I like cake but I don’t want to eat it every day
If you’re not a fan of my daily rants, I get that. Some people want social media to be an escape, an oasis of positivity or just fun entertainment. Nothing wrong with that.
I see it this way: My country slides into fascism only once, and it’s my duty to #resist in every way possible, from calling my senators and congresslizard to volunteering for the loyal opposition and, yes, evangelizing online. I plan to continue these posts for as long as I can stomach doing it, or until I’m banned from this platform … or arrested.
Which brings me to today’s subject.
I’m on all the major social media platforms – this one, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, Twitter (yes, I still call it “Twitter”), TikTok, YouTube – and it seems in all those venues, I’m surrounded by pain and suffering. WAIT! Don’t be one of those condescending twits who says, “The algorithm gives you what you ask for.” I’m aware of that. I’m also aware that I happen to give a shit about things. It ain’t all sunshine, lollipops and rainbows.
This social media gloom is coming from people who’ve lost their jobs – they’ve been laid off or fired. Government workers, civil servants, former park service personnel, nuclear facility workers, aid workers, employees of the FAA and so on. I guess what infuriates me more than anything else is the reason for these firings. They’re not being done because the nation has hit a wall and the budget must be balanced or the debt paid down.
It’s so the Republicans can take the money they save by dismantling the government and give it to people like Musk, Zuckerberg and Bezos in the form of a big, fat, juicy tax cut.
They’re not balancing the budget or paying down the debt. They’re making it worse, borrowing another $4 trillion to $5 trillion. Did you know every year, a chunk of the federal budget amounting to about 17 percent goes to PAY THE INTEREST on the debt?
I wonder just how much of this punishment we’re expected to take? They’re wrecking the economy, destroying our foreign relations and making life in this country damn near impossible for anybody who earns less than a couple of hundred grand a month. What are the rest of us supposed to do? Die?
Yesterday, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in protest of what’s happening in this country. You barely saw mention of it in the media. Rachel Maddow – I hear she’s giving the protests extensive coverage. The media are focused on the weather, not the upheaval in our government.
It’s massively frustrating, and it’s depressing. I was hoping in my old age I could live in a country that cared about people, and the future. Certainly not this bitter kleptocracy.
I like cake, guys, but I’m not going to eat it every day.
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 .
Imagine you’re getting divorced.
Your ex, their lawyer, your lawyer, and the judge are all meeting. You aren’t there. You weren’t invited. You don’t know what they’re saying. You don’t know what they’re deciding. You have no idea what the future holds for you.
That’s the situation Ukraine faces with the shameful meeting between the United States and Russia in Saudi Arabia right now.
Basically, America and Russia are carving up Ukraine, just like Britain, France and Germany carved up Czechoslovakia in 1938. It’s the Munich Agreement, 2025 Edition.
After they’re done with Ukraine, then what. Are the Baltic States next? Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, which by the way are members of NATO. If Putin sends his tanks into the Baltic States, will NATO fight back, especially if it doesn’t have the backing of the United States, which it probably won’t.
What about Poland? If Putin moves into Poland I know the Poles will fight, but will NATO help them?
Maybe this is what Donald Trump wants. Maybe he wants a conflict between Europe and Russian, which would weaken both parties and leave China as the only serious obstacle to American global hegemony.
I’m just speculating here, just spitballing. But in one possible scenario, the world could be rendered in Donald Trump’s image.
That scares the hell out of me.
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 .
I submit DOGE itself is a significant source of waste and fraud.
It is at least a duplication of services, as another government agency already exists that is tasked with finding wasteful spending: the GAO.
The GAO, or Government Accountabity Office, has existed for decades and has a verifiable record of saving taxpayer dollars. For instance, last year the GAO saved American taxpayers almost $70 billion in wasteful spending. Since 1999 GAO has targeted over $1 trillion in waste.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump and Elon Musk have not revealed one penny of legitimate fraud or waste. When they are asked to prove their bombastic claims, they produce lists of agencies and individuals who they don’t like. Hate to say it but just because you don’t like an agency or individual doesn’t mean they’re guilty of fraud or waste.
These are enemies lists and nothing more. In fact, some of the names on these lists are agencies or individuals who exercise regulatory authority over Elon Musk and the conduct of his business interests, which suggests they are being eliminated so that Musk’s businesses can operate without oversight or accountability.
Folks, I can’t overemphasize the danger this country faces at the moment. We have a president who may or may not be cognitively impaired and has handed the keys to the government to a foreign national who is changing the nation’s digital infrastructure in ways nobody knows or understands.
If this isn’t a recipe for catastrophe, I don’t know what it.
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 .
I’ve been watching the national news the past couple of weeks, and I haven’t seen any significant coverage of the protests against fascism I know are taking place around the country – I’ve seen the video clips and mention of them online.
In fact, I watched ABC News last night and their lead story was …
Snow.
Um, hello, ABC News. Guess what? It’s winter. It snows. It snowed last year, it’s been snowing this year, and I’ll bet it snows next year.
But it’s not every day your country goes up in flames, is it.
I got so mad I went to ABC’s account on twitter – yes, I still call it twitter – and left them a message, something like this:
“Why aren’t you covering the protests against fascism in this country? Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, is supposed to be a national day of protests. DO YOUR JOBS!”
I left the same message for NBC and CBS News. Then I went to their Facebook pages and left the same message.
The nearest protest is in Tallahassee, which is too far to drive. Plus my knee isn’t doing so great today.
But maybe this small act of #resist will do some good. We’ll see. I haven’t heard anything from them yet.
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 .
Secretary of Defense Pet Hegseth. Image by Gage Skidmore. CC license
Our new secretary of defense, that drunk, Pete Hegseth, doesn’t want to do what other secretaries of defense have done and find his own housing. He wants to live in military housing.
And get this – he wants taxpayers to give him $137,000 to spruce up the place a bit, including $50,000 for what he calls an ’emergency’ paint job.
I can see how THAT conversation went:
‘Taupe? The walls are painted taupe? Taupe won’t cover the vomit stains from my three-day benders.’
Fifty thousand dollars to paint a house? He’ll fit right in at the Department of Defense.
Hey, Elon! You still trying to find some waste and fraud in the government? Gotcha some right here. Yeah, send your little teenaged bottom boys over here to check it out.
Fifty thousand dollars for paint.
Must be that fancy, gold-plated paint.
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 .