You turn on your heels and run. No thought behind it. No hesitation. You always wondered how you'd react if you ever felt in mortal danger and now you know.
You're the kind of person who runs.
Something about that smile. That creepy, thin-lipped smile. You'd never seen someone smile like that before. It was as if someone just took hold of the man's cheeks and *pulled* - stretching the skin tight over bone and muscle. It was unhinged. People don't smile like that. *Humans* don't smile like that.
Leaping over a table where two guests sat, silently playing some unidentifiable local card game, you stumble blindly into the kitchen, bursting through the double doors like a cowboy in an old westry tale, the table flipping on its side behind you and spilling cards all across the rough-hewn floor. You throw a glance over your shoulder. The two patrons didn't seem to mind - or even notice. You watch as one takes a card from their hand and drops it in mid-air on a stack of cards that no longer existed. The card flutters meaninglessly to the ground, taking up residence against one of the gentleman's brown leather riding boots. Face up, in this moment seemingly suspended in time, you can even see the face of the card. The four of clovers; an omen card. Misfortune. Betrayal. Death.
You look wildly around the small kitchen, searching for any exit at all. There is a tall narrow door to your left, a staircase leading down, and what appears to be a short, squat metal door with a handle along the top side. Not an oven, but similarly shaped. The cook has stopped what he's doing, seemingly frozen in place, watching you, holding a tray of biscuits with a drizzled honeyed glaze on top. Your mouth waters involuntarily. It's been years since you've eaten khaffa cakes. Not since you were a little bairn. You have a sudden urge to stuff your cheeks full of tiny honeyed biscuits like a squirrel storing nuts for the winter. You start to giggle. You wonder if you're going mad.
What do you do?
Fetterman should not serve another term.
Fetterman bails out Trumpās Noem replacement pick Markwayne Mullin in key vote on DHS chief | The Independent
Under Trump, the governmentās watchdogs are losing their independence
Inspectors general have long touted their independence from partisan politics,
maintaining a strict firewall between themselves and the White House appointees whose activities they are supposed to check.
ā©But now, over a year into the new Trump administration,
political figures and the White House have sought greater influence over government watchdogs than ever before,
-- leading to concerns about the independence of the oversight community.
ā©After firing inspectors general at 19 agencies in an unprecedented purge in the early days of his second term,
Trump has spent the past year nominating several new inspectors general with partisan backgrounds.
Investigators, auditors and others were lost in widespread staffing cuts.
And political appointees have increasingly gained new powers over the apparatus that is designed to independently operate in order to root out waste, fraud and abuse.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/03/19/inspector-general-independence-trump/
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
#Trump #Homeland nominee #MarkwayneMullin advances to vote before full #Senate
#DHS #law #immigration #USpol
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-panel-votes-advance-trump-homeland-nominee-2026-03-19/?utm_source=braze&utm_medium=notifications&utm_campaign=2025_engagement