Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It’s not pie
Image by Flickr user Steve Bott. Creative Commons license. https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevebott/3580742598/
Have I talked about this subject before?
I may have talked about this subject before and if I have, please forgive me. They say that as you grow older, your memory is the second thing to go. I don’t remember what the first is.
At any rate, I’ve noticed that the people who leave nasty comments on my posts all seem to have a number of similar characteristics. This would be among the small pool who actually post photos of themselves in their profiles, because in many cases their profile photo is simply an empty placeholder, or a photo of a pickup truck, a hound dog or a burning cross.
But among those who actually do post an image of themselves I’ve noticed something unusual.
They all look like me.
That’s a horrifying thought, isn’t it? But it’s true, they all look like me. They’re all the same race, gender, age (give or take 10 years), and they’ve all got that Q-Tip stuff growing on the top of their head.
There are some noticeable differences, however. Their faces are ruddy, like a steam pipe about to explode. The capillaries in their noses are herniated, probably from alcohol abuse or sniffing the pharmaceutical of their choice. Their political and sexual orientations are 180 degrees opposite of mine. I care about people. They care about money. I care about the future. They care about the past.
But probably the biggest difference between them and me is that they all seem angry. Honest to God, they look like the before photo in an ad for Dulcolax. And I can’t figure out what the hell they’re so mad about. They’ve had the best of everything – the best education, the best jobs, they make the most money, and they’ve had the most opportunities. What are they so pissed-off about?
I’ve decided it’s because they’ve been told people like me are trying to take away their rights. Fox News, OAN, Newsmax, and similar “news” sites have been busy making money by scaring them into thinking I’m coming for their rights.
I have one of those magnetic stickers on the back of my car that reads: Equal rights for others doesn’t mean fewer rights for you. It’s not pie.
I would encourage my older, white, male antagonists to sit back, relax, and take a load off. Nobody’s coming for your rights. Allowing us to have the same rights as you doesn’t mean you lose anything.
As the sticker says: It’s not pie.
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 .
Gallup just came out with a new poll of the most popular figures in the world opposed to the most unpopular figures in the world [ and before you ask, no, I don’t know why Vladimir Putin isn’t on the list ] and I wanted to read the results to you because they amuse me.
These are the most popular:
5. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, with a ranking of negative 4 percentage points.
4. Emmanuel Macron of France, with a ranking of negative 1 percentage points.
3. Bernie Sanders, with a positive ranking of 11 percentage points.
2. Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a positive rating of 18 percentage points.
1. The most popular figure in the world right now is Pope Leo XIV, with a positive ranking of 46 percentage points.
Now for the most unpopular:
5. With a ranking of negative 12 is that drunk, Pete Hegseth. There must be a lot of alcoholics out there to rate him that high.
4. A tie between little Marco Rubio and …
3. Donald Trump, with a negative ranking of 16 percentage points. I don’t understand why Rubio is disliked to that extent, or that Trump is liked that much.
2. With a rating of negative 23 is Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.
1. The most unpopular person in the world right now is Elon Musk with a negative 28 percentage point ranking.
Those are the most popular vs. the most unpopular personalities in the world right now according to Gallup. You’ll notice that not one of the five most popular are involved in the Trump regime, but four of the five most unpopular are either Trump himself, members of his regime or people who are affiliated with his regime.
Voters, take note.
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 run into two kinds of gay people online who drive me BONKERS!
Grrr!
The first is the kind who say, “Ugh! Politics are icky! I don’t want to get involved.”
I hate to say it but their existence has already been politicized, whether they like it or not. If they don’t get involved, they’re not going to end up at the back of the bus. They’re going to end up UNDER the bus.
The second group are the ones who have decided to cozy up to their oppressors. They’ll say things like, “I’m just living my fat dumb happy gay life and nobody’s bothering me.”
That’s because they’re solipsists. They’re so utterly and irredeemably self-absorbed they can’t see anything happening around them. They seem to think if everything’s OK for them then it must be OK for everyone else, too. They got the “dumb” part right, anyway.
What a life.
Or they’ll say, “What rights have YOU lost?”
Honey, there ain’t a video long enough to list all the ways this regime threatens the LGBTQ community, but I’ll mention one thing because I think it’s the worst thing they’ve done.
They’ve Made America HATE Again.
You know I’m telling the truth. You’ve seen it yourself, and I’m not just talking about the LGBTQ community. I’m talking about ANYBODY who isn’t white, male, Republican and so-called Christian.
You’ve seen the racial attacks in videos online. You’ve seen the guys pouring out of rental trucks and marching down the street wearing their swastika armbands. You’ve seen the attacks on gay people, a fact supported by crime stats from the FBI and the Southern Christian Poverty Law Center.
But hey, don’t take my word for it. The groups themselves say they’ve been emboldened by the current regime to come out of their dark closets and parade their hate for all the world to see.
If you can’t see that, it’s because you don’t want to see it. You’re deliberately averting your gaze to preserve your reprehensible identity.
And you know what? I have no use for you.
You’re a traitor to your community, and you’re a traitor to your country.
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 from The Communist.
I suppose by now you’ve heard about yesterday’s awful jobs report.
Only 73,000 jobs were created in this country for the month of July. You usually want that number to be around 150,000. For context, the last full month that Joe Biden was president – December 2024 – the number of new jobs created in this country was 256,000.
Oh, for the good old days.
There’s more bad news. The job numbers for May and June had to be revised – downward. The number of new jobs created in this country for May was 19,000. Worse, the number of new jobs created in June was only 14,000.
That’s a statistical drop in the bucket. Any lower and we’d be flirting with negative job growth.
When Joe Biden was in office, the number of available positions in this country topped out at over 12 million. Today that number is below 8 million.
President Hoover was so unhappy with these numbers he fired the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, which sent a clear to message to others who compile economic numbers: If the numbers are bad, LIE, because the emperor does not like being told he has no clothes.
At this juncture we have two distinctly different ways of looking at the world:
1. The Reality Viewpoint, which holds the jobs reports for May, June and July were truly and spectacularly shitty, and:
2. The Narnia Viewpoint, which holds the economy is roaring like a bonfire under the wise guidance of President Hoover … and the animals move their lips when they’re lying.
The reality is we are probably headed for a recession. Other numbers tend to support that conclusion.
Remember when President Hoover said he would not let the value of the dollar decline? Well, guess what: Since January, when President Hoover took office, the value of the dollar has declined 11 percent.
You know what isn’t down?
Inflation.
Yup, inflation rose to almost 3 percent last month. Economists say that with President Hoover’s on-again, off-again tariffs, inflation is bound to rise even more.
Ford and Stellantis both registered losses for the latest quarter. GM managed to eke out a profit but said its earnings were cut in half – by President Hoover’s tariffs.
The experts say the reason the economy hasn’t tanked before now is because businesses, anticipating President Hoover’s mismanagement, laid in a stash of inventory before the tariffs went into effect. But now those inventories are being depleted and we are having to shift from the Narnia worldview back to a sobering reality of higher prices and fewer jobs.
As for those MAGAts and ’bots bragging about all that tariff money coming into the government’s balance sheets, I would remind them that, OK, President Hoover increased their taxes, and now the government has more money to give to billionaires. They pay more for shit and the government has more money? That’s hardly the flex they think it is. It’s time for the MAGAts to wake up and face the world they’ve created.
Oh, and the stock market they’re always crowing about? Yeah, it lost 1.2 percent of its value yesterday.
Time to shift those stocks into bonds, because even Wall Street, as greedy and complicit as it is, must sometimes deal in reality.
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 .
This is a stock photo taken by Alisdare Hickson. Find his work on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/people/59952459@N08
I walk 3 miles every day.
I start at a local park, but then I branch off into the adjoining neighborhoods and end up at a local shopping center, where I stop to edit my videos.
Yesterday was a real scorcher. By the time I reached the shopping center I was dripping sweat.
As I sat down to work on my video, an elderly Chinese lady came out of the nail salon nearby and gave me a bottle of ice-cold water. I thought, “That was so nice of her!”
Then it occurred to me that by this time next week she could be handcuffed in the back of an ICE van awaiting deportation back to China. She’d be replaced by an American employee half her age, doing half the work for the twice the salary and not be half as nice.
No thanks. I think I’ll take the immigrants.
Immigrants bring much to this country and are one of the reasons it has been as successful as it is. If I asked you who invented the telephone you would probably tell me it was an American, Alexander Graham Bell. You’d be right. Except Bell was an immigrant.
The inventor of blue jeans was an immigrant.
Doughnuts were invented by an immigrant.
The hamburger was invented by an immigrant.
The AC power system was invented by an immigrant.
Hell, Google was co-invented by an immigrant.
The “president,” louse that he is, is married to an immigrant.
Immigrants bring a richness and diversity of culture, language, arts, sciences and engineering skills to this country. They are far more beneficial than the intellectual lummoxes currently in D.C. and their mouth-breathing MAGAt supporters.
I would much rather live next door to an immigrant family than a MAGAty xenophobe.
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 Ted Eytan.
The United States appears to be teetering on the brink of authoritarianism, with federal officials, watchdogs and gatekeepers being replaced en masse by Trump loyalists, and Trump himself trying to supersede the Constitution and bypass the checks and balances that have preserved American democracy for hundreds of years.
What can ordinary Americans do to resist this takeover? The internet yields the following suggestions. Feel free to embrace as few or as many as you feel comfortable with. Bear in mind there are risks. The choice is yours.
1. The easiest thing you can do is vote – in every election, not just the majors. In the 2024 presidential election 62 percent of registered voters actually voted. Four years earlier, when American citizens fired Trump from the presidency, 66 percent of voters turned out. Imagine what last November’s outcome might have been had more voters bothered to cast their ballots.
2. Educate yourself about the candidates. It only takes a few minutes to learn how they stand on the issues. Also, make sure you understand the issues themselves. For instance, prior to the 2024 election many Americans were under the impression tariffs were paid for by the nation against which the tariff was imposed. Tariffs are in fact paid for by the businessperson importing the goods, then passed along to consumers. The tariffs imposed on foreign nations by Trump will be paid for by you.
3. Evangelize for your beliefs. If your community has a newspaper, write a letter to the editor or a guest column. Call online or radio talk shows. Use your social media platform to express your viewpoint. The algorithms are not invincible. New eyes may very well see your posts. Before doing any of these things, make sure you know what you’re talking about. Research research research! And please, be respectful.
4. Write to your U.S. representative and your state’s senators to express your displeasure with what is happening within the federal government. Their contact information is easily obtainable online.
5. The American Civil Liberties Union is resisting efforts to subvert the Constitution and federal law. Donate!
6. Support the loyal opposition. Make a donation, again if you can afford it, to your political party, be it the Democrats, Libertarians, Independents or another party. Offer to do volunteer work. They need telephone canvassers, people to help with mail-outs, and door-to-door canvassers.
7. Participate in protests if you’re so inclined. The 50501 movement ( https://www.fiftyfifty.one/ ) is organizing protests around the nation at various times throughout the year. Start with them. Check social media outlets like Facebook or Next Door for other local protests.
8. Years ago U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-NY, recommended the following actions. Many are still relevant:
A. Write letters to media editors every time you see an article or broadcast that utilizes a normalizing tone or doesn’t make note of the extreme nature of Trump, his behavior and rhetoric, or his Administration’s actions.
B. Use the hashtag #resist on your social media platforms.
C. Contact your elected officials via petitions, letters, calls and social media to urge them to resist any action that would normalize the administration and demand that they loudly condemn any Trump actions that are unbefitting our democracy.
D. Reach out to your friends and family and encourage them to do the same.
E. Support rhetorically and financially those organizations that are stepping up to fight normalization.
9. This is from Robert Reich at The Guardian:
“Participate or organize boycotts of companies that are enabling the Trump regime, starting with Elon Musk’s X and Tesla, and any companies that advertise on X or on Fox News. Don’t underestimate the effectiveness of consumer boycotts. Corporations invest heavily in their brand names and the goodwill associated with them. Loud, boisterous, attention-getting boycotts can harm brand names and reduce the prices of corporations’ shares of stock.
“To the extent you are able, fund groups that are litigating against Trump. Much of the action over the next months and years will be in the federal courts. The groups initiating legislation that I know and trust include the American Civil Liberties Union, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Environmental Defense Fund and Common Cause.
“Spread the truth: Get news through reliable sources, and spread it. If you hear anyone spreading lies and Trump propaganda, including local media, contradict them with facts and their sources. Here are some of the sources I currently rely on for the truth: the Guardian, Democracy Now, Business Insider, the New Yorker, the American Prospect, Americans for Tax Fairness, the Economic Policy Institute, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, ProPublica, Labor Notes, the Lever, Popular Information, Heather Cox Richardson and, of course, my Substack.
“Urge friends, relatives and acquaintances to avoid Trump propaganda outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, X and, increasingly, Facebook and Instagram. They are increasingly filled with hateful bigotry and toxic and dangerous lies. For some people, these propaganda sources can also be addictive; help the people you know wean themselves off them.
“Push for progressive measures in your community and state. Local and state governments have significant power. Join groups that are moving your city or state forward, in contrast to regressive moves at the federal level. Lobby, instigate, organize and fundraise for progressive legislators. Support progressive leaders.
“Keep the faith. Do not give up on America. Remember, Trump won the popular vote by only one and a half points. By any historical measure, this was a squeaker. In the House, the Republicans’ five-seat lead is the smallest since the Great Depression. In the Senate, Republicans lost half of 2024’s competitive Senate races, including in four states Trump won. America has deep problems, to be sure. Which is why we can’t give up on it – or give up the fights for social justice, equal political rights, equal opportunity and the rule of law. The forces of Trumpian repression and neofascism would like nothing better than for us to give up. Then they’d win it all. But we cannot allow them to.”
10. Subscribe to Heather Cox Richardson’s excellent newsletter exposing the criminal activities of Trump and the Republicans. She’s also on Facebook, X, and TikTok. Follow this link to her Substack: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/
11. This was mentioned earlier but it bears repeating: When you see misinformation, dispute it. Don’t just scroll by. Find the facts and link them to the post so that people will at least have an option to educate themselves about the truth.
12. Fact check everything you’ve been told. I use these sites to combat disinformation:
A. Snopes: https://www.snopes.com/
B. FactCheck.org: https://www.factcheck.org/
C. Politifact: https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/
D. Full Fact: https://fullfact.org/
13. Communicate to the news media that you are interested in seeing them cover events involving the administration, and particular the opposition to the actions of the administration. People have taken to the streets in protest, yet the media are barely covering that aspect of the takeover.
14. Take out ads, billboards or other forms of advertising to express your outrage.
For a morale booster, read this article: https://otherwords.org/five-popular-checks-on-trumps-agenda/
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 .
This is a stock photo of Donald J. Trump I found on Pexels. It falls under a Creative Commons usage license.
Yesterday’s news brought me to the end of my patience.
I’m done.
I can’t stand it any more. I’m appealing to the government, the American people, God – anybody who’ll listen – to please, get that monster out of the White House. Get him out. Get him out now.
The government is in chaos. Nothing is getting done, good or bad. Mike Johnson, that spineless, bottom-feeding creature of the deep trenches, has shut down the House to keep lawmakers from passing bills that would require the government to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, allowing the American people to finally know the truth.
Each day brings new and more horrible accusations – vile, horrible accusations. The crime, graft, corruption, lying and cruel assaults on our citizens and our institutions were bad enough, but now … child molestation? Are you fucking kidding me?
And to think, he’s being shielded and protected, not only by his subordinates but the party itself. It’s stomach-turning.
Each new lie, accusation, and revelation cheapens us. Each one dirties us as a people. We’re talking about AWFUL things as if they were everyday, commonplace occurrences. We’re almost treating them as if in any rational context, they could be acceptable. And each time we talk about them, we become more desensitized to his grotesque depravity. Honest to God, I feel like I need to shower 10 times a day.
This is wrong. We weren’t meant to live this way.
To think, Richard Nixon resigned for covering up a break-in at the opposition party’s headquarters. Or that Bill Clinton was impeached over a blowjob.
That monster needs to go. I don’t care if he’s impeached, committed to a memory care unit or shipped to Mars, he needs to go. And take that useless sock puppet J.D. Vance, and that bottom-feeding sea creature Mike Johnson, with him.
He’s a pox on humanity.
Worst president ever.
And just a horrible, horrible human being.
This image was taken by VCU Capital News Service and made available through a Creative Commons license.
I said this once before but I’ll say it again because I keep seeing it happen.
Invariably some MAGAt type will see somebody online criticizing President Pedobear and say something to the effect: “If you don’t like this country, why don’t you leave? Get out.”
To which I would respond, “The president is not the country, and the country is not the president.”
It is perfectly possible to love this country but intensely dislike its leadership. In fact, it’s our duty as Americans to question our leadership, to hold it accountable. That’s our job, because if you’ll recall, the president was elected to serve us. We do not serve him.
Our loyalty is to the principle of democracy as it is embodied in the Constitution. The MAGAts are loyal to a kook.
Our flag features the stars and stripes. The MAGAt’s flag features some dude’s name and a rendering of a bloated, cantaloupe-colored criminal.
We are citizens of what used to be a great nation. MAGAts are members of a cult.
It is not our place to leave this country.
It is their place to check themselves in for deprogramming.
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 .
This photo, taken in 1997 at Mar-a-Lago, shows that Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein had past relationships. Creative Commons license
The Jeffrey Epstein scandal has become The Zombie That Would Not Die for President Vibrio vullnificus, and if you’re not familiar with Vibrio vullnificus I’ll save you the trouble of looking it up. Vibrio vullnificus is a flesh-eating bacteria, a name well suited for the current Kleptocrat in Chief.
Wired Magazine is reporting the Department of Justice posted to its website what it purported to be raw, unedited video footage taken from a camera near Jeffrey Epstein’s cell the night before he allegedly took his own life.
When Wired and independent forensic analysts looked at the video metadata they determined that (a) it apparently had been edited by an application similar to Adobe Premiere, (b) that it appeared to be derived from multiple sources, and (c) it had been saved numerous times.
Wired is not saying the footage was falsified in any way and they’re not saying anything was deleted. What they are saying is it’s not the raw, unedited video footage the Department of Justice purported it to be.
Meanwhile, MAGA faithful continue to lose their minds over the Epstein case. Numerous conservative commentators have called for the resignations of that bleached blonde ambulance chaser Pam Bondi, and Kash Patel, who has transformed the FBI into the Federal Bureau of Idiocy. At a Fifa soccer event over the weekend President Vibrio vullnificus was roundly and raucously booed by the crowd.
I find it odd MAGA would choose the Epstein case as its bridge too far. Most of us would agree the sexual trafficking of children is a horrible crime, and we, the people, deserve to know if our government is infested with pedophiles.
But MAGA has either supported or remained silent about other horrible actions taken by this regime such as the brutal cuts to Medicaid enacted by the president’s “big, beautiful bill,” the construction of the “Alligator Alcatraz” concentration camp in the Everglades, America’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accords, the allowance of corporate pillaging of our national parks, handing over our government to incompetent fools, running the economy off a cliff, ICE trampling upon civil liberties, the tawdry lying, cheating and stealing endemic to this regime – the list is depressingly long.
Has MAGA suddenly developed a conscience, or is something else compelling their anger? Could it be they’re less interested in seeing justice for the victims of Epstein’s abusers and more interested in checking his list for the names of prominent Democrats, ones which would validate their hatreds and their conspiracy theories? My guess is the latter is closer to the truth.
Richard Nixon had the decency to resign, but President Vibrio vulnificus? Not a chance.
Somehow, some way, members of the House and Senate must straighten their backs, square their shoulders, take a deep breath and do what’s right for America. They must rid us of this infection, once and for all.
They must impeach.
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 .
So there is no Epstein list.
Right.
We should believe that.
They lied to us about Jan. 6. They said it wasn’t a violent insurrection; it was a peaceful protest.
They lied to us about the price of groceries and gasoline. They said he’d lower them on Day 1.
They lied to us about the war in Ukraine. They said he’d have it done and over with in his three months in office.
They lied to us about not cutting Medicaid.
They lied to us about arresting only the most dangerous undocumented immigrants. They’re arresting masses of people and sending them to gulags in the Everglades and El Salvador.
They’ve lied to us so many times they’ve trained us to believe the exact opposite of whatever he says.
The MAGAts and liberals might agree on this one issue – release the Epstein list. We know it exists – that bleached blonde ambulance chaser he’s got for an attorney general, Pam Bondi, already told us it exists. She said it was sitting on her desk.
So let’s see it. If it includes prominent Democrats, so be it. We need to know who the scumbags are.
I bet it contains prominent Republicans. Hell, they’re already being arrested right and left. I feature their arrest mugs on my pages – Republicans, MAGAts, so-called “Christians,” conservatives, arrested for committing horrible crimes against children.
I bet he’s on that list, and if he is, we need to know, because a person like that has no place in our society. Certainly not in a position of leadership.
But we’ll never get to see it, because he’s a loathsome, despicable person who’s being protected by loathsome, despicable people.
They may rig the system to keep him from being prosecuted, but something else – God, karma, cosmic justice – will make sure he gets what he deserves.
I can’t wait for that 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 .