Truest statement of the week

The murder of [Lauri] Carleton is just the latest manifestation of right-wing violence incited, cultivated and inspired by ex-president Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Seeking to divide the working class and lay the groundwork for further attacks on democratic rights, Republicans have made anti-LGBTQ demagoguery and laws restricting gender affirming care, drag shows and sex ed a central tenet of their far-right agenda.

A tracker maintained by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has recorded 494 “anti-LGBTQ bills” proposed in the 2023 legislative session across all 50 states, virtually all sponsored by Republicans. Of these bills, some of which ban gender-affirming care, 78 have already become law, while 197 are classified by the ACLU as “advancing.”

--  Hong Jian, "California shop owner murdered over LGBTQ pride flag by fascist gunman" (WSWS).

A note to our readers

Hey --

Monday night.


Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:

The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen, Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.

And what did we come up with?

 

 

• Truest statement of the week

Hong Jian gets a truest.

• Iraq's polluted rivers threatens daily life, poses...

FRANCE 24 notes the destruction in Iraq.

• TV: FOX "NEWS" never listened to Little Richard

Ava and C.I. wrote this about how FOX "NEWS" tries to create fear and characters.

• 60 years of great albums

Except for Ava and C.I., we all worked on this.  And picking one for this year?  There are still a few months left this year but that's our pick for the best album of 2023.

• Books (Marcia, Rebecca, Ava and C.I.)

Ava and C.I. talk to Marcia and Rebecca about their summer read.

• The Cowardly and pathetic Robert F. Kennedy Junior

Betty, Wally, Kat, Ava and C.I. wrote this today in between speaking engagements.

• JODIE LOVES CHRISSY

Betty, Wally, Kat, Ava and C.I. wrote this today in between speaking engagements.

• Sad Sirota

Dona, Ty, Mike, Jess, Elaine and I (Jim) wrote this.

• Rest with confidence, Naomi Wolf is watching

Betty, Wally, Kat, Ava and C.I. wrote this today in between speaking engagements.

• Send Tara Reade to the front lines!

Betty, Wally, Kat, Ava and C.I. wrote this today in between speaking engagements.

• Hate merchants

A list of the hate merchants.

• 2023 passings

Notable deaths of the year.

• Books

Books reviewed in the community this year.

• Tweet of the week

Jacqueline Luqman gets another truest.

• This edition's playlist

What we listened to while working on this edition.

• Highlights

Mike and the gang wrote this and we thank them for it.

 

 

Peace.

 

-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Iraq's polluted rivers threatens daily life, poses serious health risks • FRANCE 24 English

 

 

Over the past few months, temperatures in Iraq have reached 50 degrees Celsius and water levels in the country’s rivers are dropping fast. Despite having two big rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, Iraq suffers from desertification and there are concerns about the water disappearing - mainly from Iranian and Turkish dams upstream and the excessive use of water resources, particularly within agriculture. But despite this, Iraq is doing little to protect its rivers. From the north to the south, industrial, chemical, medical and biological waste flows untreated into the water, effectively poisoning it. From Kirkuk to Basra and Baghdad, the water is contaminated. Marie-Charlotte Roupie and Josh Vardey report. Read more about this story in our article: https://f24.my/9k9v.y

 

 

TV: FOX "NEWS" never listened to Little Richard

FOX "NEWS" is a lot like a certain glossy celebrity mag of the 90s.  Year after year, it took whatever man  slept with a certain male director to get cast in the film, splashed him on the cover and pronounced him a star.  It never really took.  

In the same way, FOX "NEWS" just can't get it right, no matter how hard they try.  They're not a news network, so they're never bound by facts or reality.  They are a fear network and they cast various people into roles that they just don't fit.

 

Last week, they were casting the role of a well-worn and well-used aging ingenue and went with a woman named Tracy Shannon.  She was brought on to be pathetic and garner sympathy.  Just an innocent "home maker," you understand, who had entire life turned upside down when her husband, after a decade and a half of marriage, left her and became a woman.

 

 She offered all these pathetic and uniformed opinions that no one was supposed to question because she'd suffered.  

Actually, the one suffering were the ones watching her crap.  

Her story never held up on air -- it hasn't in real life and it never will.  She wasn't an innocent.  Before they ever had children, she knew her husband cross-dressed.  They went to therapy for it.  He promised he'd stop.  Repeatedly, she caught him breaking that promise.

She insists that she "believed him several times."

No, she didn't.  She was too lazy to go to work.  She wouldn't get off her lazy ass and get a job -- true during the marriage, true today.  

It's so awful, she tells you, because her husband became a woman and her kids lost their daddy!

Anyone who thought trashy tabloid TV ended with the death of Jerry Springer has not caught FOX "NEWS."

"I think," she said in a tone indicating otherwise, "that gender is a lie."  Huh?  "I don't think that anybody can ever accomplish the goal of completely becoming the opposite sex." 

She blames the internet and a new friend in her FOX "NEWS" interview; however, in the past she's blamed others -- for example, in past interviews, she's blamed Caitlyn Jenner. 

 

In the past?  

 

Yeah, FOX "NEWS" just discovered her but, as her hagged out face makes clear, she's been around forever.  She's also not a "mother" as FOX "NEWS" billed her, she's a "grandmother."

 

She's a lazy ass who's been whining for years now.  She's never taken accountability for her own role and she never will.  But she is an anti-trans activist and has been for years -- a detail FOX "NEWS" left out as they attempted to make her Queen For A Day. 

 

 

September 26, 2019, Michael Barajas (TEXAS OBSERVER) reported:

Tracy Shannon calls the drag dossiers her “exposés,” something she compiles and sends out whenever she hears about a drag queen story hour. The event, in which drag performers read books to children, started in San Francisco four years ago to boost LGBTQ inclusivity at libraries. As its popularity grows across the country, activists like Shannon are pushing back.

[. . .]

Emboldened by her success in Houston, Shannon branched out. Ahead of drag queen story time in Leander this summer, she sent her “exposés” to the mayor and city council members, spreading the images among neighborhood groups and other concerned citizens she met along the way.

“We just compile this to illustrate what drag culture looks like in that city,” Shannon said. It’s easier to scare people unfamiliar with drag when the photos are racy, but Shannon insists it’s inappropriate to put kids next to any queen.

“Even if you’re the type of drag queen where you’re imitating Doris Day, and you’re not wearing scantily clad outfits exposing your latex boobs or whatever, it’s still what they’re performing, the culture they’re in,” she said. “It’s adult. It’s immersed in erotic and fetishism.”

 

 Poor sexless Tracy Shannon, she sees sex everywhere while she starves for it. March 1st of last year, Michael Murney (DALLAS OBSERVER) reported:

 

Last month, during a speech to supporters gathered in the conference room of a Hilton Garden Inn in Denton, right-wing activist Tracy Shannon threw down a challenge.

In the coming weeks and months, she and a group of fellow activists in North Texas plan to push a young adult novel into circulation in North Texas’ public libraries and local public school districts, she said. If administrators refused to include the [anti-trans] book in circulation, she said, it would constitute nothing less than political oppression and a violation of all Americans’ rights to religious freedom.

If that happened, it was the responsibility of everyone gathered that night to “raise hell," Shannon told the crowd.

Over the years, she's tried to 'soften' her image and leaves a lot of stuff out of interviews.  She instead wonders if maybe it was something she did that turned her spouse.  In most cases, we'd say no but she appears to deserve her share of blame and then some.  She's a controlling and off-putting person so we wouldn't be surprised if she didn't drive everyone out of her life.

Despite making Caitlyn Jenner the reason for her divorce in past interviews, on FOX "NEWS" last week, she explained it was the internet that was at fault and a new friend her husband met.

She also raged against estrogen.  Her spouse went on it, she explained, and she wasn't told!!!

Nor should she have been.  If her spouse didn't tell her, it wasn't the doctor's job too.

 

She's so stupid that she doesn't understand medical confidentiality.  For example, a woman tells her spouse she's pregnant.  Her doctor is not going to violate her privacy by telling her spouse.  

 

She doesn't understand the law, she doesn't understand anything.

For example, she's railed about being a "paper lesbian."  

 

 

 Huh?

 

While they were divorcing, her spouse was transitioning.  That, she insists, made her a "paper lesbian."  Oh, cool, did she meet Ellen and Portia?

 

She's offended that her spouse was able to do a name change.  She's offended by so much -- as the truly ugly usually are.

 

 

Mainly, read her interviews, she's offended that she had to get a job after the divorce.  She's laid around on her lazy ass for 15 years and now she had to get a job.  The horror!

 

But, happy ending, she quickly met another man -- while perusing dresses at Lane Bryant? -- and she marched him down the alter and went back to not working.  

 

She's a little hate merchant.  FOX "NEWS" tried to pass her off as "a Christian mother."  But a mother -- Christian or otherwise -- doesn't whine that she has to work to support her three kids.  A "Karen" does.  A Karen whines.  But a mother doesn't. 

 

 

Over 70% of mothers in the US work outside the home.  Some do so because they have no economic choice.   We'd say Tracy needs to stop bashing her ex-spouse and feel fortunate that for 15 or so years she didn't have to work, she didn't have to face the demands that most women do.  

But again, she's not a "mother."  She's a grandmother now.  She's an old and ugly woman on a mission to destroy her ex-spouse.  That's all this is about.  It's always that pathetic and that personal.

Just as she couldn't find the joy in the fact that she didn't have to work for 15 or so years, she can't enjoy today when another man's paying her bills and letting her stay home.  Two spouses have carried her lazy ass and she's not grateful.  

And she never will be. 

The tiara doesn't set well on her head but the shame cloaks her.

"If it don't fit, don't force it."  Little Richard sang it but FOX "NEWS" never heard it.

Last week, they were also trying to force Cornel West to be the Green Party's presidential nominee.

There was Laura Ingram, his "dear sister," per The King of Shuck and Jive Cornel, explaining that she couldn't understand how he could win when he was only on the ballot in "fewer than 20 states right now."  He's not on the ballot in any state.

Not only is he not a Green Party member, he's not the Green Party's nominee.  He wants to be.  He may end up being.  But there's a lot of resistance to him and his shucking and jiving within the Green Party.  They're tired of him presenting himself as their nominee.  They won't pick a nominee until the summer of next year.  They're tired of him speaking for the party -- he's not the nominee and he's not a member.  They're appalled that he's taking his tired and pathetic act to FOX "NEWS" because if anyone hates FOX "NEWS" more than Democrats, it's the Green Party.

A Green Party list-serv last week was especially critical as it called him out for telling Laura that Democrats and Republicans had to "earn the vote" with people commenting on how Cornell hasn't earned the vote of the Green Party and may not at this rate.

But there he was on FOX "NEWS" acting like he was the party's nominee and there was Laura forcing him into that role because FOX "NEWS" will always be fact-free.

Asked about his $500,00 reported debt, Cornel blamed the Democrats ("They've got good reason to be afraid.") while, if you paid attention, yes, he does owe $500,000 in taxes.  He can't manage his household budget but he wants to be president?

What we don't understand is: Why doesn't he just declare himself president?

He's declared himself the nominee of the Green Party and he's not that but so many are letting him get away with it that he should try just announcing he's President of the United States and see if he can get away with that too. 

 

 

60 years of great albums

So we're naming the best albums of the last sixty years -- the best album of each year of the last sixty years.  These lists are starting points, not end points.  Agree, disagree, build your own list.  

We split up by decades and came up with our picks for the five best albums of each year.  Then when we got back together, we picked what we thought was the single best of each year.  We argued, we swore at each other, we laughed and these are our picks.

 

1963: Bob Dylan: THE FREEWHEELIN' BOB DYLAN.

 

1964: Diana Ross & the Supremes: WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO?

 

1965: Bob Dylan: HIGHWAY 61 REVISTED.
 

1966: The Mamas & the Papas: IF YOU CAN BELIEVE YOUR EYES AND EARS. 

 

1967: The Beatles: SGT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND.  

1968:  Laura Nyro: ELI AND THE THIRTEENTH CONFESSION.

 

1969: Buffy Sainte-Marie: LLUMINATIONS.

 

1970: Jimi Hendrix: BAND OF GYPSIES.

 
1971: Joni Mitchell: BLUE. 

1972: Stevie Wonder: TALKING BOOK.

 

1973: David Bowie: ALADDIN SANE. 

1974: Joni Mitchell: COURT & SPARK. 

 

1975: Patti Smith: HORSES.  

 

1976: Stevie Wonder: SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE. 

 

1977: Fleetwood Mac: RUMOURS.

 

1978: Blondie: PARALLEL LINES. 

 
1979: Diana Ross: THE BOSS.

 

1980: Diana Ross' diana.

 

 

1981: Prince: CONTROVERSY.

 

1982:  Prince: 1999 

1983:  Pretenders: LEARNING TO CRAWL. 

1984: Tina Turner: PRIVATE DANCER.

 

1985:  Eurythmics: BE YOURSELF TONIGHT. 

1986: Janet Jackson: CONTROL.

1987:  Prince: SIGN OF THE TIMES. 

 

1988: Tracy Chapman: TRACY CHAPMAN.
 

 

1989: Tracy Chapman: CROSSROADS.

 

1990:  George Michael: LISTEN WITHOUT PREJUDICE VOL. 1.

 

1991: Nirvana: NEVERMIND. 

 

1992: Tori Amos: LITTLE EARTHQUAKES.

 

1993:  Liz Phair: EXILE IN GUYVILLE.  

 

1994: Soundgarden: SUPERUNKOWN.  

1995:  Pretenders: THE ISLE OF VIEW. 

1996: The Afghan Whigs: BLACK LOVE. 

1997: Ani DiFranco: LIVING IN CLIP. 

 

1998: Lauryn Hill: THE MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL.

 

1999: Fiona Apple: WHEN THE PAWN . . .

 

2000: Carly Simon: THE BEDROOM TAPES.

 

2001:  Janet Jackson: ALL FOR YOU.

 

2002:  Tori Amos: SCARLET'S WALK. 

 

2003:  Dashboard Confessional: A MARK A MISSION A BRAND A SCAR.

 

2004: kd lang: HYMNS OF THE 49TH PARALLEL.

 

 

2005: The Cowboy Junkies: EARLY 21ST CENTURY BLUES. 

 

2006: Ben Harper: BOTH SIDES OF THE GUN.

 

2007: Joni Mitchell: SHINE.

 

2008: Jack Johnson: SLEEP THROUGH THE STATIC. 

 

2009: Ben Harper: WHITE LIES FOR DARK TIMES. 

 

2010: Sade: SOLDIER OF LOVE. 

 

2011: PJ Harvey: LET ENGLAND SHAKE. 

 

2012: Animal Collective: CENTIPEDE HZ.

 

2013: Shannon and the Clams: DREAMS IN THE RAT HOUSE.

 

2014: Stevie Nicks: 24 KARAT GOLD.

 

2015: Janet Jackson: UNBREAKABLE.

 

2016: Nick Jonas: LAST YEAR WAS COMPLICATED.

 

2017: Sam Smith: THE THRILL OF IT ALL.

 

2018:  Janelle Monae: DIRTY COMPUTER.

 

2019: Vampire Weekend: FATHER OF THE BRIDE.

2020: Fiona Apple: FETCH THE BOLT CUTTERS.

2021: Diana Ross:THANK YOU.

2022: Harry Styles: HARRY'S HOUSE.

2023: Chase Rice: I HATE COWBOYS & ALL DOGS GO TO HELL.

 

 

Books (Marcia, Rebecca, Ava and C.I.)

 

As we did in 2021, we're attempting to again increase book coverage in the community. After a review posts, we try to do a discussion with the reviewer.  This go round, we're talking to Marcia and Rebecca about their reviews "Worst summer read ever is by Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince" and "'the fondas: henry, jane and peter' is a very bad book" of Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince's THE FONDAS: HENRY, JANE AND PETER.  You both hated the book?

Marcia: We did.  And I even took a break in reading because I thought it had to be me.  But when I went back to the book it was just as bad.  It was awful.

Rebecca: And Marcia my point of our annual summer read is to find a book that we think people will like.  This summer we chose so very poorly.  

Marcia: Because we like these authors and we liked the book this is a sequel to HENRY FONDA: HE DID IT HIS WAY.  But this is an awful book.

You both talk about how the book repeatedly ignores key moments in the acting professions of all three Fondas.  That includes ignoring THE MORNING AFTER which Jane Fonda was Academy Award nominated for, YOUTH which Jane was Golden Globe nominated for, ignoring the Emmy nominations Jane got for NEWSROOM and GRACE AND FRANKIE and ignoring Jane's Emmy-winning role in THE DOLLMAKER as well as her successful return to Broadway in 33 VARIATIONS which resulted in a Tony nomination.

Marcia: And yet they made time for four or five pages on Jean Harlow.  Why?  Peter saw a play with a character in it who was Jean Harlow so that resulted in four or five pages about the late actress that never knew a Fonda -- not Henry, not Jane, not Peter. Stuff like that happened repeatedly.  And there were so many errors.  Every page seemed to have an error.

Rebecca: When did Liza Minnelli and Shirley MacLaine work together?  The book says they did a TV-movie remake of ON GOLDEN POND. 

No.  Ernest Thompson wrote the play ON GOLDEN POND.  He adapted it for the film and won an Academy Award.  Another play he wrote, THE WEST SIDE WALTZ.  Later, it was turned into a TV project with Liza, Shirley and Kathy Bates among others.

Rebecca: So another error.  And even the photo captions had errors. 

Marcia: It was appalling.  And, again, we like the writers.  We've read other books by them and praised the books.  This one needed a fact check and it was also really dull.  We thought the book would be a sure thing and didn't worry that, as Labor Day was looming, we still needed to do our summer read.  And then when we read it, it was too late to pick out another book.

Rebecca: In the past, our summer reads were always praising books.  This is the first time we've used it to call it out.  And that's not that we didn't find things to critique from time to time, it's that we liked the books.  We don't like this one.  And it was too late to try to find another book and too late to try to read it.  So we went with this bad book and panned it.

You two have been doing your joint-reviews each summer for years now.  Is this the farewell?

Marcia: No.

Rebecca: But we're not waiting until August to read a book again.  We'll pick our summer read early -- and we did on this, as Marcia said we loved the first volume of this book HENRY FONDA: HE DID IT HIS WAY.  But we'll make sure we get it read before August and if it's bad like this one?  We'll pick another real quick.

Marcia: We paid for this book.  It wasn't part of KINDLE UNLIMITED.  And I've enjoyed the authors past books but I don't think I'll pay $22 for another book by them until I hear what others think.  This was a bad book, an awful book.  

Rebecca: It didn't even have any good or new gossip.  Oh.  Hold on.  Who had sex?  Tom Hayden walks in, in a New York apartment, on Leonard Bernstein and Huey Newton having sex.  That was the only good gossip in the entire book.

 

 

-------------------

Previous book discussions this year.

"Books (Ann, Mike, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Stan, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Mike, Ava and C.I.),"  "Books (Ann, Elaine, Kat, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Isaiah, Stan, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Trina, Kat, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Marcia, Ann and C.I.)," "Books (Ruth, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Isaiah, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Mike, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Kat, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Marcia, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Trina, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Rebecca, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Isaiah, Kat, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Stan, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Kat, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Marcia, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Ann, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Trina, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Marcia, Ava and C.I.)" and "Books (Ava and C.I.)."

 

The Cowardly and pathetic Robert F. Kennedy Junior

The populist movement has been emerging from the left and the right. So many people have been betrayed by their leaders. They're tired of the uniparty. It's time for a leader who can give you back the America that was taken from you.

So Tweeted Huckster and Fake Ass Robert Kennedy Junior.  He's leading a populist movement, he Tweets.

 

 

 

Really?

You know what he's not Tweeting about?  Lauri Carleton.

She's dead now.  She was shot dead by one of Junior's supporters.  Travis Ikeguchi supported Junior and Matt Walsh.  Why?

Junior, can you figure it out?  We think it's because you hang out with transphobes like Mother Tucker Carlson and because you refuse to defend LGBTQ+ people.  Is it because you're crazed and crazy mother is a raging homophobe?  Is that where you got it from? 

She was the mother of nine.  She was also straight.  But she was an LGBTQ+ ally and that was just too much for Travis Ikeguchi who was stirred up by hate merchants.  Nine children are mourning, Junior. 

You want to be president but you can't even denounce your now dead supporter because you're afraid you might lost your right-wing support and, after all, isn't that all you've really got left at this point?  Democrats aren't taking you seriously because of your nutty and insane hypothesis and non-educated guesses.  All you really have at this point is the right-wing.  Oh, and your homophobia.  You think after your failed run is over, your homophobia's going to help Cheryl get jobs?  We don't.  We think you've pretty much ended her career.

Now go back to cowering before the right-wing, Junior.

 

-------------

 

Illustration is Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Junior Topless, Nips To The Wind"

JODIE LOVES CHRISSY

This fall, on ABC, JODIE LOVES CHRISSY.  

There's something magic in the way you hold me in your eyes. No one ever warned me, love just takes you by surprise.

The show, a spin-off from CRAPPY DAYS, finds Jodie Evans and Chrissy Lynn Hedges leaving Hillary's Diner and Hillary Clinton to move off on their own.

Chrissy: I have known Jodie Evans for many years.  She is my ally, my friend and my life.  We disagree over how we view China's labor practices and what is happening with Uyghur minority and we disagreed over her using CODEPINK to promote Barack Obama who she was a bundler for in 2008 so she sicked CODEPINK on Hillary Clinton and John Edwards and called it "bird dogging" and we disagreed on her insisting in the fall of 2009 that the US military should stay in Afghanistan and -- well, you know, I do not doubt for a second her sincerity, decency and commitment to build a better world.

 

Jodie: Oh, Chrissy, thank you.  And I forgive you for your serial plagiarism you serial plagiarist Chris Hedges.  Most of all, though, I thank you for your support of my second husband Neville Roy Singham.  He knows all about China's labor practices but you're on board with him and with me.  

JODIE LOVES CHRISSY is set in the mythical land of Utopia and is an Earl Browder Production.  This fall on ABC thanks to the cooperation of scab writers and union busters.  "Check us out!" implores Jodie Evans.

Sad Sirota

Sorry Sirota Tweeted:

there's some tension between "this entire election is about protecting democracy and voting rights" and "we have determined the party nominee before any voter is allowed to cast a vote in a primary" twitter.com/FritzFarrow/st…

I don't spend my time telling people how to vote & I'm not planning on participating in the 2024 garbage fire. However, take a look at the enraged liberals responding to the tweet below. It really tells you a lot about liberals' alleged commitment to "protecting democracy."

So you're not voting?  And if you're for real about the need for debates, you might try being equal.  Meaning?  

 

 

 

 

Cornel West keeps misrepresenting himself as the Green Party's presidential nominee.  He is not.  Maybe if you're so upset about people trying to circumvent the promise, you can make time to note that?  Or does that require more of a spine than you have?

 

 

----------

Illustration is Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Cornel's Crackpot Cracker Parade"

 

Rest with confidence, Naomi Wolf is watching

 

'Dr' Naomi Wolf is on the neighborhood watch, America.  Do you feel safer?  

Taking a break from her in depth study of chem trails, she Tweeted, "This is very serious. I am seeing the prep for this kind of surveillance at Prospect Park in Brooklyn, where new lanes have signs for 'authorized' vehicles."

Next up, Naomi exposes the real conspiracy behind toll roads.  

-----------

Illustration is Isaiah's  THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "'Feminist' Naomi Wolf speaks."  

Send Tara Reade to the front lines!

"But on foreign soil!"  So screeched Diane Sawyer to the Chicks back in 2003 when they appeared on PRIMETIME.  Dianne was appalled about what had been said about Bully Boy Bush (that they weren't happy he was for Texas).  It was a news panic.

Fade out.  Fade in twenty years later.

Tubby Defector Tara Reade is reTweeting, from Russia, Mother Tucker Carlson:

States. But the Biden Administration is spending its time harassing one of our last sincere allies in Europe, Hungary, for the crime of being too Christian. Watch. (Tucker's Speech in Budapest)

Actually, what "the Biden Administration" did was done by US Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman who called out the anti-LGBTQ+ shift in Hungary.  That's what Tucker was calling out and, since fatty Tara Reade reTweeted it, that's what she's calling out.

She's alingned herself with racists and transphobe and homophobes.  Never forget that.  

She is no friend to humanity and considering she abandoned her pets -- including her horse -- she's no friend to animals.

Hey, Russia, send Tara to the front lines.  If nothing else, her huge size can act as a shield.

 ----------

Illustration is Isaiah's The WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Tara asks WWPD -- What Would Putin Do?" 

 

 

Hate merchants

 

 

This is a list of people who attack the LGBTQ+ community.  They're hate merchants and should be avoided at all costs.

1) Marjorie Taylor Green

2) Ron DeSantis

3) Lauren Boebert

4) Anthony Monteiro

5) J.K. Rowling

6) Kristi Noem

7) Kim Reynolds

8) Marco Rubio

9) Rand Paul

10) Tucker Carlson

11) Greg Abbott

12) Ron Johnson

13) Todd Aiken

14) Doug Lamborn

15) Dan Burton

16) Candace Cameron

17) Kirk Cameron

18) Jonathan Turley

19) Tulsi Gabbard

20) John Stauber 

21) Kid Rock

22) Matt Taibbi 

23) Riley Gaines

24) Anya Parampil

25) Matt Walsh

26) Gregg Abbott

27) (Butt Ugly) Moms For Liberty (aka Moms For Bigotry)

28) Tiffany Justice

29) Tina Descovich

 30) Bridget Ziegler

 31) Megyn Kelly

32) Ana Kasparian

  33) Ben Burgis

 34) Jesse Singal

 35) RFK Junior

36) 'Dr' Naomi Wolf

37) Bari Weiss

38) Jesse Singal

39) Katie Herzog

40) Jamie Reed

41) THE NEW YORK TIMES

 

 ----------

 

Illustration is Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY "Bigot Becky Barks."

 

 

 

 

 

2023 passings

These are the deaths community members found worthy of noting this year.

 

Lisa Presley -- Elaine noted her passing.

Christine McVie -- Kat covered her passing.

 

Adam Rich -- Marcia noted his passing.

 

Jeff Beck -- Kat noted his passing.

 

Lance Kerwin -- Rebecca noted his passing.

Barrett Strong -- Ruth noted his passing.

 

Lisa Loring -- Rebecca noted her passing.

 

Burt Bacharach -- Rebecca noted his passing.

 

Raquel Welch -- Elaine noted her passing.

 

Stella Stevens  -- Rebecca noted her passing.

 

Richard Belzer -- Ruth noted his passing.  

 

Kevin Alexander Gray -- C.I. notes his passing.

 

Pat Schroeder -- Kat noted her passing.

 

Lance Reddick -- Mike notes his passing.  

 

Darcelle XV -- Elaine notes his passing.

 

"Mark Russell" -- Ruth notes his passing 

 

"Elizabeth Hubbard" -- Trina notes her passing.

 

"Mary Quant and more Peabody nominations" -- Elaine notes a passing.

 

"Harry Belafonte" -- Kat notes a passing.

"Gordon Lightfoot" -- Kat notes a passing.

 

"jacklyn zeman, rose schlossberg, john travolta and..." -- Rebecca notes the passing of Jacklyn Zeman.

 

"Iraq snapshot," "Tina Turner (1939 to 2023)," "The groundbreaker Tina Turner," "Tina Turner," "Lauren Boebert gets burned by AOC," "MAX and NETFLIX, Eva Longoria," "Tina Turner, Eric Swalwell, John Roberts," "They've ruined their reputation," "Hate merchant Tulsi Gabbard," "tina turner passed but the hideous gop lingers," "Tina " and "The wrong people are dying" -- The community notes the passing of Tina Turner.

 

 "Gay actor George Maharis has died" -- Stan notes the passing. 

"10 great songs that Cynthia Weil co-wrote" and "Cynthia Weil" -- Marcia and Kat note Cynthia Weil's passing.

"Hate merchant Pat Robertson has passed away" -- Kat notes the end of Pat Robertson.

"Glenda Jackson" -- Ruth notes the actress's passing.

 

 

"Iraq snapshot" -- C.I. notes the passing of Daniel Ellsberg.

 

"Andrea Evans" -- Kat notes the passing of a soap opera icon. 

 

"Tony Bennett" -- Kat notes the passing of a great singer.

 

"Paul Reubens," "Pee-Wee's Big Holiday" and "One more time on Pee-Wee Herman" -- Betty and Marcia note the passing of Paul Reubens.

"Robbie Robertson" -- Kat covers the passing.

 "David Jacobs" -- Kat notes the passing of a TV creator. 

 

"Arleen Sorkin" -- Marcia notes the passing of a voice, sitcom and daytime TV actress.

 

 

 

 

Books

 

"Mafia Wives (Susan Williams' WHITE MALICE)" -- C.I. reviews this book.

 

 "The Sewing Circle" -- Marcia reads Axel Madsen's THE SEWING CIRCLE.

 

 "Ellen Sander's The Lifestyle That Classic Rock Unleashed" -- Trina reviews this book.

"Phyllis Diller 1917 – 2012: News, Quotes, Interview" -- Ann reviews this book.

"Call Her Heroic (Ava and C.I.)" -- Ava and C.I. review this book.

"Boze Hadleigh's Hollywood Gays" -- Marcia reviews this book.

 

"Robert Sellers wrote a book of garbage" -- Kat reviews HOLLYWOOD HELLRAISERS.   

 

 

"SCREAM VI and THE BOYS" -- Stan reviews Ron and Clint Howard's THE BOYS.

 

 

"the world according to joan" -- Rebecca reviews this book.

 

 "Elton John and Whitney Houston" -- Kat reviews Elton John's autobiography and a biography on Whitney Houston.

"DON RICKLES: THE MERCHANT OF VENOM" -- Isaiah reviews this book.

 

"Crispy Calamari in the Kitchen" -- Trina reviews  AIR FRYER COOKBOOK FOR BEGINNERS: EFFORTLESSLY GRILL, ROAST AND BAKE HOMEMADE MEALS: YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE FOR BEGINNERS WITH QUICK, TASTY & HEALTHY RECIPES.

 

 "Vincent Price and Universal" -- Marcia reviews John L. Flynn's 75 YEARS OF UNIVERSAL MONSTERS and Vincent Price's I LIKE WHAT I KNOW: A VISUAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

 

"3 books to skip" -- Kat reviews  Bertill Nordahl's CAT SEVENS, CARLY SIMON AND LEONARD COHEN AND ALL THE OTHERS, David Redford's NEIL& JONI: 2 LIVES, 21 ALBUMS and Ellen Sanders' ROCK AND ROLL WOMENHOOD: CASS ELLIOT, GRACE SLICK, LINDA RONSTADT, FANNY AND MORE.

 

"THE SIXTH EXTINCTION: AN UNNATURAL HISTORY" -- Mike reviews Elizabeth Kolbert's THE SIXTH EXTINCTION: AN UNNATURAL HISTORY.

"Paul Kupperberg's DIRECT CONVERSTIONS: TALKS WITH FELLOW DC COMICS BRONZE AGE CREATORS" -- Isaiah reviews this book.

 

"JOAN BAEZ: THE LAST LEAF" -- Ruth reviews  this book by Elizabeth Thomas.

 

 "A JOYOUS TRANSFORMATION: THE UNEXPURZGATED DIARY OF ANAIS NIN, 1966 -1977" -- Ruth reviews a book by Anais Nin.

 

"An aging queen writes a bitter book about The Way We Were" -- Marcia reviews a bad book about THE WAY WE WERE.

 

 

"Travis Stewart's bad book supposedly on Stevie Nicks" -- Kat reviews a bad book supposedly about Stevie Nicks.

 

"Austin Breakfast Tacos: The Story of the Most Important Taco of the Day"-- Trina strongly recommends this cookbook.

"GET LOST" -- Isaiah looks at this comic magazine

"Lucille Ball and HERE'S LUCY" -- Stan reads up on the second half of Lucille Ball's life.

"Melody Thomas Scott's Always Young and Restless: M..." -- Ann reviews this autobiography.

"ROCK AND ROLL NIGHTMARES" -- Elaine reviews this book about crime in the music world. 

"ALL THE LEAVES ARE BROWN" -- Kat reviews this book about the Mamas & the Papas.

"SAPIENS: A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMANKIND" -- Mike reviews a science book.

"Stephen Rebello's DOLLS! DOLLS! DOLLS: DEEP INSIDE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, THE MOST BELOVED BAD BOOK AND MOVIE OF ALL TIME" -- Stan reviews a book about the making of VALLEY OF THE DOLLS.

 "Elizabeth Taylor -- two books" -- Ruth covers Katy Holborn's ELIZABETH TAYLOR: AN ELIZABETH TAYLOR BIOGRAPHY and Gian-Luca di Rocco's WOMEN IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT: CHARTING SOCIETAL PROGRESS THROUGH THE FILMS OF ELIZABETH TAYLOR AND JANE FONDA 1944-1981.

 

"Split Image: The Life of Anthony Perkins" -- Ann reviews a biography about Anthony Perkins.

 

 "Andrea Warner's BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE: THE AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY" -- Mike wonders why he bothered to read this book?

"Worst summer read ever is by Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince" and "'the fondas: henry, jane and peter' is a very bad book" -- Marcia and Rebecca review Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince's THE FONDAS: HENRY, JANE AND PETER.

 

 

Tweet of the week

 

Racist white boy tries to get onto an HBCU to kill Black folks, is denied access, then goes on to a nearby Dollar Tree and kills 3 Black people. I am having not one more conversation with white alleged leftists about racism. Not one f**king more.

— Luqman Nation Media (@luqmannation1) August 27, 2023

This edition's playlist

 

1) Chase Rice's I HATE COWBOYS & ALL DOGS GO TO HELL.

 

 

2) kd lang's HYMNS OF THE 49TH PARALLEL.

 

 

3) Diana Ross' THANK YOU. 

  

4)  Cher's STARS.

 

 

5)  Bob Dylan's ROUGH AND ROWDY WAYS.

 

6)Yusuf/Cat Stevens' KING OF A LAND.

 

7) Joni Mitchell's LIVE AT NEWPORT.

 

 

8) Billy Davis Jr. and Marilyn McCoo's BLACKBIRD: LENNON - MCCARTNEY ICONS.

 

9)  Janet Jackson's UNBREAKABLE.

 

10) Sam Smith's GLORIA.

Highlights

 

This piece is written by Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix, Kat of Kat's Korner, Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man, Mike of Mikey Likes It!, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Ruth of Ruth's Report, Marcia of SICKOFITRADLZ, Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends, Ann of Ann's Mega Dub, Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts and Wally of The Daily Jot. Unless otherwise noted, we picked all highlights.

 

"Iraq, Ron DeSantis' stolen valor" -- most requested highlight by readers of this site.

"Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot," "A mini-film festival in Baghdad, look who's meetin...," "MTG and her gal pals,""That desperate MTG is praying someone 'puts a ring on it'," "Marjorie Taylor Greene is surprised (we aren't) at how little she knows," "Lauren Boebert's forced Congressional retirement?," "It really is time to expel Marjorie Taylor Greene," "Groomer Jim Jordan, Looser Doo-Doo Ron Ron DeSantis," "Philomena Cunk is hilarious, Ron DeSanits is just sad," "The debate," "BURN IT DOWN WITH KIM BROWN, THE MAJORITY REPORT, Doo-Doo Ron Ron DeSantis," "Blowhard Doo-Doo Ron Ron DeSantis," "Creepy Matt Taibbi is Uncle Fester," "Sewers and backstabbers," "Lauri Carleton," "The climate the hate merchants created," "The hate merchants are poisoning the country," "He's got a friend," "It's really not the House's job to interfere with ongoing legal cases," "David Jacobs," "Ay-yi-yi, we didn't need Harrison William Prescott Floyd," "Maureen McCormick is right," "She's no star," "Could you survive what they're living through?," "lara trump's done some thinking," "once we had a democracy," "Shonda Rhimes' SCANDAL: TRUMP EDITION "The Booking" episode," "Viola Davis directs the latest episode of SCANDAL: DONALD TRUMP EDITION,"  "Shonda Rhimes' SCANDAL: TRUMP EDITION as Rudy G surrenders," "A dramatic twist at the end of today's SCANDAL: DONALD TRUMP EDITION," "Science post -- China pulling ahead in tech knowledge, the remains of a supernova, India's historic first on the Moon," "The attack on history is an attack on reality and who we are," "Science post -- phytoplankton, Dracula and a hidden Biblical text?," "That illegitimate Supreme Court is set to do more harm," "Who would have guessed?," "What stimulus?,"  "Is Riley Gaines so butt-ugly because she's so ugly on the inside?," "Riley Gaines looks like a man and sounds like a big fat fibber," "Sorry, Ugly Riley Gaines, 2022 won't go away so you can lie yet again" and "THIS JUST IN! DAILY CALLER AND RILEY GAINES LIE TO REWRITE HISTORY!" -- news coverage in the community.

 

 

"Worst summer read ever is by Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince" and "'the fondas: henry, jane and peter' is a very bad book" -- Marcia and Rebecca review a book.

 

 "Kat's Korner: Joni (live) at Newport" -- Kat's latest album review.

 

"Joni Mitchell and Debbie Harry," "Depeche Mode, Lauryn Hill, The Fugees, Norah Jones, Cut Worms" and "Noel Gallagher, Chicago, Mary J. Blige, Jessi Colter, Waylon Jennings, Stevie Nicks" -- music coverage in the community.

 

 

"SCREEN RANT can't stop lying,"  "Cancel? How about just go to your room and don't come out?," "Does the performer have any responsibility?," "Now they're trying to spin for BLUE BEETLE," "Weekend box office," "that's not 'frasier'" and "kevin sorbo whines and whines" -- TV and movie coverage in the community.

 

"Sweet and Spicy Chicken in the Kitchen," "Pigs in the Blanket in the Kitchen," "Potato Salad with Green Beans and Salsa Verde," "SKIPPY® Peanut Noodles in the Kitchen" and "Meat and Potato Patties in the Kitchen" -- Trina serves up five recipes.