said "there's no pain worse than being betrayed by a friend." In context it was referring to Trump's rude insensitivity to our neighbor. I would be hurt if someone trash talked me as Trump has done. It's little solace to know that he's just a bully and a bore, and that he does it to every one else. True. He does. True. He's a pig. But: what he's saying is "you're just like everyone else. Meaningless to me." That hurts me just typing it. My ex-wife, who happens to be Canadian, went out of her way to tell me the same thing—that I'm meaningless to her. That hurts even more. Until Trump gets us all killed, I just ignore the guy. Such a tool. But I can't ignore my ex life partner. That's not the way I'm built. Even though, like Trump, I'm just like everyone else in her eyes too. I was never specia...

Can you believe this craven shit?  If you're so embarrassed by your own policy that you get pissed off at friends for highlighting it—you shouldn't be doing it.  Shame on our government. And look how quickly Amazon bent over!   Hopefully higher quality retailers will stick to their guns with honest pricing on their websites. No more lies, Jeff and Don.   Begin forwarded message: From: The New York Times   Breaking news: White House attacks Amazon over idea of showing tariffs' cost A report said Amazon would highlight tariff-related price increases. The company said it was "not going to happen." View in browser | nytimes.com April 29, 2025 BREAKING NEWS Justin Sullivan/Getty Images White House Attacks Amazon Over Idea of Showing Tariffs' Cost The White House press secretary...

As world leaders join together to exclude the US from their future planning, I have to ask the simple question:  what moral standing do we have?   The US, when it gets serious about locking down its borders, has to realize that:   It does not recognize international law It is not a party to any UN or other covenants on human, civil, or economic rights It finances global investment in a way that displaces huge populations and puts many at risk of quasi-governments or outright militias It possesses the world's largest military, which is employs randomly, and generally with oppressive zeal (we're spending more under Trump who has, on the 50 th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, just approved an increase in both military and covert resources) It does not have a single friend who trusts us (including both of our most immediate neighbors) because we don't do what we say. It is covered in the blood of innocents.   We lost our moral standing at some point—...

  The Kübler-Ross five stages of grief, also known as the Five Stages of Dying, were introduced by psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her 1969 book On Death and Dying. These stages describe a common range of emotional responses experienced by individuals facing terminal illness, loss, or significant life changes: Denial – Refusing to believe the reality of the loss or diagnosis (“This can’t be happening”). Anger – Frustration and helplessness may turn into anger (“Why is this happening to me?”). Bargaining – Attempting to make deals to postpone or reverse the loss (“If I do this, can I live longer?”). Depression – Deep sadness as the person begins to understand the loss’s impact (“What’s the point of going on?”). Acceptance – Coming to terms with the reality of the situation (“It’s going to be okay”). These stages aren’t always experienced in order, and not everyone goes through all of them.  But, for me, in my recent trauma, I experienced 1-3 as a group, very mixed...

That’s how the Chinese government outlets described the US this morning.  Of course, China had a good day yesterday: - Qwen3 AI released, likely to surpass Chat - major tech upgrades for Chinese EVs to outperform Tesla and Lucid cars - Canada, which has bilateral trade deals with China, elected an anti-Trump liberal government - China’s two biggest retailers (Temu and Alibaba) simply added tariff prices to all their products (as much as a 142% increase) for US purchases. They don’t need our consumers.  - Putin and Trump, the two aging brontosaurus’s, had to call a three day rest period in their current proxy war. Get out your plastic oars, America. The Titanic isn’t coming back to save you, thanks to Don.  

Justin’s party won—with Mark Carney at the helm. And Australia and the EU and the UK locked by his side.  (Is there a single country that would not root for Canada over Trump-land?  Name one, Don.  jD?)   The Liberals thought they might lose badly to the Conservatives, and perhaps even drop behind the NDP with 20% of the vote in January. Then Don came along. As of now, Justin's party is closing in on a pure majority. Too early to tell but they may not even need the Bloc or the defeated NDP to form a government.  Mike Meyers referred to graffiti he saw in Winnipeg. It said "there is no greater pain than being betrayed by a friend." This graffiti could easily be in Kiev, or London. It could be in Saigon (today is the 50th anniversary of that wonderful collapse as mobs stormed the gates of the US embassy, btw) or Warsaw. But, it’s in Alberta—a center of conservative support.  Betrayed by the US leader and his mob of assholes. Don't I know the debilitat...