“I’ve finished my 3 book Spider Series. If you’re into hot sex and heart pounding adventure please check it out. Available on Amazon. Thank you for your interest and support. D. S. Mitchell aka “Calamity” at Calamity News and Politics.
“There is nothing more inspiring than taking action against injustice.” D.S. Mitchell 2025
“If stupidity got us into this mess, why can’t it get us out of it.” Will Rogers
“If you can’t be a poet, be a poem.” David Carradine
“No god would want a child killed in his name.” D.S. Mitchell 2023
“Without music, life would be a mistake.” Friedrich Nietzsche
“Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxicabs and cutting hair.” ― George Burns
“A politician thinks of the next election – a statesman of the next generation.” – James Freeman Clarke
“I want to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed.” Arthur Ashe
“Our task must be to free ourselves… by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and it’s beauty.” ― Albert Einstein
“So the America I loved still exists, if not in the White House or the Supreme Court or the Senate or the House of Representatives or the media. The America I love still exists at the front desks of our public libraries.” ― Kurt Vonnegut
“Let’s just remember that social security is not the government’s money, it belongs to the people who had it taken out of the checks involuntarily their entire working lives.” Mike Huckabee
“I have insecurities of course, but I don’t hang out with anyone who points them out to me.” ADELE
“The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.” Christian Grey
“My favorite old car had no reverse gear. It taught me I could only go forward.” Flavia
“Education is the most powerful weapon which we can use to change the world.” Nelson Mandela
“Those who think they can control the mob are fools and are often the victims of their own incitement.” D.S. Mitchell 2021
“A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
“If now isn’t a good time for the truth I don’t see when we’ll get to it.” Nikki Giovanni
“Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes the reason is that you are stupid and make bad decisions.” Your mother
“Studying American politics has taught me several disgusting lessons, the first being, money buys friends in Congress. That alone should terrify the American public.” D. S. Mitchell 2021
“My art is my heart.” D. S. Mitchell 2015
“Love life and life will love you back. Love people and they will love you back.” Arthur Rubenstein
“Every lie is like stepping in a quicksand pit. Every lie as dangerous, as telling the truth.” D. S. Mitchell 2020
“Sometimes when challenged we find out we are capable of the unthinkable.” D. S. Mitchell 2022
“Surround yourself with those on the same mission as you.” Anonymous
“Dimming the lights will not hide the social injustice in America.” D. S. Mitchell 2017
“The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true. So I elect for neither label.” – James Branch Cabell
Smile
"If puppies and kittens don't make you smile, you might consider therapy." D. S. Mitchell 2015.
“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill
“Every moment is a fresh beginning.” T. S. Eliot
“Voting is like a prayer.” Raphael Warnock 2021
“We are all valuable. The problem is not everyone is smart enough to realize it.” D. S. Mitchell 2021
“I wonder, if you were blind, lost and confused, would you care what color the offered hand?” D. S. Mitchell 2015
“Silence in front of savagery is savagery itself.” Abhijit Naskar
“To be happy and contented, count your blessings, not your cash.” Chinese Proverb
“We can never be too busy to be kind.” D. S. Mitchell 2017
RIP RBG
“The rain falls because the cloud can no longer handle the weight. The tears fall because the heart can no longer handle the pain.” The Wise You
“Let my old days be my best days,” Cousin Lucille
“In no instance have… the churches been guardians of the liberties of the people.” James Madison
“Happiness is a gift and the trick is not to expect it, but to delight in it when it comes.” Charles Dickens
“Thoughtful people are slow to anger, not necessarily less efficient in their killing.” D. S. Mitchell 2019
“Endings are not always bad. Most times they’re just beginnings in disguise.” Kim Harrison
“The United States like so many countries around the world has chosen to give to the few and deny the many.” D.S. Mitchell 2020
“It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. This is true, its called life.” Terry Pratchett
“Trickle down economics is like having three dogs and giving one of them a hot dog, and thinking he’ll share.” Bill Maher
“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” John Kenneth Galbraith
“When people start acting as though the past is the same as the present and context doesn’t matter, things start to get dangerous.” Trevor K. McNeil 2020
“Pardoning the Bad, is injuring the Good.” – Benjamin Franklin
“I don’t need to attend every argument I’m invited to.” Unknown
“I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret between the shadow and soul.” Pablo Neruda
“Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” ― Bruce Lee
“I have been far oftener discriminated against because I am a woman than because I am black.” Shirley Chisholm 5/21/1969
“The turning points of lives are not the great moments. The real crises are often concealed in occurrences so trivial in appearance that they pass unobserved.” ― George Washington
“We only fail when we fail to try.” Rosa Parks
“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.” Thomas Jefferson
“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.” Albert Einstein
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The 7 Social Sins are: Wealth without Work; Pleasure without Conscience; Knowledge without Character; Commerce without Morality; Science without Humanity; Worship without Sacrifice; Politics without Principle.” Frederick Lewis Donaldson
“All evils are equal when they are extreme.”-Pierre Corneille
“Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.” John F. Kennedy
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” Isaac Asimov
“People without vaginas shouldn’t be able to regulate them.” Unknown
“What this country needs is more unemployed politicians.” Edward Langley, artist
“Be sure to put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.” Abraham Lincoln
“When sleeping women wake, mountains move.” Chinese proverb
“If people stopped searching for things that offended them and started looking for things that inspired them; what a wonderful world this would be.” Night Owl
A Poem For Don and Vlad
“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” Booker T. Washington
“To argue with a person who has given up reason is like administering medicine to the dead.” Thomas Paine
“Imagination is the bridge between the things we know for sure, and the things we need to believe, when our world becomes unbearable.” Staceyann Chin
“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” Steve Jobs
“Inspiration descends only in flashes to clothe circumstances; it is not stored up in a barrel, like salt herrings to be doled out.”Patrick White
“I will not allow my life’s light to be determined by the darkness that surrounds me.” Sojourner Truth
“Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks.” Doug Larson
“Law without humanity is injustice.” D. S. Mitchell 2020
“Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear, is the beginning of wisdom.” Bertrand Russell
“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” Plato
valuable article
Category: Arts & Entertainment
This is Not Normal
This is Not Normal
This is Not Normal
By John Curran
So, my girlfriends down at the Pole Dance Club bet me that I’d never do it. Well, that’s all it took. They should know me better than that. They sure never thought I’d get elected to Congress either, but here I am tonight to take on the fight, as best a little ‘ol ex-stripper can do. And, yeah, I was even warned about what they might do, if I actually carried out my plan. But c’mon, they don’t really torture do they. No, fear will not be an issue and the opportunity is just too perfect to let it slip away. See, I’m new to this place and they don’t know me yet. They just figure I’m gonna just do my small part as a so called “placeholder.” I’m s’posed to just stand here and act as a balance to the makeup of the receiving line for ‘Big D’, meaning, I’m young, female, white, of course, and over there, on their side, is old, male, white-as-white-is an we like balance it. That’s the idea, anyway. D won’t be shaking my hand, actually, I wouldn’t let him, but he’ll be busy with everybody else’s so…the timing is perfect.
The sign is small and innocuous, but the printing is large enough and quite clear.
And….the door is opening and here they come. If you’ve ever done the running of the bulls in Pamplona, well this is like that a bit; only it’s a lot slower and there’s only one bull and he doesn’t have horns, but somehow the smell of it is the same. A smell of excitement mixed with a tension like something could surely happen at any moment, and must not. A heavy sort of testosterone-like overlay as if the damn guns could be drawn any second. A heavy vibe. Meanwhile, Big D’s coming down the aisle all shit-faced ‘n grinning, shaking them hands like crazy; and let me tell you this next little step was the easiest stunt that I have ever pulled, certainly of this damn magnitude.
The cameras followed Donald and me. No one got it, for the longest time. I just followed along behind him like I was s’posed to be there. I am so close I coulda’ touched him ‘n he’s not seeing me at all. Finally, this little old bald-headed white guy catches on and yanks my sign and it goes up in the air in pieces. And later it was obvious all the media was trying to ignore it, like it never happened, but it did. All my girl friends down at the Pole Dance Club assured me, “You killed it, girl. It was the funniest thing ever, and you can have your old job back here too, anytime, ’cause we’s just so proud of you, Tiger.”
Editor: This is a fantasy based on some facts.
How To Be a Lady and a Feminist
How To Be a Lady and a Feminist
How To Be a Lady and a Feminist
Editor: As Women’s History Month fades into memory, Cate offers another one of her tongue-in-cheek suggestion lists for the feminist in each of us.
By Cate Rees-Hessel
As Woman’s History Month draws to a close, let’s talk about how a lady with feminist pride acts. I’m laughing uncontrollably as I speak those words. Of course, well-behaved women rarely make history, but there are feminine ways to take a stance. As the notorious RBG said, “There is strength in numbers. When fighting for what we believe, we should always aim to inspire and empower those around us.” and “Fight for things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
Fun is certainly okay; Gloria Steinem reminds us, “So whatever you want to do, just do it… Making a damn fool of yourself is absolutely essential.” Ladies should always have an excellent sense of humor. Shirley Chisholm told us, “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair” (mine is pink). But remember, queens, we must always remain regal in any circumstance:
Tips on how to do it:
- Unwashed is unacceptable for you or your clothes. Always be well groomed, bathed, shampooed, combed, with neat, clean fingernails and do not forget those toenails, you never know when you may have to kick off your shoes.
- Speak clearly and avoid trash talk, however, every now and again, an interesting word just might escape our perfectly glossed lips.
- Remember that everyone loves a lady – use manners in all circumstances; shrill screaming is not an attractive look for anyone.
- Intelligence is sexy; don’t act stupid or like a bimbo – it’s not attractive. Smart attracts smart.
- Dress appropriately – sexy does not have to be trashy. I have been told the sexiest outfit I own in a pale blue turtleneck sweater and perfectly fitted leggings. Plunging necklines are fine in certain circumstances, with proper undergarments, of course.
- If you are wearing a dress or skirt, please sit with your legs together – no one needs to know the color of your lingerie. Well said, sister.
- If you like those mid-thigh miniskirts, please wear panties and rise from a seated position carefully – extremely carefully.
- Keep your under and outer layers clean, free of stains, rips, and tears. I know there are a whole lot of torn jeans being worn everywhere, but, if you’re trying for a lasting impression forgo the ripped jeans and T’s.
- Accessories can make an ensemble, but it is important that they are appropriate and not over done. Twentieth century fashion icon Coco Chanel used to advise removing one piece of jewelry before walking out the door.
- This should not even need to be said, but here goes; never, I said never, make a play for another woman’s spouse or significant other.
- Ladies cover your mouth when you yawn, no one wants to look down your throat. Sneeze into your elbow, and cover a cough.
- “Please” and “Thank You” do exist in today’s world – use them often.
- Take care of your body: shave, use deodorant, and lotion. Have a skin care regimen – cleanse, tone, moisturize. If you need long term protection, there are now products that claim 72 hour odor defense. Oh, my.
- Mani-pedis can really polish off your look.
- Get dressed for that midnight ice cream run – never go out in your pajamas, robe, or slippers. Remember flat tires and stalled cars aren’t planned events.
- Ladies do not belch or have gastric disturbance in public – head to the ladies room. If an unfortunate noise escapes, please look at the dog and then skyward before suggesting a change of diet for your pet.
- Use excellent table manners: napkin on your lap, use silverware whenever possible. Gently pat your lips with a napkin. Finger foods should be consumed daintily, not inhaled. Never chew with your mouth open. Do not speak with your mouth full. Use the correct fork and avoid phrases like “Pardon my boarding house reach” – politely ask for food to be passed.
- A lady can be just a bit naughty – if it’s light and fun.
- Accept a compliment with humility; yet with enthusiasm – say thank you and flash that beautiful smile.
- Speaking of smiles. Take care of your teeth: brushing, flossing, and regular cleanings are extremely important. Utilize mouthwash and mints.
- Be an Elle Woods: “What, like it’s hard?”
- Take Gloria Steinem’s advice, “Don’t think about making women fit the world – think about making the world fit women.”
- Remember the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, “No one can make you feel inferior without your permission.”
- Feminist pride means holding your head up high and being heard…
OPINION: “All Evil is Done in the Name of Good”
OPINION:
“All Evil is Done in the Name of Good”
Editor: First, I’d like to welcome a new writer to the Calamity fold. Welcome, Vajra Ma. I thought this might be a good time to remind readers if you have something to say about life, politics, healthcare, UFO’s, conspiracy theories, or anything else for that matter, just send it to my direct email: ditchawk@aol.com and I swear I will at least read it. Please print SUBMISSION in capital letters on the reference line. If you want to get paid the standard $20, you must have a PayPal account for Calamity to pay you. Additionally, I am the editor. I edit and reserve that right with all submissions Once a submission reaches my in box I decide on changes when and where I think they ARE needed. Thanks, happy submitting.
OPINION:
“All Evil is Done in the Name of Good”
By Vajra Ma
The question: – What is your reaction to writer, teacher, New Thought pioneer, Emma Curtis Hopkins’ statement that “all evil is done in the name of good,” and compare this to Ernest Holmes’ observation that, “We shall have to learn that evil is neither person, place, or thing of itself, but is an experience which we are allowed to have – because of our divine individuality.”
It’s Good
It is good that the United States has a president who will make America great again.
It is good that the current US president has revived the slogan “America First” otherwise this inspiring slogan of the 1940s movement, headed by Minnesota Senator Ernest Lundeen, to support Hitler in WWII might have fallen into the depths of obscurity.
It is good that the U.S. has a president who repeatedly tells us he will make America great again, and by the way, don’t ever forget, “he is the only one who can fix it.”
The Hand of God?
It is good to have a man of great leadership and character in the White House. MAGA followers believe God chose him, a man:
Who has been convicted of rape.
Who has been accused of sexual assault by two dozen women.
Who brags about grabbing women by the pussy.
Who had sex with a porn star while his wife was home with their new baby.
Surely, it will be such a man that can make America great again.
Big Lie Histrionics
It is good this man declares the 2020 election was stolen, even though:
…he lost 60 court cases trying to prove it.
…he was convicted of 34 felony counts of his election fraud (euphemistically called the ‘hush money’ case).
…Fox News paid the slandered Dominion Voting Machines $787.5 million in settlement for defamation AND acknowledgement that FOX had knowingly broadcast false statements about Dominion. (In other words Fox News lied and the election was not stolen.)
…in the Jan 6 Congressional Hearings our strong man’s campaign manager and White House lawyer (and several other Republican supporters) testified that the election was not rigged and that they told Trump so and he was even caught on tape admitting he knew he had lost; but it is good that the Big Lie continues.
Stolen Elections
It is good to say the election was stolen because he is making America great again.
“…in the Big Lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods.
“It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.”
— Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, vol. I, ch. X.
Noble Tweets
“He who saves his country violates no law.” This is another noble truth and it is good the U.S. president recently tweeted it. Otherwise this guiding principle might have disappeared into obscurity after self-proclaimed neo-Nazi Anders Breivik used it to justify his 2011 slaughter of 69 youth in Norway and injury of 41 more. Breivik himself revived this truth from obscurity after studying Hitler and Napoleon.
It is good to pardon those who responded to the 2020 stolen election by storming the Capitol on Jan 6th
-wherein 174 Capitol police officers were injured wherein four officers who responded to the attack died by suicide within seven months.
-wherein damage caused by attackers exceeded $2.7 million.
-wherein the mob built a gallows and chanted “Hang Mike Pence.”
-wherein they shat on the carpets and smeared in on the walls.
-wherein the “MAGA shaman” wearing red, white and blue face paint and animal horns prayed to God and Jesus in the Congressional chamber after the members of Congress fled for safety.
Strong Man Heroes
It is good the strong man tweeted that day:
“These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long”. Then, “Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!” [emphasis added]
Pardoning all those who were tried, convicted and imprisoned for these crimes is good because it makes America great again.
It is good to have a president who admires and openly praises dictators: Orban, Putin, and Duterte. And exchanges “love letters” with brutal North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un; but its all good.
Tracking Lies and Falsehoods
It is good that during his first term the strong man spoke 30,000 lies or misleading statements (fact-checked and published by the Washington Post) because he is making America great again.
It is good Trump recently kicked the Associated Press out of the WH pressroom because they refused to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. This removal of AP puts America First and helps make America great again.
It is good the president of the U.S. votes at the U.N. in alignment with Russia, China, and Iran and against Europe and Ukraine. It makes America great again.
It is good to say Ukraine started the war. It makes America great again.
It is good to make Canada into the Fifty-first State of the United States. It makes America great again.
It is good that Greenland should belong to the United States, “We strongly support your right to determine your own future. And if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America. We need Greenland for national security and even international security…And I think we’re gonna get it—one way or the other, we’re gonna get it. [emphases added] Congressional Address March 4, 2025
It’s Good to Have Trump as President
It is good that anyone reading this consider it fake news because even though these items are a matter of record, it is good to have this president.
Why?
Because it’s America First!
The election was stolen!
He is making American great again!
Back to Divine Individuality
In alignment with Ernest Holmes, American citizens are free to elect such an experience because of our “divine individuality.” Free will, as he says, is either our bondage or our freedom, depending upon what we choose to believe. Holmes also said, “Humanity has suffered enough.” Have we?
The time is coming when we (humanity) will collectively realize we have suffered enough and evil will disappear into the bloated nothingness it is. Meanwhile—as inherent and necessary part of that disappearing process—I call out the lies.
And so it is.
Chew on This for Valentine’s Day
Chew on This for Valentine’s Day
Chew on This for Valentine’s Day
Editor: Happy Valentine’s Day! I’m hope everyone finds a diamond in their soup.
By Cate Rees-Hessel
All That Glitters
I am a simple kind of girl – give me some plain ol’ chocolates in a velvet heart-shaped box with a big ribbon and an even bigger diamond, then I am content. As long as my chocolate confections come with a little something sparkly, I am happy. My husband is big on placing jewelry in food – nothing says romance like a cracked molar and expensive, extensive dental work…
Cuisine Creative
My first diamond cocktail ring arrived in a dish of carrots because it was a “1 carat” ring. My engagement ring was presented, much to the delight of the charming waitress at Red Lobster, in a plate of mussels – my husband’s theory was since pearls come in oysters, diamonds can come in mussels. Another diamond ring embedded in tiramisu (ladyfingers…) appeared at our favorite Italian restaurant. A sapphire ring came atop a cupcake; my diamond and sapphire wedding set was encased in a miniature pink gumball machine. Hmm, I wonder what I’ll find topping our heart-shaped pizza this year (hint, hint…). Fortunately, I never broke a tooth on or ingested any of this jewelry, so I don’t have any trips to the emergency room stories to share.
He Shelled Out…
So I asked my spouse to get me something expensive and rare this Valentine’s Day. I am enjoying my dozen eggs – I might just bake him a cake with them. Maybe once “The Donald” leaves office, I can get a heart shaped box of Whitman chocolates, a pink stuffed bear (just not Trumpy Bear), and a dozen long stem roses instead.
The Good Ol’ Days
I was looking over some vintage Valentine’s Day ads recently – they sure bring back memories of Whitman samplers, red dresses with Peter Pan collars, and those adorable little valentines with the small white rectangle envelopes that have a lick strip straight across the top that we were forced to give to everyone in our classroom, whether you liked them or not. I would wear my crimson velvet dress with shiny black Mary Jane’s and the requisite white socks trimmed in lace, a big red bow in my hair. With giggly anticipation, every little girl in kindergarten and first grade awaited the pile of white envelopes on our desk top.
Sugar Rush
The red napkins came next, then frosted vanilla cupcakes with pink sprinkles and gumdrop hearts, topped with sugar and a chocolate Hershey’s Kiss. This was our grammar school celebration for the sweetest of holidays. We washed the caloric red dye food coloring down with even more sugar laden red hued beverages. A plastic punch bowl adorned with a scoop of sherbet and a splash of ginger ale, or if you happened to be from the Pittsburgh area like me, a cherry Little Hug.
Dance Like Teacher’s Watching
Off to the gymnasium to learn to dance with a reluctant partner and work off the sugar high. My Barbie and kitten Valentine cards were passed around with a flourish. I received a stack of puppy and Hot Wheels cards in return. We lined up in pairs of two to receive our box of conversation hearts for the road. Sticking our tongues out (when the teacher wasn’t looking our way) at the little boys that stepped on our beloved shiny patent toe pinchers while we learned to waltz. Those were the days – our hearts were full of joy and our little party had style…
Let’s Get Off the Couch
Let’s Get Off the Couch
Let’s Get Off the Couch
By D. S. Mitchell
One to the Solar Plexus
Trump’s 2024 election victory hit me like a Mac truck. I wasn’t just physically devastated; I was psychologically traumatized. All those rallies, all those meetings, all those phone calls, all those yard signs, all those donations; all for nothing. Quite truthfully, that first week after the election I huddled on the couch with my Teddy, a soft blankie, and a fifth of Johnnie Walker within easy reach. What now? I worried.
BS and Bluster
I didn’t have to wait long for my answer. It’s clear, Trump’s solution to high meat and egg prices is to seize Greenland, annex Canada, institute tariffs on our two biggest trading partners Mexico and Canada, send American troops to secure the Panama Canal, from what we are not sure of, and then Trump’s desire to take over Gaza from Israel. With billions in investment capital and an army of bulldozers Trump states he will turn the rubble of Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East”. Of course the displacement of the 2.14 million Palestinians is illegal and Trump himself admits that U.S. military intervention may be required. Before the uproar over that absurdity quieted down, Trump told Ukrainians that they needed to be ready to guarantee the supply of more rare earth metals in exchange for our continued support in their fight against Putin.
Google On
Until this week, lawmakers, even Democrats, have been telling us to please just relax, Trump won’t be able to do any of these things; it’s just the old guy hyping the unpredictable and outrageous to keep us all off balance and unsure of what to do in response to his reckless disregard for our laws and our institutions. Well, Google took him seriously, and so have the oligarchs in waiting. Google announced it will change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. The richest people in the country are lining up to give financial support to the Orange One. Talk about bending the knee and kissing the ring. What I’d say, we have here is bending of the knee and kissing the ass. I don’t think we have time to sit back and wait, they are moving through the government departments with a wrecking ball.
Critical Action
Get up off the couch, drop the Teddy, put the bottle of Johnnie Walker down and start calling your friends and neighbors. It’s up to us to form an effective response to Trump’s lawless approach to government. Let’s get moving, we have a democracy to save.
Black Labor is for All
“I will not allow my life’s light to be determined by the darkness that surrounds me,” Sojourner Truth
Black Labor is for All
By Wes Hessel & Cate-Rees Hessel
A Labor of Love, and Dedication…
The theme for this year’s Black History Month celebration speaks volumes. “African Americans and Labor” reminds us that Black men and women were kidnapped from their distant homeland and brought to the American colonies as slaves; slaves whose children and grandchildren would suffer the same fate, locked into lives of misery because of their skin color for the next 150 years. From that first load of human cargo in 1619, Black history has become our nation’s history. The Black contribution to the building of the United States has been great, but for the most part has gone unrecognized and uncompensated. As Black History Month begins let’s take a few minutes to acknowledge just a few of those contributors and their incredible contributions to our country.
United They Stand
African Americans have championed worker’s rights, right along with civil rights, for a significant part of U.S. history. In 1925, A. Philip Randolph, a civil rights activist and labor organizer founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids, the first Black union to be recognized by the AF of L. Improvements for the American worker has been an integral part of the civil rights movement, and people of color continue to be leaders on this issue. Of course, these aren’t the only areas where African Americans stand out.
Women of a Certain Age-January 2025
Women of a Certain Age-January 2025
Women of a Certain Age – January 2025
By Cate Rees-Hessel
- If you call Lean Cuisine a TV dinner, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you know who Papa Bauer is, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you are no longer young but still restless, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you ever wore curlers under a scarf to the A&P, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you ever shopped at the A&P, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you ever wore a Peter Pan collar, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you know what a Peter Pan collar is, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you ever wore Mary Janes and know that Mary Jane was Lucy’s sidekick, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If your hair was ever as big as Texas, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you are a fan of Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you can name the tune that starts out “Hey, Hey”, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you ever carried a plastic rain bonnet in a small pouch in your purse, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you ever owned a collapsible drinking cup (mine was pink), you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you feel undressed without a hat, pearls, and gloves, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you call fat-free milk, skim milk, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you still use a Day Runner and physical address book, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you ever baked a tunnel of fudge cake for the holidays, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you ever owned Sarah Coventry jewelry, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you know who Sarah Coventry is, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you call flight attendants, stewardesses, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you call administrative assistants, secretaries, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you know what razor company’s name says “Merry Christmas”, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you ever had a pet rock, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you ever did a Zoom do, you might be a woman of a certain age…
- If you ever received a Whitman Sampler for Valentine’s Day, you might be a woman of a certain age…
He Still Speaks to Us
He Still Speaks to Us
MLK, Still Speaks to Us
By Wes Hessel & Cate-Rees Hessel
A True Leader
Monday, January 20th, we honor a great, charismatic leader who led a huge multitude of committed followers – and no, we are not talking about Donald Trump. The real man celebrated today is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the most visible champion of the civil rights movement. The men who were referred to as the “Big Six” were also key in the work: James Farmer, A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young, and John Lewis. But Dr. King, or MLK, as he is often referred to, was the center of the fight for freedom for all. We hear the echoes of truth in his quotable phrases and speeches.
The Bible He Actually Read – And Lived…
The basis of what Dr. King strove for is rooted in the Scriptures he preached from – the Bible. That foundation is apparent throughout his words of wisdom, but particularly in these:
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
“But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.”
“Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
And one paraphrased from his namesake, reformist Martin Luther:
“Live like Jesus died yesterday, rose this morning, and is coming back tomorrow.”
“And I say to you today my friends, let freedom ring.”
Muster The Mustard Seed
MLK pointed out everything should proceed from faith:
“Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.”
“I have decided to stick with love…hate is too great a burden to bear.”
“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”
“We must learn to live together as brothers…or perish together as fools.”
“Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.”
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?’”
“Nonviolence is absolute commitment to the way of love. Love is not emotional bash; it is not empty sentimentalism. It is the active outpouring of one’s whole being into the being of another.”
Trump’s Torturous Tribulations
Trump’s Torturous Tribulations
Trump’s Torturous Tribulations
By Cate Rees-Hessel w/ D.S.Mitchell
Disaster Impending
As we draw closer to the dreaded day of January 20th, Donald Trump’s second inauguration, something I thought I would never hear or say, allow me to point out more insane things he has done prior to his taking office again this month. We absolutely must resist this devastating excuse for a president…
Cold Day in Hell?
But it should be noted first, even his inauguration itself demonstrates his all-consuming self-interest: the ceremony has been moved indoors because the temperature is predicted to be in the low twenties. At least two prior Presidents in the last 60 years or so were inaugurated outside in similar cold, and the last time an inauguration was moved indoors, the temp at noon was 7 above zero. Even more telling is the official statement that the most of the quarter-million tickets sold for the event when it was set for outside won’t be honored for indoor seats, but are now “commemorative”. In other words, worthless – but wait a minute, they were already. All the more reason we absolutely must continue to resist this coming travesty.
