PENELOPE SPEAKS: I DO NOT APPROVE

 Hello. It is I, Penelope.

When Auntie Rebekah arrived in our home, coffee drinking commenced. Auntie Rebekah stumbles from her bed each morning, bleary and bluggy, croaking out her need for coffee. And she is not fit to live with until she drinks that stuff. 

I do not understand this need for coffee. Mom Mom drinks water, milk that has achieved a score of 2 percentage points, and Diet Pepsi. Mom Mom does not drink coffee, although she assures me it is ordinary for most adults in our country to want coffee in the morning. Still, I do not approve because another problem with the coffee has come up.

When Auntie Rebekah drinks coffee and eats her breakfast, we have to stay very close to her in case she chokes on something and needs me to perform the Hymen maneuver. Princess and Fritz must join me to clean up her spills. In the photo above, she has a covered cup, but she usually has an open cup of coffee and my little sister, Princess, might have accidentally stuck her tongue in the cup and now she has developed a taste for coffee.

Every time Auntie Rebekah walks away from her coffee, Princess takes a drink of it. I told her she must not do that! She is drinking the germs and bacteria Auntie Rebekah spits into the cup. Coffee will also stunt her growth, and caffeine will keep her awake at night. I do not think I can deal with a sister who has chronic insomnia.

Thus far, Princess has not listened to me. She hasn't my years of experience that have led to my great wisdom and made me the paragon of virtue that I am. 

Please help me explain to Princess that she must not drink coffee. 

And please tell me this is not true:

I know it is not true that people who come to live in the U.S. eat pets. I am too smart to believe in such stupidity. I join Mom Mom in reminding you to vote for Kamala Harris.

That is all. Goodbye.

KAMALA KICKIN' BUTT!

 Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,

I knew she was smart. I knew she was well educated. I knew she had been a prosecutor. I knew she would do her best to be prepared for the debate.

BUT I HAD NO IDEA SHE WOULD DO SUCH A THOROUGH JOB OF KICKING DONALD TRUMP'S ASS!

The sore loser had no idea what hit him, but of course, it's everyone else's fault––never his own.

The Mantel Gang is so happy.

They've been enjoying some post-debate memes they'd like to share with you, after they finish their meal of someone's pets.

And their favorite and mine:

We can't assume anything. The election hasn't been won. Don't think a good debate means she'll win. Trump will continue to lie incessantly and plenty of people will believe him no matter how crazy he is. Kamala does not have a lead. We have to give it to her.

💙💙💙💙💙VOTE💙💙💙💙💙

BLUE!

VOTE FOR KAMALA HARRIS FOR PRESIDENT!

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

Infinities of love,

Janie Junebug

DOCUMENTARY WEEKEND: THE COMMANDANT'S SHADOW

Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,

Although it's not easy to watch, I recommend The Commandant's Shadow (2024, PG-13, produced and directed by Daniela Völker, streaming on HBO Max).

Last year's Academy Award winning The Zone of Interest introduced viewers to Auschwitz concentration camp commander Rudolf Höss and his family, who lived quite the pleasant life right next door to Höss's workplace, where he planned and carried out the "extermination" of at least a million Jews and other human beings judged to be less than by the Third Reich.

In this documentary, Höss's son, 87 year old Hans Jürgen Höss, recalls their life at Auschwitz as an idyll with their beloved father, whom he believed to have no real responsibility for the suffering and deaths at the camp, which he and his siblings believed at the time to be a prison that their father ran. He recalls that once a prisoner was shot along the wall of their home for trying to escape––nothing more happened to the people in the camp.

However, Höss undertakes a journey toward knowledge and responsibility with the filmmakers and his son, a pastor. The film also features Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who survived Auschwitz because the camp orchestra needed a cellist. At age 99, Lasker-Wallfisch's memories of the suffering remain vivid, yet she pushed them aside for the practicalities of life and testified at the trials of some of her Nazi oppressors. She is accompanied by her daughter, a psychoanalyst.

In other news, The Little Pump That Could almost had the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby out of our back yard when we had torrential downpours the last couple of days. Princess loves flying through the even deeper than usual waters of Lake Junebug, and the pump is hard at work.

Tonight is the debate. I'll be watching and rooting for Vice President Kamala Harris, who will have to bear up under the insults and idiocy of her opponent. I will 

💙💙💙💙💙VOTE BLUE  💙💙💙💙💙

and encourage you to cast your vote in favor of democracy, the Constitution, and living in a decent world without a dictator on day one or any other day.

Infinities of love,

Janie Junebug