Welcome Back to Pottersville: August 2020

Monday, August 31, 2020

Gotham City Digest

(Or, as the Frenchman said, “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.")

There's something really funny about a guy always railing about the evils of Socialism while wanting to look like a Communist dictator.

Your Brad o' the Day: Northern Exposure edition.

If you don't condemn Kyle Rittenhouse, you support Kyle Rittenhouse, plain and simple. If Charles Whitman was a Trump supporter and he shot those people at Texas A&M these days, Republican scum like Ron Johnson would refuse to condemn HIM.

“But the second and third layers are just as important. Are you telling the truth about these issues? Are you getting to the facts or are you advocating? And then finally, are you only giving a one-sided political view that your audience must sign up for in order to watch your product?"

Oh no! We can't let the white, racist point of view get left out of the dialogue! The channel that politicizes everything is now pissing and moaning that sports is getting politicized. But protesting the crimes committed against Jacob Blake, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery is about social justice or injustice, not politics.

How has Trump failed the nation during this pandemic? Let us count the ways... all 595 of them.

Even Steve Mnuchin's family can't stand Steve Mnuchin. Or Trump. Excerpt:

“Robert Mnuchin’s wife, Adriana, has reminded people that she is not Steven’s biological mother. (The couple married when he was a toddler.) She reluctantly attended Steven’s 2017 wedding to the Scottish-born actress Louise Linton. Ms. Mnuchin pretended her arm was injured in order to avoid having to shake hands with Mr. Trump, according to her grandson Zan Mnuchin Rozen,”

The one Reich that Trump never liked.

Remember when Donnie Dumbo & the rest of the right wing were screaming about the caravan coming up from Mexico just before the 2018 mid terms?

THIS is the caravan we should be worried about. I think we can all safely assume this shooting death in Portland was committed by yet another Trump supporter.

Bill Barr's interference in 3, 2, 1...

She was supposed to go up to the ISS over 2½ years ago but NASA grounded her in favor of a white astronaut, probably on orders from the Racist in Chief.

Donnie Dumbo Does Kenosha.

As long as you're a Trump supporter, any crime you commit is A-OK and will get a wink and a nod.

Remember when Rod Rosenstein was considered the voice of reason in a right wing DOJ? Yeah, you can stop saying that now.

So, Donnie Dumbo's going on a disaster porn tour in Texas and Louisiana that's really just thinly disguised campaign stops. He breezily stated he hasn't heard "one complaint" about his government's response to Laura.

Obviously, he's not listening to this woman.

Dems are raking in mountains of cash because of Trump's sabotage of the postal service.

When they find the skull of American democracy and do a forensic facial reconstruction with orange clay and the hair of a baboon's ass, this is what future generations will see. That is, unless you get your fat ass off your couch and vote to save the tattered remnants of our democracy.

Boy, Steve Scalise really is a piece of shit, isn't he?

Let's be brutally honest here: All politicians lie, almost all the time. But a Republican White House will lie, double down then triple down on their lies even as the nation is being consumed from within by the deadliest, most communicable virus in the last century because right wingers hold human life in complete and utter contempt, especially this WH.

Meme intermission: Who wore their petroleum pompadours better? edition.

Christians crowd source for 17 year-old killer. At this time of civil unrest, we need to search our hearts, bow our heads and ask ourselves, "Who would Jesus shoot?"

If you're getting a sense of deja vu, it's because Joe decided not to campaign in Michigan, a swing state Hillary also avoided the day before the election. (Tip o' the tinfoil hat to Constant Reader, CC.)

Today in, ironically, the Worcester Telegram. I guess the change Massachusetts needs is a change in spelling of our cities. Yeah, I'm sticking with Ed Markey. At least he's literate.

Apparently, Kyle Rittenhouse likes to punch girls in the face when he's not murdering people. Keep in mind, this is the person for whom evangelicals raised a quarter of a million dollars. This is what Christianity supports.

Uhm, where's Herman Cain tweeting from?

Without actually coming out and admitting it, they're tacitly confessing having voted for this Nazi in 2016 even while tut-tutting about his marital infidelities, bullying and racism, even though he kicked off his campaign in June 2015 by calling Mexicans "rapists" and "criminals." Fuck you people. There are no do overs in politics.

This right wing assclown's office oversees (you can't make this shit up) the Commission on African American History and Culture.

“Individualism, at first, only saps the virtue of public life, but, in the long run, it attacks and destroys all others, and is at length absorbed in downright selfishness.”

Alexis de Tocqueville had us pegged nearly 200 years ago.

What do you expect from such a racist administration?

Another deep fake piece of shit from another fake piece of shit right winger. Yet, what else can we expect from Dan Scumbolo, a former caddie for Trump?

I thought my opinion of prosecutors as a whole couldn't possibly get any lower. Then I read this and realized I was so very, very wrong.

Sure, Dr. Atlas, let's risk killing 2,000,000 Americans over your discredited right wing theory.

Show me one other government in which one of its senior officials called the deadliest disease since the Spanish Flu a "good thing" for public education or any other major institution.

Lock her up.

Your co-Brad o' the day.

This book review about Trump is a real eye-opener.

I'm still waiting for Trump to have his Greg Stilson moment from THE DEAD ZONE. Oh, you know it's coming.

According to two activist, right wing judges, Congress doesn't have the power to enforce its own subpoenas, even though it most certainly does according to the Constitution.

When you're in deep shit, call out the biggest crooks. And finally...

I don't care. Do you?

Saturday, August 29, 2020

Gotham City Digest

(We know what the First Lady's T&A looks like. Yay, us.)

Oh good, Attorney General Willie Wanker's on the case.

Surprise, surprise. Kyle Rittenhouse is a Trump backer. Maybe he'll pay your legal fees, kid.

Rock-ribbed conservative Republican family values! This right winger's life is a COPS marathon.

Jared on the NBA shutdown. Typical right wing cluelessness.

QAnon has now officially gone intergalactic and extradimensional. And, yes, this lunatic is an elected official.

"Flynn, you piece of shit! You made me miss a call from the man I love?!"

Ever wonder what the ancient Roman emperors really looked like? Wonder no more.

This is the modern day Republican Party in a nutshell. When things get too hot, when questions get too pointed and direct, cut and run like Scott Walker did on CNN. That's the Republican way.

"Triggering the libs"? The only thing you triggered, asswipe. was a double first degree murder trial.

Paralyzed from the waist down, no charges and the Kenosha pigs have him handcuffed to his bed. And the sheriff's office had the nerve to defend handcuffing a man they crippled. This is what it means to be black in America.

Why was there a security detail at NFL great Brandon Marshall's new home and for whom do they work?

The FBI destroyed their records on Robert Trump. No surprise there.

     "Wright offered an apology for any offense the recording caused, and said that his comments were in the heat of the moment. Wright insisted he was not racist.."
    He used the N word four times in the brief clip. But, no, he's not racist at all, says every racist, every time.
    And, yes, this Nazi skinhead racist's incident was written up in, appropriately, the Stuttgart Daily Leader.

Time for these greaseball grifters to check out... everywhere.

Good question, especially when nowadays, readers can fact check you in mid-stride.

Rand Paul: "I was attacked by an angry mob!" No you weren't, you hyperventilating snowflake.

Molly Jong-Fast on Nepotism Barbie: "A designer of plastic handbags."

Florida: Commit elder abuse, get a paid vacation. (She's 92, btw.)

"Asked by the New York Times’ Peter Baker about his second term plans, Trump replied, 'But so I think, I think it would be, I think it would be very, very, I think we’d have a very, very solid, we would continue what we’re doing, we’d solidify what we’ve done, and we have other things on our plate that we want to get done.'”

Good start but there are a few other Millers to fire.

Well, what did we expect after over five years of lies?

    Kyle Rittenhouse:"Aw, Ma, why can't you let me borrow the car so I can drive myself to Kenosha?"
     Mommy Dearest Leader:"Why, are you ashamed to be seen with your own mother?"
    "No, but... Look, if you MUST drive me, could you at least drop me off a block before I start killing people?"
     "No."
     "Aw, Ma, the other white nationalists and the libtards will laugh at me!"
     "It won't be the first time."

This is yet another of 10,000 reasons I'm not voting for this right wing fuck stick. Either of them

Cartoon intermission.

Trump seems to think there are at least 60,000,000 rednecks who are still voting for him. I guess no one told him they're the ones likelier to die of COVID-19.

For when the situation calls for more than an "I don't care" jacket or dressing like an Indiana Jones villain.

Cancer got the wrong Chadwick. Rest in Power, King.

With a giant red, white and blue foam rubber middle finger and 100 decibel air horn, the NBA said Fuck You to the Republican Party and their voter suppression efforts.

Believe it or not, despite how bizarre this headline is, it's happened twice before.

So much for informed consent. (Tip o' the tinfoil hat to Constant Reader, CC.)

Meanwhile, in New Hampshire yesterday...

Dr. Trump on her cousins: “Hateful” and “mendacious.” That about covers it.

Right wing crook whines about victimhood.

Meanwhile, tell me how many people from the Democrat Party were invited to speak at the GOP hate orgy. Hell, they demonized us. So it makes no sense to me why the Democrat Party still plays patty cake with Republican scum.

Oh, this wasn't expected at all. The Intelligence community concluded that Russia, China & Iran were planning on fiddle fucking with our election.

Maybe it's just the crime novelist in me but it has to be asked- Is there a serial killer on Fort Hood? Nine soldiers stationed there have been found dead just this year alone and we're not even out of August.

I honestly think Elon Musk didn't play the bad guy in Iron Man 3 because he simply wasn't available (He DID have a cameo in Iron Man 2).

Your Kristian Konservative Kandidates. Another psychopath predicted to get into Congress.

Remember the 25 year-old Greg Abbot wannabe/Hitler groupie who said at the RNC convention that Madison signed the Declaration of Independence? Yeah. Turns out that's probably the sanest and most factual thing he's said this week.

"I hire only the best people."

AG Willie Wanker is investigating only Democratic governors for their pandemic response, not Republicans. Is this the October Surprise we're supposed to be waiting for?

Getting rid of an Obama-era ban on killing wolf pups and bear cubs in their dens? There is absolutely no way anyone can convince me that Donald Trump isn't completely composed of 100%, sadistic, weapons-grade evil. And finally...

Kentucky, if you're listening... This is the way to beat Moscow Mitch and his comrades this November.

Friday, August 28, 2020

Here Lies One Whose Name is Writ in Smoke

(By American Zen's Mike Flannigan, on loan from Ari.)

"We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war... We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, 'Stop it, now!'" Molly Ivins in her final column

"Here lies one whose name was writ in water." Beaumont and Fletcher, "The Philaster", on John Keats' headstone

And lie he did, often, during his narcoleptic, 70 minute-long acceptance speech, the second longest in history (bested only by Bunker Boy's 2016 acceptance speech). In fact, Trump seemed so bored reading off the teleprompter (which shouldn't surprise anyone who's been paying attention to this shambling brain stem), he delivered his speech slowly enough so that Rachel Maddow, who was covering the RNC convention with Nicolle Wallace and Joy Reid, could fact check him in real time (while admitting she couldn't identify and rebut all the lies)

The "Woodstock of germs", as Joe Scarborough called it this morning, was held on the South Lawn of the White House and was so blatantly, thoroughly criminal even the fireworks were illegal, according to former Obama White House Ethics lawyer Norm Eisen. In terms of the sheer depth and scope of seething hatred and race-baiting, it made the notorious 1992 Republican convention (which featured Pat Buchanan at the height of his Fourth Reich form- The late Molly Ivins asked him backstage afterwards how it sounded in the original German) look by conspicuous relief like a Patchouli oil-impregnated, semen-flecked sex orgy. Packed onto the South Lawn were 2000 violations of the Hatch Act (almost but not quite equivalent to the 2200 Americans who'd died from COVID-19 yesterday and Wednesday) with hardly a mask in sight, leaving many wondering what happened to the virtual convention.

The answer is simple: Not content to scream in an empty room as Kimberly Guilfoyle had in her Hunger Games speech on night one, Trump needed to hear that live applause that never seems to fill the black hole where his soul should be and to hell with the consequences.

The entire convention was bloated with right wing arrogance, racist fear-stoking. Mayor Rudy said last night in a pool of sweat that reached past his ankles that if Biden's elected, Black Lives Matter protesters would destroy all of, presumably white, suburbia (which is difficult to imagine, since Biden's 1994 crime bill put a half a million black men in jail for non-violent offenses.).

Jacob Blake's name was never mentioned once during the four day Lieliepalooza. Completely ignored were the 180,000 Americans, a quarter of the world's fatalities, who've died from COVID-19. Hardly a true word was uttered over all four nights from James Madison signing the Declaration of Independence (he didn't) to Ivanka's repurposed Lego story that she projected on to her son's so-called White House Lego model.

It was the same old racism only dressed up not in overalls and MAGA hats but in Brooks Brothers suits and designer evening gowns. The impeached, sued and investigated Trump once again positioned himself as the "law and order" president, and he and he alone could keep the ravaging (black) hordes at bay and all we have to do is pull the lever for him. And at a time when middle America and independent voters are leaving him in droves, at a time when Trump should have been addressing a wider cross section of the American electorate, he instead chose to address not John Q. Public but Johnny Joe Bob Bubba QAnon One Third of the Public.

Please, Bwana, Don't Take Away My Pardon!

One of the most deplorable and pathetic sights of the convention also came last night. That was the result of Trump calling in the note owed by Alice Johnson, whose cocaine life sentence was commuted by Trump two years ago. Last night, Johnson gave an impassioned speech and perhaps knowing full good and well that getting a full pardon from Trump less than 24 hours later depended on the earnest, tragic sincerity of her performance.

And yet dangling that pardon in front of Johnson still couldn't get Trump an actual endorsement from her. But in the end, it didn't matter- She'd played her token role and thanked Bwana for her liberation. Maybe Trump will commemorate the moment in his "Garden of Heroes" depicting Johnson on her knees before Trump holding a broken chain in his tiny hands.

The very fact the right wing speakers didn't mention Kenosha police shooting victim Jacob Blake's name even once, let alone acknowledging and condemning Trump backer Kyle Rittenhouse's act of double murder proves beyond a shadow of a doubt the Trump White House's complete apathy toward addressing let alone changing a single thing about the race war that is raging in this country. The message is clear- If you don't play ball and appease the Godfather, especially if you're black, don't expect decent or equal treatment.

In one of those oddly satisfying acts of fate, the RNC convention, a strange, distilled, homemade version of CPAC, began the same night as the Kenosha protests, except they will last a lot longer in that Wisconsin city of 100,000 and it's only a matter of time before sympathy protests will begin popping up again all over the country just as with the George Floyd protests earlier this summer.

If you want a more honest version of last night's events, just replay Jared Kushner's comments on the NBA playoff strike. Jared's position was clear- "We only have use for black people when they entertain us and you should be grateful to us for what we've let you achieve. Beyond that, shut the fuck up."

But as with everything about this administration, it's all glitz and artifice, with ratings equating with popularity and commutations and pardons handed out like Halloween candy. Even Melania's smile to Ivanka last night was deeply disingenuous, calling to mind her smile to her husband on inauguration day only to frown and bow her head after he turned around.

At the end of the night, the First Family from Grand Daddy Warbucks to the grandkids took up the entire width of the stage like an economy-sized police lineup as the fireworks exploded from the National Mall. Twice Trump's name then "2020" were briefly writ large through the miracle of gunpowder, to be inevitably replaced by the ghostly shadow of the smoke, rent and dispersed by the breeze. It was an unintentionally fitting end to a convention in which idiots full of sound and fury and signifying nothing had strutted across that stage. And, like his name writ in smoke, Trump too will soon be gone.

Interview with Mitzi Szereto

“Mitzi Szereto is an author and anthology editor of multi-genre fiction and non-fiction. She has her own blog Errant Ramblings: Mitzi Szereto’s Weblog and is creator/presenter of the Web channel Mitzi TV, which covers the “quirky” side of London, England. She’s been featured internationally on radio and television and in major newspapers and magazines. She gives talks and readings at book and literature festivals and teaches creative writing workshops around the world. Widely considered the pioneer of the erotic writing workshop in the UK and mainland Europe, she’s also lectured in creative writing at several British universities. Her anthology Erotic Travel Tales 2 is the first anthology of erotica to include a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Mitzi and her celebrity co-author bear Teddy Tedaloo (teddytedaloo.com) divide their time between the UK and the Pacific Northwest.”

This month I thought I’d switch things up a bit and feature an Author of the Month who’s primarily a non-fiction author. So let’s give it up for Mitzi Szereto!

15) First of all, I have to ask, what is with that stuffed animal? What’s his story?

Stuffed animal? Those are fighting words! The ursine chap to whom you refer is none other than celebrity author bear, Teddy Tedaloo. He’s been with me for more than twenty years. We’ve traveled and lived all over the world and are inseparable. In fact, a few years ago we teamed up to write cozy mystery novels, which are part of the series, The Thelonious T. Bear Chronicles. Teddy finally got fed up playing second fiddle in the literary department and decided to establish himself as an author. He’s earned himself quite a following on social media. He also devotes himself to increasing awareness of animal welfare and rescue.

14) For an author of true crime books and anthologies, you could do a lot worse than live in London, which is absolutely steeped in centuries of crime. From Jack the Ripper to the Yorkshire Ripper, which true crimes have fascinated you the most?

That’s a tough one. There are so many, and the number keeps growing. The Ripper case is an obvious one, particularly since we’ve never had a definitive answer as to who the killer (or killers?) was. The Yorkshire Ripper is more contemporary and covers a region of England in which I once lived, though I came along many years after the killings. I was able to revisit the area thanks to a memoir-style true crime piece that CWA Dagger winner Danuta Kot wrote for my book The Best New True Crime Stories: Serial Killers. Danuta is a Sheffield lass, and she encapsulates the time period brilliantly, tying it in with both a personal tragedy and a near-miss encounter with Peter Sutcliffe himself. Charles Manson and his followers are also high on the list of fascinating true crime cases. Aside from the horrific crimes themselves, Manson never even got his hands dirty, instead acting as a puppet-master and having others do his bidding. There’s the cultural aspect too, ie how the Tate/LaBianca murders brought the 1960s to a crushing and brutal end.

13) Another hotbed of crime is your other home in the Pacific Northwest, which saw the likes of Bundy and Gary Ridgway (the Green River Killer.). In fact, one study found there were 277 individual serial killers in Washington state alone since they began keeping records. Did you ever follow Bundy’s footsteps or visit any of the old crime scenes/disposal sites?

The Pacific Northwest does seem to have a high number of serial killers. Perhaps it’s the rain, I don’t know. Having said that, Bundy took his serial murder career on the road, leaving a trail of bodies in states outside the region, including Utah and Colorado, before finally ending up in Florida. I guess it’s impossible to mention the words “true crime” and not have Bundy turn up in the conversation. But to answer your question, no, I didn’t follow in his footsteps or visit the sites of his crimes—unless you count spending a few months in Tallahassee, Florida “visiting crime scenes.” If I’m writing a piece on a specific crime case and it is within my ability to conduct a site visit for research purposes or simply to get a sense of the place, then I will do so. In fact, I did this for the Washington-state spree-killer story I wrote for my new book The Best New True Crime Stories: Small Towns.

12) Every epoch in human history has always been plagued by crime and career criminals. What is it about crime that fascinates you so much that you’re largely devoting the latest phase of your writing career to it?

I’ve always been a reader of crime, especially crime novels with a psychological bent. I’m also partial to TV crime thrillers, particularly series from Britain as well as those that have come out of Scandinavia and other parts of mainland Europe, and South America too. If I think back to my reading and TV/film viewing history, it does seem as if crime has taken up a large percentage of my “entertainment” choices. Perhaps it’s simply that I, like many others, are fascinated by the dark side. Most people who know my work know that I’m very versatile. If I take on a specific genre, I’m going to put a lot of hard work and effort into creating something of value. Today it’s true crime. Tomorrow, who knows?

11) What crimes fascinate you the most? Murders, kidnappings, bank heists?

Murder. But you probably knew I’d say that. Murder is such an extreme act. Trying to get into the mind of someone who has gone so far as to deliberately take another person’s life—well, maybe we just want to figure out why. And sometimes we don’t find an answer.

10) Was there ever a true crime you’d heard of/wrote about that just broke your heart?

There are many tragic cases out there, so many lives lost or damaged for nothing, that the list would be endless to recite. There’s a story in The Best New True Crime Stories: Small Towns that is particularly poignant in this regard. It took place in Trinidad and deals with the aftermath of a murder and the very young children who are left behind, so that’s the freshest in my mind at the moment. When I’m doing my true crime work, I tend to remove myself from the content enough so that I can function as a writer and function as an editor. It’s the only way to keep sane and get the work done. It’s important to me that readers “get” the impact of these crimes and realize that these are real people we’re talking about, not fictional characters in a novel.

9) I noticed on your Facebook wall that you’re writing a novel. I’m guessing it’s a crime novel but that’s all it is- a guess. Can you tell us the throughline?

I never really discuss my works-in-progress in any detail. But I will say that yes, it can come under the crime category, but perhaps in a less in-your-face way. I dislike all these labels that get put on books. I fought this constantly when I was working in “erotica”—and the quote marks are there for a very good reason. I do a lot of cross-genre stuff and blending of genres. So except for my true crime, a substantial portion of my work is not always so easily categorized.

8) Plotter or pantser?

Definitely a pantser. I’ll get an inkling of a plotline—that special something that holds the book together. Then I run with it.

7) Since you’ve written about both, have you ever been able to discover and identify the thin dividing line between sex and crime?

When I was working on The Best New True Crime Stories: Serial Killers, I saw the sexual element crop up again and again, so it’s definitely a driving force with most serial killers. In general terms, I see it being about opportunity and that all-important control aspect. There’s a story in The Best New True Crime Stories: Small Towns about a serial rapist in England, who, after getting hold of a gun, found that it gave him a sense of power he didn’t have previously. Having an opportunity to control someone, to have “power” even if that power is bolstered by a gun, can be like flipping a switch in someone’s mind. A run-of-the-mill crime can end up escalating when perpetrators discover that they can do whatever they want to whomever they want. Not sure if this answers your question, but….

6) What inspired an English girl like you to write the novella Florida Gothic? It reads like a cross between Carl Hiassen and Shirley Jackson.

I actually grew up in South Florida, so I had the background and experience to provide the reader with that all-important sense of place. Maybe some of my girlhood memories were imbedded in my brain like maggots, and they needed to crawl out onto the page. How’s that for a suitable description of the creative process that went into writing this book? I never really know what triggers an idea for a book or a story—it just happens, and it usually comes about randomly. Florida Gothic is very character-driven. As a writer, I enjoy getting into other people’s heads—and the more warped they are, the more fun it is!

5) Describe your typical writing day. Do you write exclusively in notebooks or laptops or both? Do you set daily word goals for yourself and, if so, what is it?

I can only write on a laptop. I do jot down illegible notes here and there when something pops into my head and I want to incorporate it later. But for anything beyond a few words on a scrap of paper, it’s all done on my laptop. I’m not sure I have a typical writing day. I’ve never set a daily word goal, not even when I first started out in the business. Far too much of my time is spent on the business of writing, which obviously includes promoting. There are a lot of things going on behind the scenes that writers need to do these days. We wear many hats and work harder than ever. I have to keep setting aside works-in-progress in order to deal with the business aspects of being an author. We no longer live in a world where publishers spend big money on marketing, promotion, and advertising. That seems to be reserved only for a privileged few. Therefore, the burden now falls heavily on authors to do all these things and more.

4) Have you ever come across a true crime that was simply too heinous or disgusting for you to write about?

Yes, and I always have the choice not to write about it. I’ve also rejected work for my anthologies for this reason. Having said that, it wasn’t so much the content, but rather the way in which it was presented. I realize there are many crimes that are really over-the-top horrendous. But if handled correctly, you can make it, shall we say, reasonably palatable? Of course, everyone has their own threshold of what they can tolerate, so it’s all very subjective.

3) While growing up, who were your favorite authors and which ones would you count among your strongest influences?

I’ve always read widely, so it’s hard to offer up a list of names. I don’t think I’ve been strongly influenced by any particular author. One author I remember reading consistently from my teens is Ruth Rendell. I do credit her for getting me hooked on psychological thrillers—a genre I still love to read and never get tired of. Perhaps we can say that she did have an influence on me, in that I like to incorporate that psychological thriller aspect into my work. If I ever finish this novel I’m writing, you’ll see that aspect playing itself out. I got to meet Baroness Rendell a few years ago in London. Sadly, she’s no longer with us.

2) As you’re from London and are a true crime enthusiast, surely you must have some theory as to who Jack the Ripper was. Thoughts, theories?

A Ripperologist would have some better theories—I’m by no means expert enough to even posit one! Mind you, there are so many theories I doubt we’ll ever have a definitive answer. The Ripper has become like a fictional character, there’s been so much been written and also produced for film/TV about him. Perhaps because it happened so long ago, the Ripper has taken on an almost mythological quality. As a result, everyone seems to have a theory.

1) I’ve asked about your novel in progress. But what else is next on the horizon for Mitzi Szereto?

I’m currently working on the third book in my true crime series; this one is called The Best New True Crime Stories: Well-Mannered Crooks, Rogues & Criminals. It will be out in summer 2021, but it’s already listed for pre-order. If you liked the first two books, you’ll definitely want to get this one. I’m also hammering away on that “is it crime or isn’t it” novel we discussed. My horizon is always very crowded!

If you’re interested in learning more about Mitzi and her work, then please use the links below to learn more:

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Day Three

     It's perhaps no coincidence that the RNC convention has perfectly coincided with the riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin. It's also no coincidence that the 17 year-old neo Nazi who'd shot and killed two people in Kenosha and was allowed by the police to leave the state, is a Trump supporter.
     How ironic that Pence mangled 2 Corinthians and snubbed Jesus in the process?
   Young Republican running for Congress didn't know James Madison never signed the Declaration of Independence but he sure knew where Hitler went on vacation, didn't he?
     Looks as if Lara Trump doesn't know any more about presidential history than our Hitler-loving boy from North Carolina.
     It also looks as if the RNC's ratings are tanking the longer this shit-smeared clown show drags on. The DNC kicked their ass for the third night ratings 16.2 to 10.5.
     The Krescendo of Konservative Krazy concludes tonight. May God help us one and all.

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Gotham City Digest

(Hail to Chief, Comrades.)

Meanwhile, our former ambassador to Russia had this to say.

Well, well, look who was snubbed from another RNC convention. That's because Tim Scott already filled the token role.

And another rat waddles down the mooring rope as the listing ship of state continues to take on swamp water.

John Oliver. Steve Bannon. Fisher Sand & Gravel. Oh my.

The only thing that remains to be determined is whether DeJoy is running a protection racket or a banana republic hostage scheme. Either way, this fat, bald-headed, beady-eyed rat fucker is talking and acting like a mobster.

Just an inconvenient reminder of the kind of people Biden attracts. It doesn't matter if Biden rejected the endorsement. This neo Nazi saw something in Biden he liked and admired.

The simple reason why rigging a presidential election is virtually impossible.

The Biden administration will ‘shoot the prisoners,’” according to Bunker Boy, Jr.

Meme intermission.

These fascists talked to these crooks but not THE NATION. Typical.

Dr. Evil with a cartoonish combover. Yes, he wanted to use a death ray on immigrants.

Wait a minute, didn't DeJoy at first say he hadn't? I'm sooooo confused!

Fear, belligerence and lies. It's all these grifters got.

Monday night, a sweaty, greasy, coked-up Fredo assured us that his father loves us all and we're all invited into the Big Red Tent.

This was after it came out that Daddy Warbucks floated the idea of selling Puerto Rico or trading it for Greenland because Puerto Rico was "poor and dirty."

So, while Pam Bondi was screaming last night about Biden's nepotism, CNN drily put up this graphic...

It's about time this fucking hillbilly got arrested.

"You should be grateful we're accusing you of stealing your own store!"

This is what happens when you have a weak, pro-Russian stooge in the Oval Office. Our soldiers are now getting injured by their Russian counterparts.

How a one day delay in the mail could get Trump reelected. Very well worth reading.

A little old but my youngest kid Jake made the local paper August first. He's in the middle. I'm so damned proud of him. His mother would've been proud of him, too.

QAnon, if you're listening...

Pompous Maximus: "Do as I say, not as I do."

The party of personal responsibility.

Police unions aren't part of the actual labor force. Never was, not now and never will be.

Are all Republican men stalkers, rapists and perverts? Asking for 170,000,000 female friends.

So, tell me again how any of this is any different from Steve Bannon's scam in We Build the Wall?