Kimmel's Verses Versus Colbert's

Once again, the Smithereens jury box has declared late-night host Jimmy Kimmel guilty of crafting the best "episode taglines" of the week—mostly directed at Donald Trump, the Ochre Ogre. Stephen Colbert's writers came in a distant second, with the following titles: 

Colbert: The Stoned Age, To Sketch a Predator, The Truth Is…. 

Kimmel: Convict-in-Chief, Commander-in-Thief, The Fraudfather, Don Whoreleone. 

Grounds for Disagreement
Having spent a lotta years crafting and editing articles for eco-groups like Friends of the Earth, Earth Island Institute, and Pesticide Action Network, I've become a tad sensitive about references to the rich soil of our dear planet Earth. Call me hypersensitive, but I experienced a cringe recently while reading a fund-raising letter from one of my fave eco-groups. 

After a sentence praising thoughtful stewardship for the soil, the author praised "agriculture that is grounded in the principles of agroecology and the farmers who are paving the way for a more sustainable future" (italics added). 

When I'm addressing the sanctity of nature's living soil, I'm happy to feel "grounded" but my eyes hit the brakes when I spot a road-sign reading: "paving the way." You don't honor the soil by paving it over. 

Related kvetch: I hardly make it through a month without reading some otherwise well-grounded earth-lover's proud boast to have accomplished some "ground-breaking" achievement. 

Coca Cola Knew 

As a founding member of Berkeley's Ecology Center (and later as a member of the Center's board) I was gobsmacked to discover that whole generations of ecoistas had been scammed by a major recycling myth—conjured by Coca Cola and the US Petro Giants—that claimed mountains of plastic waste was being "100% recycled." 

While that "full-recycling" standard used to be true—back when Coke was sold globally in reusable glass bottles—plastic recycling has proven to be an historic fraud. 

Fact is, while the plastics industry has produced 7 billion tons of waste over the past decades, less than 10% of this plastic trash has actually been recycled. Most of the plastics that eco-conscious shoppers dutifully carried to recycling bins wound up being burned or dumped in landfills. 

As consumer activist Jim Hightower notes: "the plastic-industrial-complex has been like Big Tobacco and Big Oil—intentionally fabricating, promoting and profiting from a mass-market scam for decades." It's not surprising that Big Plastic has followed in the faux-steps of Big Oil. After all, plastic products are by-products of the world's oil titans. 

Big Plastic is currently on track to increase plastic production a whopping 300%. That's good news for Big Oil, which plans to start building 42 new plastic plants in the US—24 of them in Texas, conveniently close to major petroleum operations. 

Adding eco-insult to injury, Big Oil has also profited from Big Plastic's container con-job—raking in more money from the sales of tons of costly fuels consumed by fleets of massive urban recycling trucks and millions of gallons of maritime fuel used to power ships hauling plastic wastes for "disposal" in China and other distant dump sites. 

With microplastics now having been found in every living creature on Earth (including humans),175 countries pledged to introduce UN rules to halt plastic pollution. The crackdown was supposed to happen at a UN conference in Canada on April 30, 2024. Why didn't it happen? According to The Guardian: "Developed countries [were] accused of bowing to lobbyists." 

Fashion Plates
Some personalized license plates spotted about town.
GACE 5
CT1ON31
RA FI L (Rafael)
EK BLK
2FIVE1
JOBDONE 

Bumpersnickers
Support Wildlife. Have a Party
I Have No Idea Where I'm Going
Don't Tailgate Me. I Have Rabies
This Is It. I Don't Have Another Car
My Mother Was The Travel Agent For Guilt Trips
Roses are red, violets are blue, I'm schizophrenic, and so am I! 

"Pieces of Children": Made in the US 

After reading a slew of news reports about the horrific airstrike on homeless refugees in Rafah, there are three words that will haunt me forever: 

"... pieces of children...." 

After the media reported on Israel's deadly attack on a refugee camp in Rafah that killed 45 civilians and published horrific images of "burned bodies, beheaded children and civilians frantically attempting to escape," I began sending the same three-word message to the White House on a daily basis. The note read: "pieces of children." 

Weapons experts who visited the incinerated remains of "Peace Camp 1" confirmed that the deadly airstrike was the result of a US-made GBU-39 "small diameter" bomb manufactured by Boeing. Looking at videos of the weapon, it was possible to read the serial number on the bomb's metal tail. 

Using a clearly visible street address and zip-code, I went online and tracked the source of the weapon to H. R. Textron in Valencia, California. Here is the full contact information: H. R. Textron, 25200 Rye Canyon Rd, Valencia, CA, 91355. (661) 294-6000. Category: Aerospace Research and Development. https://aerospace-research-facilities.cmac.ws › h-r-textron 

AI Trump 

Here is a political "deep fake" to commemorate Donald Trump's conviction on multiple counts of criminal acts. 

Crockett's a Rocket!
And, on the off-chance you haven't seen one of Jasmine Crockett's SixB videos yet, here's a couple to round out the day. 

Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Body Congresswoman 

Gospel Version of “Bleach-blonde” Clapback!