RatWorks.™

The Chemical Crew has a great love of oil paints, which are kept seriously locked up most of the time. The other day, I squeezed the last out of a tube of black, and left that and a piece I was meh about on the drawing table, for the girls to have fun with. There was just a tiny bit of the tube left, and the girls left their imprimatur on the piece too, vastly improving it, I think. Look at all those lovely scrapes and scratches!

© Vala & The Chemical Crew.

Sunday Facepalm.

Amdusias has 29 legions of demons and spirits under his command. He is depicted as a human with claws instead of hands and feet, the head of a unicorn, and a trumpet to symbolize his powerful voice. Amdusias is associated with thunder and it has been said that his voice is heard during storms. In other sources, he is accompanied by the sound of trumpets when he comes and will give concerts if commanded, but while all his types of musical instruments can be heard they cannot be seen. He is regarded as being the demon in charge of the cacophonous music that is played in Hell. He can make trees bend at will.

A short while back, Eminem did a bit of rapping, all over the Tiny Tyrant.  Tony Perkins, prez of the Family Research Council, aka “We wanna be the inquisition!” was duly alarmed, and called…demons! What else?

During yesterday’s edition of “Washington Watch,” Perkins discussed a freestyle acapella rap released by hip-hop artist Marshall Mathers, who uses the name Eminem while performing, that was critical of President Trump. Perkins expressed shock over the video.

“I was watching this tirade he went on—what they call rap,” Perkins said. “I don’t know how they call that a talent. But it was demonic, he was demonic on his attack on President Trump.”

No, it wasn’t demonic, and as someone who is generally happy under their rock, I think you have to be in different universe to be unaware of rap. Been around a long time. That said, it wasn’t saying anything that millions of people aren’t saying every day, and have been saying since the election.

Perkins said that criticism like Eminem’s stemmed from the fact that Trump has had the “courage” not only for “stopping the bad stuff that Barack Obama did” but also “undoing it,” adding that it is “amazing” that Trump can withstand such criticism.

But the Tiny Tyrant doesn’t withstand criticism, does he? No, he runs off to Twitter every five minutes to whine, moan, bully, and threaten. He can’t stand any criticism. And yes, the fucking idiot has undone many good things, sending us back to the regressive past. That’s a bad thing. A very bad fucking thing.

“I was at the White House today, and it’s like they’re under siege by the left,” Perkins told listeners. “Folks, you need to pray for him.”

Oh, good. Yes, you pray. On your knees, squinch those little eyes shut, and pray. I’ll stay with lefty siege team.

The full mess is at RWW.

Is that supposed to be comforting?

“Tillerson says Trump wants diplomacy in North Korea: “Diplomatic efforts will continue until the first bomb drops””

Uh…is that supposed to be comforting? Reassuring? Because I’m not finding that warm and fuzzy in any way. Fuuuuuuck.

“Feminism is dead. It is dead as a doornail, it is dead. Feminism is dead.”

Something you hear a lot is that feminism is dead. But if feminism is dead, why do people try so hard to kill it? - Jessica Valenti.

Dana Loesch, spokesmouth for the NRA, was at the Values Voter Summit, declaring the death of feminism. Just in case people didn’t quite get that, she reiterated.

“We are in a post-feminist era,” she said. “Feminism is dead. It is dead as a doornail*, it is dead. Feminism is dead.”

Saying that “third-wave feminism has betrayed” women, men, children and “our culture,” Loesch claimed, “Third-wave feminism exists to subjugate men, period. They have replaced the patriarchy with the matriarchy, and they are not a good master.”

:Looks around: Nope, this is not the republic of New Amazonia.

“Third-wave feminism says it empowers women—empowers them by convincing women to commit genocide against the female sex in utero,” she said.

Umm, no. You have that ever so backwards, Ms. Loesch. The power is the ability to make our own medical decisions and having full autonomy. Y’know, like men get to do already.

She added that “men are wonderful and they are unappreciated, and you know, you can mansplain all you want to because we womansplain enough.”

Well, if being mansplained is your thing, Ms. Loesch, have at it, but don’t be making that a blanket to cover all. As you think women talk too much, perhaps you shouldn’t be taking up space where a proper person could be talking, y’know, a man.

There’s video at RWW.

*This made me curious about the origins of said phrase, and the answer is interesting, having to do with clinching.

Also at the Values Voter Summit was Todd Starnes, who opined over the ‘war on masculinity’:

Starnes said that Mark Hancock, who runs the Christianity based scouting organization Trail Life USA, told him that the Boy Scouts’ decision was “nothing less than a war on boys.” Starnes elaborated on Hancock’s remarks to him, claiming that “the mainstream media” spread the notion of “toxic masculinity.”

“It’s not just a war on boys. It’s a war on men. And there are those in this country that want to feminize men. They want to criminalize masculinity,” Starnes said.

I guess Mr. Starnes didn’t get the message that feminism is dead.

The full story is at RWW.

Christmas, Christmas, Christmas.

A poster from the Office for Emergency Management, War Production Board, circa. 1942 – Source.

The Tiny Tyrant is mouthing off again, when isn’t he? This time, bringing up the non-existent war on christmas. Again.

President Trump spoke at the Values Voter Summit today, where he received a rousing round of applause when he bravely declared that under his presidency, people will start saying “Merry Christmas” again.

“We are stopping cold the attacks on Judeo-Christian values,” he said. “As we approach the end of the year—you know, we’re getting near that beautiful Christmas season that people don’t talk about anymore. They don’t use the word Christmas because it’s not politically correct. You go to department stores and they’ll say Happy New Year and they’ll say other things; it’ll be red, they’ll have it painted but they don’t say it. Well, guess what? We’re saying Merry Christmas again.”

There’s no war. There’s no attack. The winter festival of Giftmas has nothing to do with religion, and it’s not something christians are supposed to celebrate anyway.

Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen…. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest … with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold. Jeremiah 10:2-4

And so on. Winter festivals are ubiquitous, have ancient roots, and none of them had anything to do with Christ. Christians attempting to be all outraged over the ‘merry christmas’ nonsense love to wallow in absurdity. If you really want to be painted as the religion of crass commercialism and consumer greed, well, who am I to stop you? As always, christians seem to miss the fact that saying “merry/happy christmas” is not outlawed. You can say it all you want, whenever you want. You simply cannot force other people to say it, which leads christians to scream “persecution!” Unsurprisingly, the Tiny Tyrant seems to think this is something he can mandate, in glittering fake gold, no doubt. Just a thought, but if your so-called values are concerned with not being able to force others to utter a trite phrase, perhaps it’s time to review those values.

All that’s happened is that some people, a bit more enlightened and empathetic than others, had a desire to be inclusive, in the spirit of love and generosity, qualities often assigned to the christmas season. I guess those values aren’t terribly important to those all up in arms over their precious Judeo-Christian values.

Via RWW, where there’s video, if you must torture yourself.