News Blogs (3,090)

It happened on a Tuesday morning... and the world had changed.

A rare, powerful earthquake struck Morocco, sending people racing from their beds into the streets and toppling buildings in mountainous villages and ancient cities not built to withstand such force.


More than 1,000 people were killed, and the toll was expected to rise as rescuers struggled to reach hard-hit remote areas where the dead were buried even as desperate efforts were underway to save those trapped.


The magnitude-6.8 quake, the biggest to hit the North African country in 120 years, sent people fleeing their homes in terror and disbelief. One man said dishes and wall hangings began raining down, and people were knocked off their feet. The enormity of the destruction came into view in the daylight.


The quake brought down walls made from stone and masonry not constructed to endure quakes, covering whole communities with rubble and leaving residents picking their way precariously through remains.

Lifted from the online page of the Kyiv Independent newspaper.. The numbers in blue are losses of the past 24 hours. Russian supporters will dispute all of the numbers of course.
Russia of course still insists in all of the war they have only lost about 7,000 soldiers so far. Which is way lower than the 267,540 killed soldiers or solders wounded seriously enough to be a casualty that Ukraine has counted laying a round screaming or feeding crows.
Losing 47 supply or fuel trucks in just the past 24 hours has got to make Russia;s logistic people upset.
The good news for Russia is in the past 24 hours they don't seem to have lost any more boats or planes.


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Two weeks ago, Donald J. Trump surrendered to the Fulton County jail where he was booked, fingerprinted and posed for a mugshot. This is a first as no US president can claim what he has accomplished... that is, he is facing 4 criminal indictments.
Within a few hours his mugshot came online. There was a delay as so many people clicking to see it overloaded the network server.

It didn't take long for King Grifter to turn this event into a money-making merchandising operation by selling T-shirts and and mugs with his booking photo and the inscription:
NEVER SURRENDER.

One small detail is he had to surrender to the jail for them to take a mugshot.
Did I miss something here?
It's now reported Trump's campaign has raised $9.4 million since his booking with the release of his shirts. I'm surprised he didn't offer a signed and numbered 'collectors edition' for $500 bucks more! Certainly this is something collectors could be hawking on eBAY for years to come.

Mugshots posted online are part of the public domain... however there are some rules/limitations about their use and misuse. One topic that is being tested is profiting off of ones mugshot. Another is playing down the seriousness of a criminal indictment and can that be perceived as a form of jury tampering?
This is what I've seen in the news and since it appears to be something without case history, can the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office legally force Trump (and his campaign and or merchandising company) to cease selling the shirts and mugs. One step further, could they be legally charged and have to pay fines for misuse and possibly have to refund the money?



Warning: while I often allow off-topic comments to my blogs, any mention of Biden weaponizing the DOJ or FBI will probably disappear in the night.

From what I see it's not only T-shirts and mugs.

News just in that Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was sentenced today, Tuesday September 5th to 22 years in prison for orchestrating his far-right extremist group’s attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Of more than 1,100 Capitol riot cases, Tarrio has received the longest sentence so far.


"Tarrio pleaded for leniency, describing Jan. 6 as a “national embarrassment,” and apologizing to the police officers who defended the Capitol and the lawmakers who fled in fear. His voice cracked as he expressed remorse for letting down his family and vowed that he is done with politics."

Actually, he's not done with politics. Prison has their own form of pecking order.




Link of many:

It's nothing new where a tourist will climb a statue in a public place with the intent of posing for a selfie. Many of these carvings are made from marble and a few hundred years old. Huge statues, despite their size are fragile and can easily fracture when force is applied.

This past weekend, a German tourist climbed the Fountain of Neptune in Florence, Italy, causing damage estimated at 5,000 Euros.
The act was caught on surveillance cameras and the man was uploading his photos to X (formerly Twitter) so there is substantial proof who did the damage.

Hopefully, he will receive a fine for his action and this will send a message that public statues are off-limits for people to touch.

While this one was an act of stupidly, there are people who deface art/statues intentionally. Hopefully the fines are greater for them.



The tourist had to go past a gate, climb a fountain retaining wall, walk a few feet in the fountain to get to the base of the statue.

Musician Gary Wright, famous for the song 'Dream Weaver' passed on today at the age of 80. It's reported he died from Parkinson’s disease and dementia.
His instrument was keyboards and his hit song was released in the 70's, amazing it's still in rotation on many of the classic rock radio stations.

This blog is primarily for comic purposes. If you don't know how to laugh, píss off

*Pictures and accompanying notes are borrowed from the Trump History telegram channel*



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The media often fails to mention Donald Trump's time as a sheriff in the Wild West (1789-1817). Historians note that Sheriff Trump arrested thousands of outlaws and criminals. He was known for pulling no punches when it came to law and order.

Donald J. Trump History

The Proud Boys, a right-wing extremist group with a violent agenda, played a part in the January insurrection. Along with other patriots many are receiving prison terms for their roles in the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The latest and longest was ground commander Ethan Nordean who received a sentence of 18 years and Dominic Pezzola, who set off the initial breach of the building by smashing a window with a riot shield received 10 years.
After receiving his sentence, Pezzola reportedly raised his fist and shouted, “Trump won,” as he left the courtroom.

Dominic, not that it will help, but you've got some time to rethink that statement.

I'm trying to be non-political today, but I'm noticing a really high percentage of Republicans using the word 'weaponized' to describe any government efforts that follow the law. Governor Ron DeSantis says it often, probably as much as he uses 'woke' to describe some political orientation that differs from his own.

Hearing the word weaponized gets connected with the Department of Justice (DOJ) when they research into someones (believed to be illegal) activity and have proof of wrongdoing... suddenly, the Republicans (or those who support Republicans) insert that word... weaponized in their statements on TRUTH, X (formally Twitter) or news shows.

Last week, I blogged about a political 'dog whistle' where certain words or phrases are used to alert followers of a political group. MAGA was one of them and weaponized needs to be added to the list.

Wouldn't you think laws are in place for a reason?
I get it... when a government agency follows the law they are being weaponized.