Lightning Strikes

The Empire State Building, One World Trade Center, the U.S. Capitol, and the Washington Monument were all struck by lightning last night. The best line I’ve seen on the socials so far: “Jimmy Carter told God what’s going on down here.”

Others are saying it’s the Tower card in tarot come to life. If you’re not familiar with tarot, here’s the Tower card:

The Tower card in tarot.
Image: Wikimedia

The Tower means sudden, world-rocking change. It’s disruption of the highest order, often accompanied by crisis and danger. WHEEEEEE!

Then this morning a Tesla Cybertruck exploded and burst into flames in front of a Trump hotel in Las Vegas, killing one person inside the vehicle and injuring several others who were standing nearby. According to NBC, the blast is being investigated as a possible terrorist attack.

Yeah, ya know, those things have a tendency to do that. They’re notorious for catching fire, not unlike Apartheid Clyde himself blowing up and melting down time and again. Excuse me, Kekius Maximus.

Really, someone needs to do a welfare check on that guy. Where’s his family? He’s been having a very public breakdown on his social platform since Christmas Eve. I really would not be surprised if at some point he barricades himself in and starts screaming about aliens and liberals and Laura Loomer coming to get him. If he didn’t have such an army of mush-brained worshippers hanging on his every word, I’d almost feel bad for the guy. It’s clear his doctors are failing him, and my prediction for him is that he’s going to end up either having a psychotic break, which the media will call “exhaustion,” or shedding his mortal coil like Matthew Perry, who died of a ketamine overdose in October 2023.

And through all of this, not a peep from Mark Zuckerberg. I’m no fan of billionaires, I don’t care for his business practices with how Meta handles personal data, and I hate that he’s in with Tiberius Tinyhands, but I have to admit the man is smart. He knows how to keep his mouth shut, his thumbs still, and his profile low. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep an eye on him—it’s often the quiet ones who wreak the most havoc—but he’s not making a braying ass out of himself the way so many in TrumpCo and the GOP are these days.

At any rate, if the last 24 hours are any indication of what’s in store for the U.S. this year, I’m going to need to stock up on popcorn. I like the lime-flavored stuff.

Christmas Greenery

As part of my annual trip to see the state Christmas trees with my friend, we also go to the U.S. Botanic Garden, so tonight I thought I’d share some photos from that.

Here’s a tree in the outdoor conservatory.

An outdoor Christmas tree decorated with fruits and vegetables.

The theme this year is pollinators, so here are a couple of ornaments from the trees inside. First, a winged insect.

A Christmas ornament shapped like a winged insect.

You know I had to find a bird.

A hummingbird Christmas ornament.

The poinsettias in front of the sculpture of the Capitol were lovely.

A sculpture of the U.S. Capitol with poinsettias in front.

Unfortunately, while we were there, we ran into Donald, J.D., and Elon, but we didn’t let that ruin our day.

Three phallic-looking cactii.

Such pricks, those three.

One Cold Night in December

Tonight on my way home, I saw a woman crying against a building.

“Are you okay?”

“No. It’s another night out here in the cold. I’m sick of it.”

And here’s where I failed.

I should have stayed with her.

Instead I went home. I called two shelters. One was full. The other had a mat and a blanket and was willing to let her sleep on the floor.

I grabbed a bag, threw in an apple, orange, packet of salmon, wrapped take-out fork, a bar of soap, a packet of tissues, and some paper towels. Realized I had no bottled water.

I ran back out.

Ran around the neighborhood.

I failed. She was gone.

Today Elon Musk passed the $400 billion mark.

A broken red Christmas ornament.