Thursday Trees

We're halfway through October, and it's time once again for Mike's Thursday Trees!

1 - This picture reminds me of the shadowy road to Election Day ...

2 - Wouldn't you love to lounge in the shade beside this pond with a good book? 

3 - Now, those are some really talented beavers ...

4 - This looks to me like trees growing out of a hibernating bear ...

5 - The chicken wire gives protection from gnawing animals ...

6 - Interesting colors ...

7 - This is a great climbing tree ...

8 - This tree looks like an ad for the local chiropractor ...

9 - Your "start getting ready for winter" reminder ...

10 - This looks to me like a real Halloween tree ...

And that's it for this week's edition of Thursday Trees ... I hope you enjoyed it.

Have a good day and come back tomorrow for the announcement of October's Left-Cheek Ass Clown ... more thoughts then.

Bilbo

Vote the Bums Out! Then What?

There's a popular comment that shows up around each election that goes something like this: "[The party out of power] complains bitterly that the government doesn't work. Then we elect them, and they prove it."

The current "leadership" (I'd use more quotes around it if I could) in this country is, indeed, corrupt and inept in the extreme. The party out of power (the Democrats) is campaigning relentlessly by pointing out this obvious fact. The party in power (the MAGA Republicans) are campaigning relentlessly by painting the Democrats as wild-eyed monsters anxious to destroy the historically unprecedented paradise - the envy of the world, like nobody's ever seen - that Der Furor has created.

Well, it's true that insults and fearmongering are about all the Republicans have to campaign on any more, but Democrats need to do more than point out the disastrous effects of the GOP's policies. They have to show that they can do better. They have to explain what they'll do differently, how it will make things better, and - most importantly - how they'll pay for it.

This election is the Democrats' to lose. Unfortunately, the Blue Team has a depressing record of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, leading to this satirical headline from The Onion, which is a lot funnier than it ought to be: DNC Releases Preemptive Autopsy Into Why They Lost Midterms. 

So, here's my free advice to the Democrats ... 

Don't let the crazies of the party be the tail that wags the dog. Let the voters know you are ready to seriously address real issues like affordability, the housing crisis, the appalling graft and corruption of Der Furor and his regime, the tattered shreds of our foreign policy, the savage weaponization of the "Justice" Department and the Department of Homeland Security, the undeclared war with Iran, and the blatantly criminal flouting of the law and inconvenient court orders. Don't immediately move to impeach Der Furor if you win ... heaven knows he deserves it, but nothing will rally his die-hard base more than the thought that their beloved, innocent Furor is being persecuted. If you need to impeach someone, go for dangerous incompetents like Pete Hegseth and - especially - Todd Blanche. Concentrate on a few important things and get some concrete accomplishments early. Don't get sidetracked by issues that affect virtually no one (anything dealing with "transgender" comes to mind). Explain what's wrong and how you'll do better.

In short, Democrats, don't f**k it up. 

You're welcome.

Have a good day. Vote the bums out, and demand more of the bums you vote in.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Ass Clown Special Award

I have been presenting Ass Clown Awards for more than 15 years, since presenting the first award to Der Furor in April, 2011. I find it depressing that I so frequently have a hard time selecting a winner from the swirling cesspool of eligible recipients, that so many recipients have received multiple awards, and that the number of potential recipients makes it necessary occasionally to present out-of-cycle Special Awards. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, I share that depression with you today as we present the latest 

Ass Clown Special Award

to

Secretary of Defense (not War)

Pete Hegseth

Mr Hegseth, arguably the least-qualified and most incompetent Secretary of Defense ever to hold the office, is receiving his ninth Ass Clown Award today, a record exceeded only by Der Furor (with 22 awards, including two Ass Clown of the Year designations) and Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell (with thirteen awards, including three consecutive Ass Clown of the Year designations). Today's award recognizes not the incompetence and national embarrassment we have come to expect, but a descent into behavior that is noteworthy even in an administration that routinely plumbs the depths of moral bankruptcy. 

Last week, Mr Hegseth announced that former Army Major Nidal Hassan, convicted of murdering 12 fellow soldiers and injuring 32 others at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009, would be executed by a military firing squad, and that the execution would be live-streamed.

Just to be clear: while I oppose the death penalty in general, I have absolutely no objection to the execution of a man who deliberately murdered his fellow soldiers in cold blood. My objection is to the reduction of the death penalty to a form of cheap entertainment for the masses. 

The U.S. military has not carried out an execution since 1961, when Army Private John Bennett was hanged for rape and attempted murder, and there has not been a public execution in the United States since at least 1936. No civilized nation in the 21st century makes public execution a national spectacle. Not only this, but live-streaming the execution of a man in a wheelchair (to which Hasan has been confined since being shot by a police officer during his rampage) provides a grotesque image that will be a propaganda godsend to those who share Hasan's twisted religious motivations.

I have no issue with putting this man to death for his heinous crime. But to make his execution a public spectacle for the benefit of the MAGA masses is beyond despicable. That Mr Hegseth has proposed, and Der Furor has approved such a spectacle surrenders what little remains under this regime of the moral high ground we once enjoyed. We join the august company of such paragons of dignity and human rights as North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Afghanistan.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, we present this Ass Clown Special Award to Secretary of Defense (not War) Pete Hegseth. I am thankful every day that my military service came to an end before he had the chance to bring shame on a noble profession.

Have a good day. Demand more from this regime, but expect less. You will not be disappointed.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Monday Mountains

It's a new week, and that means it's time once again for Monday Mountains! Let's get climbing ...

1 - A wonderful mountain valley to explore ...

2 - It looks as if this mountain is proclaiming that it's Number 1 ...

3 - Blue and white mountains, blue and white sky ...

4 - Mountains reflected in the water are always beautiful ...

5 - Nice framing of the mountains by the trees ...

6 - Reminds me of the Great Pyramid ...

7 - I love this beautiful mountain vista ...

8 - I wonder if this is what Tolkien had in mind when he dreamed of the Misty Mountains ...

9 - Another awesome wall of majestic mountains ...

10 - And finally, courtesy of NASA, we know that there are mountains of ice on Pluto ...

I hope that some inspiring mountain scenery has inspired you to great things in the coming week. 

Have a good day and a good week to come. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Poetry Sunday

The month of October this year has five Saturdays and four Sundays for us to use for our Halloween-themed Cartoon Saturdays and Poetry Sundays. Today is our first Poetry Sunday for the scary season, and we turn to American poet Carl Sandburg to paint the picture ...

Theme in Yellow

by Carl Sandburg

I spot the hills

With yellow balls in autumn.

I light the prairie cornfields

Orange and tawny gold clusters

And I am called pumpkins.

On the last of October

When dusk is fallen

Children join hands

And circle round me

Singing ghost songs

And love to the harvest moon;

I am a jack-o’-lantern

With terrible teeth

And the children know

I am fooling.

I hope you enjoyed this poem ... and I am not fooling.

Have a good day and enjoy the rest of your weekend as we draw nearer to Halloween! More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Cartoon Saturday

Oh, geez, just make it stop ...

In a speech in Nebraska, Der Furor ignited a firestorm when he suggested that Iran could "take out" US cities if it developed a nuclear weapon, saying "Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego,” and that "it would be a small price to pay; Margaret Hamilton, the math genius whose programming helped land astronauts safely on the moon, has died at the age of 90; Der Furor immediately a new round of tariffs against Canadian literature after Canadian poet, essayist and translator Anne Carson won the Nobel Prize in literature; Secretary of Defense (not War) Pete Hegseth announced that the execution by firing squad of convicted murderer and former Army Major Nidal Hasan will be and live-streamed and "public" - details to be announced; in the Peruvian town of Queropalca, voters chose Hitler Mussolini Simeon Flores as their new mayor; and in (where else?) California, nine people were arrested for poaching huge numbers of Pismo Beach clams ... prosecution will likely be difficult, as the arrested suspects have resisted police interrogation by clamming up.

Our second Halloween season Cartoon Saturday features the quintessential fellow who wishes he could get good head - The Headless Horseman ...

I hope his insurance covers treatment by that specialist ...

I guess it's an understandable mistake ...

'Tis the season ... election, that is ...

Sometimes the technology isn't all it's cracked up to be ...

I can relate ...

Bottoms up! ...

The lab results are in ...

Well, it's one way to deal with junk calls ...

I guess he's graduated to hundreds of horses ...

Oops ...

And that's it for this year's Halloween season Cartoon Saturday salute to the Headless Horseman - I hope you enjoyed it.

Have a good day and a great weekend, and be sure to come back tomorrow for our first Halloween season Poetry Sunday and a visit with the great American poet Carl Sandburg. More thoughts then.

Bilbo

Great Moments in Editing and Signage

 

It's time for our first collection of editorial and signage ya-ha's for October! Let 'em rip ...

Um ... I think I'll try a different market, thank you ...

Oops ... wrong tower ...

Thanks for the warning ...

It must be one of those MAGA "Christian" churches ...

I shamelessly stole this one from Debra She Who Seeks. I'm sure there's a story here, but I'm not sure I want to know what it is ...

I thought this was the hours of operation for Congress. It's an understandable mistake ...

It also helps to take the pants off ...

Perhaps they get a lot of applicants from Georgia ...

I think this may be one of the most unnecessary signs ever ...

That must be chain suitable for an aircraft carrier ...

And that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed the collection, and remember - you can always send your finds to ol' Bilbo ... I'll give you credit when they post!

Have a good day, and be sure to come back tomorrow, when our Cartoon Saturday Halloween Spectacular continues with a salute to The Headless Horseman - see you then.

Bilbo

Thursday Trees

 

Today is Thursday, which means it's time for a new edition of Mike's Thursday Trees! Let's get right to it ...

1 - a black canyon pinyon-juniper tree doin' the Twist ...

2 - an Australian eucalyptus tree ...

3 - a ginkgo tree ...

4 - Winter is Coming, and not just for the Starks ...

5 - now, that's a tree in a hurry!

6 - a juniper tree in Korea ...

7 - an olive tree that looks like I feel early in the morning ...

8 - a Pinus Longeava, the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine ...

9 - is this tree rooted, or just screwed into the ground?

10 - a tree with legs ...

And that's it for today's edition of Thursday Trees ... I hope you enjoyed it.

Have a good day, and come back tomorrow for a new collection of Great Moments in Editing and Signage ... see you then!

Bilbo