Month: February 2017

“White House press secretary Sean Spicer (Melissa McCarthy) and secretary of education nominee Betsy DeVos (Kate McKinnon) take questions from the press (Bobb… ” – My Comments : The cold open was pretty good too.

“The commissioner may view the Super Bowl as "an opportunity to be entertained,” but he and the NFL are long past sticking to sports. “ – My Comments : Not surprised at all.

“Of all US massacres, the Bowling Green Massacre was truly caused by mental illness. ” – My Comments :

“Well now, if I didn’t learn me a bunch of fascinating stuff today.

Last night, a Peoria, Illinois realtor Tweeted a nasty ”@“ mention to me. He’s a big Trump supporter. So
I must’ve Tweeted something nasty about his guy, right?

Well, no.

I Tweeted out a very positive, very benign Tweet in support of Sally Yates, and her risky stand on principle, which cost her her job. The realtor’s response Tweet was along the lines of, "Oh, the nasty little troll has another opinion. Stick to show business and shut up.” I’m paraphrasing. Another person who hates my Twitter feed’s content who nevertheless follows me.

I Tweeted out something in support of someone. He reacted with immediate disgust and offense. Fine, whatever.

Except…

That was the first thing I “learned,” and it was something I should have noticed long ago, but it took awhile to sink into my thick-ass skull.

What I learned was that when I Tweet or Facebook negative things about Trump – comedic insults, mocking responses, etc.? Trump supporters will push back mildly, in that dismissive tone of, “Yeah, whatever. We won. Get over it.” It’s sour, but not vicious or threatening. It’s a disagreement. Which is fine.

But when I Tweet something POSITIVE, or HOPEFUL, in support of a group that’s been made to fear or doubt because of Trump and his ghoul brigade’s actions? A helpful link for peaceful action? Praising someone who speaks up eloquently against the smirking racism of Trump’s parking lot carnival of an administration?

THAT’S when the responses get violent, and threatening, and ominous. As if the language itself – the grammar of thoughtfulness – lands in their guts like glass shards. Empathy and understanding literally feel like an attack to them.

I Tweeted back an equally snarky response to Tony’s initial Tweet. It was late, I’d had a bad day, I was in an awful mood, and something about attacking someone who’s simply encouraging another human being landed wrong with me. He insulted me, I returned the insult. Moving on. Or so I thought.

THEN Peoria Realtor Tweeted out THIS little nugget, in response to someone Tweeting, “Everyone stop having opinions!”

“I’m a psychic and I’m channeling his wife’s opinions.”

HA HA! My wife’s dead. Zing!

Again, that was his FIRST go-to – this patriotic, God-fearing, father of two. Insult someone and, if they respond? Go after their dead spouse.

So I started trolling him. And I never even mentioned the shitty, dead wife crack. It’s not the first one the anime Nazis have sent my way. I’ve ignored every one of them (except for the ones Martin Shkreli farted out). I don’t want to give anyone the satisfaction.
But again, it was late, I was in a dark mood, and he caught me at the wrong time.

But my trolling focused ONLY on his comically pathetic Twitter feed. At his clueless attempts at hyping houses. His creepy in-the-woods selfies while hunting. I saw that other people were giving him shit about the “dead wife” joke. I figured it was going to blow up in the poor slob’s face without zero help from me.

In the morning, his account was gone. He’d closed it down (I assume). He’d also closed down his Facebook profile and professional page.

And then the realty company he worked for posted a message to their website about how Mr. Dead Wife Joke did NOT represent their company and that he was no longer employed by them.

And then the shit storm REALLY started.

Pro-trump accounts BOMBING my feed with “wife murderer Patton Oswalt” Tweets and “libtard cuck” Tweets and death threats and every variety of misspelled rage.

‘Cuz here’s the SECOND thing I learned.

The main thing that Trump supporters are excited about, now that he’s president? Is that finally, at LOOOOOONG LAST, all of the awful things they want to say, that used to lose them friends and jobs and marriages? They’re EXCITED about potentially getting to say them with ZERO repercussions. Just like Trump did. All the way into the White House. All the way into unlimited, forever power to spew any awful shit that comes to your head and no one dares correct you, rolls their eyes, or punches you in the nose.

But I’m afraid Peoria Realtor is going to be the first in a long line of Trumpers who will realize, on the other side of firings and divorces and black eyes, that Trump’s Teflon Umbrella covers Trump and no one else.

His cabinet and staff are going to learn that as well.

That might be fun.

Try to be nice. As far as that goes. “ – My Comments :

“Following a viral image of him checking Justin Bieber into the boards during a celebrity game at the NHL’s All-Star Weekend, Chris Pronger jokingly fi ” – My Comments :

“Drew Magary counts down some of Roger’s greatest hits. ” – My Comments : Although I’d love to see Goodell squirm, it is my sincere wish that the Patriots lose on Sunday, if possible in a way that makes Brady and/or Belichick cry.

“The word “alternative” appears both in the fun new craze sweeping the government (“alternative facts”) and in a few science fiction staple ideas (“alternate history” and “alternate universe,” for example). Despite that superficial similarity, legendary scifi author Ursula K. Le Guin wants to make su… ” – My Comments : Yes. Full text:

A recent letter in The Oregonian compares a politician’s claim to tell “alternative facts” to the inventions of science fiction. The comparison won’t work. We fiction writers make up stuff. Some of it clearly impossible, some of it realistic, but none of it real – all invented, imagined — and we call it fiction because it isn’t fact. We may call some of it “alternative history” or “an alternate universe,” but make absolutely no pretense that our fictions are “alternative facts.”

Facts aren’t all that easy to come by. Honest scientists and journalists, among others, spend a lot of time trying to make sure of them. The test of a fact is that it simply is so – it has no “alternative.” The sun rises in the east. To pretend the sun can rise in the west is a fiction, to claim that it does so as fact (or “alternative fact”) is a lie.

A lie is a non-fact deliberately told as fact. Lies are told in order to reassure oneself, or to fool, or scare, or manipulate others. Santa Claus is a fiction. He’s harmless. Lies are seldom completely harmless, and often very dangerous. In most times, most places, by most people, liars are considered contemptible.

Ursula K. Le Guin, Northwest Portland

“Pretty much ever since the Blu-ray remasters for the original Star Trek series and The Next Generation were unveiled, fans have wondered when DS9 or Voyager would get a similar treatment. But according to Robert Meyer Burnett, who worked extensively on the HD re-releases those series, the odds of su… ” – My Comments : Don’t know how many Deep Space Nine or Voyager fans there are among you, but don’t count on HD versions any time soon:

“"For stomach and intestinal ulcers alike, there’s just a new sense of energy and inspiration under Donald Trump. Frankly, we haven’t seen this much confidence since World War II.” “ – My Comments :