Iceland is about to get a US ambassador with a Trumpian sadistic sense of humor.

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The best place to read this is on Substack here. You are invited to subscribe. It is free.

On the very bottom of the page on Substack is a new feature. It is my reaction to various news reports of the day updated though the day.

We know that Trump sense of humor leans heavily towards the sadistic. He thinks it’s amusing to tell police officers not to be too careful loading people into the backs of their cruisers so they don’t bump their heads or bragging that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue or grab a woman by her privates. There are numerous articles about Trump’s sense of humor. I won’t delve into it here. You can read them with a Google search here.

This guy pictured above you probably never heard of. He epitomizes the kind of sadistic, cruel, insensitive humor favored by Trump and mimicked by his toadies. He demonstrated this in what was meant to be a joke in something he tweeted last night.

Read “‘ICE — not Iceland!’ Fired IRS head jokes about Trump’s chilly reassignment” in RawStory here.

Here’s another article about this:

This is supposedly the joke, i.e., something meant to be funny.

Here’s what he posted on X:

So, are you holding your sides to keep them from splitting as you are rolling on the floor laughing uncontrollably at his saying that he got so fired up when he saw that the former Superman actor Dean Cain had announced he was joining ICE that he wanted to do the same, and called Trump to tell him that he wanted to do this. And then Trump misunderstood him and made him ambassador to Iceland instead. 

Oh my fucken God, that is so hysterically funny… he wanted to join the thugs at ICE who are terroizing thousands of law abiding citizens across the country.

The question as to why this guy was fired after only two months on the job running the IRS has not been answered. It’s possible he refused to order the agency to go after some of Trump’s enemies. Perhaps this act of intergity got him axed and, because in other ways he was a loyal Trumper and because Trump didn’t want anyone looking too closely at his removal he was given another job, albeit what isn’t considered a to be a plum ambassadorship. Perhaps he got since of running an agency which had it’s staff cut by 25% by DOGE.

Iceland is not a major player in world politics except for the Greenland “thing,” living in Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital, is not a hardship assignment. In fact, it seems to be a rather pleasant place to work for the next few years.

The government website about Iceland has not been updated. It shows that the US still has an interim ambassador. (Reference)

Reykjavík is consider to be vibrant and colorful city which is far from the icy wasteland which the name Iceland suggests. The city is filled with museums, cafes, and has a lively arts scene. Here’s a photo of their Pride celebration which began on Aug. 5th and ends tomorrow:

Read more about the city here. 

Assuming he is approved by the Senate this is where Billy Long will be working:

It occurred to me when I woke in the middle of last night that there was another piece of humor that I hadn’t heard. Someone else may have made this observation since it seems to obvious. 

Iceland wasn’t always called Iceland. You may have heard this orgin story:

Despite its chilly name, Iceland isn't covered in ice year-round. In fact, it has lush green landscapes, hot springs, and volcanoes. The name Iceland might make you think of a frozen wasteland, but the story behind it is quite different. According to legend, early Viking settlers named it Iceland to deter others from coming to this beautiful land. They wanted to keep its natural beauty and resources for themselves. This clever naming strategy worked, and Iceland remained a hidden gem for many years. Reference..

The word ice has two more or less opposite connotations when used in everyday language. One is good. For example: ice cream, iced coffee and tea, chocolate icing, and we even have rappers: Vanilla Ice, Ice Spice, Ice Cube, Ice Billion Berg, and rapper/actor Ice-T. (I didn’t know all of these, I had to look it up here). For some reason rappers resonate with the word ice. I’ll leave it to a linguist to explain why.

I didn’t know this before, but there’ s a German high speed rail service also called ICE-T.

Then there are bad uses for the word. For example ice storm. It is obvious why you don’t want to hear that in your weather forecast. There are also descriptions like an icy stare or icy reception. Being on the receiving end of each of these can be rather uncomfortable.

What I am leading up to is wondering whether considering the bad reputaion the word “ice” now has thanks to Trump’s, ICE is equated here and around the world with something worse than bad. He has an agency referred to as ICE being called by crtics like me the ICE Gestapo. The letters stand for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the agency was feared by smugglers and people trying to enter the country illegally. Now it is feared by anyone who may be profiled by them because of the color of their skin.

This led me to think of a not really all that amusing joke. It’s because of all of this that Iceland might want to change its name to Niceland.

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Is Dan Bongino the inside man Trump has to worry about the most? Could he be a modern day Serpico?

 Substack is the best place to read this is where updates are posted throughout the day (here). 

Today I am writing about Dan Bongino, however if you click 1 on the left it will take you to the bottom of the page for my reaction to various other stories.1

This Substack is a deeper look at the article from RawStory “‘He’s dangerous to them”: Trump reportedly scrambling to ‘muzzle’ a rouge FBI official.” This isn’t just any FBI official. He is second in command and is someone most Amercians have heard of and who is identifiable to them. It’s this guy:

Here’s a recent NBC News article about him:

The FBI created a multiagency team to protect him when he took the job as the number two man at the FBI. 

Like Pete Hegseth, the man had previous jobs that once required carrying guns. He no longer carries a gun because he opted out to meet the FBI requirements for doing so. However he is the boss of all the agents who do carry guns.

He used to carry a gun since he was once a Secret Service agent and a New York City police officer. Then, like Hegseth, he went on to have a career in broadcasting.

Also, like Hegseth, he has some bulging biceps and a buff body which he liked to show off. 

This is what he posted on X in April:

Headed back to DC today after spending a day back home with my wife and daughter. As I dive back into work, I want to reassure you that nothing that is happening here is happening by accident. Because of the sensitivity of what the FBI deals with, both the Director and I have to be circumspect in what we can make public. Bad guys read this stuff too. Neither one of us came here to play games. Measure us by results. You will see them. But just because you don’t see something happening right this second, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. I’ll conclude by stating that not every result is going to please everyone. That’s just pandering, it’s not leadership. Complex problems require diligence and a reform-oriented process to create lasting changes. Or else you’re simply putting a bandage on a gushing wound. Let’s do it right. God bless America, and all those who defend Her. -Dan

Below is his followup post:

I’d like to add this: Your comments and criticisms are not only welcome, but they’re helpful. We work for you, the American people. Your feedback is invaluable. All I ask is that you consider the following feedback to the feedback. When you see something happen, and the entire story isn’t public, and the underlying facts aren’t all public, it may appear counterintuitive to our reform agenda. I promise you, it’s not an accident. Ask yourself, why I would sign on to something like this otherwise. Is it a desire to be wealthy, famous, “connected,” or to be a future lobbyist? If that sounds ridiculous, it’s because it is. I realized when I signed up that I’d never be able to fully explain some decisions we make due to legal and ethical constraints. But that’s a pill I agreed to swallow when I swore in. In conclusion, I realize asking you to “trust me” is a waste of time. Watch what happens, continue to demand results, be cautious of narrative “traps,” let time put the puzzle pieces together, and what we’re doing will make sense. I see and hear you and your feedback. Thanks for your time. -Dan

This strikes me as something quite a bit different that what we see coming from the typical Trump toady, but then again I am always skeptical about such missives coming from anyone in Trumpworld.

Now we have a story from Lev Parnas that suggests Dan Bongino may turn out to be the Serpico of, not the law enforcment agency he works for, but of the entire Trump criminal enterprise (my comparison, not his).

In his Substack (here) he begins:

They talk about the dinner. They talk about the people who were supposed to be there. They talk about what was likely discussed. But not a single outlet, not one reporter, is talking about the name that wasn’t there. The name that matters most.

Dan Bongino.

Because what I’m telling you now, is that this dinner—this meeting Todd Blanche was supposed to lead at J.D. Vance’s residence—was never just about Epstein. It was about Dan. About bringing him to heel. About getting him in line. And when that dinner got exposed and canceled, the conversation didn’t go away. It just moved behind closed doors.

According to my sources, that conversation happened yesterday at the White House. Kash Patel sat down with Pam Bondi in private. The topic? Bongino. The rift. The refusal. The threat.

This is a follow-up to what Parnas Substacked on Aug. 6 (here):

This Substack begins:

My sources tell me that due to the mounting media scrutiny—especially after we broke the story—the original dinner was scrapped and moved off the books. Instead, quiet meetings were held at the White House, and high-level conversations took place behind closed doors. But here’s the part the media missed while chasing what we already exposed: Dan Bongino the one man in Trump’s inner circle who has refused to play along with the Epstein cover-up, was never going to attend. And that was a major point of discussion in those meetings. The tension between Bongino and Trump’s loyalists—especially Bondi—is real. And Trump knows it. They’re trying to hold the narrative together, but Bongino is the crack they can’t control.

Bongino, I’m told, is not playing ball. He’s defiant. He’s seen the files, read the transcripts, and knows the truth about Epstein. The documents. The flight logs. The dirty connections. And he wants no part of the cover-up Trump is orchestrating now. That’s why there’s tension inside the walls of Trump’s DOJ. And that’s why, according to my sources, part of these conversations were spent trying to broker peace between Bongino and Bondi— Kash Patel was acting as Bongino’s proxy. Think about that.

This is one of the darkest scandals this country has ever seen.

I know it is wishful thinking when I wonder whether Bongino could have the guts and integrity to actually live up to the oath he swore. Could he be a modern day Serpico? If so, he’d be different from Frank Serpico (Wikipedia) who as a police detective exposed widespread racketeering and corruption in the New York City Police Department. Bongino wouldn’t be exposing corruption in the FBI. If he became a whistleblower like Serpico he would be exposing the corruption and ciminality of Donald Trump and his henchmen (and henchwomen).

Afterthought:

More a more apt comparison than Bongino becoming Trump’s Serpico is him becoming Trump’s John Dean.

Below: The real life Serpico and as depcited by Al Pacino in the movie:

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I posted this link last night, but if you missed it:

My reaction is above.

Between Tim Cook's Apple and Jeff Bezo's Amazon, using them is a bitter pill to swallow when you see how hard it is to ditch them. By Hal M. Brown

Correction: I previously wrote that Mark Zuckerberg was the CEO of Amazon. Jeff Bezo is. I had Zuck on my mind since his Facebook banned me. See story here.

Yesterday, seeing how Apple CEO Tim Cook was sucking up to Trump, I thought about trying to extricate myself from the world of Mac. I’ve had iPhones and Mac laptops for years. I’ve been frustrated with how glitchy my 2016 Mac laptop had become. Just about once a day my laptop freezes with what Mac users call the spinning wheel of death on the screen:

To undo this you have to reboot the laptop and wait for it to reopen. I’ve also been annoyed with how the Apple operating system (OS) Safari is beyond slow when I try to open some web pages. It frequently just stops. When I switch to Firefox the same website opens almost instantly. In fact, for the first time I am composing a Substack from Firefox.

I’d been considering buying a new Macbook when their latest version is released hoping that it would be less gltichy than what I am using currently. I didn’t want to buy one now only to find that their yet to be released version was much better. 

I’m satisfied with my iPhone 15, so I won’t consider upgrading to the iPhone 17 when it is released unless it is very much improved, especially if the camera has major features the 15 doesn’t have.

To make an already long story even longer, I searched online for the best laptop currently available that met my needs. Since I am not a gamer or professional (or power) user it was the Macbook that topped every list. The other runner-up laptop that would meet my needs was made by Microsoft. While most people associate Microsoft with Bill Gates currently it’s CEO is Satya Nadella. This is what my web search found about him:

Microsoft’s chief is cozying up to Trump.

Satya Nadella and Microsoft president Brad Smith joined Elon Musk, JD Vance, and the US President-elect on Wednesday to discuss cybersecurity, tech policy, and Microsoft’s pledge to invest $80 billion into global AI infrastructure.

Microsoft is among the list of tech companies and leaders that have each donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund, with many making similar appearances at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

By now you are getting the drift of what I am trying to say so I doubt I have to go into being stuck with Bezo’s Amazon. Bezos is another pal of Trump:

Between using Amazon to order at least one item a week, often to save a trip to an actual store, but frequently to buy something which would be almost impossible to buy anywhere else, and watching many shows on Amazon’s streaming video service, I can’t see a way to extricate myself from the company.

The third cyber-billionaire in thrall to Trump is, of course, Elon Musk. It has been easy to avoid his internet plaything, X, by using BlueSky (here).

I won’t go into the technicalities which would be involved in changing from using a Mac laptop to a Microsoft or other laptop, or from an iPhone to an equally good Android cellphone. Suffice to say it wouldn’t easy for me, and there would be lots of things I’d have to learn to do differently. In addtion from what I can tell my ability to send text messages the way I do now, and have my photos in the Cloud would be lost.

On the plus side there was an easy way to free myself from Google whose CEO, Sundar Pichai, is another Trump suckup (see article). I use DuckDuckGo (here) for internet searches. If you aren’t already doing this I suggest you do. They also have a browser which I’ve downloaded, but so far haven’t tried it. I am using Firefox as my alternative to Safari.

What this all boils down to is my swallowing the bitter pills of still using Apple products and Amazon services. 

What can I say? I even ordered a small table -from Amazon - to go next to my front door for them to put our orders on.

Afterthought:

When I was a child, I used to listen to the radio show “Let’s Pretend.” It ran from 1934 to 1954. I was 10 when it went off the air. I thought of this when it occurred to me that the billionaire are starring in another kind of show which could be called “Let’s Pretend Trump Is Not Another Hitler.”

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You’ve probably heard about the Operation Trojan Horse story out of LA.

When I heard about the name ICE used for this operation, the first thing I thought was “these thugs don’t even know their Greek mythology.” The story of the Trojan Horse should be well known to even the most ignorant dolt. Should be, but obviously the people at ICE proved how stupid they are.

In their war against the Trojans the Greeks didn’t pull their horse with the soldiers hidden inside into the walled city f Troy. They pretended to leave and left it outside the gates. The Trojans thought that they had won the war and pulled it inside as a victory trophy. Wikpedia tells us what happened next: “That night, the Greek force crept out of the horse and opened the gates for the rest of the Greek army, which had sailed back under the cover of darkness. The Greeks entered and destroyed the city, ending the war.”

Trump using ICE as his personal Gestapo shows how we are becoming a police state, which I wrote about the other day here…

Now we have this story, “FBI granted request to locate fleeing Texas House Democrats, Sen. Cornyn says.” If it happens that FBI agents arrest and transports Texas legislators to the Texas House, possibly in handcuffs, we have what may be the final proof that Trump has implemented a police state.

There are those who think our being a police state is a good thing. They believe that as long as the police are doing God’s work, which is for them the same thing as Trump’s work, we need to have a police state. One of these people is an actor named Dean Cain. 

He played Superman in the 1990s series "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman." 

Read above article.

The 59 year old has joined ICE. While he may not be in the field arresting immigrants (no doubt seen by him as evil doers), he has already made a recruitment ad to tout the "great benefits" of working for ICE. See story here.