Tag archive: Damocles

dolly cover

Aster-Obit:  Dolly Parton

American country music icon Dolly Parton passed away August 25th, 2026, aged 80, after a brief bout with cancer.  The singer/songwriter and actress was a globally beloved figure, a noted humanitarian, and a bit of a dichotomy.  Although a professed devout Christian, Parton was very accepting of others, particularly the LGBTQ community, whom she counseled her coreligionists not to judge.  An acknowledged ‘wholesome sex symbol’ from the ‘70s and ‘80s, Parton nevertheless remained in a faithful exclusive relationship with her husband of almost sixty years, Carl Dean, seemingly never tempted to stray, though she had offers from the likes of Hugh Hefner, fascinated to learn if her outsized feminine endowment was real.

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T3 2026 cover

Trump Trifecta:  Corruption, Cowardice & Coercion

A trio of stories this summer show Donald Trump in his best worst light, from financial disclosure documents that reveal a stunning level of corruption, to a quick-change flight plan that left Cabinet members and reporters hung out as bait, and renewed pressure on NATO allies to cough up territories to which he hasn’t the shadow of a right.  It’s the Summer of The Donald – heated, sticky and oppressive.

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CGB spring 2026 cover

Cosmic Grab Bag:  Spring 2026, Part One

As ever, stories come whooshing over the transom, and fly right on by, with no time to deal with them properly in these hectic times.  We’ll try to play catch-up here, with yet another AAA version of an “omnibus bill,” compiling several small stories (and some big ones) in a comprehensive review of the doings of late.  Topics include the Hungarian elections, a shooting at a Mexican archeological site, and a federal investment in a failing airline.

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trump spring break 2026 cover

Keeping Up with the Trumps: Spring Break Edition

It’s been a head-spinning few weeks, with rising gas and energy prices, increased inflation, and the war with Iran, but somehow, America’s sweethearts, Donald and Melania Trump, have managed to keep us entertained.

After a fashion.  From threatening genocide to profane tweets on the holiest day of the Christian calendar, ramshackle ceasefires and blaspheming memes, and vigorous denials of accusations of wrongdoing that haven’t been made, the Trumps have outdone themselves in this first half of April 2026. What follows is a barebones overview of the high jinks and shenanigans.

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weber wells cover

Asteroid Sleuth:  The Case of the Criminal Cornholer

Well, this is one for the books!  On March 22, 2026, Dayton Webber of La Plata, Maryland, a quadriplegic amputee and a professional cornhole player, shot and killed his friend Bradrick Wells with a revolver while driving his Tesla, with Wells in the passenger seat and two other friends in the back.  The shooting stemmed from a heated argument between the two men, with Webber accusing Wells of having stolen something from his house.  After the shooting, Webber asked his remaining passengers to help him dispose of the body, but they refused and fled the scene on foot, alerting police.  Wells’ body was recovered from the yard of a private residence some twenty miles away, in Charlotte Hall, Maryland; Webber himself was arrested in Charlottesville, Virginia.

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