I'm only going to post excerpts of this. It'd be too long to post the entire document, and you can look it up.
The excerpts are enough. The rest, however, does really set the tone. Much of what it notes, we have noted here before.
Let's jump ahead here.
I'm reminded in this about stories about the Playboy Mansion and some of the people who attended parties there. Bill Cosby, Jim Brown. This went on for a long time. Hefner even managed to escape being exposed during his lifetime.
I'm particularly reluctant to accuse people of horrible acts simply based on reporting But here, in order to believe there's nothing to this, we have to wilfully disregard the women involved.
Is it possible this is all a fable? Well, such things can occur, although by this point this would be an extraordinary fable.
Be that as it may, Trump is now 80 years old. He's destroyed the Republican Party, which has gone from being a Conservative Party to a Fascist Party. His dementia is crossing over from the noticeable stage to the raging stage. So, what will occur with all of this, given the status of his mind?
He remains the purported President of the United States and in that capacity he's steadfastly refused to cooperate in the release of the Epstein files. All the current poll data suggests that the GOP is going to lose the House and may very well lose the Senate. If the Senate remains in GOP hands Trump is safe from impeachment. If there's a "blue wave", as some feel there may be, he isn't.
It's not that there would be so many Democrats in office that they could impeach him on their own. No, rather, it's to what degree the remaining Republicans in the Senate, and the House for that matter, would be willing to cling to a sinking ship, or if you prefer in Trump terms, to be on a sinking electric car in which there are sharks in the water. After the election, the GOP is going to have to take stock on the results, and if things are really bad, and they look like they may be, the same noodle backed politicians who have gone along with Trump will be looking to save their jobs. Some will switch over to being anti Trump in that effort, if a solid reason to do so is presented.
The story of Beatrice Keul provides ample reason to do so. She's a named adult, and has little to profit by having revealed her story. Indeed, she's the former Miss Switzerland. While I'm not a fan of pageants, having a title such as that lends credibility to her accusations. And the accusations are brutal. She maintains that she was ushered into a private suite and that Trump grabbed her from behind and outright raped, not groped, her, leaving her bleeding as a result. In order to discount this, you have to be willing to believe that Keul just flat out made this story up.
The story about the 13 year old is so horrific that if it is further developed, and is true, that would certainly provide ample reason to impeach Trump, as well as an ample reason to prosecute Trump. That story, as noted, has been out for awhile and so far has not been deemed sufficiently established, however.
When the Democrats take the House, it will undoubtedly be the case that these stories will be more fully developed. MAGA's will howl. It's like Rebecca Bextel believing that NASA hasn't made it to the Moon, knowledge is a dangerous thing and would hurt their world view.
If the blue wave is big enough, and it it looks like Trump will drown in it, both big ifs. that brings us back to the 25th Amendment. It's the saving door for Republicans. If the cabinet comes out and states, "gosh, he's nuts", there will be no impeachment. He'll be ushered out the door, and a grateful nation will quit looking at the wreck.
But on the upcoming election, candidates strongly backing Trump, or backed by him, have to answer for this. That's very difficult to do. If you say you flat out don't believe it, you have to provide a reason for such certainty, which is different from having doubts.
A person can't just turn a blind eye to rape. If there's reasons not to believe these stories, and they are now cumulative, what are they?
BASH: Is this measles outbreak a consequence of the administration undermining support for vaccines?
DR OZ: I don't believe so. Secretary Kennedy has been advocating for measles vaccines
BASH: Oh, come on
From a CNN Interview of Mehmet Oz, a prime example of the Oprah Effect.1
In fairness to Dr. Oz, who in fairness should not be a government official, he does want people to get the measles vaccine.
Also in fairness, the dissing of vaccines isn't really a Trump thing in and of itself, but he gave it some boosted unneeded assistance by taking the political step of promising Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. a job as the HHS Secretary if he'd drop out of the last Presidential race. Kennedy is a quack, and an opponent of vaccines in varying degrees (it seems to change day by day). The rise of this movement, however, started with people like Jenny McCarthy who sadly has a son with autism. McCarthy herself was a Playboy model and her only real expertise is in showing her naked visage, something that really doesn't qualify a person for anything serious, and in fact may achieve much the opposite.
Oh, and by the way, Jenny McCarthy appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show multiple times in the 2000s to discuss her erroneous theories on autism and vaccines, and to promote a book she wrote.
Much of this story has to do with the inability to understand the difference between present conditions and past ones. People tend to assume that negative developments in a population mean a negative present condition. Sometimes they do, but sometimes they also represent a positive one. I'll give a personal example.
In 1982 I had pneumonia while at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. I was extremely ill, literally on death's door.
Before the advent of antibiotics the fatality rates for bacterial pneumonia were between 60% and 70%.
Not good.
Now, the survivability rate is pretty good.
I've had a colon surgery for a developing condition that would have killed me even thirty years ago.
The point? Well, if I go on to develop Alzheimer's, which I pray I do not, it'll mostly be because I didn't die at age 19 of pneumonia.
Also, fwiw, Meet The Press this weekend had a physician on who noted that diseases we can now vaccinate for are associated with cancer, which is a developing field of medicine. I.e., you get some disease that's not big deal when young, and then you get cancer when older. You don't want cancer.
A fellow I know who suffered a heart attack, and who was otherwise very healthy, may have developed his heart condition this way as well.
The Trump Interregnum is threatening to pull broadcasting licenses of those who do not give a happy spin to the war against Iran.
March 21, 2026
Waging a war against American airports must be easier than waging a war against a real country that fights back:
cont:
Absolutely reprehensible.
At this point, support of Trump is indecent.
March 31, 2026
We were horrible in Vietnam until we did Rolling Thunder One and Rolling Thunder Two, and then we won. As soon as we do half-measures, we lose. The faster we get this over the better. If we seize Kharg Island, it's technically boots on the ground. It could be done almost flawlessly. If we have enough firepower, it would be very easy to defend.
Rep. Rich McCormick, whom apparently is unaware that the US lost the Vietnam War.
April 10, 2026
Melania Trump made a rare and awkward televised appearance to deny ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
The appearance was so rare, and the rumors regarding her association with Epstein so long lasting, that there's lots of open speculation as to why, although the release of a book in the UK asserting she was an Epstein bedmate a year prior to her association with Trump may be the reason. Or it may just be that she's tired of her reputation being dragged through the mud.
Note, I'm not asserting the book is correct. I don't know, and I'm not going to read it. She's asserting that at least some of what's being said are lies, and no doubt some of them are lies. I'll note the repeated claims that she was a prostitute is a lie. Her claims that Epstein did not introduce the couple are mostly likely correct.
I'm surprised by how surprised people are that she speaks English poorly. Frankly, it just sounds heavily accented to me.
I'm not a Melania fan, but I don't envy her position.
Marrying Trump made her rich and we don't know why she married him, and her marriage no doubt now looks like a pretty poor choice to people who do not adore Trump. Maybe she adores Trump. It's certainly made her a target, and she can hardly defend herself due to her poor speaking abilities.
Democrats like high gas prices because of their radical climate agenda. So people understand what the president is doing and agree with him.
Sen. Dr. John Barrasso.
So, Trump causing higher prices. . . Democrats want higher prices. . . so Trump's a Democrat?
Yeah. . . Wyoming's really getting its money worth out of this public servant. . .
Frankly, I don't believe that Barrasso believes a word he's saying a lot of the time. If Trump announced tomorrow he was a member of the Socialist Party, Dr. John would appear with a copy of the Greatest Hits of Karl Marx.
April 16, 2026
Kennedy was just put in this position by Trump to get him out of the way in the election. No more proof than that is needed to establish that Trump really doesn't give a rats ass about the health of the American public. Kennedy is a complete nut.
Of course, Trump also elevated Dr. Oz to power as well, putting the sort of dimwitted pop crap from the Oprah Show into power.
While we're at it, Pete Hegseth, who has tattooed himself with the symbols of Catholic Crusaders while being a member of some Protestant sect that Crusaders would regard as being weird heretics, but who is trying to Christianize, in the far right Evangelical sense, the Department of Defense quoted to a gathering at one of his prayer functions the famous speech from Pulp Fiction, that being:
The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.
This is good script writing, but it's not actually what's in the Bible.
A snippet of what's actually found in Ezekiel in this area, which is supposed to be what the assassin character is quoting, is here:
Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the Philistines acted vengefully and exacted vengeance with intentional malice, destroying with undying hostility, therefore thus says the Lord GOD: See! I am stretching out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and wipe out the remnant on the seacoast.
Thus I will execute great acts of vengeance on them, punishing them furiously. Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I wreak my vengeance on them.
A bit different. I'd have expected Hegseth to know that. Part of what's noted in the actual text is a warning against vengeance.
The larger text states:
The word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, turn toward the Ammonites and prophesy against them.
Say to the Ammonites: Hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD: Because you jeered at my sanctuary when it was desecrated, at the land of Israel when it was destroyed, and at the house of Judah when they went into exile, therefore I am giving you to people from the east* as a possession. They shall set up their encampments among you and pitch their tents in your midst; they shall eat your produce and drink your milk. And I will turn Rabbah into a pasture for camels and all of Ammon into a grazing place for flocks. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.
For thus says the Lord GOD: Because you rejoiced over the land of Israel with scorn in your heart, clapping your hands and stamping your feet, therefore, see, I am stretching out my hand against you and giving you up as plunder to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and wipe you out of the lands. I will destroy you, and you shall know that I am the LORD.c
Against Moab.
Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Moab said, “See! the house of Judah is like all the other nations,” therefore, I am exposing the whole flank of Moab* with its cities, the jewels of its land: Beth-jesimoth, Baalmeon, and Kiriathaim. I will hand it over, along with the Ammonites, to the people from the east that it may not be remembered among the nations. I will execute judgment upon Moab that they may know that I am the LORD.
Against Edom.
Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Edom took vengeance on the house of Judah and incurred terrible guilt by taking vengeance on them, therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it human being and beast alike. I will turn it into ruins from Teman to Dedan; they shall fall by the sword.
I will put my vengeance against Edom into the hands of my people Israel; they will deal with Edom in accord with my furious anger. Thus they shall know my vengeance!—oracle of the Lord GOD.h
Against the Philistines.
Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the Philistines acted vengefully and exacted vengeance with intentional malice, destroying with undying hostility, therefore thus says the Lord GOD: See! I am stretching out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and wipe out the remnant on the seacoast.
Thus I will execute great acts of vengeance on them, punishing them furiously. Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I wreak my vengeance on them.
One of the things that's slightly interesting here, as a random observation, is that generally Catholics use a lot more of the Old Testament as a rule than Protestants. Protestants are often shocked how "Jewish" Catholic services are, and well given as the Apostolic Faiths date back to the Apostles, that makes sense. Maybe Hegseth can be somewhat excused therefore for quoting Quentin Tarantino's script.
It does make me wonder, however, if Hegseth has seen the movie. In the film Jules Winnfield, the assassin in question, has a Road to Damascus moment and decides to give up being a hit man. Vincent Vega, who continues on in that role after Winnfield has a Crisis de Coeur, is gunned down by one of his intended targets, who himself is excused as a target by the mob boss after he intervenes to save his life. Tarantino is not noted to be religiously observant at all, but he may have accidentally have written some moral lessons into the film.
If so, Hegseth missed them.
We might close out this issue of this thread here, as with Donald Trump's mental health rocketing towards the completely unhinged, the ignorance level of the Trump administration is accelerating. RFK Jr., for example, is starting a podcast. Markwayne Mullin is in the cabinet. Things are occurring back scene. The administration, the most ignorant one in American history, promises to get weirder.
Footnotes:
1. The Oprah Effect is so named here to explain the phenomenon of Oprah Winfrey putting some flaming bogosity on to her popular daytime television show and thereby having millions of people give it credence. There are a fair number of examples, including the rise of Dr. Oz.
The Far Eastern Commission exempted Emperor Hirohito from war crime prosecution.
Richard C. Miller took a series of swimsuit photographs of Marilyn Monroe. In them, which because of copyright we will not post here, she appears of much more normal proportions than she would later, which is interesting for a variety of reasons we've already covered.
BASH: Is this measles outbreak a consequence of the administration undermining support for vaccines?
DR OZ: I don't believe so. Secretary Kennedy has been advocating for measles vaccines
BASH: Oh, come on
From a CNN Interview of Mehmet Oz, a prime example of the Oprah Effect.1
In fairness to Dr. Oz, who in fairness should not be a government official, he does want people to get the measles vaccine.
Also in fairness, the dissing of vaccines isn't really a Trump thing in and of itself, but he gave it some boosted unneeded assistance by taking the political step of promising Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. a job as the HHS Secretary if he'd drop out of the last Presidential race. Kennedy is a quack, and an opponent of vaccines in varying degrees (it seems to change day by day). The rise of this movement, however, started with people like Jenny McCarthy who sadly has a son with autism. McCarthy herself was a Playboy model and her only real expertise is in showing her naked visage, something that really doesn't qualify a person for anything serious, and in fact may achieve much the opposite.
Oh, and by the way, Jenny McCarthy appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show multiple times in the 2000s to discuss her erroneous theories on autism and vaccines, and to promote a book she wrote.
Much of this story has to do with the inability to understand the difference between present conditions and past ones. People tend to assume that negative developments in a population mean a negative present condition. Sometimes they do, but sometimes they also represent a positive one. I'll give a personal example.
In 1982 I had pneumonia while at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. I was extremely ill, literally on death's door.
Before the advent of antibiotics the fatality rates for bacterial pneumonia were between 60% and 70%.
Not good.
Now, the survivability rate is pretty good.
I've had a colon surgery for a developing condition that would have killed me even thirty years ago.
The point? Well, if I go on to develop Alzheimer's, which I pray I do not, it'll mostly be because I didn't die at age 19 of pneumonia.
Also, fwiw, Meet The Press this weekend had a physician on who noted that diseases we can now vaccinate for are associated with cancer, which is a developing field of medicine. I.e., you get some disease that's not big deal when young, and then you get cancer when older. You don't want cancer.
A fellow I know who suffered a heart attack, and who was otherwise very healthy, may have developed his heart condition this way as well.
The Trump Interregnum is threatening to pull broadcasting licenses of those who do not give a happy spin to the war against Iran.
March 21, 2026
Waging a war against American airports must be easier than waging a war against a real country that fights back:
March 27, 2026.
In celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, President Donald J. Trump’s signature alongside @SecScottBessent's will soon appear on U.S. currency, marking a first in history, and symbolizes @POTUS ' leadership and dedication to our great nation will carry a lasting impact
U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach.
And hence, the era of defacement of U.S. currency began.
Seriously, my prediction will be for those dealing in cash, the number of "F***" next to Donny's signature, or replicas of his public Epstein birthday card's, or any number of defacements, will be epic.
The sycophantic sucking up this this demented twit is beyond all understanding. When this is all over, and it will be soon, Bessant ought to spend every day for the rest of his life apologizing.
Footnotes:
1. The Oprah Effect is so named here to explain the phenomenon of Oprah Winfrey putting some flaming bogosity on to her popular daytime television show and thereby having millions of people give it credence. There are a fair number of examples, including the rise of Dr. Oz.
A really interesting Richard C. Miller photograph of Marilyn Monroe was taken, which we learned of due to Reddit's 80 Years Ago Sub, and which we repost here via fair use.
Miller had "discovered" Monroe, who was already modeling following her photo spread in World War Two's Yank. Miller, typical for the era, photographed her in swimsuits, including bikinis (very modest ones by today's standards), but also had a an entire series of other topics, including the subject shooting firearms. Here he depicted her in a wedding dress.
The real life model had already been married and divorced by this time, having married at age 16 and then filing for divorce while her husband was deployed in the Navy during the Second World War. This photograph is actually commonly claimed to be a wedding photo from her first marriage, which it is not, although the veil is remarkably similar to the one she actually wore in her wedding.
Actual photograph of Monroe at her first wedding, when she was 16 years old.
In the studio photograph she's holding some sort of book with a Christian cross on it, with that style of cross depiction very common for the era. This is what causes us to note this photograph in a way, as it brings up the topic addressed here:
While indelicate, this also shows the portrayal of a really beautiful woman before Playboy perverted all of that.
Monroe was, as is well known, Playboy's first, and unwilling, centerfold. But what's interesting here is that prior to Playboy arriving on the scene, this was not an uncommon depiction of a really beautiful woman. There were, of course, already some women who were focused on for being really busty, Jane Russell giving an example, but the theme did not absolutely dominate. To look at the 19 year old Monroe here, you would not have thought of her in that fashion. A decade later, you would, and even after Life intervened to push her nude photograph first as an art item. We've dealt with that before here as well, although frankly we need to modify our entry. That post is here:
Truman presented an ultimatum to Stalin demanding the Soviets comply with the agreement to pull their troops from Iran.
The Rocky Mountain News was a morning paper, so they didn't catch that, but they did catch something else that Truman had ordered the day prior.
The Army issued an order prohibiting soldiers from engaging in public displays of affection with Japanese women.
Out Our Way's gag was based on cleaning out the ash bin of a stove, something that's likely completely lost on modern readers.
Argentina extended its claims over Antarctica.
Mad King Donny must not be aware of this or we'd be staking a claim.
Indonesia Tentara Republik Indonesia (Armed Forces of the Republic of Indonesia) evacuated Indonesian citizens from the city of Bandung, West Java, Indonesia, after which the area was burned to avoid its use by the Dutch.
Commemorated as the Bandung Sea of Fire and a great patriotic act, poor people really don't have much of a say in things like this.
