26- One hand gives and the other hand looks through your pockets looking for loose change

Yes, this is a Princess Bride allegory. When Miracle Max says the only thing to do for someone who is fully dead is to go through their clothes and look for loose change.

It reminded me of something.

It reminded me of Joann fabrics. This was an amazing craft store that was bought by private equity and liquidated and sold. RIP Joann’s. My friends bemoan the loss weekly.

It reminded me of Party City, which met a similar fate. Of course they did.

It reminded me of the trouble that Red Lobster is in. Because of private equity.

Talk about going through their pockets and looking for loose change.

It also reminded me that in 2025, RFK Jr. and the department of DHHS cancelled five hundred billion dollars in grants. Some of those grants were for cancers.

Because they thought private equity would be able to do it cheaper.

Have they ever met private equity?

Whatever gave them that idea?

I bring this up because a positive mRNA story is all over the main stream media. They are heralding the use of an mRNA vaccine for pancreatic cancer. This is one of the most deadly cancers. You can’t turn on a television without it playing somewhere.

Don’t get me wrong. This is a big win, one of the biggest.

However, with the short sightedness of the DHHS, what other wins are going lacking? What other possible wins are dying on the grant tree?

We may never know.

How many people could’ve been helped?

We will never know.

There is a phrase that I use to describe a lot of hospitals- penny wise and pound foolish. To me this describes the entire situation. Don’t be too quick to save a penny, to lose a pound for the want of the penny.

But then, private equity and pharmacy benefit managers and hospital CEOs are only out for the money. It isn’t about the little people who could’ve been helped by a new kind of drug therapy. It is all about the cost savings. The savings isn’t for the normal everyday people; it is for the rich who don’t understand the concept of having enough.

Hooray for the positive news about the pancreatic cancer mRNA vaccine that has helped a few people.

What about the others who died in agony?

Wasn’t cost effective, was it?

Tuesday Top of Mind 3/24/26- No Kings Protest March 28, 2026

We are still all in the same boat. I mean we as the working class. Working class as defined by anyone with less than 10 million dollars. Hell, less than 1 million dollars outside of the retirement account and house wealth that is.

I certainly belong in that class. I am not afraid to roll up my sleeves and work. After all, I am a recovering workaholic.

Not only are we in the same boat the rivers of shit that this administration is pumping out at us daily/hourly is getting mighty high.

Flood the zone with shit indeed.

But what they want us to be is paralyzed. Paralyzed by the constant doom and gloom. Paralyzed by the constant death. Paralyzed by the constant rising prices. As an aside, I checked gas prices last Monday and on Tuesday when I bought gas it was 15 cents more per gallon. Right now On Tuesday the gas station at the end of my street is $3.89 and Costco is $3.64. Those numbers are for regular.

I call BS on being paralyzed just because they want us to be.

No thank you. I will keep watching the lawlessness and the hate crimes and the war crimes. And documenting when I can.

Historians are gonna have a field day with this moment in history.

It is okay that you are doom scrolling and gasping at each lawlessness and hate crime and war crime that occurs.

But I also want you to participate in the No Kings Protest on March 28, 2026.

I got this out earlier than last time.

You may have seen notice of the protests planned for this weekend.

Participate in any way you can.

March.

Make signs.

Bear witness.

Shine your light on their darkness.

I am going to writing and bearing witness and keeping my wallet shut.

Pocketbook protesting is a thing, you know.

However, if you must shop this weekend buy local. No big chain stores. No Walmart, no Target, no Amazon. None of it.

Buying local is a form of protestation.

As is joy.

Find your joy.

But participate this weekend.

Tuesday Top of Mind 2/10/26- Oh look, they’re back on their ‘save’ nonsense

Different year. Same bullshit.

The newly revamped save america act is back in play.

Just when you think a bill is dead in the water, they pull its carcass, give it mouth to mouth, make it worse, and beat that drum.

To be clear this act saves nothing, except republican ass.

This is the bill that is touted as “saving democracy” and a way to stop those nasty illegals from voting. This exists only in their fevered imaginations. Because why do people consistently vote against republicans?

Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it is their massive disregard and disdain for women. Maybe it is their massive hard on for billionaires. Maybe because we don’t like you.

I know not all women understand and some even don’t care.

The save america act (yes, lower case on purpose) remains a way to disenfranchise women from voting.

Especially those of us who have taken our husband’s names. My last name no longer matches my birth certificate. In fact, I’ve been married longer than I was my maiden name. We’ve been married for 27 years and I got married at 23.

If this passes the Senate, 78% of voting women who took their husband’s last name on marriage will no longer be allowed to vote. This is SEVENTY MARRIED WOMEN.

But, but, I am registered to vote now! With the state ID that has my married name on it. Yes, but what if we moved out of this precinct?

If this passes and I have to re-register, for whatever reason, including being stripped off the voting roles for no reason, I would be required to show my birth certificate AND my ID. They don’t match. And haven’t for 27 years.

A passport, which costs money and only 50% of Americans have it, would suffice. I am still waiting on my renewed passport and have been for a bit.

But, wait, I could also show my military service papers. But it’s been 30 years since I was in the Air Force. Would they even still count?

What the actual fuck? And I mean sincerely.

Is the only way they can win by cheating? Certainly seems so.

This is a poll tax. A poll tax is a tax levied at the polls, regardless of a person’s ability to pay.

I scoff and respond “In this economy?”

Recap:

What they are solving exists only in their circle jerk imagination. The only people I’ve seen reports on who voted illegally have been more republicans who voted twice or didn’t live where they voted, not the immigrant who didn’t understand and were stopped.
This disgusting piece of legislation would deny women the right to vote if they took their husband’s name. The suffragettes are rolling over in their graves.
This revolting piece of legislation is also tied to the nuclear family ideal. One family, one vote. Which massively disenfranchises the unmarried or the divorced.

Bottom line, you either need to have the wherewithal to purchase a passport, and how long before they attempt to make that more difficult, have ID that matches your birth certificate, or your military services papers.

This is revolting and yet these white men go home and kiss their wives, while taking rights away from them with the other hand.

I’ve not reproduced either. Is that the next *morality* target?

Tuesday Top of Mind 2/3/26- WHO are we? Who, who, who, who?

In yet another towering example of shooting the country in its own foot, the president announced on January 21, 2025 (his second day in office) that the United States would be leaving the World Health Organization as a member. This means that the country would no longer be funding the WHO.

The president did this by executive order. As part of the blood letting that his advisors and aides determined to be the best path to funneling lower taxes to people who do not need it. The $111 million dollars saved would soon go to fund gold trips.

Every healthcare worker, every nurse, every doctor (MD or DO), everyone decried this as a stupid fucking move. Well, those of us who knew about it.

This was a year long departure, to be completed on January 2026. And complete it they did. As of January 22, 2026, the United States is no longer under the WHO umbrella.

Since 1948, the WHO has worked to protect the wellbeing of all people. Their mission and works are guided by science and are supported by 193 member nations.

Plague, Dengue Fever, emergency response, vaccinations, support during war times, support during disasters. They track health crises all around the world and responds to them. The WHO does it all.

And these dumb fuckers have withdrawn the US from the group.

Was it the recognition that all of their works are guided by science?

Was it because most of the people being helped are poor?

Or was it because most of the people being helped are not white?

Or all three?

Well, I should write 193 member nations and a member US state.

The very next day (January 23, 2026), Governor Gavin Newsom of California announced that California has become the first state to join the WHO coordinated global outbreak response network. For all of those pesky diseases that keep popping up and killing people.

On February 3, 2026, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced that Illinois has joined the same response network. He explained that the president had weakened the US’s ability to detect and respond to global health emergencies. Say it with me now, like covid-19.

Good for these states and their citizens. They at least have governors who care about their well being, even if the citizens aren’t rich.

Oh, yeah, the president also weakened the CDC severely by firing many of the scientists and yanking the grants that fund the scientific inquiry. And by putting a buffoon in charge.

I’m going to quote directly from Douglas Adams book The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. “The story so far: In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.”

As a society the US will regret this. The next pandemic is only a moment away.

Tuesday Top of Mind 1/13/26- This is why we choose the bear

As I am sure you are aware of, last week what we have all been warning about with the lawlessness of ICE came to pass. And a mother and a wife and a writer is dead.

On Wednesday morning, January 7, at 0937 CST, a masked ICE agent stepped forward so he could have some sort of self defense claim, see through like 1 ply tissue paper, moved his phone to his non dominant hand, pulled out his weapon and shot Renee Nicole Good through the windshield.

One shot.

The car kept moving forward and he stepped forward and shot again through the open side window.

Two shot.

Third shot.

The car crashes.

Her wife, who had been screaming, rushed to her side.

A bystander, who was yelling that he was a physician, offered to check on her. The ICE agents said no, help was on the way. Well, gunshot wounds don’t care that “help” was on the way. It took more than 6 minutes for first responders to be on scene. I know that not everyone is medical or technical but a 6 minute delay can be deadly. Hell, a one minute delay can be deadly.

He murdered her in cold blood.

Not because he was in any danger of being struck by her car. Although there was a specious report that he was, after he shot the windshield. uh-huh. sure he was.

Not because he was afraid for his life.

Because he could.

She was a woman and in his way.

She was a woman and not immediately following the confusing instructions that several officers shouted at her.

She was a woman.

The consensus was that she was murdered because she was not afraid of him and he desperately wanted her to be.

A white, blond woman was murdered in her newly adopted city. Leaving behind children and a wife.

Because she was a woman and she was not afraid. She tried to reassure him prior to the shooting that she wasn’t mad at him.

And the blood on their hands right wing media rushed to fill the airwaves with lies and half truths and bad AI. To try to cover it up, to try to blame her.

It is always blame the victim with these clowns.

I purposefully did not write about this on Friday or even through the weekend because I was sitting with my thoughts and my reaction. I stopped listening to the breathless news accounts and even throttled down my reading of the tragedy. But I still could not get it out of my mind.

Renee Nicole Gold, a prize winning poet, a mother, a wife, should not be dead. ICE should not be in Minneapolis. A woman should not be widowed and a 6 year old child orphaned.

None of this had to happen.

But it did in this officer’s mind as he pulled his gun and murdered her.

This is why women choose the bear.

A bear doesn’t take out his misogyny and hatred on women.

A bear doesn’t say with utter contempt after murdering a woman “fucking bitch”.

A bear just wants to be left alone to do bear type things.

Tuesday Top of Mind 1/6/26- The fifth anniversary of J62021

Groucho Marks has been credited with the line “Who are you going to believe? Me, or your lying eyes?” to his wife. Of course this was after she caught him in bed with another woman.

Evening shift on January 6, 2021 started like they all did.

It was the 1st pandemic winter. There was good news. The vaccines were flowing into peoples’ arms. Schools in North Carolina were still mostly remote.

We were all masked. Even in the operating room core and the hallways.

Children under 14 were still not permitted to visit family members in the hospital.

However things were looking up. Most of the hospital had had at least 1 covid vaccine with a lucky few having both shots. There was talk of the expansion of the vaccines to those who were most vulnerable. The operating rooms had opened and were operating at a full capacity.

This means we were busy, busy, busy. As the fall into winter rush showed no signs of abatement.

The first Cookie Thursday is a Thing was set to happen the next day on January 7th. I was very proud of that month’s theme. The theme was Boozy Cookies. To celebrate us and the crap year we had just gone through.

Just an ordinary Wednesday.

A new president of the United States had been elected on November 3, 2020.

With the attendant denials and bluster from the current to the time president.

Rumblings of refusal to leave were being heard and drum beats filled the media and news stories. The far right was gathering their forces (the people who stormed the capital) by filling their heads with more lies.

January 6, 2021 was supposed to be the vote to certify the election. The best thing that Vice President Pence ever did was to stand by the Constitution and refuse to bow the knee.

Instead it was chaos as the supporters of the current to the time president stormed the capital.

They were high on the idea, carefully fed to them, that the election outcome had been a mistake, that their man could never be voted out. That there was a election theft happening right under their noses.

And they marched and rushed the capital. At least 2000 of them

It was chaos.

Around the same time I clocked in for my shift rioters were breaking the windows of the Capital and helping themselves to the inside.

More chaos.

They were stopped.

In the aftermath there was a protestor dead. A United States Capitol Police officer died later that day after being attacked and sprayed. There were four suicides of other USCP officers within the next year.

It happened.

No matter what the current White House and the current President would have you believe it happened.

There was violence at the capital.

Five years later the same President is back in office through a series of unfortunate events. And pardoned the nearly 1600 people who had been convicted of crimes related to January 6, 2021 on his first day back at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

And still causing chaos.

The most recent scapegoat on the White House’s newest sham website are the police. The violent protestors who broke windows and assaulted officers and smeared shit on the walls of the capital were “peaceful protestors”.

This is not correct. This is a LIE and we all know it.

Well, most of us are aware of the white washing of history going on in our very own White House.

The horrible events of this horrible day happened.

No matter what they are trying to cram down your throat.

We remember and do not fall for their lies.

Up the rebels.

Tuesday Top of Mind 12/2/25- Kant have it both ways

Forgive the pun.

Immanuel Kant is a central figure in modern philosophy. One of the key tenets of his writings is the pursuit of enlightenment. Enlightenment is defined by him in his 1784 essay What is Enlightenment as the “Thinking for oneself rather than letting others think for you.” He was for individual human reason above all else.

He doesn’t really have a lot to do with this post. I just thought it was interesting.

Yeah, right.

It is interesting and a lesson that more of us need to take to heart.

Don’t let others think for you. You never know what kind of trouble that will lead you to.

For those who are not following the train wreck around the sinking of a “drug boat” off the coast of Venezuela on September 2, 2025, there are lies aplenty.

And an illegal order. That someone who should’ve known better followed.

There were survivors from the first attack on the “drug boat” and a second strike was ordered by the secretary of “war” and these survivors were killed.

This is against the Law of War Manual from our very own Department of Defense.

In Chapter 7, which is titled Wounded, Sick, Shipwrecked, Dead, and the Medical Services, what should have happened is that the survivors should have been taken into custody. This could have been done by our own military or a relief society, or the inhabitants.

But it wasn’t was it?

What’s the matter? Kant keep the lies straight.

Okay, I’ll stop.

What’s the matter? Can’t keep the lies straight anymore? Letting someone else do your thinking?

There are two stories that the secretoy of war bandied about. That the secretoy of war gave the order for the second strike.

Oh, wait, there was no second strike.

Okay there was a second strike but it was in self defense of the US. (hard to square this one)

Okay there was a second strike but it happened when the secretary was out of the room. And it was the admiral (who the secretary has complete faith in) ordered the strike.

Well.

Which is it?

Or do you not remember/care? Those who serve under the secretary of war will remember this kerfluffle. And the lies. And the admiral that was scapegoated for it.

That’s what happens when you can’t keep track of your lies. Lies are never a good foundation of truth. Americans deserve the truth. As do the families of the survivors you had killed.

By the way, the secretoy typos 8 sections ago? Was no typo. Deliberate typos, deliberate philosophy puns.

Because I think for myself.

FFS Friday 11/21/25- Fidelity

As I am sure you are aware, a group of 6 Democratic lawmakers, both Senators and Representatives alike, released a video on Tuesday (November 18, 2025) advising military and intelligence communities to defy illegal orders they are given. 2 Senators and 4 Representatives made up the group. All of them had served either in the military or in intelligence work. There were 2 Navy (Senator Mark Kelly, Representative Chris Deluzio), 1 Air Force (Representative Chrissy Houlahan), 1 Army Ranger (Congressman Jason Crow), and 2 intelligence officers (Senator Elissa Slotkin, CIA, Congresswomen Maggie Goodlander).

The message is brief and stark. It is a reminder to the intelligence officers and military members of all services that their first duty is to the American citizens, not the current president.

Illegal orders must be disobeyed.

Their fidelity is owed to the constitution, not the current administration. Not the current Secretary of Defense, now named the SECRETARY OF WAR.

The CONSTITUTION that they have all sworn to uphold.

Not the self styled monarch that is drenching OUR house, the White House, in tacky spray painted shit.

Not the foreign leaders that hold their leashes.

Not the billionaires who bought the election for them. Because their loyalty is not to the Constitution.

The current members of the military and intelligence community owe their loyalty to the CONSTITUTION.

Their fidelity.

As the Marine Corps saying goes “Semper Fidelis”.

Always Faithful to the ideals of America, not the wanna be strong man ruler and his cronies.

The fight will be hard. Hell, it already has been hard. I cannot imagine the pressure that all current members of these institutions are facing.

I’ve written about the Officer Oath that I took at 19 to the Air Force.

I did not swear to Bill Clinton, who was the president at the time. I swore to uphold the Constitution. Against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

And neither did the current and past members of the military and intelligence community. Including the 6 that gave this powerful and timely message.

The current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue reacted, of course. Badly, like they always do. Like the big blowhard they are. And of course he reacted with the threat of treason. And death threats. Because that is the only play that they know.

His current press secretary came out with “All the president’s orders are legal.” Excuse me? The fuck they are.

And of course the members of the “right wing” media reacted as if they’d been scalded. Instead of sitting and thinking what the message of the 6 truly was.

Get the military off American streets. Stop threatening United States Citizens. Remember your oath to the Constitution.

And, for the love of America, put that back in your pants before you hurt yourself!

FFS Friday 11/14/25- Frilly, ice is coming to town and all I can think about is sparkling ice capades costumes

The F word for the day is frilly.

As in rebranding immigration and customs enforcement as the ICE CAPADES!

Picture it. Loads of government goons, festooned in frilly ice (frozen water) dancing costumes.

This may be the rebrand that the department is needing. I mean, you can’t fear what you are laughing at.

The newest blue city to come under the frosty gaze of ice (do you see what I did there?) is Charlotte. This isn’t my city but I live nearby.

Why are they coming? No one knows.

There was the killing of an immigrant on the train by a under medicated and under watched individual with mental problems. But that was in August, practically last year in the fast pace of news.

According to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, in the third quarter violent crimes were down 20%. A violent crime is defined as homicide, robbery, rape, and aggravated assault. In fact, since January, overall crime has decreased 8%.

Kind of like Chicago. Who had a 28% drop in violent crime. BEFORE ice came calling. This is according to a mayoral report.

So, what gives?

Charlotte is blue.

And the administration DOES NOT LIKE THAT.

I mean, they can try to actually help the average American with a net worth under 1 billion. But where is the fun in that?

It is much easier to rule with fear. This dovetails nicely in the Authoritarian plans.

What if we laugh instead?

Kind of deflating, isn’t it?

For them, I mean.

I will continue to consider this ice incursion into our blue city as the latest stop on their nationwide ice capades tour.

Think of the frilly costumes.

And resist.

On a more practical note, preparation is key.

Make sure your phone is fully charged. The better to take their pictures with or to stream video with.

My husband has reported that several of his coworkers will be working from home because of the color of their skin. Which led him to wonder if he should do the same. No matter that his mother’s family has been here for 200 years. The family originally came from Spain but, according to ice, they are the wrong color.

For the undocumented persons in Charlotte, it has been advised by a lawyer to carry all documentation of time in country, rent and utilities information, taxes (anything that has your name and address on it), green card application, signed G-28 form from your attorney, your attorney’s information, work permit if applicable, any sort of status such as DACA, and asylum proof.

Remain silent immediately upon detention. And copy the packet to the cloud.

Stay calm.

But also picture them in a frilly ice dancing dress.

If only for the smile it gives you. On the inside.

Think of the frilly costumes. Especially the sparkles.

Tuesday Top of Mind 11/4/25- Did you vote?

Every election is important.

Every opportunity to flex your constitutionally given powers* is important.

I used an asterisk because in the constitution only white, male, Protestant land owners could vote.

Of course.

By 1830 most states had dropped the religious and land owning components.

In 1868, the 14th Amendment recognized African Americans as citizens, giving the males the right to vote.

Of course, this led to some states denial of this right.

In 1870, the 15th Amendment gave African Americans the right to vote. This amendment prohibited any state or local government from stopping them from voting.

But they still tried.

In 1890, Wyoming recognized a women’s right to vote. And they did so in the state constitution.

Go, Wyoming!

In 1920, the 19th Amendment was added to the constitution. This gave women the right to vote.

In 1947, all states granted Native Americans the right to vote.

And then some of states, outraged by being outnumbered, instituted a poll tax in the 1880s and 90s. This meant that people, mostly black men, had to pay a tax in order to vote. Naughty naughty. Some people will cheat to win, won’t they.

In 1964, the 24th Amendment stated unequivocally that no-one should be denied the right to vote because of bullshit, made up “tax”.

The 1960s were hot because in 1965 there was an amendment to the Voting Rights Act, the very same one the 2020s Supreme Court has been chipping away at, that banned the use of literacy tests.

In 1971, the voting age was lowered to 18. I am not sure if this was because of the Vietnam War. Because of the draft teenagers and 20 year old were old enough to die in a senseless war, but not old enough to vote.

Today your mission was to have voted.

It is the only way to send a message that some people will understand.

Beyond the economic blackout that is being planned for the end of the month.

Someone else said it best. Perhaps we should have a non-corporation holiday season and focus on the small companies.