While you have been watching the circuses, the United States became a Dictatorship. Really. This isn't hyperbole.

While you've been watching people argue gender in court, airplanes crash, Elon's buzz-boys program themselves into government and have officials at multiple levels possibly collude with Russia, the new/old guy's administration issued an executive order turning the United States into a Dictatorship. I have the receipts.

This is a directive published on the White House's website. I'm going to quote the whole fucking thing in full, with some words (and a moment of relief) after:

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RESTORING DEMOCRACY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN GOVERNMENT: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order ensuring that all federal agencies are accountable to the American people, as required by the Constitution. Under this Executive Order: The Order notes that Article II of the U.S. Constitution vests all executive power in the President, meaning that all executive branch officials and employees are subject to his supervision.

Therefore, because all executive power is vested in the President, all agencies must: (1) submit draft regulations for White House review—with no carve-out for so-called independent agencies, except for the monetary policy functions of the Federal Reserve; and (2) consult with the White House on their priorities and strategic plans, and the White House will set their performance standards.

The Office of Management and Budget will adjust so-called independent agencies’ apportionments to ensure tax dollars are spent wisely.

The President and the Attorney General (subject to the President’s supervision and control) will interpret the law for the executive branch, instead of having separate agencies adopt conflicting interpretations.

REINING IN INDEPENDENT AGENCIES: So-called independent agencies like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have exercised enormous power over the American people without Presidential oversight. These agencies issue rules and regulations that cost billions of dollars and implicate some of the most controversial policy matters, and they do so without the review of the democratically elected President.

They also spend American tax dollars and set priorities without consulting the President, while setting their own performance standards.

Now they will no longer impose rules on the American people without oversight or accountability.

ENSURING A GOVERNMENT THAT ANSWERS TO THE PEOPLE: This order fulfills President Trump’s promise to restore constitutional governance and accountability to the entire executive branch. Executive power without responsibility has no place in our Republic. The United States was founded on the principle that the government should be accountable to the people. That is why the Founders created a single President who is alone vested with “the executive Power” and responsibility to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”

Voters and the President can now hold all Federal agencies—not just Cabinet departments—responsible for their decisions, as the Constitution demands.

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So this stream of bullshit means there will be no such thing as an independent agency in the government anymore. They must all conform to the vision of the White House - including the Federal Election Commission, The Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission.

The Office of Budget Management can take whatever budget is passed by Congress and change it.

Watchdogs that report to the President will be placed in every agency, and they will report to the President and coordinate with a new branch of government, called the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). 

You know, a Gestapo.

And those last two paragraphs make it look like what they're doing is increasing accountability, but the reality of the situation is while a President is accountable, everyone else is accountable to HIM and HIM alone. This is the real reason why just about every Inspector General was fired. We had a system of accountability and it worked.

Now we have everyone reporting to the Chancellor and he can direct the money appropriated by Congress into whatever the fuck he wants.

Is he a Chancellor? A King? He sure as fuck isn't an American President.

The oath that is taken is protect the country from all enemies, Foreign or Domestic. But what happens when the President is the Domestic Enemy? When he has put loyalists in every position that was formerly independent from him? When Congress has ceded their power over the purse strings of government to the whips of that same Domestic Enemy?

When that Domestic Enemy controls the military?

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Even getting a NEA Grant has been infused with this bullshit. This is a screenshot of a small section of the rules:

Basically, your art must conform to the administration's goals and beliefs. Dude, if it does that it isn't art - it's propaganda.

I'm considering applying, but I can't decide which of my songs they would find most offensive. I mean, I do have the song where I refer to anti-vaxxers and "Dumbest Motherfuckers", and I have the song in favor of Black Lives matter, but I also have a few now that tells them just how badly they get scripture wrong (see http://fmam.band).

Did you know that Elon and the gang have no actual Government authority to do anything? That the white house confirmed that today? ARREST THAT MOTHERFUCKER AND HIS GOONS!

By the way, avoid flying in US airspace for now.

The only bright spot I've seen in these past few weeks is how Steve Bannon is seething with jealousy over Elon's access to the new/old guy.

I mean, it really sucks to be a woman in the Hee-Haw version of the Handmaid's Tale.

Of course the new/old guy doesn't see himself as a Dictator. He is calling himself a King. I'm going to use Chancellor - because of what it implies.

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Because I love you and would like to leave you on an up note, here is Vulpeck. My gut feeling is that their next album is going to be a live one, with all new material like this.

Radio Free California Episode 2507, and draft Governor Tim Walz

 

New music gthis week from Gothik Serpent, Tetrarch, Big Big Train, OK Go, Love is Noise, Ukrainian artists alyona alyona and KLAR, Japanese Breakfast, Sweet (yes, THAT Sweet), Filizola, Black Crowes with Jimmy Page, an alternative track from one of my side projects; The Antinomy Insurgency, and much more. Enjoy!

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I enjoy this a lot less: the United States are now the villains. Get used to that. All of Europe is getting together to counter what we do, we have concentration camps, and a group of maniac children are running the government, firing people left and right and suspending/killing previously approved spending and calling it illegal.

Yes, judges left and right are calling out this bullshit and telling them to stop, but if no one enforces their rulings do they actually matter?

It's been said elsewhere, but if they were really looking for waste and fraud, they'd hire accountants and nor coders. Coders can change code (provided they understand it - some of them don't know COBOL) and that means they can hold these things hostage.

We've asked the government of Romania to intervene in the case of a suspected sex trafficker only because he likes the new administration.

We're trying to collapse the economies of 31 different countries now. That's right, we have imposed tariffs on 31 countries as of this writing. 

The guy who invented the Pizzagate story now works in the White House.

They're propping up an obviously corrupt and already indicted New York City Mayor, just to advance their desire to put brown people in camps. This has led to a huge number of DoJ officials resigning rather than carry out the order, and the Judge in the matter telling all parties to tell him why in person.

They're blaming the rash of air travel incidents (crashes) on DEI instead of the fact that they've fired far too many air traffic controllers.

They've taken over not just the Kennedy Center but they fired so many people at the John F Kennedy Library in Boston that it had to close.

I already ready to get behind a draft Tim Walz for President movement.

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And because I love you, here's a song about digging up bones.

https://www.tumblr.com/itswalky/775861420906676224

My next door neighbor owns a Tesla Truck.

It's true, he does. He bought it when they were pretty new, and he traded in his regular Tesla car for it.

My neighbor runs a green-energy construction business. He is a big believer in renewable energy, and he does some pretty high-profile work in the Bay Area, running the business from the garage of his home. I've known him for 20 years, and we get along.

My neighbor is an immigrant. He and his wife moved here from Ireland and have had 4 children in the time I've known him. I do not know if either he or his wife have taken American Citizenship, but I do know they go back to Ireland often. We talked about it as my roots are there as well, even if a few generations removed.

My neighbor owns a truck. He treats it like a truck, and not a fashion accessory. He uses it to haul construction equipment, lumber, bags of cement, tile, whatever the work he and his crew are doing that day. That it's made by Tesla is irrelevant to him. It's a truck, and he believes in electric vehicles, so he bought it. He uses it for his business, so it's a company car.

We have never really discussed politics. I did hear him refer to the current leader of the country as a "fuckin' idiot" but that's as far as it goes. We've exchanged more words about the qualities of Irish whiskey and beer, which I drink a lot of but he is more knowledgeable about.

Yes, my neighbor owns a Tesla Truck. He doesn't give a damn about the man whose name is most associated with it - he just needs a truck for his livelihood and believes in green energy and electric vehicles.

He may be the only person who has ever bought one who is using it correctly.

(Generic picture of a Cybertruck below. I'm not invading my neighbor's privacy)

Radio Free California Episode 2506, plus a few random thoughts

 

New music this week from Vulfpeck, DarWin, A Short Walk to Pluto, Dead Air, Prince, Bryan Adams, Jethro Tull, Bob Mould, Home Free, The Wildhearts, NOAPOLOGY, Dream Theater, Letters to Lions and much more. Enjoy!

Did Taylor Swift win the Super Bowl?

Nope. Don't Care.

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Man, everything the new/old guy touches dies. Sorry, Kansas City.

Other people have said this but it bears repeating: If the richest man in the history of the world was looking for fraud he's have brought in accountants, not coders. We have given the keys to the engines of the country to a Bond villain, and it's not one of the better ones.

If they've changed code and they're the only ones who know the code, they can hold the entire country hostage with a keystroke. Erase the entire US Treasury. Who knows? That's the point, no one does.

Mike Hucksterbee believes that the new/old guy will do something "biblical" with Gaza. Coming from him, that means Ethnic Cleansing. Let's not kid ourselves about it. This man believes Palestine shouldn't exist.

Although it's already happening impersonating an ICE agent is illegal. For now.

While the new administration has been sued all over the place and judges have told them to stop, have you noticed that they haven't actually stopped?

I hear the penny is going out of production. Good luck getting change on cash purchases. Maybe they're going to round sales tax to the nearest nickel.

Now that the Attorney General of the US has shut down the FBI Foreien Influence task force, what happens to the TV show FBI: International?

There is a Judge who is issuing warning to the government about not doing what he says. Who can he have locked up for contempt? I'm hoping it's Elon.

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And because I love you, here is the original version of the Infinity Song track added above. It's on their live album, but here is the studio version, for which they only released a video 2 days ago, instead of 2 years ago.

Radio Free California Episode 2505, So many crimes in so little time.

 

New music this week from The Laughing Chimes, Spin Doctors, Franciscan Monks of Acies Mundi, Yndling, Baby Said, Maddie Jay, Snow Patrol, James Bay with Jon Batiste, Chris Reed and the Anime Raiders and much more. Enjoy!

No, I didn't watch the Grammys. They almost never nominate the right artists in each category. It's a popularity contest, not a reflection of quality. For example, Lola Young released this past year one of the best albums in a decade and how many nominations did she get? ZERO. Also, The Beatles are nominated? They broke up 54 years ago! (P.S. I am told they won. I love the Beatles but give me a fucking break).

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So what the fuck is happening to our government? The Treasury Department has been taken over with the skill and aplomb of one of the later Die Hard movies by a South African import and a child from Canada who calls himself "BigBallz". Hope you weren't expecting your social security or Medicare payments to be on time - or to ever come. They want to covert the treasury to blockchain - i.e. bitcoin. 

For fuck's sake Musk is an actual Bond Villian. There are only two reasons to convert the security of our nation's currency into bitcoin: 1) to destroy it or 2) to steal it. He could bankrupt the country and every bank in the nation in just a few seconds if he were to make that change. They would all be his hostages.

Not to mention that there have been two plane crashes and a third that caught fire in the past 5 days, and all press releases will now come through Elon Musk's "X" platform. It already appears that press releases for other agencies will only come through X as well. Also, anyone critical of the new administration will be banned from X. So sez the self proclaimed "Free Speech Absolutist". Did he lie? Yes, he did.

Oh and by the way, he's suing several companies for NOT advertising on X. That's not a crime, Apartheid boy.

This fuckhead has illegally taken over the purse strings of our government. The crimes have been committed and I would like to think we're going to start arresting people.

But probably not.

What else... oh yes! We're going to invade Mexico. We bombed a low-level thug in Somalia who mostly just blackmailed people. 

The State Department has appointed as Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy, i.e. the department mouthpiece, a known white supremacist who was the person who started the rumor that the FBI was behind the attempted insurrection of January 6, 2021. 

The Department of Education hasn't done much yet, other than eliminate all diversity education and policies, dismissed every complaint about book bans (believe it or not, a LOT of people complain about books being banned in schools) and celebrated "school choice" - i.e. vouchers and home schooling.

The tariffs have begun! By the way, this is in violation of the USMCA Treaty. You know who signed that one? The very man who is now in violation of it. I would like to think we're going to start arresting people. But probably not.

And then after I wrote the previous paragraph we suddenly aren't imposing tariffs on Mexico (and also Canada after a couple more hours pass) for the next month! He did manage to crash the stock market though, so I have to wonder how many short-sells he had in his pocket. Remember, he hasn't divested from anything.

The CDC has been told to hold all publications for review, to make certain that specific words that are now forbidden are not used. Those words include "Diversity", "Gender", "Transgender", "Pregnant person" "Pregnant People" and just about any issue involving the LGBTQA+ community. Oh, and have you seen the latest press briefings on Bird Flu or perhaps the greatest outbreak of Tuberculosis in this country in a century? Of course not - there haven't been any.

Can you say censorship boy and girls? 

And have you noticed how many government websites are now simply gone? Welcome to book-burning in the Digital Age. The people who burn books are never the good guys.

Our first Concentration Camp will be at Guantanamo, which is pretty far away from any prying eyes. You can't call yourself a decent person and not be outraged by this. Given the number of American Citizens that have been swept up in raids that have already taken place I am certain that American Citizens are going to wind up in Cuba because of the color of their skin, or because of their fluency in Spanish. And we're apparently using the same law used to inter Japanese in WWII. Which was also a crime.

You know who would be against all this bullshit? The Republican's beloved Saint Ronny. He even gave a radio address about it, which you can hear at this link.

I think even Reagan would break his own 11th commandment when it comes to this bullshit. 

Legislation has been introduced to ban all porn, and the definition is so wildly broad that Romance Novels will be affected. As in the authors will be sent to prison. Hell, the bible could qualify as porn under this definition. Also included is the end of no fault divorce, medical abortions, drag performances that can be attended by kids, cash incentives for covenant marriages... as if The Handmaid's Tale were an instruction manual and not a cautionary tale.

Just ask all of the women in Texas and elsewhere currently in prison for having had miscarriages. 

The Pentagon has informed the press corps that NBC, the New York Times, National Public Radio and Politico will be "rotated out of the building" to give space to the New York Post, Breitbart, OANN, and HuffPost. 

The Defense Department has paused observances of MLK Day, Pride Month, Holocaust Days of Remembrance, Juneteenth, Women's History Month, Black History Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, and more. Some of these are Federal Holidays.

USAID has been shut down, according to Musk, who you might recall is not a government employee. I can't even count the number of laws he broken by not only doing this, but announcing it on the social media platform he owns. It's enough to put him in prison for life, if anyone has the spine to do it. Yes, the new/old guy will pardon him, but do it anyway.

And at least someone in the Senate is finally fighting back.

They tried to fire everyone at the FBI who worked on a January 6 case. The acting Director said no. So the hero of the moment is a guy who looks like he's called "Drizz"? And actually IS called Drizz? Shucks Scooby, I didn't see that one coming.

So what is happening to our Government? The same thing that happened to Twitter. To quote legal expert Sam Bagenstos, "move fast, break things (with “things” very much including the law), and then dare folks to try and do something about it. Their expectation is that people will be too overwhelmed, and the law will move too slowly, to stop them from doing what they’re doing."

You know, fake it 'till you break it.

Doing this to a company, either large or small, eventually end with bankruptcies and business closing down. Doing this to a government leads to the collapse of a nation. And a failing nation led by hypocrites and psychopaths and people with no business running a country will lash out. Germany did. Rome did. We will too, and we have nukes. 

Oh, and apparently we're going to punish South Africa for ending Apartheid.

And hey, please note that when Mike Flynn threatens you over treason respect the opinion. He's committed it often enough that he's an expert.

You don't want to be called a racist? Don't be one.

You don't want to be called a fascist? Stop hanging out with them. Stop emulating them. Stop listening to their advice. If you can't do all of that, you are already a fascist.

And one last plea from an ex-pat living in his own country: Instead of just saying "it's illegal" what they're doing, start FUCKING ARRESTING PEOPLE WHO COMMIT CRIMES!

Please. 

For example, a disgraced radio host is already boasting that he has illegally received classified information. That's a crime for both parties - and the other party is the new/old guy. That's like, you know, treason.

And can we offer a round of applause for this move by a Canadian? 

And because I love you, have the new single by Sam Fender, with a video that stars the Sexy Priest.

Water and Money, California Edition

So the new/old guy posted late last night that he had sent in the US Military to turn on the spigot so that Southern California has enough water. He posted about it on his self-owned social media site.

Now I actually live in California, and I can tell you that every single thing he said is a motherfucking lie.

• Southern California has enough water. The reservoirs are actually full. What got overtaxed was the ability to deliver the water to all of the fires. There wasn't enough plumbing.
• There is no water faucet in the Pacific Northwest to deliver water to Southern California. Their water comes from the Sierra Nevadas. It's CENTRAL California that gets its water from the north.
• There is no fake environmental drama. Sure, the new/old guy focuses on the Delta Smelt, but without the smelt we don't have Salmon. Or the bears who eat the salmon. Everybody has enough water these days. We've been out of the drought for a couple of years now.

So what is he actually claiming credit for? The truth is that this past weekend some generators in the Northern California Water System were taken off-line for maintenance. They were turned back on yesterday. That's it.

Full stop.

The new/old guy is a lying son of a bitch.

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So you might have noticed that in the process of committing more crimes than the previous administrations combined in their first week (which includes an administration of the same people) an awful lot of previously approved funding has just stopped. NIH, WHO, Foreign Aid and so on.

I learned today, thanks to my college attending daughter, this this also includes financial aid for College Students. It's currently on hold.

Fortunately for us my daughter got her disbursement before the free went into effect. She's fine for this semester. But part of that freeze is also the application process, which has specific deadlines and they're coming up fast.

If nothing is done soon an entire generation is about to drop out of college. We're only barely in the top 30 in education around the world now - we might just be about to drop like a stone.

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Medicaid has been shut down in multiple states.

Domestic Abuse Shelters are in the same boat.

And the new Director of the Office of Budget Management is the guy who wrote the Project 2025 manual.

Making

America

Garbage,

Asshole

But because I love you, have some Billie Eilish. Sometimes we all need some Billie Eilish.

Radio Free California Episode 2504, the onslaught, and keeping moving

 

New music this week including an amazing album from Johanna Stahley, The Antinomy Insurgency, Pom Pom Squad, Skinner, IDER, Sam Amidon, The Darkness, Lot's Wife, Chris Trapper, Vulfmon, Seye Adelekan, Hiromi, Ice Cube and much more. Enjoy!

As per usual this playlist will be on the radio station all day Wednesday. The special show 10 at 10 airs Sundays at 10am and 10pm PST, and again at 10pm on Thursdays, again Pacific Standard Time.

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Feeling overwhelmed yet? You ain't alone there. I've been looking seriously at rentals in Canada. I can afford something pretty nice, actually.

The new/old guy and his administration are throwing so much shit at the screen that even if most of it doesn't stick or is struck down in the courts the screen is still ruined. A LOT of people are discovering that the Leopard will indeed eat their faces. There are already stories of MAGAnauts who have lost jobs, lost homes, and are wondering why the price of eggs is up 40% in the last week.

Nobody is telling anyone why because amongst all the orders and directives is that nobody says nothing. Bird Flu is running rampant, but the government isn't saying a damned thing about it.

Nobody is yet telling you that the new/old guy's fascination with Greenland actually comes from an old Nazi playbook.

And late last night he signed an executive order for the Federal Government to take over the California Water System, to solve problems that don't even exist. Anyone who says that the Republican Party is the Party of State's Rights is a fucking liar.

And let's not forget all those poor souls that are only discovering now that "Obama Care" and The Affordable Care Act are the same thing. Or all the people in poor neighborhoods in Southern California that the new/old guy pointedly did not visit.

And let's not forget that in revoking Dr. Anthony Fauci's security detail might be the same as putting a hit out on the man. And so is this, Senator Foghorn Leghorn Motherfucker.

Let's not forget that Trans people can no longer get a passport unless it's under their deadname and gender. Marco Rubio has a punch in the mouth coming.

Let's not forget that women are going to be kept out of combat roles, something they've been doing for decades now. And on a side note, let's notice that some of the military members the new/old guy wants to reinstate for getting Vaccinated won't be reporting for duty, thanks to COVID-19.

And let's not fail to notice that the amount of money that United Healthcare has lost so far this year is more than what Canada spends on healthcare in a year.

Let's notice that the HR department of the US Government has been turned over to motherfucking Nazi Elon Musk.

Let's not fail to notice that almost every raid by ICE so far has been in Blue states.

Remember that he has already taken the first steps to get rid of FEMA. Sure, it's California under the microscope right now, but wait until Hurricane Season.

Hope you've stocked up on Coffee, now that a 25% tariff on all goods from Columbia are in effect. I don't drink coffee myself, but nearly everyone else does. Good luck. Oh, but wait! It was all a ploy to get Columbia to take in people we've expelled.

If we take military action in trying to take Greenland you realize that will start a war with NATO, right?

Remember that when he says that you can tell a good immigrant from a bad immigrant by looking at them he's talking about skin color.

Try not to be creeped out by the sheer volume of people who refer to the new/old guy as "Daddy".

How do we resist all of this bullshit?

Well, first, remember your cute winter boots. Fly your pride flag. 

Ask your kids what they're doing and emulate them. You need to keep in mind that while this is all new to us for them this is how it's always been. There have always been racists, Nazis, and fucking idiots in government. To them, a President that doesn't represent the people who didn't vote for him is normal, not mind-boggingly bizarre. How are they dealing with it? Can you do at least as well?

Support your local Inspector General.Support Ukraine - the country isn't doing it any more.

Note that ICE agents usually only carry Administrative Warrants, and not Judicial ones. The difference is that they can enter you home with a Judicial one, but they can't come in using an Administrative one unless you let them. Say no.

Stay off Facebook, Xitter, Instagram and the rest being used/owned by the various Brollionaires and Broligarchs.

But use the internet. Use it skeptically and wisely. If you find a site saying something find another - one without the same agenda/viewpoint. That's how you might learn that the largest Tuberculosis outbreak in US history is happening right now in Kansas. The government isn't going to tell you.

Punch Nazis. Hundreds of thousands of our grandfathers died trying to rid existance of these fuckers. Now it's our turn.

Support subversive media. Boycot any and all public figures who support these morons. Sorry Snoop Dogg, that includes you. I know that going against your brand is your brand, but this was too much. Boycott all stores who put money into getting these dickheads into power.

Yes, that's going to be hard.

But on the flipside, you can support Ben and Jerry's. They support you.

And because I love you, this is the band Obverse: Drums, Bass and Harp. Some nice Prog-jazz here.

Rounding up brown people, day one.

So the rounding up of Brown-skinned people began yesterday in Southern Kern County, around the town of Bakersfield and the various farms that surrounds it. As a result, 75% of the agriculture workforce has stopped showing up for work, afraid of deportation, mis-identification and worse. There is already rampant racial profiling going on; rounding up people at Home Depot and at Gas Stations. Brown-skinned people. Even cars driving down the 99 Highway, which is the major highway through the valley, are being pulled over and detained. 

The people of Bakersfield, an overwhelmingly Right-wing populace (the new/old guy got 60% of the vote), have noticed it and are concerned. So should you, because this is going to impact your groceries.

Right now it's Citrus picking season. In this part of the state that's mostly Oranges. People tend to think of Florida when it comes to Oranges but the truth is that about 40% of the crop is in the Central Valley of California. And right now, that's work that's not getting done.

This time of year evenings get very very cold in the low desert. Not snow-storm cold, but destroy your crops cold. a workforce reduction this big at this crucial time means that the amount of Oranges available to consumers is going to drop dramatically. As per supply and demand rules, that means the price is going up. Way up.

Hang on tight friends, because Lettuce and spinach harvest start in a couple of weeks. Grapes just finished but maintenance time is underway now and that's not getting done.

Kern County has been rated one of the top three agricultural counties in terms of production in the nation, and the workforce is being rounded up to be sent to camps. Right. Fucking. Now.

A couple of things to point out here. I find it interesting that the first roundups, which everyone said would be in Chicago, are happening in California and specifically in the district that used to be represented by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and current head of Truth Social Devin Nunes. Nunes used to brag about his dairy operation in the area, which is actually in Iowa.

Everyone knows that the big dairy operation in Bakersfield is Larsen's (home of Sam the Hippo! who dies years and years ago). Side note: I remember that poor Hippo, which had been abandoned by some carnival that came through town. It was kept in conditions that would have Peta protesting for miles today. But when I was a little kid, the sheer novelty of there being a Hippo at the local Dairy was kind of amazing. 

Nobody has yet said where these people are being kept.

So how does a lefty blogger from San Francisco know all of this? Welp, I haven't always been from here. I grew up and spent a sizeable chunk of my childhood right where these raids have been happening, and while I don't go there anymore there are people in this world who think I should still know what's going on. I haven't lived there in 43 years, but still it happens.

The white middle class neighborhood I grew up in is mostly Latino now, I've been told. I don't keep in touch with anyone who still lives there. I remember book burnings when I was a kid. Nazi rallies. Fuck them. I am proud to say I escaped all that bullshit, and got most of my close friends and all of my family out of there. Okay, I mostly just shouted words of encouragement but it still happened.

But there was always a migrant worker population. I went to school with many of them. Many were allowed to come to school late because they worked on farms in the mornings. A few even got school credit for it.

None of these people were adding to the crime rate. None of these people were taking jobs other people wanted. Try farming sometime. I quit after 2 hours. It's hard work, and occasionally brutal work and I don't recommend it (I was terrible at it) yet they do it day after day after day because they want to feed their own families. Because what they had before was even worse.

A New York (now Florida) real estate developer is never going to understand the balance of migrant workers necessary to keep the food chain running. Neither is the former leader of a hedge fund, or someone whose whole farm (and/or political) experience has been talking about it on television. Neither is the white and nearly translucent Nazi fuckhead who is the new/old guy's closest advisor on brown people. Neither are the Billionaires of DOGE.

We need to let people know where the people rounded up are being kept. That's where the protests need to be. 

And becuase I love you, now that they've all left us, The Band.

The new/old guy is a terrorist, and other thoughts.

So the new/old guy just issued a pardon for Ross Ulbricht (and spelled his name wrong while doing so). The founder of Silk Road, who was serving a life sentence. Why was he serving a life sentence? He created a network that facilitated the sale of illegal drugs, human trafficking and pedophilia, funneled money and weapons to the Taliban and other groups, and facilitated the hiring of hitmen. 

Supporting Trump is supporting Terrorism.

Don't go to the Website of the White House. It's now a fucking commercial for the new/old guy. Also, the link to the Constitution doesn't work anymore.

For those of you who find that Facebook now has you following the new/old guy and any others in the administration, keep in mind that if you followed the Biden Administration's pages that these are the same pages. The Biden stuff should be archived to a new place, same as they did for Obama.

Should.

New/old guy has rescinded President Biden’s Executive Order which created a task force to reunite families deliberately separated at the border by the previous terms of the old guy. As many as 1,000 families remain separated because of that policy.

The new/old guy fired Chef Jose Andres from the President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, not realizing that he actually quit last week because his term was up. His parting words: "May God give you the wisdom, Mr. President, to put politics and name calling aside…and instead lift up the everyday people working to bring America together. Let’s build longer tables." The famed Chef has been in Los Angeles since the fires got bad.

The new/old guy revoked the Secret Security Protection Detail assigned to John Bolton, because the new/old guy has the temper of an addled 12-year-old.

Based on what I saw of the sermon that was given at the service the new/old guy attended yesterday, he may never set foot in a church again. He called the Bishop "Nasty", which seems to be his go-to insult.

Can someone please explain to me why all these women either dating or engaged to the rich men in the old/new guy's circle all look the same? Like a blow-up doll left in the sun too long? I know that the look that old/new guy prefers but seriously, do they all have to look life that? I've seen pictures of many of them from 15-20 years ago and they didn't use to look like that!

The new/old guy cancelled flights for 1,660 refugees from Afghanistan who were previously cleared by the government to come to the U.S., according to Reuters. The 1,660 Afghan refugees who have been taken off flights include family members of active-duty U.S. military personnel, unaccompanied minors flying to the U.S. to reunite with family, and those who fought for the former U.S.-backed Afghan government.

The Fraternal Order of Police, who backed the new/old guy, are upset about the pardons. Welp, that's what the "FO" in FAFO" is for.

Today, the new/old guy revoked the Executive Order put in place by LBJ that says you cannot discriminate against any race, religion, or gender in the workplace, especially when it comes to hiring. Once a racist always a racist. Remember, this is the guy who wanted the Central Park Five executed AFTER they were discovered to be innocent. He also fired every person in Government whose job it was to enforce that order. I'm guessing that's a lot of people.

Apparently the new/old guy wants to Tariff Russia into signing a peace deal with Ukraine. I'm starting to think that the new/old guy can't learn what tariffs actually do. Besides, we trade hardly anything with them at the moment, so big fuckin' whoop.

Representative Mike Collins (Idiot-GA) wants the Bishop who gave the sermon (mentioned above) deported because their mother was Swedish. The Biship was born in New Jersey.

The new/old guy always pays attention to his TV ratings - and in fact that might be the yardstick to measure him by and what propels him to do anything - and viewership this inauguration was 32% lower than Biden's. It was about 30% lower than his own previous swearing-in and two-minutes-hate speech.

Anyone else notice how similar the new/old guy's new official portrait is to his mug shot in Georgia?

One person given a pardon turned it down. "Accepting a pardon would only insult the Capitol police officers, rule of law and, of course, our nation," she said. "I pleaded guilty because I was guilty, and accepting a pardon also would serve to contribute to their gaslighting and false narrative."

By the way, Mr. Free Speech has just ordered all health agencies in the government to stop talking.

Oh, and one more thing... have you checked the price of eggs? 

And because I love you, enjoy this performance by Cory Wong's band. 

So how was that one day of Dictatorship?

Here's a list of published on the new/old guy's first day in office. You know, the one where he promised to be a Dictator:

• Renamed Mt. Denali as Mt. McKinley. No one wanted this. No one.
• Renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. I think Mexico has to agree to this, don't they? They won't. Neither will anyone else. It makes us look like we're 12 years old.
• Renamed Drug Cartels as Terrorist Organizations. We're going to invade Mexico. Mark my words.
• End DEI as a hiring practice, which is against federal law and means only hire white people.
• He actually signed two orders for this.
• Declared Transgenderism as false, and that the gender you're assigned at birth is the one you have to keep. Someone please let Chaz Bono know. Or Wendy Carlos (google her - she transitioned before most of us were born).
• And oh yes, there are only two genders. He says so. Fuckable and non-fuckable.
• DOGE, DOGE, DOGE, DOGE, DOGE
• America First is now to be official Diplomatic Policy. We called these folks Nazi's when I was young.
• No one who disagrees with US Policy should be let into the country. I wonder how that's going to affect the UN?
• Destroy the Alaskan Wilderness for oil and gas that we don't need.
• Kick out every single undocumented person in our borders, and not let any back in or any new ones in.
• Dismissed all existing Tariffs implemented under the Biden Administration.
• Set up a department to collect all tariffs imposed going forward, an "External Revenue Service". Never mind that tariffs are not collected from foreign companies but from the people who buy foreign products.
• Sets up a Homeland Security Infrastructure that takes power and decision-making away from the Joint Chiefs and gives it to a Presidentially appointed civilian board. What could possibly  go wrong when those decision makers are all people who have previously made a living as telling people that they are experts (on TV) but without experience (in reality).
• Realign all foreign aid, and pause existing aid, to realign with new America First policies. Sorry Gaza.
• Suspended all off-shore wind farm projects. All of them. Your energy bill is going up.
• Oh, and we have an energy supply emergency (we blame Biden for this non-existent problem), so say goodbye to the Endangered Species Act.
• Say goodbye to the Civil Service. We knew that one was coming.
• Promoting Beautiful Civic Architecture? What the fuck does this one even mean? Are all Federal buildings going to need to be painted that shit-tinged yellow he calls gold?
• Bring back the Federal Death Penalty, and reimpose it on all those Biden commuted to Life Sentences. Force the manufacture of lethal injection drugs and make certain that every state has them. That includes you, California.
• Force California to re-route its water. He blames the fire response on this, even though it wasn't true. What he does say is that water needs to be diverted from the Central Valley to the South - never minding that they get their water from two different places. But the central valley is where the farms are. Your grocery bill is going up. By the way there is protection for the Delta Smelt in Northern California, where water is more plentiful, but none of that prevents water from getting to the central valley (which is fed from the Sacramento Delta) or Southern California (whose water comes from the Sierra Nevadas).
• (holy shit this is only the end of page 2)
• Close and wall up the borders.
• Fuck the 14th amendment. Seriously. It doesn't say what we've all agreed it says for the last 160 years. I guess this means we have to deport Baron Trump. UPDATE: About 30 seconds after I published this came word that 22 states including my own sued to block this one. Welcome to day two.
• Accept no more refugees, and maybe kick out most of the ones we took in.
• Get rid of Electric Cars (sorry Elon) and any other policy that could help reduce out impact on the environment.
• Deploy US troops to the southern border. We're going to invade Mexico.
• Tarriff the fuck out of everyone. Yes, it has come up again.
• Give everyone he appoints immediate Security Clearance, so that they can do their jobs while they go through the task of getting a security clearance. In other words, he appoints, they get the clearance. This is a fucking landmine. Some of his appointments have track records of supporting Russia, China, and Iran.
• Oh, by the way the Southern Border is now a National Emergency. Remember those troops we're sending there. Now they can shoot at things/people.
• Revoke the security clearances of 50 specific people. Here's the Enemies List.
• Oh, and again the civil service is no more. Hire only people that pass our own loyalty tests.
• We are leaving the World Health Organization. Here comes another Pandemic. Probably one that's worse than COVID-19.
• Puts a 75 day pause on the TikTok ban. And then probably do nothing.
• Commuted the sentences of 14 traitors, and gave unconditional pardons to everyone involved in the deaths of 5 police officers. Law and Order party my ass.
• Reject every treaty we've ever been involved with when it comes to the Environment.
• There is an executive order that basically just says "Prices, I demand that you get lower!" Seriously. Nothing about how to do it, but to just do it in spite of all the orders signed today that will make that impossible.
• Oops! Hiring freeze! I’m sure he didn't mean that for your job. I'm sure.
• Any rules about to be implemented? Fuhguddaboudit! They will be re-reviewed.
• You can't work from home any more if you work for the government.
• There is a whole memorandum about ending the weaponization of the Federal Government, which to the best of my knowledge never happened. They weren't against you because of your politics, they were against you because you're a CRIMINAL.
• Revoke 78 of Biden's Executive orders. The list is quite specific and can be found here. It includes rescinding hiring protections for trans people (remember, they don't exist anymore), the Biden ethics council, all of the various COVID-19 panels and departments, and interestingly enough revoking the order that Biden used to revoke so many of the new/old guy's previous executive orders. Oh, and the price savings Biden had built into Medicare? Those are gone too. Insulin prices are going back up.
• You can't fly flags at half-staff on inauguration day. Hoist them back up fellas. By the way, the flags in Washington DC, which is controlled by The Parks Service, were still at half-staff in honor of Jimmy Carter during this inauguration. The service said it was so cold outside they couldn't move the ropes.

I show you all of this because this is what the White House PUBLISHED. It is known that over 200 Executive Orders were put in place. We also now know that they're not going to publish them all. Nazi Skinhead Fuckface (Steve Miller) flat out said so on January 19th. This is the DISTRACTION. The real damage is as of yet unknown.

Not in those orders: The fact that he fired the head of the Coast Guard for being a Woman.

The new/old guy is a Domestic Threat to this nation, and that's just in what he says. Wait until you see what he does.. 

A quick note about the Fires in Southern California: The latest conspiracy I've seen is to blame the fires on Billionaires Stewart and Lynda Resnick, because they control 58% of the water supply in Kern County, which is the first county north of Los Angeles, but part of the Central Valley. Neither they nor the Governor are to blame for hydrants running dry. It's the fault of a system not built to handle the capacity of water necessary to fight so many fires simultaneously. The water was available, but the system just couldn't get it there fast enough. I know we want someone to blame for the tragedy this has been - that's natural. How about looking at Capitol Hill?

About Biden pardoning his family... I don't give a fuck about the optics, Jon Stewart. I just don't. He's defending his family against a Nazi regime. He's allowed this one. I'd rather not have future high school children learn about his descendants as if they were Ann Frank.

And because I love you and you deserve a break, here's I'm With Her doing an inspired remake:

Radio Free California Episode 2503 and a few thoughts from the Resistance.

 

Welcome to the soundtrack for the end of America! New music this week from The Amazons, Envy of None, OK Go, Elephant Stone, Baby Said, Yola, The Sherlocks, Ex-Void, Franciscan Monks of Acies Mundi, I'm With Her and much more. Enjoy!

We are the resistance now. I live in California, so for me it's pretty easy. I will provide you new music from unconventional sources (and a few conventional ones as well) so that you can see that the world keeps moving while America loses its fucking mind.

Never play poker or chess with Joe Biden. In the last few hours of his Presidency he gave Pre-emptive Pardons to everyone involved in the J6 committee. Members of congress, people who testified - just about everyone involved. And while the predictable sources all screamed to the rafters he then quietly commuted the sentence of Leonard Peltier. Did you have that on your Bingo card? I didn't.

I didn't watch the inauguration of the new/old guy, but I see from many sources that the richest man in the world gave a Nazi salute (I've seen the video - it's a fucking Nazi salute - PERIOD) and that one of the other richest men in the world (the one with the frizzy fright wig masquarading as normal hair and might be a T-400 upgrade) looked at him with absolute loathing. Oh, and the new/old guy didn't place his hand on the bible held by his wife when he took the oath. Possibly out of fear of getting his hand scorched, by either that bible or his wife's touch. I mean, he did fuck a sex worker while she was recovering from giving birth to his youngest child.

Meanwhile, My newest Senator looked the next attorney general in the face and called her a liar. TikTok vanished and then reappeared (so I'm told - I'm not on TikTok) and gave all the credit to the new/old guy - who did nothing. It was a publicity stunt and anyone who tells you otherwise is a fucking liar.

Well, this is where we are. For the first time ever, we have a President who isn't President for all of us, but only for the richest of those who has kissed his ass. Even last time around he gave some lip service to trying, although he failed.

Oh, and apparently he declared himself to be the President of Peace, and he'll invade Panama just to prove it. He also had General Mark Milley's portrait taken down at the Pentagon. It was unveiled only 10 days ago. What a petty piece of shit.

This this is all happening on the day the country celebrates one of the greatest muckrakers in our country's history is just appalling. All because some of you didn't want a woman playing in the sandbox.

Fuck Unity. Starting today, I am part of the Motherfucking Rebellion.

I will have a present for my friends to help you not be constantly angry for the next 4 years, and I'll hand that out in March. Being angry all the time is tiresome - this is something I know too damned well - but if you follow me at counter.social (I am @animeraider) you can see my pinned post and get it for free now. I am not on Xitter, not public on Fakebooks, not on Instagram, and not terribly active on Bluesky. I do have a tumblr account (same handle) but that's not terribly interactive.

Hang on my friends. Turbulence is here. I'll be back tomorrow.

This week's 10 at 10 will air Thursday at 10pm PST with repeats on Sunday at 10am and 10pm at the radio station. Every song on the playlist above will be played in a continuous loop on Wednessday.

And because I love you and to give credit to Biden's last chess move, have some Toad the Wet Sprocket:

Radio Free California Episode 2502, FMAM's next single and more...

 

New music this week from Franciscan Monks of Acies Mundi, Love is Noise, Jethro Tull, Sub-Radio, Mourn, Franz Ferdinand, Shed Seven, Bob Mould, Gardens, Sunsick Daisy and more! Enjoy!

No cheap shots or any of that other stuff today. I am doing a re-think of what I blog and when I blog it.

That said, the second single from Franciscan Monks of Acies Mundi will drop on Friday. It's called "Seven Mountains" and is described by the Monks as follows:

"Time and time again we see examples in scripture of God using the lowest of people, people without station or influence, to do his great works. Never, not once in all scripture, is it commanded to be at the top of mountains – it is shown time and again that the Lord may do his work any way that he sees fit.

"So in seeking to control the seven mountains as commanded by Televangelists and others are you following the path or are you worshipping idols? Did you know that the man who coined the term “Seven Mountains” is the only leader who calls himself a Christian who has refused to condemn the violence of January 6, 2021?

"Have you prostituted yourself to the worship and friendship of power? Are you, like those espousing the philosophy of Seven Mountains, ensconced in a cult of your own making?"

The song itself has only two lines, but they're powerful lines. We wanted to have a song that lays bare the conciet of the people in the US who call themselves Christian but clearly hold very little in terms of Christian Values. I had a kind of dancing dervish of a tune sketched out and once we had agreed on the concept of the song we scoured for words to use. 

It was Brother Anthony who suggested we use Deuteronomy 23:17. He played the main synth riff and synth bass on the track, but it was Brother James who sung lead. We all summarily resisted the idea to submit the song for the next Eurovision competition.

Although I had specific ideas of what to use and the concepts I wanted to get across, I relied heavily on the Brothers to find the most appropriate text and its translation.

Anyway, it will be available wherever you get your streaming music on January 17th.

And becuase I love you, here is the video for the new single from Band-Maid, "Zen" - which is also the opening theme to the anime "Zenshuu"

Radio Free California Episode 2501 and the Franciscan Monks of Acies Mundi

 

New Year, New Music! This week features Opinion, Matt-Felix, Young Jesus Slow Coast, Witch Post, Paul Weller, Spells and Curses, Kong, Manse, Drew Sycamore, The Liminanas with Bobby Gillespie and much more. Enjoy!

No cheap shots or any of that other stuff today. I am doing a re-think of what I blog and when I blog it.

But I do have news for you. At long last, the first single from Franciscan Monks of Acies Mundi has finally dropped. I've put the video below, which isn't as simple as it looks on first viewing.

This is a band that I wrote all the music for and produced the album. I play on a couple of tracks, and My drummer does the same. You should check the project out at their website. I had a lot of fun working on this one, and keeping it under my hat for the past few months has been a struggle for me I must admit. The full story is at the website. It's a crazy project for a man like me.

The album version will play at my radio station, but what dropped today is the single version. It's a bit shorter.

Here is the video for the first single. The next single drops in another 10 days.