Bullshit! (Reason For The Season 2025, Twenty.)

[Trying to sell a new stereo system to a teenage couple.] 

Ken: Check it out, my man! This is the Dominator X-10. Thirty inches of thigh-slapping, blood-pumping, nuclear brain damage!

Kid: Bitchin'! Hey, what's it fucking cost?

Ken: That's the bitchin' part about it! It don't matter! If you can't afford it, FUCKING FINANCE IT! [turns it on] 

Ken: So what if it's as big as a Subaru and costs as much? You'll never have to trade this in! This is gonna be with you for the rest of your life! And when you die, they can BURY you in it!

~From the film Ruthless People.

...

 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. ~Luke 2:1-14

...

Dundee is threatened by a mugger with a switchblade ]

Sue Charlton: Mick, give him your wallet.

Michael J. "Crocodile" Dundee: What for?

Sue Charlton: He's got a knife.

Michael J. "Crocodile" Dundee: [chuckling] That's not a knife. [draws a large Bowie knife] That’s a knife [Dundee slashes the teen mugger's jacket. The mugger and his friends run away]

Michael J. "Crocodile" Dundee: Just kids having fun. You alright?

Sue Charlton: I'm always all right when I'm with you, Dundee.

~From the film Crocodile Dundee.

I saw this last night.

Some douchebag trying to say the UK banned prayer because they passed a law that said you have to be a certain distance away to protest an abortion clinic because harassment of patients and staff got out of hand. 

Just sayin' it's been my experience that all this "Pro-Life" shit ends up having more to do with dudes like Jeffrey Epstein than it does with Jesus Christ.

Then there was a mass shooting in Australia yesterday.

The "Pro-gun" people of course came out of the woodwork to lie about it, just like they do over here (and we also had a mass shooting at Brown University.)

I'm tired of all these fucking bullshitters.

For fuck's sake it's Christmas. Don't these idiots ever turn it off??

You can still have a gun in Australia, they're just regulated.

This is the first serious mass shooting that Australia has had in like 30 years. Shooting deaths in Australia are typically no more than a few dozen a year.

America's lucky if we only have a few dozen gun murders in a day, there's typically a mass shooting most days, and our numbers of gun deaths typically are in the range of tens of thousands.

If all these right-wingers are so right, why do they keep lying about shit??

And at this point? I think the question that needs asking, by a hell of a lot of people, is what the hell else are these fucking people lying to you about??

We've got to take the neighborhood back. We've got to go in there. Just forget telling your child to go to the Peace Corps. It's right around the corner. It's standing on the corner. It can't speak English. It doesn't want to speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk. "Why you ain't where you is go." I don't know who these people are. And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. Then I heard the father talk. This is all in the house. You used to talk a certain way on the corner and you got into the house and switched to English. Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't land a plane with "why you ain't…". You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth. There is no Bible that has that kind of language. Where did these people get the idea that they're moving ahead on this? Well, they know they're not, they're just hanging out in the same place, five or six generations sitting in the projects when you're just supposed to stay there long enough to get a job and move out. ~Bill Cosby, the "Pound Cake" speech.

Needs to be asked, I think.

And it's not just that all these "Conservatives" and shit keep lying, it's that there's people who actively want to believe this bullshit and be lied to, as if believing this crap is some sort of perverse sacrament.

Even if it kills them, even if it's proven bullshit, like Antivaxxer Woo.

Why?

What's even the damn point??

Well a lot of it is the same Crab Bucket Conservatism bullshit I wrote about yesterday. These Fucking People don't want to do anything, but they don't want anybody else to do anything either.

The only thing these assholes want to make is money, and preferably with as little work as possible.

A lot of the Antivaxxer stuff is just a scam.

Then of course there's Eugenics, Racism, and all that crap.

But honestly a lot of it, I think, is just stupid religious people fetishized living and dying like a medieval peasant because that's supposedly more "Christian." This is also the same idiots that follow "Trad-wife" grifters on TikTok and shit.

When men stop believing in God, it isn't that they then believe in nothing: they believe in everything. ~Umberto Eco

A lot of these fucking people don't really believe in anything either, not in any kind of conventional way. They believe in their ability to bullshit and manipulate.

And a lot of it just comes down to bigotry, racism, and these people being Evil Fucks pretty much in general.

It's as simple as that.

I don't give a damn, decent, normal people do not do shit like pepper spray a baby. I don't give a good goddamn what somebody else told you to do.

And when it comes down to people like that, yes, this is going to come down to a fight.

It's a little more difficult for these motherfuckers to maintain their poker faces and keep lying when somebody just knocked their teeth out. I'm just sayin' you look at Putin or you look at Trump, you're looking at guys who've never had to take a punch in their lives.

Truth is the only thing that gives the average person a floor to stand on to push back against Power.

Force works too, but only if it's backed by Truth and some level of intelligence.

Anybody who's trying to take all that that away from you is not your friend, they are your enemy and it really is that simple.

You either believe in freedom or you don't.

Without Truth, there is no Freedom.

What the fuck is even wrong with people??

Слава Україна!

I believe in no God, no invisible man in the sky. But there is something more powerful than each of us, a combination of our efforts, a Great Chain of industry that unites us. But it is only when we struggle in our own interest that the chain pulls society in the right direction. The chain is too powerful and too mysterious for any government to guide. Any man who tells you different either has his hand in your pocket, or a pistol to your neck. ~Andrew Ryan, Bioshock

Nineteen

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”

Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”

When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. ~Matthew 2, New King James Version

Crab Bucket (Reason For The Season 2025, Nineteen.)

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”

Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”

When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. ~Matthew 2, New King James Version

...

We've got to take the neighborhood back. We've got to go in there. Just forget telling your child to go to the Peace Corps. It's right around the corner. It's standing on the corner. It can't speak English. It doesn't want to speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk. "Why you ain't where you is go." I don't know who these people are. And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. Then I heard the father talk. This is all in the house. You used to talk a certain way on the corner and you got into the house and switched to English. Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't land a plane with "why you ain't…". You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth. There is no Bible that has that kind of language. Where did these people get the idea that they're moving ahead on this? Well, they know they're not, they're just hanging out in the same place, five or six generations sitting in the projects when you're just supposed to stay there long enough to get a job and move out. ~Bill Cosby, the "Pound Cake" speech.

...

I am Andrew Ryan, and I'm here to ask you a question. Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? "No," says the man in Washington, "it belongs to the poor." "No," says the man in the Vatican, "it belongs to God." "No," says the man in Moscow, "it belongs to everyone." I rejected those answers; instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose... Rapture. A city where the artist would not fear the censor; where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality; where the great would not be constrained by the small! And with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can become your city as well. ~Andrew Ryan, Bioshock

I saw this last night.

I find it interesting that These Fucking People keep trying to push two things on the country, those being AI and Erika Kirk, and nobody's buying either.

The running theory is that certain people want JD to divorce his wife and marry Erika Kirk and then when Trump kicks the bucket, she gets to be First Lady and somehow make JD (who makes Al Gore look personable) palatable to...well, somebody.

The trouble is, JD is married, Catholic and a Marine Corps veteran and all those things were supposed to come with standards. Yeah, I not only saw them all over each other, I freaking wrote about it awhile back.

If a man won't be faithful to his wife...what the hell good is his Word on anything else??

The whole thing disgusts me, but speaking as a man who's very much in love with his partner, it's absolutely rage-inducing on top of that. I can't even look at another woman the way I look at her, and I don't want to.

You can take a lot of things away from a man. Cigarettes, the gym. You can take his freedom, his legs, but not his feelings. Not his feelings. A man loves a woman. Don't matter what kind of man he is, if he loves her, he wants her. He wants her body. He wants her to want his. So you say to him, "you can never make love again. You will never touch her in that way again. This is the last time. The last time. Forever." If that's not cruel and unusual punishment, I don't know what is. ~Augustus Hill, from the HBO series Oz, S1.E2 "Visits, Conjugal and otherwise."

(As is the fact that she's stuck dealing with idiot relatives right now, and it's going badly.)

And as for the whole issue of Artificial Intelligence? Well it's like I was taught about calculators when I was a kid, computers when I was a teenager and coding when I was in college. 

If you don't know the subject matter for whatever you're doing? 

Well, Garbage In, Garbage Out.

And for that matter, if half the country can't read how the fuck are they supposed to use a goddamn AI?

The problem is threefold.

#1 Modern "Conservatives" fear and hate damn near everybody and damn near everything.

#2 These Fucking People want some kind of "Daddy" God-King to protect them from the rest of the Universe. (And then they pick Trump which is totally nonsensical.)

#3 But the truth is they don't care if they accomplish anything, they don't care if they survive, they don't want to do anything...but they don't want anybody else to do anything either. 

And they actively try to pull down and drain dry anybody who is trying to accomplish anything.

Then they have the balls to say you "Think you're better than them" for trying to do something with your life??

I can't make this shit make sense.

It's the Crab Bucket theory but political, call it Crab Bucket Conservatism.

Like, the whole Republican Program at this point is "Everything is shitty shit, vote for us, we won't fix it."

It's like these jokers bitching about Islam somewhere in the DFW metro in Texas. I guess it'd make more sense (although not much more) if they were actually practicing Christianity. But these kind of Unga Bunga chuds apparently think having a pig is somehow, by itself, going to bother a Muslim person.

(They don't give a shit, they just can't or simply won't eat the thing. It's not just Muslims, it's a Middle Eastern cultural thing. I had a Jordanian Christian friend years ago who didn't eat Pork either. It'd be like expecting an American to eat a cat.)

Their "Grievance," their problem such as it is, is simply that Other People Exist.

And the truth is, more often than not, that includes each other.

That's not just incompatible with America or Democracy, it's incapable with Human Life.

Like crabs frantically and fratricidally trying to escape from a crabber's bucket, they pull each other down so none of them escape. They want to strike at everybody else, but end up destroying each other and their own shit because they cannot exempt themselves from their own laws or political system.

Like, there's literally no way to be Right-Wing enough to please These Fucking People at this point, short of instituting the underwater city from the Bioshock video game franchise.

And that doesn't even end badly, it starts out badly and gets worse.

They want their own space, but they are incapable of having the self-governance and self-regulation to actually make anything work without having a wider society composed of people different from them to pirate their shit off of.

When men stop believing in God, it isn't that they then believe in nothing: they believe in everything. ~Umberto Eco

And worse, they see it as beneath them to even have to try, they want others to do the work of life for them.

I suppose that's why they so willingly fall for Trump basically talking flimflam "Magic" solutions all the time and think people like Elon Musk are gonna give them AI and Robots to do their thinking and their labor for them.

Do I even want to know, at this point, what the fuck these idiots think they would be doing with their time or themselves in such an environment??

Never mind.

Having been in the military and then spent 25 years working in food service and then a few more working with the public, I should know not to ask questions like that.

We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev...Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
~Ronald Reagan

I mean I get it, at the end of the day it boils down to some variation of "Get so drunk or high that you fall down in the middle of the street" and "Rampant Sexual Deviancy"

It's not just that these fucking people care about no one, give zero fucks about values and have nothing to fight for...it's that they literally think they will never have to do any of that, after just a bit over 35 years of peace and prosperity they cannot imagine that a set of circumstances might come about where you have to give a shit about somebody else just 'cause that's how you stay alive and survive in any way that's worth having done so.

In fact, they cannot even imagine that it was not always so.

That somebody had to do the work and earn or fight for that peace and prosperity.

They cannot imagine that ordinary Germans tore down the Berlin Wall, they cannot imagine that ordinary Americans don't like or would resist Donald Trump. They cannot imagine that ordinary Ukrainians want to fight for their country.

That's what happens when everything's a conspiracy theory and everybody's in a goddamned crab bucket.

It's these fucking people's failure of imagination that destroys them, and could destroy everything else if this shit is not stopped.

And when this is actively questioned they go from being crabs in a bucket to basically being Gangstas trying to beat up the person who wants to get off the street and go get a real job. It ends up being nonsensical, group identity and partisan loyalty completely replaces thinking.

These are the same fucking people that try to turn Christmas into a Partisan stick to beat other people with. Think about that for a second.

They don't even just want to punish people for leaving the group, they want to punish anybody in it who tries to accomplish anything.

Nothing matters but trying to ruin somebody else's damn day.

Even if that's just basic survival and earning a living. And at the end of the day nobody profits from that.

And it seems like a hell of a way to live.

You can't problem-solve, let alone in today's world, with a Bible or a Meme or a goddamned Red Hat.

And a pious belief that everything is terrible and somehow this justifies anything you might do, in the end only makes things worse for everybody including yourself.

None of this works that way.

You either believe in freedom or you don't.

And either you're willing to fight for that, or you're not.

The test is coming.

Soon.

If we want to succeed, or even survive, we have to stop pulling each other down and work together.

Get out of the damned Crab Bucket.

Слава Україна!

 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. ~Luke 2:1-14

Eighteen

[Cassian plays Nemik's audio diary]

Karis Nemik: There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy. Remember this. Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they've already enlisted in the cause. Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward. And then remember this. The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that. And know this, the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empire's authority and then there will be one too many. One single thing will break the siege. Remember this. Try. ~From the Star Wars series Andor, S1.E12 "Rix Road."

Knuckleheads (Reason For The Season 2025, Eighteen.)

We've got to take the neighborhood back. We've got to go in there. Just forget telling your child to go to the Peace Corps. It's right around the corner. It's standing on the corner. It can't speak English. It doesn't want to speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk. "Why you ain't where you is go." I don't know who these people are. And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. Then I heard the father talk. This is all in the house. You used to talk a certain way on the corner and you got into the house and switched to English. Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't land a plane with "why you ain't…". You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth. There is no Bible that has that kind of language. Where did these people get the idea that they're moving ahead on this? Well, they know they're not, they're just hanging out in the same place, five or six generations sitting in the projects when you're just supposed to stay there long enough to get a job and move out. ~Bill Cosby, the "Pound Cake" speech.

...

 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. ~Luke 2:1-14

...

When men stop believing in God, it isn't that they then believe in nothing: they believe in everything. ~Umberto Eco

I saw this last night.

Some Baptist church somewhere that's all laser light shows and Las Vegas style circus-act shit.

Bro, I used to be a Baptist, I considered ministry and took the prerequisites for said consideration as a Baptist per the small association (Several IFB churches in northeastern Michigan all named "Victory Baptist") of Baptist churches that I was in and passed the selection board before I decided I didn't want that much spiritual responsibility and declined the next step in the process, which could've meant going to seminary if the money could be raised or more likely taking an unpaid ministry role to learn the job (and I'd already been doing this with the Men's Group I ran for a while.) 

It's hard work, it's often not fun, it's not supposed to be fun. This is a serious thing, and at least when I was doing it people were expected to know things. As it was, somebody else took the position and did an OK job, I guess.

It wasn't too long after this process concluded (Spring 2000) that I broke up with my girlfriend, my priorities kind of got lost for awhile and then I met my ex-wife and they changed completely. She was Pentecostal and not a good fit in those churches, although we did get married in one of them (a different one than the one I'd mostly attended, although my former assistant pastor had taken over as the pastor at the one I switched to and was only too happy to officiate our wedding. Yeah, that turned out to be a mistake.)

These Knuckleheads don't give a damn about any of that.

Here's Diddy comparing himself to Jesus...which is apparently a thing he's been doing for awhile.

It'll be interesting to see what These Fucking People have to say for themselves at the Judgment.

FOX News wants you to have to use a fake Christmas Tree so all these AI Bro billionaires and shit can use the land for AI data centers.

How about no? Fuck You. I haven't had a real Christmas tree in years. I have ferrets, that's not a good mix. I want a tree now anyway.

Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with people??

But then, if you want to know why America is being robbed blind by all this bullshit, look at what they turned the Church into. Serious, sober Baptists, prayer and quiet contemplation and the occasional Fire And Brimstone sermon calling the Faithful to Repentance have been replaced by Cirque du Soleil.

A world where religion and spirituality are serious matters and yet where the divine conversation is accessible to anyone wanting to participate is not the world These Fucking People want to live in.

They want the bright lights and the vapid bullshit.

They want a Jesus who's nothing more than some rap star's homeboy.

Anything but "Love the Lord thy God with all they heart, all they soul and all thy mind, and Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself" I guess??

Perhaps it's more accurate to say that what these Knuckleheads want isn't Jesus.

When ye therefore shall see the Abomination of Desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (who so reads, let him understand)

Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Behold, I have told you before.

Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shines even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. ~Matthew 24:15-27

And that's not going to work out how they think it will.

You want my honest take?? 

These idiots don't even believe in God, not really.

If they did they wouldn't be worshiping Trump.

And if you ever want to be free to practice whatever you believe without these fucking people trying to turn it into a damned circus act, without trying to turn Grievance (a term I dislike because I don't see "Other People Existing" as a legitimate gripe, but it'll suffice for now) into Godhood and scams into sacred cows...it's going to come down to a fight.

The Second American Civil War that these assholes think they want, if it comes to pass, will be a bloody War Of Religion.

But it'll be Allah, Jesus, Yahweh, etc. and those who worship them (along with all the secular people who want freedom to be that) on ONE side and Dis Pater and Mammon and the elites and whatever armies they raise on the OTHER side.

One side worships Truth, in one way or another.

The other side worships Wealth.

I am Andrew Ryan, and I'm here to ask you a question. Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? "No," says the man in Washington, "it belongs to the poor." "No," says the man in the Vatican, "it belongs to God." "No," says the man in Moscow, "it belongs to everyone." I rejected those answers; instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose... Rapture. A city where the artist would not fear the censor; where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality; where the great would not be constrained by the small! And with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can become your city as well. ~Andrew Ryan, Bioshock

They are not and will not be the same.

And some of the people who end up on one side or another will surprise you.

Others should be immediately obvious.

When Fox News outright tells you that you shouldn't have a Christmas tree so some rich guy can have a data center, that should be a tell which side is which.

That they've dumbed down the "Conservative" Church enough so no one in it cares?? That should scare the shit out of people.

You either believe in freedom or you don't.

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Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”

Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”

When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. ~Matthew 2, New King James Version

Seventeen

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I've watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those...moments will be lost in time, like tears...in rain. Time to die. ~Roy Batty, Blade Runner.

Dopamine Hits For Jesus (Reason For The Season 2025, Seventeen.)

I put no stock in religion. By the word religion, I've seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the "Will of God". I've seen too much religion in the eyes of too many murderers. Holiness is in right action and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves. And goodness - what God desires - [pointing at his head then heart] is here and here. And what you decide to do every day, you will be a good man...or not. ~The Hospitaler, Kingdom Of Heaven.

...

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”

Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”

When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. ~Matthew 2, New King James Version

I saw this last night.

Imagine thinking that today's Project 2025 Prosperity Gospel-infected Holy Roller-controlled Christian Nationalist insane Republican Party isn't Christian Nationalist enough.

To the point, not of asking "Can they be more Christian Nationalist" but of outright thinking that the Republicans are deserving of "Invasion."

(And here These Fucking People were worried about illegal immigration? What are they gonna do when they get overrun by freakish Pentecostals trying to jam the Jesus all the way up they ass rather than immigrants who just need like, jobs and shit??)

I'm serious. Listen to me.

You think things are bad now?!?!

Ignore this garbage and wait and see what happens when These Motherfuckers get some power somewhere.

Eli Sunday: Daniel, I'm asking if you'd like to have business with the Church of the Third Revelation in developing this lease on young Bandy's thousand acre tract. I'm offering you to drill on one of the great undeveloped fields of Little Boston!  

Daniel Plainview: I'd be happy to work with you.

Eli Sunday: You would? Yes, yes, of course. That’s wonderful.

Daniel Plainview: But there is one condition for this work.

Eli Sunday: All right.

Daniel Plainview: I'd like you to tell me that you are a false prophet. I'd like you to tell me that you are, and have been, a false prophet, and that God is a superstition.

~From the film There Will Be Blood.

Please don't take me up on that.

Like I said, Hell No, and I say that as a former Republican.

I don't even want to think about what happens when this weird shit mutates along with all the other weird shit that's out there, just right now, much less what might come of these streams of "thought" (for lack of a better word) crossing paths.

Because whatever freakish bullshit they have going on now, it can only ever get worse...at least until it finally becomes unsustainable for the person spewing that crap and then they might stop, maybe for awhile, maybe on a more permanent basis.

But it's a rare Pentecostal even that's on the way out that doesn't go back to give it another try at least once. I'm serious, People get addicted to this BS.

This isn't "religion" in the conventional sense. It's dopamine hits and narcissism, sanctified.

And it's a hell of a drug.

When men stop believing in God, it isn't that they then believe in nothing: they believe in everything. ~Umberto Eco

These fucking people don't believe in God, so much as they believe in their own brain chemicals.

The problem is that they don't know the fucking difference.

My ex-wife never, so far as I know, ever fully kicked the habit. And that's fine, I don't care. It's not my problem anymore. She has that right, and to her credit she doesn't seem to care about trying to control and manipulate other people's lives anymore...or at least she leaves me the fuck alone.

Other people have yet to understand that, though.

We've got to take the neighborhood back. We've got to go in there. Just forget telling your child to go to the Peace Corps. It's right around the corner. It's standing on the corner. It can't speak English. It doesn't want to speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk. "Why you ain't where you is go." I don't know who these people are. And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. Then I heard the father talk. This is all in the house. You used to talk a certain way on the corner and you got into the house and switched to English. Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't land a plane with "why you ain't…". You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth. There is no Bible that has that kind of language. Where did these people get the idea that they're moving ahead on this? Well, they know they're not, they're just hanging out in the same place, five or six generations sitting in the projects when you're just supposed to stay there long enough to get a job and move out. ~Bill Cosby, the "Pound Cake" speech.

The thing to note is, these motherfuckers wanna make it your problem anyway.

It's Idiocracy, but far more malevolent than that.

It's all the relentlessness of MAGA, with none of the moral character.

And yes I mean that with all the sarcasm and scorn you can imagine.

However bad you think this mutant Christian Nationalist Pentecostal shit is, it's worse.

Like I said, imagine thinking today's MAGA Republican Party needs to be invaded and taken over for Holy Roller Jesus.

Yes, think about that for a second.

You either believe in freedom or you don't.

And you're either willing to fight for it, or you're not.

It's Christmas, this is a hard, stressful time of year for a lot of people.

Now imagine how people who never think you can Jesus it up enough might make that.

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 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. ~Luke 2:1-14

Sixteen

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I've watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those...moments will be lost in time, like tears...in rain. Time to die. ~Roy Batty, Blade Runner.

Christmas FFS (Reason For The Season 2025, Sixteen.)

 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. ~Luke 2:1-14

...

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”

Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”

When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. ~Matthew 2, New King James Version

I saw this earlier.

Some idiot saying "Send Them All Back" because he heard Christmas songs in Spanish in Utah.

I'd like to note that in my old hometown of Cheboygan, MI, one of the main gas stations has plenty of signage in Spanish...because guess what? Spanish speaking Latinos dominate the construction trades up here. Why do they do that?? Because White Men won't do that kind of work anymore. Note also construction used to be a big-time White Dude professional job up here. That town's about 2 hours from Canada by road.

Most of Utah on the other hand used to be part of Mexico.

These shitty White dudes all want to be Crypto Bros or Influencers or sit on they ass and play video games and have wealth without work.

Fuck that. The world does not work that way.

Somebody's gotta do the work. If you won't get off your ass, somebody else will.

Like I keep saying it's  *Checks Notes* Capitalism.

But they don't even want anybody to do the physical labor anymore, they'd rather see it go undone and have the future unbuilt.

And again, the overwhelming majority of the Latino workers that show up are Christians, many of them actually Evangelical Christians, Protestants from countries like El Salvador and Guatemala who doctrinally profess Jesus Christ as Lord the same as American Evangelicals supposedly do.

Funny how that suddenly doesn't matter, isn't it?

And of course, the same dumbass motherfuckers want any workforce that shows up to be diseased and poverty-stricken on top of that because they're simple-assed cruel cretins.

And These same Fucking People supposedly worship a poor, homeless Savior who was presented with gifts by immigrant, unbelieving Wise Men. Stop and think about that for a second.

But the truth is These Fucking People don't even want to offer the most basic social services and support, like the kind of shit you need to even have a society...unless people fall down and go into full slobbery bootlicker mode at the command of their fake wannabe King. When's enough, enough??

If you think these fuckers wouldn't put computer chips in people's foreheads or right hands in the name of control and Power and then compel them to worship Devils and Idols of Gold and the Number Of His Name, you're not paying attention.

And any real belief in Christianity or any other religion is a threat to that shit!

*Taps The Sign, AGAIN*

Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
~Daniel 3:14-18

I don't know why people don't get that this ain't right. 

It's not like it isn't plastered all over even the Old Testament of the Bible that it ain't right, or anything.

It's not like history and literature and even science fiction aren't littered with the wreckage of gilded monarchs that came to bad ends. Come on now.

To their credit, enough Indiana Republicans voted down the gerrymandered map and told Trump to go fuck himself.

And some of these people were getting death threats. From their own "Side."

There's something profoundly wrong with American "Conservatism."

And it seems past fixing, so the rest of us are gonna have to beat it down.

It's going to come down to a fight if we wanna stop this bullshit.

Soon.

You either believe in freedom or you don't.

You either believe in the Truth or you don't.

Truth is the only think that gives people a floor to stand on to push back against Power.

Remember this.

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If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth. And this idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no other source of power except to sovereign people, is still the newest and most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man. This is the issue of this election. Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves. ~Ronald Reagan

Fifteen

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I've watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those...moments will be lost in time, like tears...in rain. Time to die. ~Roy Batty, Blade Runner.