Is she the Minister of Cruelty, Minister of Ignorance, or both?
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristie Noem. Image by Matt Johnson. CC license.
Ah, Kristie Noem. President Scarface’s secretary of Homeland Security.
I don’t know whether to call her Minister of Ignorance or Minister of Cruelty. She seems to embody both qualities.
I’m sure you remember the story about Kristie Noem and her mean dog. If not, let me give you a brief recap:
Kristie Noem had this dog she didn’t like. She said it was a mean dog, and it was unteachable.
Unlike most people, who would have taken the dog to an animal shelter so that somebody else could adopt and try to rehabilitate it, Kristie Noem chose a different path. She took the dog out to the back 40 and unalived it with a pew-pew.
That would seem to tilt the scales in favor of Minister of Cruelty.
But then of course there was the other day at a Senate hearing where she was asked to define the term “habeas corpus” and she couldn’t. In fact, the definition she gave was the exact opposite of the meaning of the term. You would think the head of a significant law enforcement agency like Homeleand Security would know what the term “habeas corpus” means, but she did not.
That would seem to tilt the scales in favor of Minster of Ignorance.
In fact, cruelty and ignorance are defining characteristics of the entire President Scarface Cabinet.
You remember when Scarface was running for office and said he would hire only the very best people? Well, believe it or not, that was a lie. I know. It boggles the mind. But that’s the truth. He was lying to you.
He has only three requirements of his Cabinet officers:
1. They must be excruciatingly ignorant and cruel, and I’m combining those two characteristics because they seem to go hand-in-hand. Ignorance and cruelty are the defining characteristics for the entire MAGA movement. There are exceptions, of course, but for the most part, the MAGAs are ignorant and cruel.
2. They must be willing to lie. Some of them are very good liars. Kar-Kar Leavitt and that Stepford Wife attorney general, Pam Bondi – excellent liars. Unsurpassed in lying. But then you have others, like Secretary of State Marco Rubio. I’ve actually met Marco Rubio in person. The man hasn’t had an original thought in his life, and there’s not one humorous bone in his body, but he’s not a very good liar. You can see it in his eyes. When he lies, he lacks conviction. He looks like a man trying to endure the unendurable.
3. They must be unswervingly loyal to the Master. They have to be willing to take one for the gipper, to fall on their swords, to do anything and everything to protect the Master, because this is not about serving the nation or its people. This is about keeping President Scarface out of jail while simultaneously fattening his wallet.
So there you have it, folks. The Unholy Trinity of President Scarface’s Cabinet: Ignorance and cruelty, a willingness to lie, and unswerving loyalty to the Master.
When this is over, if it ever ends, there may likely be some kind of Nuremburg. These people will testify that they were only following orders.
No they weren’t.
They were not simply following orders.
They were willing, even gleeful participants in the crimes that are taking place in Washington, D.C., even as we speak.
And they deserve every ounce of justice that comes their way.
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
The Blue Diamond Gallery. Creative Commons license.
As you know, I am no friend to President Cankersore.
In fact, I believe his administration is the most corrupt, the most criminal, the most despicable administration in the history of the United States. These people make Richard Nixon look like Mother Theresa.
Sometimes people will ask me: Aren’t you afraid of them coming after you?
Well, to answer that question I would say I guess the possibility exists although I don’t lose sleep over it. I think they’ve got bigger fish to fry than some gassy old white-haired guy who can’t stay awake later than 9 o’clock at night.
Besides, I think it’s my duty as an American to speak up and speak out, because if I’m not willing to do that, how can I expect anyone else to?
If we all take the attitude of standing back, remaining silent and being safe, and letting the other guy stick his neck out, within a year or so we could be goosestepping down Main Street giving the one-armed salute to Dear Leader.
I don’t want to live like that, and I bet you don’t either.
Ask yourself this question: If not you, then who?
Speak up and speak out, because if you don’t, in the near future, you may not have a choice.
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
Donald J. Trump, aka Mr. Compassion. Image by Gage Skidmore. CC license.
That was a really nice statement posted by President Liver Fluke when it became known Joe Biden has prostate cancer. For a moment – for a brief, shining moment – I had to ask myself: Have I misjudged that creature? Because beneath that withered, atrophied, Sunny D-stained exterior I thought I detected the beating heart of a human being, a whiff of compassion.
Well, THAT didn’t last long.
Within hours President Liver Fluke had confirmed yet again that he’s the human equivalent of a butt plug. He and the MAGAts began speculating about a cover-up. How could Joe Biden’s cancer diagnosis go so long without anybody knowing about – especially since he’s married to a doctor!
I think the next time President Liver Fluke, or any of the MAGAt males for that matter, need to have their prostates checked, they should make an appointment with Dr. Seuss. He’s a doctor, isn’t he?
While we’re talking about medical cover-ups, when are the MAGAts going to address the issue of President Liver Fluke’s obvious dementia? When is somebody going to talk about that? Clearly he’s suffering from cognitive confusion. No human being says the things he says without having a brain that looks like Swiss cheese.
I expect any moment he’ll start raving about other crazy things like alien abductions and being anally probed. Maybe that’s why he hates immigrants so much – because they’re illegal aliens who might keelhaul him off to their spaceship and stick a probe up his butt.
If that happened, at least he’d know how the rest of us feel.
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
Image by NOAA.
May 15 marks the beginning of hurricane season in North America, and my concern is that this year will serve to illustrate the disservice provided to the residents of the Gulf of Mexico coastline and the Eastern Seaboard by the Trump regime.
Hurricane season typically runs from June 1 to November 30, but due to the unusual number of storms forming in May, the National Hurricane Center has begun to post its daily tropical weather updates starting on May 15.
This is a direct result of climate change, something Donald Trump has dismissed as a hoax.
Today, storms are forming in May. I expect the day will come when hurricanes form every month of the year.
Additionally, the number of storms forming is increasing. The ferocity of storms is increasing. Episodes of rapid intensification are increasing. Hurricanes are moving more slowly and producing more intense rainfall.
These changes are a result of climate change.
I know as sure as I’m sitting here that some people will, as Trump has, deny the reality of climate change. I encourage you not to listen to them. Climate change is real, it’s happening, and human beings are causing it.
This year is expected to be a more active hurricane season, a condition that has existed since 1995, when virtually every season became hyperactive. What isn’t known is the quality of forecasting this year.
The Trump regime, and Elon Musk, cut 1,300 jobs from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, parent agency of the National Hurricane Center. We don’t know if those cuts will affect the accuracy of hurricane forecasts, but officials say the number of recon flights into storms will most likely be reduced, and that’s how we get the best data.
We also don’t know how the government will respond to a hurricane disaster. That’s because the Trump regime and Musk have cut hundreds of jobs from FEMA. Will the agency be able to handle a disaster like Hurricane Ivan? We don’t know.
Additionally, if you live in Florida and use the state-provided pool for windstorm insurance, you should be aware the state is one strong hurricane away from insolvency. There may not be any money for you to repair your house.
My advice to anybody living along the Gulf of Mexico coastline and the Eastern Seaboard is to be prepared. Have your evacuation plans in place, and your supplies on hand – water, food, medications and batteries sufficient to last you several days should you be without electricity or transportation.
Climate change is real, and the storms are coming.
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
Image courtesy of Marvel Studios and Disney.
Starring Florence Pugh as unhappy Yelena Belova, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as evil Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Hannah John-Kamen as space warping Ava Starr, David Harbour as lovable Alexei Shostakov the Red Guardian, Sebastian Stan as Congressman Bucky Barnes with the super arm, Wyatt Russell as Captain America wannabe John Walker, Lewis Pullman as bipolar Robert Reynolds, Geraldine Viswanathan as implementer of evil Mel, and others. Directed by Jake Schreier. 2 hours 6 minutes. Rated PG-13. Theatrical release.
Plot summary: Three former foes, the reformed Winter Soldier, and a father figure-like limo driver team up to help Bob (aka Robert), a Super Man-like personage, lift himself from the pit of despair to keep himself, themselves, and at least a part of New York from getting consumed by the Blackness of Past Bad Deeds and Regrets which he generated.
Mladen’s take
This feels weird. I’m writing my first Movie Faceoff without the Face Off. Del, for some mealy and vague reason, chose not to see “Thunderbolts*”. Too bad, Stone, it’s a pretty good piece of moviemaking. And, yeah, it helped that Dusty and I saw the film in a Dolby-equipped theater. Lots of gunfire, explosions, concrete fracturing, metal twisting, and a crane falling from great height make for terrific entertainment when you can feel the noise throughout your body.
“Thunderbolts*” is an odd superhero film. Sure, even the B-tier superheroes portrayed in this movie are way more capable than your average Joe but, if the film has any message about the wonders of having exceptional power, it’s this: One’s mental health is important, too. It wasn’t until I mentally accepted the movie’s premise that I was able to sit back, legs reclined, to enjoy the vast chaos unfolding before my eyes on a two-story screen.
Two characters in particular made the movie enjoyable, though all the acting is good.
Louis-Dreyfus’s de Fontaine, the director of the CIA and mastermind of a program to make the next superhero because the Avengers are gone, is an immaculate evil-doer. De Fontaine takes the hunger for power and her self-image as America’s savior to the next level. She plays with fire again and again without getting burned. Hell, she even tries to overpower Bob through the con games of persuasion, motherly guilt, and intellectual bravado and, get this, survives. Impressive. Why? Because Bob is starting to realize he doesn’t have to listen to anybody about anything. Why? Because he can kick anybody’s ass anytime. In fact, he can kick multiple asses at the same time as a neat fight sequence about half-way through “Thunderbolts*” demonstrates.
Harbour as the Red Guardian is an ox of a man with a heart as big. He also has a sense of humour, ah, humor. He is the film’s light-hearted comic relief, extracting optimism from a flood of bad news at every turn and spraying the hope again and again that everything will be OK. The Red Guardian does all of that without getting campy. Stick around for the two scenes as the credits roll. He’s great in both.
I suppose the film’s focus on the debilitating effects of traumatic childhood events and the feeling of purposelessness in adult life should be commended. That both are central to the plot of “Thunderbolts*”, a film that falls squarely in the superhero genre, is captivating, sort of. Maybe it’s even cathartic. Many people believe what they see in movies is true. A superhero suffering from mental illness shows regular folks that depression can afflict anyone, that it’s not a weakness or a character flaw. But, in the film, the effort to depict the psychological impact of a troubled mind as a tangible fixture of, I don’t know, the Marvel multiverse, leads to confusing imagery and hyper-kinetic action amid the clutter of moving rapidly from one space to another with intermittent bouts of shattering glass and walls disappearing and such. It is a jumble of “Inception”-like confusion. Thank goodness for the Dolby-amplified noise that came along with those scenes. The sound effects rendered those parts of the film only mildly frustrating.
Also, I’m irritated by the asterisk in the title of the movie. Anyone know what it means? I didn’t see a footnote at the bottom of the movie poster or as the credits rolled explaining the asterisk. So, I’m guessing that the asterisk provokes the question about what’s next for Marvel. Come on, Disney, are the gang of five mostly do-gooders in “Thunderbolts*” the new Avengers or are they not?
Film grade: B
Mladen Rudman is a former journalist and technical writer. Del Stone Jr. is a former journalist and writer.
To quote MAGA, “The Ford Motor Company is bringing back four factories, and 25,000 good-paying jobs as a result of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“But go ahead, liberals. Keep telling us tariffs don’t work.”
Well, OK.
The Ford Motor Company is NOT bringing back four factories, and 25,000 good-paying jobs, as a result of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
It’s not bringing back four factories, and 25,000 good-paying jobs at all.
That story is a fake, a hoax, a joke story posted on a humor website.
But go ahead, MAGA. Keep telling us tariffs work as you stand there, looking like a complete idiot, waiting for Rapunzel to let her hair down.
You people are ignorant.
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
The other day, as President Brandon gleefully slashed funding for NPR and PBS, he posed a rhetorical question:
Why should a coal miner have to pay for PBS?
Ignoring the obvious implication that coal miners are too stupid to enjoy anything as intellectual as PBS, I would point out that when you use that kind of rhetorical gambit, you’d better be prepared to respond to that kind of rhetorical gambit.
So I have a few questions for President Brandon.
Why should I have to pay for you to play golf?
Why should I have to pay for your wife to live in splendor in New York City?
Why should I have to pay for a South African billionaire to wreck the government and steal our data?
Why should I have to pay the salaries of the criminals, morons, imbeciles, thieves, liars, cheats and scumbags you’ve hired to work in your administration?
You see, President Brandon, I don’t mind some of my tax dollars going toward any effort by our government to educate and ennoble the population. I feel like an educated and ennobled population makes for an educated and ennobled society, and that’s the kind of society I want to live in. You wouldn’t know anything about an educated and ennobled society, because you don’t know anything about education or nobility.
You’re just trash.
And by the way, President Brandon. I’ll bet there are lots of coal miners who enjoy PBS and NPR.
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
Image courtesy of Warner Brothers.
“Sinners” Starring Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton, Saul Williams, Andrene Ward-Hammond and others. Directed by Ryan Coogler. 2 hours, 17 minutes. Rated R. Theatrical release.
Plot summary: Twin brothers Smoke and Stack return to their Mississippi hometown to open a juke joint after working for Al Capone in Chicago. That decision leads Smoke, Stack, and several of their relatives and friends into a confrontation – not just with racial prejudice and the poverty of Depression-era America, but a more sinister, otherworldly oppressive force.
Del’s take
Ryan Coogler channels “From Dusk Till Dawn” and “In the Heat of the Night” to make statements about racial prejudice, poverty and oppression with his new horror movie “Sinners,” out now in theaters.
The prolific writer, producer and director of films like Marvel’s “Black Panther” series, “Fruitville Station,” the “Creed” movies and even “Space Jam,” pulls no punches with his look at racism in Depression-era Mississippi, and the transformative power of music both within and outside the black community.
“Sinners” is a competent and entertaining movie, and if it sounds like I’m damning it with faint praise you are correct. While I think “Sinners” is a good movie, it has problems which I think stand in the way of it being a great movie.
The story follows twin brothers Smoke and Stack, both played in a remarkable performance by Michael B. Jordan, who have returned to their Mississippi roots to open a juke joint with money they “earned” by working for gangster Al Capone. They buy an old sawmill owned by a local white supremist and transform it into a backwoods dive bar after recruiting several of their former friends, family members and lovers to help.
But on opening night, music emanating from the joint reaches the wrong ears – a troika of vampires led by a centuries-old Irish bloodsucker, Remmick, who lays siege to the bar. Before the night is over scores of newly converted creatures of the dark are stalking the surviving humans with the intention of creating a “new world” where everyone is “equal” – equally dead, that is.
“Sinners” in some ways resembles “From Dusk Till Dawn,” the George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino and Danny Trejo vampire thriller of the 1990s, in that it uses the premise of a siege at a backwoods bar to explore complicated themes. But “Sinners” is more aspirational, sometimes poetic, sometimes confuddling.
Suffused throughout is music – not just blues but other kinds of music – hymns, Irish folk songs and the kind of raucous, dance-worthy music one would expect from a juke and jive joint. Clearly the message is that music possesses the power to transform and uplift. But the sword of song has two edges in that can also enslave and oppress. That part of the commentary, I think, is represented by the vampires, who appreciate a good dance tune themselves.
And what of those bloodsuckers? They’re symbols – for slavery, discrimination, prejudice, and the sense of futility that overcomes a group of people who are hopelessly oppressed. They offer an egalitarian future where everybody is hobbled by the same, soul-denying limitations. I see parallels between that message and the choices we Americans are being forced to make by an oppressive and autocratic regime that would have us all become well-behaved consumers of state-approved commodities, services and ideas.
Performances are mostly very good. As I said, Michael B. Jordan is remarkable as twin brothers Smoke and Stack, somehow evincing two distinctly separate personalities for the men. Miles Caton as the callow Sammie, a gifted guitarist and singer who throws in with Smoke and Stack despite his pastor father’s admonition that music will lead him down a sinful path, is also effective. My personal favorite was Wunmi Mosaku, Smoke’s former lover, a hoodoo practitioner who reminds us that Smoke is more than just a gangster. She impressed me with her authenticity and sympathy.
The score was terrific, a memorable, powerful presence in the movie. Be sure to stay in your seat through the credits – a Marvel-style coda, this one musical, awaits.
But the movie is not without its problems.
“Sinners” takes place during the height of the Great Depression yet everybody seems remarkably flush with cash, and nobody appears to be suffering. The movie conveyed little to none of the desperate poverty of that era, a sticking point for me. Also, the dialogue was often hard to hear or understand, maybe because I’m unfamiliar with black idioms, maybe because my hearing ain’t what it used to be. Full disclosure: I use closed-captioning for all videos I watch on Netflix, Apple TV and Prime.
I think director Coogler failed to resist the temptation of stereotyping, both black and white. The whites were a little too Southern for my sensibilities, if that makes sense. I understand the concept of murderously racist people but I’ve lived in the South practically my entire life and rarely have I encountered anyone like that. Meanwhile, even the black ne’er do wells leaned a bit saintly.
I couldn’t figure out what I call the “Irish connection.” Irish vampires, Irish music, Irish beer … what did it mean? Was Coogler drawing parallels between the black community and how Irish immigrants were treated in this country? I couldn’t decide.
My biggest gripe is that “Sinners” is too ambitious. Its message about music would have sufficed by itself, but to attack oppression, racism, poverty – many of the themes of human suffering – was almost too head-spinning for me to take in as a viewer. Kudos to Coogler for trying, but I was confused by the different elements competing for my heart.
Overall, “Sinners” is well put together and holds your attention for its 2-hour, 17-minute run time. Mladen and I caught a Saturday afternoon matinee and while the theater wasn’t empty, it was sparsely attended – nothing at all like our viewing of “A Minecraft Movie.” I believe all movies should be seen in a theater, at least the first time. We have the rest of our lives to stream them on little boxes in our hands.
I give “Sinners” a score of B on the strength of its ambitions, music, and technical achievements. I’m lowering my score for some logic and structural flaws.
It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty good.
Mladen’s take
The best musical made to date is poignant “Fiddler on the Roof.” The best vampire film made to date is a stunner from, of all places, Sweden. “Let the Right One In” combines friendship and menace with the most thoughtful end-of-movie slaughter recorded on celluloid.
“Sinners,” which Del correctly described to me immediately after we saw the film as a vampire musical but then avoided using it in his review, threatens neither for the title. “Sinners” is watchable. The music is terrific. Jordan handled the dual role of playing Smoke and Stack very nicely. All the supporting actors were top notch. Still, “Sinners” left me somewhat dazed and a bit unsatisfied.
Let us start with the movie’s violence. There was too much arterial bleeding depicted. It seemed like every other wound was obliged to squirt a lot for a long time. Be it a bite or a gun shot, the blood pulsed from bodies in streams like someone turning a water spigot on and off again and again. Necks gushed. Limbs sprayed. One abdomen geysered from a place where there are no major arteries. Sheesh. And, yeah, there’s a scene where, I don’t know, a dozen bad guys with pistols, revolvers, rifles, and shotguns were able to hit one of our protagonists only once and that was late in the gun battle. He, of course, put an end to all of them.
Also, there were two gratuitous sexual encounters in the movie. In the first instance, a deep, soulful kiss would have better represented two lovers finding each other after a long absence than the mating scene that unfolded. The second encounter was perfectly pointless.
Maybe the most irritating part of the movie was that a major plot point was revealed after some of the credits rolled. This wasn’t to set up sequel. The reveal actually had a direct link to the movie that had ended a couple of minutes earlier.
“Sinners” touches many themes. A young man torn between chasing a dream and staying on the right side of God as his preacher father interpreted God’s will by referencing the Bible. Slavery was abolished after the Civil War but Jim Crow reigned in Mississippi, where Smoke and Stack opened a juke joint in 1932 so that blacks could enjoy a bit of fun and freedom after the cotton had been picked. Is it better to stay human and endure social injustice spawned by something as biologically inconsequential as skin color or should I sacrifice my soul for a shot at righting wrongs such as the Ku Klux Klan?
“Sinners” illuminates or tackles these issues and others. But, that’s also what makes the film somewhat viewer unfriendly. It tries to do too much. At one point, the movie sallies deep into the past and far into the future and I’m like what the hell just happened?
“Sinners” is a movie with a conscience. It offers a unique, ambitious perspective on Mankind’s fallibilities. “Sinners” is also tough to follow, hitting the filmgoer with so much kinetic energy that they’re knocked off balance and beyond the capacity to absorb the issues it raises.
The movie is a B-.
Mladen Rudman is a former journalist and technical writer. Del Stone Jr. is a former journalist and writer.
This disgusting piece of trash is allegedly responsible for the rampage at Florida State University yesterday that cost two people their lives and left several others wounded.
It seems as often as not the people behind these tragedies are young, white, aggrieved males who have embraced a philosophy that celebrates hate, rage and violence.
It’s not just a cult. It’s a cancer, and it’s eating away at our society.
God, we need a cure … and soon.
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
Image by Jessica Rodriguez Rivas. CC license.
Those morons in Congress went ahead and passed the SAVE Act.
I’ve told you about that stupid law in the past. It makes it damn near impossible for certain groups of people to vote because it requires you to have a copy of your birth certificate and your legal name has to match the name on your birth certificate.
It’s based on a law that was passed in Kansas a few years ago. That law resulted in mass chaos – tens of thousands of eligible voters were denied the right to vote. It was eventually found to be unconstitutional and the entire shitshow was dumped in the garbage can.
People who don’t have access to their birth certificates, people who were born in other countries or came from war zones, people here who born at hospitals that have since closed and they just can’t find their records – they wouldn’t be able to register to vote.
And women, who have gotten married and assumed their husband’s surname – they wouldn’t be able to vote either because their name no longer matches the name that’s on their birth certificate.
Why would the Republicans want to deny these people access to the ballot?
Because they tend to vote Democratic.
But this time the Republicans appear to have shot themselves in the foot, and here’s why:
It IS true that in general, women tend to vote for more Democrats than Republicans. But married women tend to vote for more Republicans than Democrats. I don’t know if that’s because they’re trying to please their idiot husbands, or if just being around men makes them stupid. But they do tend to vote for more Republicans than Democrats. And by making it more difficult for married women to vote, the Republicans in the House of Representatives have denied themselves access to a significant constituency.
You guys didn’t really think this one through, did you?
It doesn’t really matter because the Senate will never pass it, and even if the Senate passes it and Trump signs it into law, some judge will rule it unconstitutional.
We’ve just got to rediscover that dumb wheel time and time again.
This is why they teach history in school!
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .