"In truth, a mature man who uses hair-oil, unless medicinally, that man has probably got a quoggy spot in him somewhere, As a general rule, he can't amount to much in his totality." (Herman Melville, Moby Dick, ch.XXV)

In the midst of so much that is terrifying, independent bookstores and wonderful authors are giving me life, and some peace of mind.

While smirking like a hyena.

Some version of this, but glitzier:

It is very consoling to me that the Minnesota State Fair has a large competition for 'crop art', art made from agricultural seeds, and that this gorgeous thing is one of the entries:

"To infinity, and beyond!"

The US small-business retail site Etsy has already got hundreds of "fun" items featuring Trump's newest concentration camp; this one, from a spelling-challenged entrepreneur, uses a hateful phrase for black people that I often heard growing up in the segregated south:

Trump and Noem, cackling about their new concentration camp in Florida, tap in to a long racist tradition of "alligator-bait" rhetoric & practice in the US. jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/question/201... They are monsters.

I believe their ultimate destination is Texas. I hope it is in some location like this:

Trump as a prophet of domestic minimalism somehow just doesn't land right.

I'm really interested in the Sakura from Japan: www.motortrend.com/reviews/2024...

I hope this happened:

Never been sure whether horses count as pets, but here's us.

We can say with confidence that Trump thinks soldiers who die in service are "suckers and losers", because he has said so, in so many words. At Arlington Cemetery.

Imagine being this wealthy and this greedy all at once. What a torment it must be. Insatiable and miserable.

best comment of the day!

Dibble-dabbling away, as we all do:

Such gleefulness:

Anti-aging clinical trials are apparently top of mind. Someone should make them watch "Substance". And what on earth is a "nuclear reactor startup"?

Here is Paul Gosar's not-at-all-gerrymandered district:

Maybe Trump can be driven around in a golden chariot at the opening, dressed as the god Dionysus. He might pay for that.

"Give me your tired, your sex traffickers, your rapists, your druggies, your racists, your dregs of humanity. I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

Vivek Ramaswamy just discovered physical education and school playgrounds. Given enough time, these brilliant tech bros will also discover how fun it is to eat paste in class. And then: Musk will invent & patent the spitball. (thanks to Jim Wright for the Xitter quote).

Transformation of our government is already underway: thousands of federal workers being sent contradictory gibberish emails, threatened with termination, fired, disrespected, employee rights violated. Science, health, fairness initiatives damaged beyond repair. Yes, looking good there Mikey.

Thanks to big oil, over-fishing, chemical runoff, sewage dumping, plastic pellet dumping, and more greedy irresponsibility:

Tom Homan as a blanc-mange fail:

We are watching the daily race to the bottom of Trump's appointees. It's a veritable Kentucky Derby of hateful, incompetent, bigoted, and racist/sexist dinosaurs: who will win the title of "Today's Worst"? Place your bets.

Their outfits are even cooler when you can see them full-length: (Getty Images, Met Gala 2023). What is the wealth sweet spot where you can afford things but haven't lost your mind yet?

To 'instill hope' here: (these Fox people are monsters; photo credit Omar al-Qaittaa/AFP)