Saving the Ridglan Beagles

Located outside Madison, Wisconsin is Ridglan Farms, a medical research facility.

Ridglan breeds dogs, specifically beagles, for experimentation.

Because beagles naturally have a friendly, docile temperment, it makes them preferred subjects in the labratory.  

Ridglan asserts that their research using these dogs provides valuable information and treatments for rabies, canine parvovirus, heartworm, dog arthritis and distemper.

Ridglan also insists that accusations of animal cruelty are untrue and unfounded.  

But even a well tended life in a cage is still a life in a cage.  These beagles are born, live their short lives and die without seeing the sky, feeling grass underneath their paws.   

And as for that alleged lack of animal cruelty, there is a prosecutor in Dane County, Wis. with a different assessment.

The prosecutor concluded that Ridglan Farms’ treatment of beagles, specifically how they conducted eye surgeries on the beagles without anesthesia or pain management, violated state veterinary standards and constituted animal mistreatment.

Well, that's some kind of messed up shit, if you ask me.  

Various animal rights activitists and dog rescue groups have mounted protests and even raids on the facility to retrieve dozens of dogs.  Protestors took their greivances with Ridglan to the Wisconsin State Capitol.

Behind the scenes, rescue organizations negotiated a purchase agreement for 1,500 dogs from Ridglan. 

What followed was a national groundswell of support for these beautiful beagles, bounding across grass fields and wiggling happily in the arms of humans who want only to love and care for them.  

Below is a series of clips from various news outlets covering this incredible tale of these sweet and gentle creatures.

Sadly, Ridglan Farms is still a thing and they still possess approximately 500 beagles for medical research.  

So that part of the story is not over.

But for 1,500 beagles, their stories are also not over but will continue free from cages and darkness but finding their forever homes where they will know love and compassion. 

Tuesday TV Touchbase: Daredevil: Born Again

Last week Andrea and I caught up to the season 2 finale of Daredevil: Born Again and it was quite the dramatic denouement of two seasons of Wilson Fisk's reign of terror as the mayor of New York City.

The criminal mastermind known as the Kingpin in a legal position of power over a governmental insitution? Well, that was never gonna be good for anybody.

Any comparisons to Donald Trump and ICE are purely coincidental.  Or the fucking point. You make the call.

Trump Fisk blames all of NYC's ills on one source, undocumented immigrants masked vigilantes and has unleashed an army, ICE the AVTF or Anti-Vigilante Task Force. The AVRF rampages through the city, jack booted thugs brutally arresting anyone who dares stand against them, if they are not a vigilante or masked. 

Fisk speaks to the city and assures them he (and he alone!) has made New York City safe! As the armored AVTF rolls through the city, funny, no one feels safe.

The New York State Attorney General is gearing up to take action against the Mayor but Fisk doesn't care. He's full of his swaggering self confidence that he ALONE has the power to rule his city as he ALONE sees fit.  

The governor of New York pointedly tells Wilson Fisk he is on shaky legal ground with what he's doing as Mayor but (ONE MORE TIME!) Fisk....Does...NOT... CARE!  Hell, he send an assassin up to Albany to end his problem with the Governor.

Trump Fisk makes the classic misstep that all villains make: he assumes his powers have no limits and pushes those who would oppose them past their breaking points.

And people pushed past their breaking points are dangerous. They have nothing left to lose.

Which brings us to person whose name is in the title of this show: Daredevil, AKA attorney Matt Murdock.

Karen Page has been arrested by the AVTF and put on trial as a terrorist.   

• The prosecutor is under Fisk's control. 
• The chief witness for the prosecution, psychiatrist Dr. Heather Glenn, is all-in for Mayor Fisk and is prepared to assert on the stand that Karen Page is a wacko nut job who is a threat to all good decent people. 
• The court room is lined with AVTF "storm troopers".

Yeah, the deck is kinda stacked against Karen.

Then....enter Matt Murdock for the defense.   

Matt's been busy.  

With help from Jessica Jones,  Matt has tied the Northern Star vessel that was sunk at the start of the season to an illegal gun running operation led by Fisk as well as a bunch of other crimes. All the shit Fisk is accusing Daredevil and Karen Page of doing, Matt has evidence to show it's all on Wilson Fisk.

But he needs to do one thing to seal the deal that will exonerate Karen Page and put Wilson firmly on the hook for those crimes.

In open court, Matt Murdock declares he's Daredevil.   

Wilson Fisk has spent nearly 2 seasons having everything go his way as Mayor of NYC.

In short order, it all goes in reverse.

• Murdock has exposed his corruption.
• The Governor has revoked Fisk's authority as Mayor.
• The Attorney General has a warrant for his arrest. 

Fisk commandeers a camera and proclaims to the citizens of New York City that all they have heard are lies and he will still fight for them as he ALONE can! 

The citizens of New York City respond to this message of fealty and love by assembling to storm the courthouse to force his oversized ass out of power.

Fisk responds by demonstrating his fealty and love to the citizens of New York City by wading into the mob to beat the crap out of them. 

Daredevil intervenes to save people from Fisk and keep the good people for murdering Fisk. The Attorney General has offered Fisk as deal that involves renouncing his citizenship and living in exile. 

Which is way better than this fucker deserves but it does end the carnage. And if anything is ever really going to actually hurt the erstwhile Kingpin, it's being forced to live with the knowledge that he had power and now he doesn't.

But Matt's victory comes at a cost. Having outed himself as Daredevil,  Matt ends the season arrested for Daredevil’s crimes (such as charges of assault and attempted murder) and stuck in the same priosn for the AVTF members he helped put away.   

Daredevil: Born Again is renewed for season 3 and is currently in production. So what will that look like with Matt Murdock in jail?

The comics have explored this territory a couple of times with Matt in prison while others took up the mantel of Daredevil such as Danny Rand AKA Iron Fist and Elektra. 

In season 3, Daredevil AKA .... Jessica Jones? Hey, why not!

I was pysched for the return of Krysten Ritter as Marvel's favorite ill tempered super strong private eye.  I was pleasant surprised to find Jones living in suburbia as a mom to a young daughter.  Who da thunk it? 

Domestic bliss has not dulled Jessica Jones' caustic wit and badass attitude.  So no, I do not see her suiting up as Daredevil. (Still think it would be cool though.)   

Somehow this information has eluded me all these years but Charlie Cox who plays Matt Murdock is British? 

I had to find a clip from Law & Order: Criminal Intent to show Andrea that Vincent D'Onofrio does not actually look or sound like Wilson Fisk.  

We watch TV to get away from the shitshow reality we live in under Donald Trump so Daredevil: Born Again didn't help much to show us a world where that level of malice and corruption reaches an extreme.

But it was cathartic to watch the citizens of New York City rise up to take back power from the Kingpin's cruel and selfish grasp.

That is that for this week's Tuesday TV Touchbase.

Next week is gonna hit hard, guys!

The series finale of Outlander. 

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.   

Deranged In the Membrane

For today's political themed post, I have a plethora of fuckery by Donald Trump and his snivelling synchophants to pontificate about.

• The war with Iran.
• Rising prices for gas, groceries and some other 3rd thing.
• Donald Trump's perpetual denial that rising prices for gas, groceries and some other 3rd thing is actually a problem.
• Pay attention, people: it's a Golden Age for America. Why are we not impressed? Because we are not impressed with rising prices for gas, groceries and some other 3rd thing.
• Acts of censorship against those who dare speak against der Führer.
• Cuts to programs that help people with disabilities.
• Invoking religion as governmental policy.
• Continued cover up of the Epstein files. 
• Trump and other MAGA faithful benefiting financially from Trump's chaotic impulses.
• Election interference through a compromised judiciary and rampant gerrymandering. 
• Trump and his synchophants putting his fucking picture on every damn thing.  
• The goddam ballroom that no one wanted or asked for.

I could keep going as the list of incompetence, cruelty, grift, etc etc etc is quite extensive.

Or maybe all these problems are not problems at all.

Maybe it's just me.

Maybe I have (dramatic pause) Trump derangement syndrome!

Trump derangement syndrome is invoked by Trump and his minions to undermine those who speak out against Li'l Donnie and those things he do. 

So if I say that Donald Trump is a lying, petulant, bullying, unintelligent, sociopathic, dishonorable, treasonous, gutless, moronic, heartless, soulless, slimy, loathsome, vile, incompetent, psychotic, crooked, disgusting, reprehensible, revolting, horrible, malicious, obnoxious, hateful, small minded, despicable god damn, motherfucking piece of shit, well, that's my problem for being crazy! 

I'm just deranged for refusing to see the obvious power and wisdom that is Donald J. Trump.  

ME: Trump has been reckless and incoherent in this war he started with Iran.

DONALD TRUMP: Dave-El has Trump derangement syndrome! The War is going GREAT!  The war is WON! We won it on DAY ONE!  AND we're going to keep winning it!   So much winning!! Dave-El said mean things about TRUMP!! I'm not a fan of Dave-El! NOT A FAN!! "I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You"! He does not know suffering! I have SUFFERED!!! MORE THAN JESUS!! I have survived 100 assassinations!  The Russia Hoax! RUSSIA! RUSSIA! RUSSIA! I WON 3 ELECTIONS!!! Dave-El is a LOSER!! He doesn't have a ballroom! Only Trump can build the BIGGEST, the BEST, the GOLDEST Ballroom EVER! Dave-El is WEAK ON CRIME and BAD FOR AMERICA! 

There's an entire article about this on Wikipedia. 

From that article, here are a couple of bills introduced by Republican legislators to codify Trump derangement syndrome as a real and actual thing.

• Minnesota Senate Republicans introduced a bill in March 2025 that seeks to classify "Trump Derangement Syndrome" as a mental illness and incorporate it into the state's legal definition through amended statutes.
• U.S. Representative Warren Davidson of Ohio introduced a bill in May 2025 that would require the National Institutes of Health to study Trump derangement syndrome and report annually to Congress. 

The truth is there is so much going to shit in this country and in this world and the sewer line leads right back to Donald Trump.

The evidence of that is readibly apparent to our eyes and ears.

But we are being told to not accept the reality of what we can see and hear.  Our perception of that reality is dismissed as hysteria, deranged crazy talk. 

The truly deranged are the ones who cannot or will not accept what reality clearly demonstrates.   

Unless it is just me? 

Star Trekking: Dropping Names with Brent and Jonny!

 

Today's installment of Star Trekking is NOT about Star Trek.

But it is Star Trek adjacent.

Today I'm going to post about my current favorite podcast! 

Hosted by Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner, Dropping Names with Brent and Jonny takes place in a warm and comfy library/den set where these vets of Star Trek: The Next Generation sit around and bullshit with each other and engage in friendly chats with people they know.

This is NOT a Star Trek podcast but yeah, Star Trek stuff comes up. 

Hell, their first guest was Levar Burton so yeah, Trek ain't too far away.   

The "Dropping Names" in the title is a challenge for Brent, Jonny and their guests to drop as many names of famous people as they can into their conversations.

Sitting on a table next to Frakes is a bell which he rings every time someone drops the name of a notable actor, director, writer, relatively famous person they personally know and/or have worked with. 

Frakes thinks the bell is funny as hell.

Spiner is somewhat annoyed by it.  

I tend to agree with Spiner because Brent and Jonny know a LOT of famous people.  So that's a lot of bell ringing.  

But Frake's joyful reaction to Spiner's annoyance is amusing.

I realize Dropping Names may not be for you, that these free wheeling discussions may be too insular, too "inside baseball" to be interesting to everyone.  

Brent Spiner was in this play with that actress who was in a movie with some guy who once co-starred with the guest in a TV episode directed by Jonathan Frakes. Stuff like that.  

And Brent, Jonny and guests are too gracious and cordial to drop any real tea on anyone.  Everyone on this show is still actively working on something somewhere in the entertainment industry and can ill afford to burn any bridges.   

When Joel McHale was a guest, they couldn't bring themselve to trash talk Joel's former Community star Chevy Chase. And no one in Hollywood likes Chevy Chase so if there was anyone to talk shit about, it's him.  

Other than a reluctance to expose any real dirt or juicy gossip, these discussions are mostly candid and usually a lot of fun. To me, anyway. 

So that is that for this side trek from StarTrekking.

Next week, we're up to season 5 of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

 

Mother's Day 2026

Today is Mother's Day so to my son Dean, remember to say "Hi!" to your mom.

Dean and I communicate via blog.

Yesterday I ventured forth to Target to get my wife Andrea a Mother's Day card.  

There are Mother's Day cards from husbands to their wives but these are mostly filled with treacly Hallmark sentimentality that is very much out of character for me.  

One time I gave Andrea a card that was kind of sweet and heartfelt.  She was worried. "Are you going to die?"  

Finally I spied a card with a dog on it. Nailed it!

Andrea likes cards with cute dogs on them. 

I was standing next to a young woman who was having some difficulty finding a card for her mother. She was goingthrough the cards with this repeated refrain: 

• "No, not that one!" 
• "No, not that one!" 
• "No, not that one!" 

Taylor Tomlinson did some stand up on the problems for adults buying a greeting card for a parent.  Too much water under the bridge.

• "Thank you for always being there for me! Nope!"
• "Thank you for accepting me as I am! Nah, that's not gonna work." 
• "Is there a card that simply says 'You are my mom" and full stop?"

I used to struggle with getting cards for my mom and dad for similar reasons. Thankfully, I don't have to do that anymore because they're both dead.

Wait! "Thankfully"? 

Really, my parents are dead and I'm seeing an upside in not giving the folks at Hallmark any of my money to express empty platitudes?

I admittedly had complicated relationships with my parents.  

And perhaps I have some reasons to be angry with them for decisions they made when I was young that affected the course of my life.

But they hardly seem to matter now.

Here is a photo I recently found on Facebook of me with my mother and my brother.  

This was taken about a year or so before she died.

I am struck by how small and frail she is in this picture.  At this point, she was in assisted living, in the early stages of the Alzheimer's that would claim her life.  

She was such a strong woman, fierce and passionate about things that were important to her.  

She was my strongest advocate even when perhaps I didn't deserve it.  

Sometimes I dream she is still alive and then I wake up to chastise myself for not calling her more often, then remembering I can't.  

Is the primary function of Mother's Day to instill feelings of guilt?

Now I'm missing the stuggle of finding her a card.

Like me, she wasn't big on sentimentality.

So it would have to be funny. Or have a picture of a cat.

Here's to Mother's Day for all our mothers still with us today and to those who loved so long ago. 

Movie Time: Peppermint

 It’s….Movie Time! 

Since tomorrow is Mother’s Day, today’s movie post is about a movie I happened to catch on television several months ago about a mom on a mission. 

 

Is it a movie about the warm kindness and caring gentleness that only a mother can give? ❤❤❤

 

No, this is a mama going batshit violent on a quest for vengeance against those who killed her family! 💢💢💢

 

From 2018, it’s Peppermint and it stars that woman from the Capital One credit card commercials, Jennifer Garner.

 Riley North is a vigilante on a mission of revenge.  She didn’t ask for this.

 

Five years ago, she was a wife and mother to 10 year old girl, as well as holding down a bank job.  Her husband Chris owned a mechanic shop that was flailing.

 

They needed money and a friend of Chris suggested they could get some by robbing drug lord Diego Garcia.

 

Chris and Riley needed money but not bad enough to cross a drug lord like Diego Garcia.  So Chris passed on the deal.

 

But Garcia doesn’t know or care that Chris is NOT going to rob him now and decides to make an example of him for enen thinking about it. 💣

 

After an evening out for pizza and going to a carnival, the North family is targeted by Garcia’s thugs in a drive by shooting that leaves Riley severely wounded and her husband and daughter dead.😧

Riley can I.D. the shooters but damn! There is a LOT of bullshit arrayed against her.

The cops don't wanna take on Diego Garcia because the last cops who went after him wound up dead.🙈🙉🙊

Not to mention who knows which cops are on Garcia's payroll.

Riley still insists on testifying against the shooters but Garcia's lawyer discredits Riley as a credible witness. 

And the judge who is in Garcia's pocket dismissed the case due to a "lack of evidence".

Which causes Riley to lose her shit and attacks the killers in court which gives the judge an excuse to order Riley be put under a psychiatric hold. 😢

Well, you know how women get hysterical over the slightest thing like having a drug cartel murder her husband and daughter. 

While being transported to a psychiatric hospital, Riley North escapes and vanishes.

Five years later...

Certain people start dying. 

Diego Garcia's henchmen who shot Riley's family? DEAD! 

The henchmen's attorney? DEAD!

The corrupt prosecutor? DEAD! 

The corrupt judge? DEAD!

Riley North is back in town. 😠😠😠😠

Riley's living in a van down on Skid Row, loaded up with stolen weapons.  In addition to her quest for vengeance against Diego Garcia's drug cartel, she's been interventing to help protect the poor people on Skid Row.  They view Riley as a guardian angel, keepong them safe.

The cops go to the media to put out the word about Riley North: she's armed, she's dangerous, everyone beware! 

She's a hysterical woman! Watch out! 😡

Riley's media exposure causes some debate in the city. Some people see her as a murderous threat, breaking the law.  For others, Riley has become a cause célèbre for her one woman war against a viscious drug gang and the corrupt officials in their employ.  

For Riley, she has one goal. For each corrupt authority figure and feach criminal thug she kills, she's tightening the circle around Diego Garcia.  

The engame is putting an end to the monster himself. 

Riley's journey to her ultimate revenge is brutal.  As she eliminates target after target, she takes a lot of damage, broken, bruised, bloodied. 

And Diego Garcia is pushing back against Riley with a army arrayed against her.

Garcia sets up a trap for Riley.

Riley decides to walk into it, all the better to put a bullet in this motherfucker's brain.

But first she makes a phone call.

Media outlets throughout the city know where Riley North is gonna be.

Riley North vs. Diego Garcia.  The press and the police will have a front row seat.💥💥💥

Diego thinks the odds are in his favor.  He's bigger, meaner, stronger and he has a fully armed army at his command. 

And Riley is just one woman. 

She's also a mother who is holding on to a lot of rage over what Diego Garcia did to her family.

Advantage: Riley North.

Riley shoots Diego in the head.

Even though surrounded by police, Riley pulls a Batman and vanishes.   

She's ultimately found at her family's gravesite, bleeding out, ready to die.  

Riley's arrested for all the murders she did and taken to the hospital despite her protests, saying she is ready to die now.

But a police detective who was NOT on Diego Garcia's payroll helps her escape from the hospital and we have reach the end.

The blessed merciful end.

Oh, dear Lord, this movie! 😩

Peppermint is so ladened down with cliches and thread bare tropes.

All we're missing is "it was a dark and stormy night!" 

Diego Garcia is the overworn archetype of the Mexican drug lord, right down to his name.  Gee, did someone put a bunch of Hispanic type names in a hat and randomly drew "Garcia" and "Diego"?  

Credit where credit is due.  Jennifer Garner delivers a strong and ferocious performance as Riley North. I know we're so used to her gentle nature in those Capitol One ads, it's easy to forget what she's capable of.   

The Golden Rasberry Awards disagreed with me, nominating Garner for "Worst Actress" at their 2019 awards.   Fuck them! What do they know? 🙍

Hey, why is this movie called Peppermint?  It's the flavor of ice-cream Riley's daughter was eating when she was murdered.  It's also the alias Riley uses when she starts her quest for revenge. Mostly, everyone knows it's Riley and just calls her that. 

When the movie was released in South Korea, it was called I Am Mother. 💔

But Garner is too good for this slight 1980's throwback revenge flick.   And I am not alone in this assessment.

  

Rotten Tomatoes:  13% approval rating of 13% and an average rating of 3.6 out of 10. 

Metacritic:  score of 29 out of 100.

Audiences polled by CinemaScore were a bit kinder, giving the film an average grade of "B+".

Peppermint may be lacking in originality and anything resembling nuance but I suppose if you need to turn your brain off and watch corrupted authority figures and crass criminals get theirs in the most violent way possible, there are worse ways than spending time with Jennifer Garner doling out some righteous revenge.

Like a good seriously jacked, gun wielding mother would.

Happy Mother's Day! ❤❤❤❤

 

A Very Ryan Gosling Your Friday Video Link

To follow up on last weekend's Movie Time post about Project Hail Mary starring Ryan Gosling, this week's edition of Your Friday Video Link features Ryan Gosling.

Specifically his turns guest hosting Saturday Night Live!

First up is the legendary Alien Abduction sketch where Ryan can barely hold it together while Kate McKinnon steals the show.

Ryan returned to SNL a few weeks ago to promote Project Hail Mary and stars in a sketch about a couple checking out of a hotel and dealing with some questionable charges relating to... the Goo-Goo Man!

Last year, Ryan hosted SNL and joined Mikey Day as a couple of dudes who look like Beavis and Butthead. 

And it's Heidi Gardner's turn to be rattled. 

And that is that for this week's Your Friday Video Link.

Until next time, remember to good to one another.

And never overpay for the Goo-Goo Man.