Worshiping The Dragon (Christmas 2025, Seven.)

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

If any man have an ear, let him hear.

He that leads into captivity shall go into captivity: he that kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he speaks as a dragon.

And he exercises all the power of the first beast before him, and causes the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

And he doeth great wonders, so that he makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

And deceive them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

And he caused all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. ~Revelation 13, King James Bible.

...

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.

Apparently, now the #1 "Christian" song is AI-generated.

What in the Unholy Fuck?!?!

Look, I don't give a damn, 25 years ago when I was still at least somewhat in the End Times Prophecy Movement if somebody would have told me that there'd be such a thing as an AI in real life (rather than just Science Fiction) let alone that some crazy idiot "MAGA Rapper" in thrall to Donald Trump (who is the President, mind you) would collaborate with an AI to write the #1 song on the Christian pop charts I'm not sure if I would have punched you in the face or simply called the medics with the straitjacket to come get your ass.

This shit is crazy.

These are people who for much of my life were afraid of a barcode on a candy bar, but they have no trouble with putting a computer chip and barcode on the right hand of creativity and outsourcing *Checks Notes* Worshiping The Lord to *Checks Notes Again* Chud Skynet??

Did I mention, this shit is crazy??

Not just that, but it could certainly be argued even from the perspective of the Christian End Times Narrative that I was taught, that this ridiculous bullshit is not only right out of Revelation 13, but that the bumptious idiots somehow managing to pull this shit off could damned near fit in with the idiotic villains in the Left Behind end times novels.

Only thing that strikes to Y2K-Me as so completely wrong as to boggle the mind, is it's the Christians, not the Unsaved, who are the ones doing this fucking bullshit!

Like if any of the stuff I believed at that time or was taught is valid this should not be so.

I get it, Left Behind Is A Lie blah blah blah, I've actually written pretty extensively about this stuff over the years, in fact you could argue it's one of my main topics, but still. I see this and I'm like "What the fuck am I even doing this for? I point this shit out...AND IT GETS WORSE!!!"

You know, not only is it going to come down to a fight to stop this shit, but the longer it goes on the more convinced I become that the people who (If they're who they say they are) should be doing said fighting will be on the ground writhing in pain from the judgments the Lord has inflicted upon them 'cause they put the 666-Chip in they heads or right hands.

And, as ever, it'll be left to everybody else to clean up this mess because the lips of Evangelical Christians remain affixed to the jockstrap of worldly Power, and damn the consequences.

And then when the judgment comes, These Fucking People will have the nerve to ask why there's goats wandering around on their side of the crowd.

I could explain it to you, but you haven't listened so far.

It's Christmas, and the Christian pop-music crowd is ready and willing to convert as a corporate body to the Worship of the Image Of The Beast right out of Revelations!

All it needs is a cooler user interface!

That's how far we've fallen!

If you don't see anything wrong with that, you're Lost and I can't help you.

Look, you either believe in freedom or you don't.

Either you're willing to fight for it, or you ain't.

And this? This ain't it.

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

Six

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.

Another One Bites The Dust (Christmas 2025, Six.)

Steve walks warily down the street
With the brim pulled way down low
Ain't no sound but the sound of his feet
Machine guns ready to go
Are you ready? Hey, are you ready for this?
Are you hanging on the edge of your seat?
Out of the doorway, the bullets rip
To the sound of the beat, yeah
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust (yeah)
Hey, I'm gonna get you, too
Another one bites the dust
How do you think I'm gonna get along
Without you, when you're gone?
You took me for everything that I had
And kicked me out on my own
Are you happy, are you satisfied?
How long can you stand the heat?
Out of the doorway, the bullets rip
To the sound of the beat, look out
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, I'm gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust.

~Queen, Another One Bites The Dust.

...

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

...

Well, if there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet that it's farthest from. ~Luke Skywalker, to C-3P0 regarding his home planet of Tatooine, from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

I saw this last night.

Apparently Elise Stefanik is suspending her campaign for Governor of New York and will not seek reelection to Congress.

Merry Christmas, I guess??

That said, gee, I wonder why she wants out.

Considering the soup sandwich that the Republicans are turning into and what looks like a galactic-level ass whuppin' brewing in the 2026 midterms, I don't blame her for getting out before it gets worse.

And it will get worse.

I think these fucking people are going to Culture War themselves into oblivion, just sayin.'

And that's before the fact that they're actively trying to start some kind of 100-front war between themselves and the rest of the universe.

Again, These Fucking People's entire objective is basically to make everything so bad that Republican Jesus comes back and "Saves" them (and only them) and then they get to sit in Heaven and just watch everybody else fry back here on Earth.

Except that I've read the Bible...special emphasis on Revelations...and none of this actually works like that.

Well, that and the fact that these idiots are starting to fight with each other more now...which by the way is always one of my warning points that we're likely to end up in a civil war.

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 that scares me, because I was taught to respect and study history and theology by conservatives, is that now These Fucking People study neither.

And they don't want to.

Like I said on Threads last night; There was this guy at my old job, basic fat guy, supposedly Pentecostal, typical FOX News conservative, wannabe gun guy who basically knew fuck all besides how to shoot his deer rifle. 

He'd sit there looking oh-so-serious in the breakroom obviously fake-reading an open Bible.

A bunch of us who were actually serious and knew stuff tried to talk to him but he never really listened, at least once a year somebody would question whether or not he was really "Saved" because the image he tried to show never lined up with his real life.

I'd literally ask him basic questions about Christian history and theology...which he could almost never answer and barely even tried.

And I'd go off! Like, How are you supposedly a Protestant Christian and you don't know who Martin Luther is, or what he did or why his nailing that list of 95 complaints to that German church-door took off and created a movement and altered the course of Christianity and indeed, world history?

That you as a human being, as a Christian, even have the freedom to read the Lord's Word, let alone do it in your own language and interpret it as you see fit is the most basic result of the Reformation.

Terrible wars were fought over this, and people squander that right and take it for granted.

You ever wonder how things got this way?? 

Start with that.

Truth is the only floor most of us will ever have to stand on to push back against Power.

And you either believe in freedom or you don't.

The freedom to believe in God as you understand such to be, and to define yourself as you see fit in relation to the Divine Conversation and the world we live in are the most basic of all Human rights.

Remember that, it'll be on the test.

Meanwhile in case you wonder why Elise Stefanik is getting out, WHY another one bites the dust? The Republican Party now considers drug-addicted crackpot Mike Lindell a perfectly valid candidate.

Reagan Wept.

Слава Україна!

[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."

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

Five

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

Bright Center Of The Universe? (Christmas 2025, Five.)

There was one exact moment, in fact, when I knew for sure that Al Gore would never be President of the United States, no matter what the experts were saying — and that was when the whole Bush family suddenly appeared on TV and openly scoffed at the idea of Gore winning Florida. It was Nonsense, said the Candidate, Utter nonsense. . . Anybody who believed Bush had lost Florida was a Fool. The Media, all of them, were Liars & Dunces or treacherous whores trying to sabotage his victory. . . Here was the whole bloody Family laughing & hooting & sneering at the dumbness of the whole world on National TV. The old man was the real tip-off. The leer on his face was almost frightening. It was like looking into the eyes of a tall hyena with a living sheep in its mouth. The sheep's fate was sealed, and so was Al Gore's. ~Hunter S. Thompson

...

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

...

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. ~George Orwell, 1984. 

I saw this last night, and then the Erika Kirk thing snipped above earlier this morning.

And I'm reminded of how in the fall of 2001, half a lifetime ago for me, I was a conservative Republican, working at Walmart, married, going to college and still very much doing the church thing. I was also, a couple nights a week, a volunteer with the local Republicans, mostly doing IT stuff in the office.

And I'm here to tell you, seriously, the media driven "Who would you rather have a beer with" affect of the whole time annoyed the shit out of me. Not least because I was very much still in recovery and I was attending a Baptist church (and had been for several years.) But also, because I thought people were supposed to be better than that. Sure, I was a Republican, but I'd been around the world a bit because I'm a veteran and I fully bought into the small-L liberalism of the era...as did a fair number of my fellow Republicans in those days. 

We'd won the Cold War, for fuck's sake. The hell did we even have to be afraid of?? My disagreements with Democrats basically came down to policy and the personal conduct of William Jefferson Clinton.

But that's where the current Simplification of the Republican Party started; "Who would you rather have a beer with?? Al Gore or George W. Bush?"

Goddamn but I miss stuff like that being the only things in culture and politics that irritated the shit out of me.

The increasing insularity and outright glorification of redneck stupidity in the ensuing years, not to mention all the dishonesty and financial bullshit that led to the 2008 economic crash killed the whole Republican thing for me. Sarah Palin was the last fuckin' straw. I switched to Independent the first week of September in 2008 and never looked back. I voted for Obama, and gladly.

Not much really changed, except for my views on a number of social issues, I'd never had much of a tolerance for conspiracy theories or racism and that crap clearly began to dominate the Republican Party after 2008.

Sarah Palin was what sealed the deal on the Idiocracy.

Extra big ass taco, now with more Molecules!

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.

Funny enough, Sarah was a strong point of argument between me and somebody else:

Even around that time I was spending a lot of time chatting with my (again) partner on Yahoo Messenger and we'd even discussed her coming back to Michigan and us moving in together again, despite the messy breakup a couple of years before. She even talked about getting a job at the casino again. We were realizing, without really talking about our feelings much, that we genuinely loved each other (and had.) It wasn't even a couple months after the turning of the calendar that I took a four day weekend and drove straight through down to East Tennessee to see her.

And not for the first time, the amount of Confederate Flags I saw while driving down I-75 through *Checks Notes* Ohio bugged the shit out of me.

I swear I saw more Confederate flags in rural Ohio (which is most of what I-75 takes you through especially in the southern parts of the state) than I did in East Tennessee, and you see a lot of Confederate flags in the rural parts on East Tennessee. But at least there, you expect that shit.

Likewise one expects rural chuckle-fuckery in places like Morristown, Tennessee. When people like me and my partner come off as urbane and sophisticated that's usually a flashing warning light, because we're not.

Anyway, fast forward about a year and a half, we broke up again, but had passionately agreed we would remain friends.

And fatefully, we kept that agreement, love has transcended our differences over the years and still does.

But we both dated other people for awhile. She ended up getting married again and I just plain quit dating.

Anyway we got this new girl on third shift at the casino, conservative but (at least initially, apparently) neither stupid nor a fanatic, kind of plain in the face but she had big boobs, and she had a good sense of humor and was somebody I could have a conversation with or flirt with and it was all good. 

My only kind-of issue at that point was she didn't drive or seem to ever want to. Also, she had a bunch of family members that worked at the casino too, I'd managed to get along well with them.

One night we were working together in Pots and Pans and talking about places we wanted to go and shit, and I was telling her about places I'd been. She casually, like it's no big deal and nothing to be ashamed of mentions that she'd never been any further away from home than Saginaw, Michigan. And while she'd like to visit London, Paris or Rome, it wasn't a big deal if she didn't get to.

Well, if there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet that it's farthest from. ~Luke Skywalker, to C-3P0 regarding his home planet of Tatooine, from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

(For the record Saginaw is about an hour's drive away from Mount Pleasant.)

And then she started off on a tangent of bullshit about "European Liberalism" and not wanting it to "infect" her mind. And I was like "What the...?"

All that, I knew to be bullshit because I'd been over there. Hell, before during, and immediately after Operation Deliberate Force I'd spent a few months at Aviano Airbase in Italy. And I've been to Rome.

Let's just say my level of interest in this girl about disintegrated right then and there.

But I worked with her for about a decade, until she quit in May of 2020 because she didn't like all the COVID-19 precautions at the casino.

(I wasn't a fan either, working in the Slot Palace wearing a mask was miserable but I needed a job more than any personal discomforts bothered me.)

Willful ideologically-motivated ignorance pisses me off.

Conspiracy theories and racism piss me off more.

And the thing is, it's not like these fucking people as a whole necessarily believe in that stuff either but goddamn, they're fine with it and will tolerate about anything so long as it reinforces their debased self-conception that they're the bright moral center of the Universe.

Falco: Games. One hundred and fifty days of games.

Gracchus: He's cleverer than I thought.

Falco: "Clever"! The whole of Rome would be laughing at him, if they weren't so afraid of his Praetorian.

Gracchus: Fear and wonder, a powerful combination.

Falco: You really think people are going to be seduced by that?

Gracchus: [about Commodus] I think he knows what Rome is. Rome is the mob. Conjure magic for them and they'll be distracted. Take away their freedom and still they'll roar. The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the Senate, it's the sand of the Colosseum. He'll bring them death…and they will love him for it.

~From the film Gladiator.

They're not, and it's not like they want to do anything to actually try and prove that they are, they just want to think they're that way. And they get HELLA mad if you prove them wrong.

It's not that they have any particular moral fiber, it's just that they don't want anybody else to have any, either.

They don't want to do anything, but they don't want anybody else to do anything either, certainly not anything that makes them feel like the small people they usually are.

I guess I just can't imagine base existence, consumption and perceived social status, let alone having something to fight about being *Checks Notes* ALL a person lives for, or wants to.

For fuck's sake, It's Christmas. If you're too dumb to understand and act on what that's supposed to mean, what's the point??

I can't imagine "Anything but 'Love Thy Neighbor'" as a credo, officially or otherwise.

But that's what it is for These Fucking People.

And they desperately want us to love them for it.

And if you don't think manipulators like Erika Kirk or their enablers like JD Vance will ruthlessly take advantage of that bullshit and expend even the lives of their followers like so many gambling chips, you're wrong.

Truth is the only floor most of us have to stand on to push back against Power.

But you have to be smart enough to figure out what the Truth is.

You either believe in freedom or you don't.

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

Remember that, in this season.

Glory to Ukraine!

And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she said in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judges her.

And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. ~Revelation 18:1-10

Four

[Mon Mothma addresses the Senate chambers again]

Mon Mothma: Fellow Senators, friends, colleagues, allies, adversaries, I stand before you this morning with a heavy heart. I've spent my life in this chamber. I came here as a child, and as I look around me now, I realize I have almost no memories that predate my arrival, and few bonds of affection that cleave so tightly. Through these many years, I believe I have served my constituents honorably and upheld our code of conduct. This chamber is a cauldron of opinions, and we've certainly all had our patience and tempers tested in pursuit of our ideals. Disagree as we might, I am hopeful that those of you who know me will vouch for my credibility in the days to come.

I stand this morning with a difficult message. I believe we are in crisis. The distance between what is said and what is known to be true has become an abyss. Of all the things at risk, the loss of an objective reality is perhaps the most dangerous. The death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil! When truth leaves us, when we let it slip away, when it is ripped from our hands, we become vulnerable to the appetite of whatever monster screams the loudest. This Chamber's hold on the truth was finally lost on the Ghorman Plaza! What took place yesterday, what happened yesterday on Ghorman, was unprovoked genocide! Yes, genocide! And that truth has been exiled from this Chamber! And the monster screaming the loudest, the monster we helped create, the monster who will come for us all soon enough, is Emperor Palpatine!

~From the Star Wars series Andor, S2.E9 "Welcome To The Rebellion."

American Sporus (Christmas 2025. Four.)

And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she said in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judges her.

And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. ~Revelation 18:1-10

...

Falco: Games. One hundred and fifty days of games.

Gracchus: He's cleverer than I thought.

Falco: "Clever"! The whole of Rome would be laughing at him, if they weren't so afraid of his Praetorian.

Gracchus: Fear and wonder, a powerful combination.

Falco: You really think people are going to be seduced by that?

Gracchus: [about Commodus] I think he knows what Rome is. Rome is the mob. Conjure magic for them and they'll be distracted. Take away their freedom and still they'll roar. The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the Senate, it's the sand of the Colosseum. He'll bring them death…and they will love him for it.

~From the film Gladiator.

...

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

I saw this yesterday.

Stephen Miller ranting about America having been a "Reverse Empire" because we, ya know, pretty much built the existing world-order after WWII (And by the way, this was mostly done for our own benefit and economics.) And claiming that now, we're going to be an Empire and just take whatever we want by force.

Maybe it's just me but we got our asses whupped by the Taliban, so that suggests we're not so "Mighty."

Well, that and these assholes are trying to roll out some kind of positively Soviet-sounding pogrom against Trans people and anybody hostile to "Traditional values on family, religion, and morality."

Says the dudes surrounded by all these plastic-faced women that look like Star Wars aliens who are working in thrall to Epstein-files sexual deviants.

And these motherfuckers, all of 'em, cannot understand why people don't like them.

I know why people don't like them and I haven't been a Republican since September of 2008. Although the truth is, I got thrown overboard long before that...If I was ever really on board in the first place.

These Fucking People think they are ancient Rome.

(And the truth is, they're at best a knock-off Byzantium circa about 1400 when everything had already fallen apart.)

America was never designed to function as an Empire at all.

And this shit is Roman, mostly in the sense that this program seems to be dominated by dudes who are all in some fierce competition to be the American Sporus, so long as Elon or Trump or somebody like one of them is the Nero in this arrangement.

(And Miller was apparently in a polycule that included Musk, do the math.)

Quick history lesson for those who don't know, Sporus was the slave catamite of the Roman emperor Nero, who married him and invested him with the trappings of an Empress. This was considered scandalous at the time, not so much for the gay stuff (The Romans didn't give a shit about that) but because it massively violated Roman hierarchies and social conventions.

And it's been cited as an example of Roman sexual and social debauchery by Christian historians and preachers ever since. I learned about this shit in Catholic school.

Pre-Christian Rome was never exactly presented as the good guys.

And these fucking people don't understand that post-Christian America and the "Conservatism" thereof isn't gonna be presented as the good guys, either. Or maybe they just don't care. I'd like to suggest a third option, that all these creepy deviants think they're getting away with something and can't wait to tell on themselves because they think it'll shock people into liking them. None of this works like that.

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.

Well, to be fair they don't seem to understand much of anything else either.

And the thing about it is, this purposeful lack of competence and understanding is intended to be weaponized. These unserious people think they can use that to get away with more shit.

(These people also rampantly use that weaponized incompetence against each other, against anybody in a near out-group and especially against their own who don't entirely conform to their bullshit.)

The trouble is, the rest of the world isn't playing along with These Fucking People's delusions.

No One has to.

These idiots don't understand that, just like they can't see that they themselves cannot even agree on all the things they say they agree on. See my theory about Crab Bucket Politics.

Just because a hell of a lot of American White Christian Conservatism can't wait to give its ass to the (wannabe) Emperor doesn't mean that anybody else has to...including other Americans, and our enemies (real and imagined) get a vote on what happens, also.

These fucking people can't seem to understand that part, they've somehow convinced themselves that all the Authority in the Universe somehow belongs to them.

It doesn't, anymore than it really belongs to Billionaires or Donald Trump. 

These people act like they know there is no God.

It's Christmas, stop and think about that for a second.

The one thing they're going to succeed at doing is bringing God's judgment on America for their Roman-level Sins.

And they wanna do it right now because they've convinced themselves that it's gonna hurt you somehow more than it is them.

You either believe in freedom or you don't.

Glory to Ukraine!

[in the aftermath of the chaos at Palmo Square, Dreena goes on the radio]

Dreena: Palmo One. This is Palmo One. This is the voice of Ghorman. This is Palmo One making an emergency broadcast on all open channels. This is Palmo One! This is Palmo One. We are under siege. We're being slaughtered. The Imperial murder of Ghorman has begun. There are hundreds of bodies this moment. As I say these words, hundreds of murdered Ghormans lay dead in Palmo Plaza. Thousands more on the streets. More every minute. We're being destroyed! This is Ghorman reaching for any open channel that can hear me! If you can... If you can hear me... If you believe in truth, if you have any faith left in truth, please, please mark this message and pass it forward. This is murder! The Empire built this fire. They made this fire and led us to the slaughter. Now they expect us to die without knowing why. The conspiracy we've feared is real! It's here today! Imperial ships are already landing across... Help us! Is there no one who can help us? Is there no one? ~From the Star Wars series Andor, S2 E8 "Who Are You?"

Three 

My black face fades,
hiding inside the black granite.
I said I wouldn't
dammit: No tears.
I'm stone. I'm flesh.
My clouded reflection eyes me
like a bird of prey, the profile of night slanted against morning. 

I turn this way—the stone lets me go.
I turn that way—I'm inside
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
again, depending on the light
to make a difference.
I go down the 58,022 names,
half-expecting to find
my own in letters like smoke. 

I touch the name Andrew Johnson; 

I see the booby trap's white flash.
Names shimmer on a woman's blouse
but when she walks away
the names stay on the wall.
Brushstrokes flash, a red bird's
wings cutting across my stare.
The sky. A plane in the sky.
A white vet's image floats
closer to me, then his pale eyes
look through mine. I'm a window.
He's lost his right arm
inside the stone. In the black mirror
a woman’s trying to erase names:
No, she's brushing a boy's hair.

~ Facing It , by Yusef Komunyakaa, US Army Veteran

Bearing The Tabernacle Of Moloch...in the snow (Christmas 2025, Three.)

Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,

Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name:

That strengthens the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.

They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.

For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.

Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.

Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.

Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skillful of lamentation to wailing.

And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the Lord.

Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.

As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.

Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.

Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.

But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. ~Amos 5:7-26

...

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 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

Apparently, Mike "Little" Johnson lost control of the House today when four Republicans joined with Democrats to force a vote on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies.

These fucking people can't even agree on what they supposedly all agree on.

Meanwhile, we've got some idiot Republican, supposedly Christian, judicial nominee saying he thinks disabled people shouldn't be able to get married. It's 2025, homey, nobody has to get married to have sex or have kids. And you don't have any right to tell grown ass consenting adults a damn thing. Get with the program.

Fuck you, bro. Nobody gives a rat's ass what you think. I'm beyond tired of These Fucking People.

I'm disabled, my partner is disabled, neither of us started out that way. Well, she's autistic and I'm ADHD, but we've both got various injuries, arthritis and so on. Aging and doing physical labor is a shitty combination. Motherfuckers like this don't know the difference, or don't care.

We both work, we both contribute to society.

We both have Christian and conservative backgrounds,

And we both, like a lot of people, got thrown overboard by these motherfuckers because there's no such thing as "Right Wing Asshole" ENOUGH and we, and a lot of other people, couldn't keep going that way along with all these chuds.

Meanwhile there's a lot of perfectly well able-bodied rednecks out there that are on welfare and not doing shit. I don't see Republicans, for all of their talk, doing anything about that. These assholes don't care if their own people are Crab Bucket inhabiting failures. who live off of other people and/or the State.

That crap is tolerated, but I've seen a lot of hardworking disabled people get treated like shit by supposed "Christians" for no good reason, even though they are Believers. Hell, I've been that person, and I'm tired of that shit.

It's funny how all the people Republicans hate seem to want to do the work of life and Republicans themselves just want Religiosity and Wealth Without Work with a side of Cruelty to the undeserving.

Like I keep saying I'm an old white guy, former conservative, former Christian, I have a church background, I'm a veteran.

And I'm sick of hearing about White "Grievance." I don't give a shit, "Other People Exist" is not a legitimate complaint that a person should have.

You didn't create the Universe, YOU ain't God. You don't know what Purpose other people may be meant to serve, so sit down and shut the fuck up.

Republicans, right now, are basically trying to claim that other people are stealing from them, or are somehow "Terrorists" simply by existing. Whether it's foreigners simply peaceably living in their own countries or Americans wanting to have rights and live somewhere other than in the wealthy people's garbage cans there's a certain kind of "Republican" that's mad as hell about it.

No, real life does not work like that.

And they're about to turn their blind frenetic stupid hatred on each other.

Joe: For the last time, I'm pretty sure what's killing the crops is this Brawndo stuff.

Secretary of State: But Brawndo's got what plants crave. It's got electrolytes.

Attorney General: "So wait a minute. What you're saying is that you want us to put water on the crops.

Joe: Yes.

Attorney General: Water. Like out the toilet?

Joe: Well, I mean, it doesn't have to be out of the toilet, but, yeah, that's the idea.

Secretary of State: But Brawndo's got what plants crave.

Attorney General: It's got electrolytes.

Joe: Okay, look. The plants aren't growing, so I'm pretty sure that the Brawndo's not working. Now, I'm no botanist, but I do know that if you put water on plants, they grow.

Secretary of Energy: Well, I've never seen no plants grow out of no toilet.

Secretary of State: Hey, that's good. You sure you ain't the smartest guy in the world?

Joe: Okay, look. You want to solve this problem. I want to get my pardon. So why don't we just try it, okay, and not worry about what plants crave?

Attorney General: Brawndo's got what plants crave.

Secretary of Energy: Yeah, it's got electrolytes.

Joe: What are electrolytes? Do you even know?

Secretary of State: It's what they use to make Brawndo.

~From the film Idiocracy.

Only their idea of Idiocracy is far more malevolent.

If Trump is their "God Emperor" he's a freaking vegetable like the Emperor of the Imperium of Man in Warhammer 40K. They really wanna be the courtiers and the flunkies who make all the decisions.

And when Trump dies, there goes the one thing all These Fucking People think they can agree on.

I'm just sayin' to a great extent everybody else is holding the line, keeping their cool and thinking at least a bit strategically. 

If somebody gets angry or impatient and starts a Civil War, it'll probably be these motherfuckers. Yes, it'll at least start with "Conservatives" going after conservatives.

Yo, it's not Venezuela they really wanna attack, it's the rest of America.

It's not some random Latino in their own country that these guys really wanna murder. I mean, that person will do, for now.

But they're not the real objective, not long-term, anyway.

It's all their real and imagined political and social rivals here that they jerk off to the idea of killing off with some kind of elaborate court intrigues and shit.

But they can't, and they sure as hell ain't gonna get therapy so they gotta go start shit with other people because they're conflict-obsessed narcissists.

Stop and think about that for a second.

Like I said they can't agree on what they all supposedly agree on.

Republicans don't want to do anything, but they don't want anybody else to do anything either.

It's a Crab Bucket.

This bullshit is entirely meant to hold up progress for everybody else and keep people from lifting themselves up, to "protect" the wealth of those who already have too much and don't have to do anything.

It's the ultimate insane result of William F. Buckley's old canard about conservatives "Standing Athwart the flow of History, yelling STOP!!"

Only now, at least half of them can't even read the damn history.

And a good chunk of the rest just don't want to.

Do you think any of These Fucking People really care about the future?? They don't, that's why these bastards think in terms of 90-day fiscal quarters and the next quantifiable profit statement.

It's why America can't get a plan together anymore.

Meanwhile China, Europe, even Ukraine...are all thinking ahead and innovating and acting like there is a future while America spirals out from debased boredom.

China is thinking 50 years ahead, but also for the woo woo types still has a great tradition of "Traditional" medicine and shit like that.

We have people here who don't even want our own citizens to have health care that they can afford. If they even want them to have it at all!

They don't care, and if that literally requires Bearing the Tabernacle of Moloch, Republicans will do it.

Anything but "Love Thy Neighbor."

For fuck's sake, it's Christmas.

You either believe in freedom, the future, and your own right to have a life or you don't.

And either you're willing to fight for those things, or you ain't.

Pick a side. It's coming.

Soon.

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

Two

Cassian Andor: Kino. Tell them what to do. It has to be you. Come on, Kino. You do this every day. Tell them what to do.

Kino Loy: [presses PA system] My name is Kino Loy. I'm the day shift manager on Level Five. I'm speaking to you from the command center on Level Eight. We are, at this moment, in control of the facility.

Andor: Is that the best you got?

Loy: How long we hang on, how far we get, how many of us make it out, all of that is now up to us. We have deactivated every floor in the facility. All floors are cold. Wherever you are right now, get up, stop the work. Get out of your cells, take charge and start climbing. They don't have enough guards and they know it. If we wait until they figure that out, it'll be too late. We will never have a better chance than this and [looks at Cassian, knowing he said it] "I would rather die trying to take them down than giving them what they want." We know they fried a hundred men on Level Two. We know that they are making up our sentences as we go along. We know that no one outside here knows what's happening. And now we know, that when they say we are being released, we are being transferred to some other prison to go and die, and that ends today! There is one way out. Right now, the building is ours. You need to run, climb, kill! You need to help each other. You see someone who's confused, someone who is lost, you get them moving and you keep them moving until we put this place behind us. There are 5,000 of us. If we can fight half as hard as we've been working, we will be home in no time. One way out!

[repeats it multiple times as he leaves the command center]

Andor: Come on! Let's get out of here!

~From the series "Andor" S1 E10 "One Way Out."

...

 don't preach a social Gospel I preach the Gospel, period. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is concerned for the whole person. When people were hungry, Jesus didn't say, "Now is that political or social?" He said, "I feed you." Because the good news to a hungry person is bread. ~Archbishop Desmond Tutu.