James R (Randy) Fromm

@randyfromm

Retired. Ex-nuclear nomad. Cold War submarine veteran. Member of AntiFa. Perennial student. Independent scholar of rhetoric. Interests include affect, social imaginaries, narrative, American vigilantism. I’m a desert dwelling artisanal sourdough baker.

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James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· 28d

It’s all in the ALT text.

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· 29d

Yet MORE information for your quiver:

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· 29d

Image is a still from the TV series, Leave it to Beaver. ‘The Beave,’ played by Jerry Mathers, says to his big brother, Wally: “Well gee, Wally. If they keep sayin' they have proof of voter fraud, but won't show the proof, doncha think it sounds like they're lyin'?”

They are …

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· 29d

It’s all in the ALT text.

Color image shows General Mark Milley – Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and nemesis of Stephen Miller, aka ‘Pee Wee German’ – glaring across the table at a Cabinet Meeting during Trump 1.0, his jaw clamped in a straight line, his brow furrowed with what can only be disgust mixed with anger. The text at the bottom of the image reads – as Milley is rumored to have said in a staff meeting during the first Trump debacle – “SHUT THE FUCK UP, STEPHEN.”

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jul 12

Unusual peppers from the garden this morning. On the left chiltepin chiles and in the right xochiteco chiles. Trust me; both of them pack a lot of heat for their size. The chiltepin are VERY hot and the xochiteco are medium to medium-hot.

Image shows very small red chiltepin chiles in the palm of my hand. They are about the size of juniper berries. Chiltepin are an ancient pepper that grows in the wild here and in Mexico. They are HOT (in capital letters). They are readily available dried from a variety of sources. I like adding one or two to pickles for some extra punch. There are special grinders made for them, like little pepper mills. We got our seed through Plants of the Southwest. Unfortunately they don’t do mail order.

Image shows small ripe, red chiles in the palm of my hand. They are about one tenth the size of the jalapeños found in American grocery stores.

Our seed source (Farmacie Isolde) describes the xochiteco this way:

“Xochiteco is unique and almost certainly has some wild blood in its lineage, so we dare not presume its true taxonomical identity. These big beautiful plants are unbelievably productive! Pods are only about half the size of a Serrano, but thick and juicy and perfect for smashing in a molcajete, and hundreds are produced over a long season. Makes the best sambal that we have ever had. Fantastic flavor and mild heat. Easy and adaptable. Attractive enough to grow in the flower garden.”

Trust me; these are not ‘mild’. But they are more mild than the chiltepin.

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jul 9

When all the zuckery fuckery catches up with Meta Mark …

In a riff off of an old JAWS scene, Chief Brody (left foreground) realizes that in light of all of the Zuckery Fuckery finally catching up with Meta Mark, we’re all gonna need a smaller violin to express our lack of sympathy.

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jul 9

Image shows two fearful children background center stage (a little girl holding her shrieking little brother in front of her, almost as a shield) threatened by a black bunny and a wooden bucket foreground stage right. The children are labeled ‘CONSERVATIVES’. The bunny and the bucket are labeled ‘THINGS THAT DON’T HAPPEN’.

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jul 7

I'm sorry ... WHAT non-citizen voting? NO prosecution without evidence!

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jul 6

This will always be the Kellyanne I remember:

The image is a political cartoon showing the Trump 1.0 ‘press team’, Sean Spicer and Kellyanne Conway, standing at the press secretary lectern dressed in fast-food chain uniforms. Spicer says, “In an Attempt to make the White House Press Briefing Room More Press Friendly We have re-named it ‘Home Of The Whopper.” Conway adds, “You Want Lies with That?”

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jul 6

Brings to mind two memories of the birth of commercial nuclear power: (1) [paraphrased] it’s like an atomic bomb under control (2) electricity will be too cheap to meter

Image is a cartoon from the mid-20th century depicting how commercial nuclear power will change the lives of ordinary people. A mother is handing her child an ‘atomic wafer’ to put into the home power box. Text across the top of the image reads:

“URANIUM CAN PROVIDE POWER FOR PRIVATE HOMES AT LESS THAN ONE TENTH A CENT PER KILOWATT HOUR”

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jul 2

Where’s Banksy when we so desperately need him?!?

Image shows a man getting ready to throw a hoagie/sub sandwich.

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jul 2

File this under “projection” and “every accusation is a confession”. In Aziz Z. Huq’s little book, The Rule of Law, he writes about comparative examples of ‘the rule of law’. The attached gets to the heart (yifa zhiguo) of his thoughts on the rule of law under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The text reads: “Party [CCP] doctrine also made clear that yifa zhiguo [translation: rule the nation in accordance with law] was to be of virtue in anti-corruption campaigns. In 2018 he underscored understood as quite distinct from any ‘bourgeois’ concept of law. On the understanding that came to dominate under Xi, law is not a constraint on the party. It is instead a mechanism through which the party overcomes the challenges of ruling a vast and varied nation, and of disciplining its fickle, easily tempted cadres on the ground. Law is a way of "rectifying individuals," not institutions. Under Xi, the rule of law is associated with the rule of virtue in anti-corruption campaigns.” (interpolations in square brackets have been added for clarity)

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jul 2

Opposition to data centers here in the deserts of southern NM is not NIMBYism. Project Jupiter was allowed in the door by duped public officials and the community has organized to fight it, no matter what burbs they come from. Here’re examples of PJ’s propaganda saturating FB locally:

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jul 1

Image shows a big red push button, not unlike the STAPLES ‘That Was Easy!’ button. The difference is that this particular button is for announcing the presence of BULLSHIT.

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jun 30

Compare and contrast. Who wore it better?

Picture of Seb Gorka (which is an evil sounding name).

Picture of ‘evil’ Spock, who – albeit self-interested – remained logical, nevertheless.

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jun 29

I’ve been reading Aziz Z. Huq’s The Rule of Law: A Very Short Introduction. I think this passage might interest you, from Chapter 5 in which Huq tries to answer the question: Why does the rule of law survive? It is also relevant to your quote post of Kyle Griffin quoting Justice Sotomayor.

The Rule of Law

Finally, it is worth touching briefly on one institutional design solution that Madison did not advance: the creation of a judicial body that could discipline both the legislature and the executive. Powerful supreme courts have become increasingly common around the world, however, in the postwar period. The resulting pattern of "juristocracies" is controversial. Thinkers from the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham onward have expressed concern as to whether judges indeed will pursue the law in a neutral fashion, or in ways that advance their own generally elitist interests. The concern is particularly acute in constitutional regimes, such as the American one, in which the process of appointing judges is controlled by the national chief executive or a national legislature.

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jun 28

This is outlet current kitchen at our FauxDobe Hacienda. It took almost 8 months from meeting the contractor until the work was finished. During the actual work (about 4 of those 8) we cookies with a small induction burner, an instantpot, and a microwave, on a folding table.

Completely remodeled kitchen, view from the southwest corner of the dining area.

Completely remodeled kitchen, view from the southwest corner of the living room area.

Completely remodeled kitchen, view from the southeast corner of the kitchen at the door to the patio.

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jun 28

WUT?!?

The image shows a middle-ish aged white man wearing a dark, tweedish suit, reading a newspaper. You are looking over his left shoulder at the open newspaper. He has turned – breaking the fourth wall – to look back over his shoulder directly at you. He has a smirk of “I told you so” on his face, as if communicating a shared opinion. The text in the image reads:

“And there it is … the stupidest fucking thing I’ve read all day.”

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jun 28

The culprit!

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jun 27

Dinner tonight. A riff on a Provencal tian. Everything is fresh from the garden except the ricotta topping.

Image shows a blue and white kitchen towel with eggplants (small ping tung variety), zucchini (yellow, green, and striped green), and tomatoes.

Image shows a ceramic pie plate filled with layered zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes. Between the layers are salt and pepper with dried Italian oregano and French thyme (from our garden) and thinly sliced cloves of garlic. The whole is drenched in copious quantities of olive oil.

Image shows the finished product. The veggies have been melted at 425°F for almost 90 minutes. A ricotta, egg, and gruyere topping was spread over it and baked during the last 30 minutes.

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jun 26

Image is a picture of Jim Jordan in the midst of a double face-palm. It’s an appropriate response on his part any time he opens his mouth and blurts out undeniable proof of his utter stupidity.

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jun 26

The image is a cartoon, a reimagined frame from a Charles Schulz Peanuts strip. The character, Lucy van Pelt (Linus’ big sister), is sitting to the left on a cushion watching television. But, she has turned toward the reader and has broken the frame to speak directly to the reader. She says, “Christ, what an asshole.”

And, dear reader, she is absolutely correct.

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jun 25

The image is a reimagined conversation between Linus Van Pelt (on the left, looking to the right) and Charlie Brown (on the left and facing you, the reader). Charlie says: SO BASICALLY THE KEY TAKEAWAY FROM THE RNC IS: "LOOK AT HOW TERRIBLE AMERICA
IS RIGHT NOW! VOTE FOR FOUR MORE YEARS OF IT!"

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jun 25

Image shows the imagined Western, and generally Xtian, conception of a male ‘god’, looking down from heaven surrounded by billowing clouds, arms spread in an expression of ‘fatherly’ benediction. The god speaks and says, unsurprisingly, “MY BAD.”

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jun 25

Image shows the inimitable ex-Senator from Oklahoma, MarkWhine Mullet, who is now leading the charge over at the Department of Hateful Shitbirds. While he’s still learning spoken English, he loves stringing random words together in a message of undying love for his boss: “I’m yer snicker-doodle!”

The image shows a clearly spitting angry MarkWhine Mullet, current Secretary of the Department of Heartless Snakes. He barely manages to coherently spit out during a Senate hearing the retort, “Eat my snickerdoodles!”

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jun 25

I was only a little bit older than this kid when I saw the Reflecting Pool for the first time. I was in the 4th grade. I can still smell the artificially aged ‘historic’ documents sold at the souvenir stands. Will they be selling ragged sheets of ‘Merican Flag Blue epoxy in the future?

Image is in color. It is a riff on the Little Golden Book series of early readers sold in the 50s and 60s. It shows a happy, smiling boy in blue jeans and a red and white striped T-shirt standing at the end of the Reflecting Pool nearest the Washington Monument. The Lincoln Memorial is in the background at the other end of the pool. In his hands the boy is holding a large and ragged piece of American Flag Blue epoxy-based paint. The title of the book is Tommy’s Washington D. C. Adventure.

Let’s hope it didn’t include and arrest and jail time.

James R (Randy) Fromm@randyfromm· Jun 24