Withdrawl or Retreat? Gaza's Golden Calf? Some random thoughts

I think that just about anyone in this country (the US) can see that we are in the process of withdrawing ourselves from the world stage. We've left the World Health Organization, USAID has been crippled by Nazis and Incels, we've sanctioned a number of countries for reasons that make no sense (including punishing South Africa for ending Apartheid), voted in a block with Russia and North Korea regarding the war in Ukraine, and are making noises and taking steps towards leaving NATO. 

At the same time, is there any country other than Russia that we haven't insulted in the last month?

At a time when our access to the world is really global and thanks to technology really can't be stopped the whole idea that we're trying to pare ourselves down to a fundamentalist version of ourselves comes across as disrespectful to everyone else.

Speaking of respect, have you seen the AI Generated vision of Gaza that the new/old guy sent out over social media? It craps on the culture of millions of people, makes the new/old guy look like Jabba the Hut and shows Elon Musk raining down dollars as if celebrating the successful liposuction his profile demonstrates.

Yes, the new/old guy put out a video that includes a shirtless version of him sitting poolside that shows him as a fat slob. somebody in messaging needs to be reminded that he's supposedly only 230 pounds, not 320. It also shows a huge gold statue of him in a public space (he's thin in that one). If there was ever more ample evidence that he's the modern version of The Golden Calf I have yet to see it.

Oh, and his combover isn't working as well as it used to.

I do have to say that if Musk is taking over the FAA I may never fly again. No one will ever fly here again either. I mean, how will the handoff from foreign air traffic control to domestic even work?

Some days a person could really want to punch RFK Jr. in the face. Don't do it of course. We don't condone violence here. But today is one of those days.

I hate that the bullying worked.

But I love that it seems worthless. Maybe he should have called his book "The Fingerpainting of the Deal"?

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And because I love you, holy crap this new single from Cypress Hill!!!!!!! Whatever you're expecting it probably wasn't this.

Radio Free California Episode 2508, plus a few thoughts and an old activist calls us to action

 

Fantastic new albums from Shale, Call it Off and Franciscan Monks of Acies Mundi feature in this week's new music which also includes Vulfpek, Kings & Pills, Witch Post, Avi Kaplan, Counting Crows, Miki Berenyi Trio, Nao, Youth Lagoon and much more. Enjoy!

A fun little side note here. The guy who set "Hostile Government Takeover" to a EDM/Techno mix (from last week's playlist) also has a solo album out that is nothing like you'd expect. It's a concept balladeer album called "Tales of the Lesbian Hunter" and it's surprisingly good. A track from that album makes this week's playlist.

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With Conservative dickhead Dan Boingino now a Deputy in the FBI, and all the radio/TV hosts that the new/old guy has put in place, where are all the minions, peons and lower class peoples going to go for their 2-minute hate?

This is a genius prank. Best tor sucking prank EVAH!

Everyone should tell Rep. Gerry Connolly "We will not comply." You're a Democrat. Fight you fucking idiot.

Given that the leader of France called the new/old guy a liar to his face it seems to me that the old (and incorrect) slight about France being the country that surrenders may be assumed by the United States.

There are now reports that Tesla Cybertrucks are held together with glue, and not welding. I hope my neighbor knows that (see previous post on the subject).

“I don’t want to explain it now, but it’s sort of self evident I think,” is the exact thing the new/old guy said when asked why the US and Russia voted against a un resolution to condemn Russia on the third anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine. I agree. You're a corrupt motherfucker.

Kash Patel is running both the FBI and the ATF? WTF??

And how does MSNBC excuse firing all of their women of color? I've seen nothing to justify it yet and I'm not holding my breath.

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And because I love you here is Jane Fonda strong as ever. She and my mom are the same age.

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.

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.