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Top 10 Conservative Idiots #6-3: Thursday Night's All Right (For Fighting) Edition
Top 10 Conservative Idiots #6-3: Thursday Night’s All Right (For Fighting) Edition
Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! Sign up for our new unlimited plan today, get 4 free phones and unlimited gigs! What’s up Vegas???? Oh it is good to be back! I do love this city, it’s a home away from home for me! But I think this is the first time we’ve done a Vegas show and we’ve also done one on Fremont St at that. I love Fremont St – it’s the Strip without Strip. I mean come on, we got the Heart Attack Grill right next door, what more could you want? Congratulations to the LA Rams on winning the NFC championship and going to the Super Bowl!!! Sorry Saints fans, you put up a good fight and you can rest easier knowing you don't have to go to the White House to eat McDonalds. Do I really have to congratulate the Patriots though? Yeah BOOO those guys! Do we have time for the thing? We’ve talked quite a bit about gender reveals on this program including the absolutely ridiculous one in Arizona last year that started one of the world’s largest brush fires. There have been all kinds of ways to reveal your forthcoming child's gender and that includes everything from shooting off balloons to fireworks to colored powdered gas. Yeah let's give your guests the impression that they're getting gassed. What a great idea! Not. And why not? It's about as ridiculous of a concept as the Promposal, and really don't get me started on this crap that's designed really to get likes on your social media accounts like promposals, gender reveal parties, and pictures of ridiculous food combinations like chocolate sprinkle donut cheeseburgers. And this gender reveal party really is a combination of the two. Now they’re getting into ridiculous territory. Yes that's right - now. I said now, damn it! So why am I so angry about this? Because there’s New York-based chain restaurant Villa Pizza Kitchen that has started this insane trend that we really hope doesn't become a thing, and people hate it. What is it you might ask? It's gender reveal lasagna! Yes, your lasagna can be made blue or pink to reveal your new baby's gender, and it looks like a science experiment! In fact you wanna be grossed out? Let’s show a picture of it!
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Man that looks appetizing doesn’t it? Cheese with blue or pink food coloring to reveal your baby’s gender! Why am I reminded of that scene from Vegas Vacation where Cousin Eddie takes Clark to the $1.49 all you can eat buffet?
Excuse me a minute… hey that doesn’t look like chicken! OK that’s enough of the intro, we have a lot of idiocy to get to. But first Bill Maher is back (YAY!!!!!) and his first New Rule of the year pointed out the 800 pound gorilla in the room:
Ed. Note: Unfortunately we wont get to the SCOTUS ruling on Trump’s transgender military ban this week so we will have to wait until next week. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming!
Holy shit was last week quite the doozy! We might need a slot just to recap all the insanity and I think that’s what we’re going to do, especially with the Trump vs Pelosi debacle and Trump (1) going full asshole and revoking her travel privileges, and may have outed a secret diplomatic mission. In the second slot is also Donald Trump (2). So if you noticed over the weekend was the March For Life in Washington, DC and a group of boys from a Catholic school in Kentucky were the spotlight as they were wearing MAGA hats and making racist taunts. Of course their repeated attempts to justify their actions don’t help their cause. In the third slot this week is the guy who might become America’s next attorney general William Barr (3) and well he’s a perfect Trump cabinet pick. By perfect we mean SAD! Taking the fourth slot this week, we have a new installment of “People Who Somehow Got Elected” and this week we’re going to add Oklahoma’s new holier-than-thou governor Kevin Stitt (4) to that ever growing list. For the fifth slot this week is our weekly investigative piece Top 10 Investigates and we’re going to take a good, hard look at the LAUSD teacher’s strike (5) and what it means for the future of LAUSD. In the sixth slot this week is of course our weekly visit to the Holy Church Of The Top 10 in “Holy Shit” (6) and this week our resident pastor is going to do a deep dive into something unheard of – mixing religion and politics, but specifically did Liberty University rig the polls to favor the Dark One? We shall find out! In the seventh slot this week, we’ve got a new installment of “Beating A Dead Horse” (7) and we’re going to break down the extremely controversial new Gillette ad that has everyone’s underwear in a wad from both sides of the aisle. For the 8th slot this week, we have a new installment of We’re All Gonna Die, and if last week's Super Blood Wolf Moon wasn't a sign of the end times, wait until you see what the apocalypse has in store for you, courtesy of Russia and North Korea! In the number 9 (NEIN!!!) slot this week we’ve got a brand new installment of “I Need A Drink” and we’re in Vegas a city known for bad decisions made while drinking, and the shut down is affecting the craft beer industry big time, and we will get to the bottom of it! Finally this week we’ve got a brand new installment of our ongoing series that explains how government works to conspiracy theorists, Deep State Diaries (10) is going to show the governing body of our money and economic system, The Fed! Plus our good friends The Claypool Lennon Delirium are back with some new tunes! Enjoy! And as always don’t forget the key!
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[font size="8"]Trump vs Pelosi
[br] [/font] [br]
Thursday, Thursday, Thursday, Thursday, Thursday night’s all right for fighting yeah!!! Sorry, I was channeling my inner Elton John there for a minute. Yeah so last week it was a Trump vs Nancy Pelosi brew ha ha. You know what? Let’s do it this way instead! In this corner, weighing allegedly at 239 pounds, he loves hamburders and fast food, the guy who is currently the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump! And in this corner, the woman who has been tasked with keeping our country from going to shit, the new speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi! Let’s get ready to rumble!!!
In a Sunday morning tweetstorm, President Donald Trump lashed out at Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Democrats for rejecting his proposal offering temporary protections to some undocumented immigrants in exchange for $5.7 billion in border security funding.
The president accused Pelosi of behaving "irrationally” for turning down his offer.
“Nancy Pelosi has behaved so irrationally & has gone so far to the left that she has now officially become a Radical Democrat. She is so petrified of the ‘lefties’ in her party that she has lost control.”
He added in another tweet, “Nancy Pelosi and some of the Democrats turned down my offer yesterday before I even got up to speak. They don’t see crime & drugs, they only see 2020 - which they are not going to win.”
During an address on Saturday in the Diplomatic Room of the White House, the president presented what he called a “compromise” bill aimed at reopening the government, securing border wall funding, and providing legal protections for some undocumented immigrants. When details of the proposal leaked to the press ahead of the president’s announcement, Democrats swiftly panned the offer as dead on arrival because it did not offer permanent protections for some immigrants. Pelosi called Trump’s proposal a “non-starter.”
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-lashes-pelosi-rejected-government-shutdown-proposal/story?id=60505117
The president accused Pelosi of behaving "irrationally” for turning down his offer.
“Nancy Pelosi has behaved so irrationally & has gone so far to the left that she has now officially become a Radical Democrat. She is so petrified of the ‘lefties’ in her party that she has lost control.”
He added in another tweet, “Nancy Pelosi and some of the Democrats turned down my offer yesterday before I even got up to speak. They don’t see crime & drugs, they only see 2020 - which they are not going to win.”
During an address on Saturday in the Diplomatic Room of the White House, the president presented what he called a “compromise” bill aimed at reopening the government, securing border wall funding, and providing legal protections for some undocumented immigrants. When details of the proposal leaked to the press ahead of the president’s announcement, Democrats swiftly panned the offer as dead on arrival because it did not offer permanent protections for some immigrants. Pelosi called Trump’s proposal a “non-starter.”
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-lashes-pelosi-rejected-government-shutdown-proposal/story?id=60505117
Shut up!!!!! If you really were serious about crime and drugs you’d start prosecuting the pharmaceutical companies who peddle addictive opioids and the for profit prisons who lock people for the pettiest of crimes! Those are the people who are really bringing crime and drugs into our streets. And you know Trump is a guy who loves to rub salt in the wound. Think of it like Lucy pulling the football from Charlie Brown and then she spits in his face and kicks him in the ribs as he’s lying on the ground.
President Trump early Sunday sought to sell his new immigration proposal, which includes funding for a wall along the southern border and extended protection for certain immigrant groups, amid pushback from Democrats and hard-line conservatives.
In a series of tweets, Trump chastised Democrats for dismissing his plan, and attempted to assuage immigration hard-liners who likened the administration's latest proposal to amnesty for immigrants already in the country illegally.
"No, Amnesty is not a part of my offer," Trump tweeted. "It is a 3 year extension of DACA. Amnesty will be used only on a much bigger deal, whether on immigration or something else. Likewise there will be no big push to remove the 11,000,000 plus people who are here illegally-but be careful Nancy!"
In two other tweets, Trump singled out Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for her opposition to the proposal, calling her a "Radical Democrat" and blaming her for the condition of the streets in San Francisco, which falls in her congressional district.
Trump called on Pelosi and Democrats to "do the right thing for the Country & allow people to go back to work" as a partial government shutdown triggered by his demand for wall funding stretched into its 30th day.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/426198-trump-defends-immigration-proposal-against-amnesty-criticism-from
In a series of tweets, Trump chastised Democrats for dismissing his plan, and attempted to assuage immigration hard-liners who likened the administration's latest proposal to amnesty for immigrants already in the country illegally.
"No, Amnesty is not a part of my offer," Trump tweeted. "It is a 3 year extension of DACA. Amnesty will be used only on a much bigger deal, whether on immigration or something else. Likewise there will be no big push to remove the 11,000,000 plus people who are here illegally-but be careful Nancy!"
In two other tweets, Trump singled out Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for her opposition to the proposal, calling her a "Radical Democrat" and blaming her for the condition of the streets in San Francisco, which falls in her congressional district.
Trump called on Pelosi and Democrats to "do the right thing for the Country & allow people to go back to work" as a partial government shutdown triggered by his demand for wall funding stretched into its 30th day.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/426198-trump-defends-immigration-proposal-against-amnesty-criticism-from
I think that would defy all laws of physics wouldn’t it? But in case you’re wondering if Trump’s plan would end this ridiculous shutdown? Well guess what? That ain’t happening! I’m shocked, shocked I tell you! Guess what government? You just got Art Of The Deal’d!!!
It should be good news that both President Donald Trump's Republicans and Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Democrats plan to vote to reopen the government this week.
But since they are voting on vastly different plans, this new phase of their confrontation is more likely to expose the gulf between them than to end the longest federal shutdown in history anytime soon.
Trump on Saturday made his most significant move yet in an impasse now nearly a month in by offering temporary protections for some undocumented immigrants in return for $5.7 billion in funding for his border wall.
As Republicans see it, Trump's speech from the White House is a statesmanlike effort to meet Democrats halfway in a bid to end the partial government shutdown.
"This is a common-sense compromise both parties should embrace," Trump said.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/20/politics/donald-trump-nancy-pelosi-government-shutdown/index.html
But since they are voting on vastly different plans, this new phase of their confrontation is more likely to expose the gulf between them than to end the longest federal shutdown in history anytime soon.
Trump on Saturday made his most significant move yet in an impasse now nearly a month in by offering temporary protections for some undocumented immigrants in return for $5.7 billion in funding for his border wall.
As Republicans see it, Trump's speech from the White House is a statesmanlike effort to meet Democrats halfway in a bid to end the partial government shutdown.
"This is a common-sense compromise both parties should embrace," Trump said.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/20/politics/donald-trump-nancy-pelosi-government-shutdown/index.html
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha… as if Trump cares about common sense! That’s a good one! Be sure to catch that joke and many others in Trump’s new standup comedy album “Me Standing In Front Of A Wall”, available in the bargain bin of your local Wal-Mart today! And by the way in case you’re wondering who is winning this fight, let’s just say that Trump is Art Of The Dealing himself! He’s winning, you know, in the Charlie Sheen sense of winning.
Nancy Pelosi is winning her showdown with President Trump for one simple reason: She knows how to do her job better than he knows how to do his.
The House speaker is fond of three precepts; spend time with her and you’ll hear them all. One is from Abraham Lincoln: “Public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed.”
The second is from her father, an old-school Democratic mayor of Baltimore: “Votes are the coin of the realm.” The third is her own: Never underestimate Nancy Pelosi.
In this battle, she’s winning — and Trump’s losing — on all three counts.
Since the president forced the partial shutdown of the federal government on Dec. 22, public sentiment has run against him and the wall he wants to build on the border with Mexico.
https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-mcmanus-column-pelosi-20190120-story.html
The House speaker is fond of three precepts; spend time with her and you’ll hear them all. One is from Abraham Lincoln: “Public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed.”
The second is from her father, an old-school Democratic mayor of Baltimore: “Votes are the coin of the realm.” The third is her own: Never underestimate Nancy Pelosi.
In this battle, she’s winning — and Trump’s losing — on all three counts.
Since the president forced the partial shutdown of the federal government on Dec. 22, public sentiment has run against him and the wall he wants to build on the border with Mexico.
https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-mcmanus-column-pelosi-20190120-story.html
?itemid=5026827
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[font size="8"]Nick Sandmann
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This weekend was the annual gathering of religious conservative white males who want to tell women how to control their bodies known as the “March For Life”. Yes it’s the DC protest where they call on governments to end that thing known as abortion once and for all. But this weekend was different because for once, all the attention was taken off abortion and the debate for or against it. So what happened? Well it’s a complicated story but there was a brew ha ha between boys from a Catholic school in Covington, Kentucky (who, not surprisingly, were wearing MAGA hats) and a Native American Vietnam vet. So let’s let the story do the talking first.
A crowd of students surrounds the Native American man, laughing and filming on cell phones. One boy, wearing a red Make America Great Again hat, stands just inches away from the man's drum, staring at him with a wide smile.
Nathan Phillips, an Omaha elder participating in the Indigenous Peoples March, keeps drumming and singing.
The jeers of the students – and Phillips' stoic response – were captured in a video that has sparked widespread criticism and drawn an apology from a Kentucky prep school and diocese.
The students and Phillips had both converged in Washington, D.C., last Friday. The students, a group of boys from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky, were there to attend the March for Life. Phillips had come for the first-ever Indigenous Peoples March, on the same day.
Videos show a number of young men and women, predominantly white, jumping, cheering and chanting, in a dense circle around Phillips. Many are wearing Trump paraphernalia, and some are wearing clothing associated with the Covington high school.
https://www.npr.org/2019/01/20/686988268/video-of-kentucky-students-mocking-native-american-man-draws-outcry
Nathan Phillips, an Omaha elder participating in the Indigenous Peoples March, keeps drumming and singing.
The jeers of the students – and Phillips' stoic response – were captured in a video that has sparked widespread criticism and drawn an apology from a Kentucky prep school and diocese.
The students and Phillips had both converged in Washington, D.C., last Friday. The students, a group of boys from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky, were there to attend the March for Life. Phillips had come for the first-ever Indigenous Peoples March, on the same day.
Videos show a number of young men and women, predominantly white, jumping, cheering and chanting, in a dense circle around Phillips. Many are wearing Trump paraphernalia, and some are wearing clothing associated with the Covington high school.
https://www.npr.org/2019/01/20/686988268/video-of-kentucky-students-mocking-native-american-man-draws-outcry
Yes, wait a minute hold up. I mean is anyone really surprised at this point that Trump supporters would hurl racist insults and mock Native Americans who were participating in their own march? If you are, you’re either a Trump supporter or you’ve been in a coma. So let’s move the camera back a bit and see what’s in the background?
After short clips of an incident between students from Covington Catholic High School and a man at the Indigenous Peoples March in Washington D.C. went viral Saturday, people are now sharing full-length clips of the incident.
People across social media have responded to the video saying it shows the students were provoked and that the man put himself in that position. One video is almost two hours long.
The indigenous man, Nathan Phillips, said he stepped in to diffuse the crowd of students who were interacting with a group he identified as the Black Hebrew Israelites. Phillips is a Vietnam veteran and Native American elder of the Omaha tribe.
In an interview with the Detroit Free Press, Phillips said the incident started as the Covington Catholic students were observing a group of Black Hebrew Israelites talk, and started to get upset at their speeches.
Phillips said some of the members of the Black Hebrew Israelites group were also acting up, "saying some harsh things" and that one member spit in the direction of the Catholic students.
"So I put myself in between that, between a rock and hard place," Phillips said.
The Enquirer has not verified the identity of the person who took and posted the video. One video seems to be posted by a member of the Black Hebrew Israelites.
https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/01/20/covington-catholic-incident-indigenous-peoples-march-longer-video/2630930002/
People across social media have responded to the video saying it shows the students were provoked and that the man put himself in that position. One video is almost two hours long.
The indigenous man, Nathan Phillips, said he stepped in to diffuse the crowd of students who were interacting with a group he identified as the Black Hebrew Israelites. Phillips is a Vietnam veteran and Native American elder of the Omaha tribe.
In an interview with the Detroit Free Press, Phillips said the incident started as the Covington Catholic students were observing a group of Black Hebrew Israelites talk, and started to get upset at their speeches.
Phillips said some of the members of the Black Hebrew Israelites group were also acting up, "saying some harsh things" and that one member spit in the direction of the Catholic students.
"So I put myself in between that, between a rock and hard place," Phillips said.
The Enquirer has not verified the identity of the person who took and posted the video. One video seems to be posted by a member of the Black Hebrew Israelites.
https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/01/20/covington-catholic-incident-indigenous-peoples-march-longer-video/2630930002/
And yes that did escalate very quickly! I mean this is why you don’t hold conflicting rallies on the same day, it will never end well for either side. But Mr. Sandmann might be vying for a job on Fox News or AM radio. But well his mom definitely didn’t help the situation at all.
The mother of a boy filmed harassing a Native American man along with his friends at a rally in Washington DC has blamed “black Muslims” for the confrontation, without providing any evidence for the claim.
The teenager was among a group of students wearing Make America Great Again hats who were criticised for intimidating the musician Nathan Phillips, surrounding him to jeer and chant “build the wall, build the wall”.
But his mother claimed “black Muslims” had been harassing the group of Donald Trump supporters from the private, all-male Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky.
In an email to the news website Heavy.com, she wrote: “Did you hear the names of the people where (sic) calling these boys? It was shameful. Did you witness the black Muslims yelling profanities and video taping to get something to futher (sic) your narrative of hatred??
“Did you know that this “man” came up to this one boy and drummed in his face?”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/maga-hat-donald-trump-native-american-covington-catholic-nathan-phillips-black-muslims-a8737186.html
The teenager was among a group of students wearing Make America Great Again hats who were criticised for intimidating the musician Nathan Phillips, surrounding him to jeer and chant “build the wall, build the wall”.
But his mother claimed “black Muslims” had been harassing the group of Donald Trump supporters from the private, all-male Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky.
In an email to the news website Heavy.com, she wrote: “Did you hear the names of the people where (sic) calling these boys? It was shameful. Did you witness the black Muslims yelling profanities and video taping to get something to futher (sic) your narrative of hatred??
“Did you know that this “man” came up to this one boy and drummed in his face?”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/maga-hat-donald-trump-native-american-covington-catholic-nathan-phillips-black-muslims-a8737186.html
OK maybe the mom isn’t helping the situation. But what about Mr. Sandmann himself in this situation – what was actually happening? Well when you see a group of Trump supporters out in the public square – and in this case, Washington DC, why confront them? You know it’s going to end as badly as it started, think of it like the scene in Stepbrothers where they first meet. And people, stop with the doxing and death threats already. That’s not helping the situation!
Sandmann says he and his family have received threats in the wake of the viral incident at the Lincoln Memorial, and released the statement to correct the "outright lies" about him.
Sandmann said his group was approached by the protesters, some of whom insulted Sandmann and fellow students.
The Indigenous Peoples March in Washington on Friday coincided with the March for Life, which drew thousands of anti-abortion protesters, including a group from Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills.
Videos circulating online show a youth -- who Sandmann says is him -- staring at and standing extremely close to an elderly Native American who was singing and playing a drum.
That Native American man has been identified as Nathan Phillips, an Omaha elder and Vietnam veteran who holds an annual ceremony honoring Native American veterans at Arlington National Cemetery.
https://www.wlwt.com/article/cov-cath-student-in-dc-march-video-releases-statement-denounces-outright-lies-about-him/25970525
Sandmann said his group was approached by the protesters, some of whom insulted Sandmann and fellow students.
The Indigenous Peoples March in Washington on Friday coincided with the March for Life, which drew thousands of anti-abortion protesters, including a group from Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills.
Videos circulating online show a youth -- who Sandmann says is him -- staring at and standing extremely close to an elderly Native American who was singing and playing a drum.
That Native American man has been identified as Nathan Phillips, an Omaha elder and Vietnam veteran who holds an annual ceremony honoring Native American veterans at Arlington National Cemetery.
https://www.wlwt.com/article/cov-cath-student-in-dc-march-video-releases-statement-denounces-outright-lies-about-him/25970525
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[font size="8"]William Barr
[br] [/font] [br]
Hey anyone remember the guy who used to be attorney general – Mr. I’m Too Southern himself - Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III? Well, he got eliminated from the Trumper Games and now we’re about to meet his replacement – William Barr. In case you’re wondering where you have heard that name before, back in the 90s, William Barr is the guy who made mass incarceration great again. Yes, he’s that guy. So now the question is, if he’s the top law enforcement guy in the country, would he be prepared to take on that subject?
In 1992, William Barr, now President Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, helped engineer regulations that led to mass incarceration. And last week’s Senate confirmation hearings made it clear: In this new age of bipartisan criminal justice reform, calls for more progressive policing and efforts to lower incarceration, Barr is not the man to tear down what he built up.
At no point was that clearer than during an exchange Tuesday with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.
When Booker asked about racial bias within the criminal justice system, and whether Barr recognized how much his policies had damaged the black community, the nominee stated that there may be pockets of racism "but ... overall ... as a system ... it's not predicated" on race and racism.
That's a shocking statement from a candidate for the top law enforcement office in the United States. In order to ensure equal protection under the law, one has to recognize that such protection is — and historically has been — unequal. Barr has failed to do so.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/policing/spotlight/2019/01/21/william-barr-attorney-general-senate-hearings-donald-trump-policing-the-usa-criminal-justice-reform/2586260002/
At no point was that clearer than during an exchange Tuesday with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.
When Booker asked about racial bias within the criminal justice system, and whether Barr recognized how much his policies had damaged the black community, the nominee stated that there may be pockets of racism "but ... overall ... as a system ... it's not predicated" on race and racism.
That's a shocking statement from a candidate for the top law enforcement office in the United States. In order to ensure equal protection under the law, one has to recognize that such protection is — and historically has been — unequal. Barr has failed to do so.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/policing/spotlight/2019/01/21/william-barr-attorney-general-senate-hearings-donald-trump-policing-the-usa-criminal-justice-reform/2586260002/
So now you know that William Barr is the guy who made mass incarceration great again. What does he think of unchecked executive power? Never before in United States history have we been under an executive who’s also a crook.
By all accounts, William Barr, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the position of attorney general, is a lawyer of integrity, decency and competence. For that reason, his memorandum of June 8, 2018, raising serious constitutional doubts about Robert Mueller’s investigation, is baffling — a genuine head-scratcher.
It is important to understand exactly why.
Barr has legitimate concerns. The legal definition of “obstruction of justice” is far from clear. Under federal law, a person is guilty of obstruction if he corruptly:
(1) “alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the object’s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding,” or
(2) “otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so.”
Barr is deeply worried about the meaning of (2). His concern is that a broad understanding of (2) would have “disastrous” implications. In his view, it could potentially become a crime for the president, the attorney general or some lower-level official to call for the exercise of prosecutorial discretion, to give some direction about how to handle a case, or to manage litigation and enforcement.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-01-22/william-barr-s-baffling-memo-on-president-s-executive-power
It is important to understand exactly why.
Barr has legitimate concerns. The legal definition of “obstruction of justice” is far from clear. Under federal law, a person is guilty of obstruction if he corruptly:
(1) “alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the object’s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding,” or
(2) “otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so.”
Barr is deeply worried about the meaning of (2). His concern is that a broad understanding of (2) would have “disastrous” implications. In his view, it could potentially become a crime for the president, the attorney general or some lower-level official to call for the exercise of prosecutorial discretion, to give some direction about how to handle a case, or to manage litigation and enforcement.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-01-22/william-barr-s-baffling-memo-on-president-s-executive-power
Oh and by the way, speaking of flip flopping, remember when Jeff Sessions promised to do a hard 180 from the way the rest of the country was going on medical marijuana? Well, Mr. Barr looks to stay the course on marijuana rather than continue the route that Sessions was taking. It’s not all bad!
Until the confirmation hearings last week for President Trump’s attorney general nominee William Barr, the cannabis industry had collectively been holding its breath. After the hearings, everyone breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Given former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ tenure, expectations were understandably low for Trump’s AG pick, despite Trump’s occasional statements of support for medical cannabis. Sessions has been openly hostile to the sector in his words and in at least one major deed.
More than a year ago, Sessions rescinded the Cole memorandum, an Obama-era guideline for the U.S. Department of Justice that directed U.S. attorneys to refrain from enforcing federal cannabis laws against cannabis businesses operating in states where marijuana was legalized in some form and that had effective regulatory and enforcement regimes. Although Sessions never translated his views into a policy of DOJ prosecution during his time in office, the rescission injected a great deal of new uncertainty and concern in the sector.
This is why Barr’s statements about cannabis brought some comfort to the legal marijuana sector.
To Barr’s credit, while not pledging outright to restore the Cole memo, he said in his hearing that he would “not [] go after companies that have relied on the Cole memorandum” nor would he “upset settled expectations and reliant interests” related to it.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bencurren/2019/01/22/the-next-attorney-general-may-not-bar-progress-on-cannabis-policy-after-all/#62ae1d263c39
Given former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ tenure, expectations were understandably low for Trump’s AG pick, despite Trump’s occasional statements of support for medical cannabis. Sessions has been openly hostile to the sector in his words and in at least one major deed.
More than a year ago, Sessions rescinded the Cole memorandum, an Obama-era guideline for the U.S. Department of Justice that directed U.S. attorneys to refrain from enforcing federal cannabis laws against cannabis businesses operating in states where marijuana was legalized in some form and that had effective regulatory and enforcement regimes. Although Sessions never translated his views into a policy of DOJ prosecution during his time in office, the rescission injected a great deal of new uncertainty and concern in the sector.
This is why Barr’s statements about cannabis brought some comfort to the legal marijuana sector.
To Barr’s credit, while not pledging outright to restore the Cole memo, he said in his hearing that he would “not [] go after companies that have relied on the Cole memorandum” nor would he “upset settled expectations and reliant interests” related to it.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bencurren/2019/01/22/the-next-attorney-general-may-not-bar-progress-on-cannabis-policy-after-all/#62ae1d263c39
Well apparently we have to too, chief. And there’s one more thing about Mr. Barr – you know we’re quickly learning how much republicans are working (and that’s the only work they do) to undermine and obstruct the Mueller investigation. Well, Barr has made the statement that he will allow the investigation to continue. Um… you’re fired.
William Barr, nominated to succeed ousted Attorney General Jeff Sessions, strongly proclaimed his independence from political influence Tuesday.
Barr asserted that President Donald Trump exacted no promises of favoritism and that he would not direct the Justice Department as an extension of the White House.
In a confirmation hearing remarkable for its congeniality, the 68-year-old nominee and attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, provided unflinching assurances that he would allow Russia special counsel Robert Mueller to complete the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
“I’m in a position in life to provide the leadership necessary to protect the independence of this department,” Barr told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I won’t do anything that I think is wrong; I won’t be bullied into doing anything I think is wrong.”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/15/live-blog-william-barr-senate-hearing-attorney-general/2571876002/
Barr asserted that President Donald Trump exacted no promises of favoritism and that he would not direct the Justice Department as an extension of the White House.
In a confirmation hearing remarkable for its congeniality, the 68-year-old nominee and attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, provided unflinching assurances that he would allow Russia special counsel Robert Mueller to complete the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
“I’m in a position in life to provide the leadership necessary to protect the independence of this department,” Barr told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I won’t do anything that I think is wrong; I won’t be bullied into doing anything I think is wrong.”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/15/live-blog-william-barr-senate-hearing-attorney-general/2571876002/
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[font size="8"]Kevin Stitt
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Politicians at the state, national and local levels who are so toxic that you ever wonder how they were able to get into office, much less stay there. This is:
This week: Oklahoma’s new governor Kevin Stitt. If there’s one thing republicans think they can do and do well, it’s run the government like a business. But the government is not a business. And some things just don’t make money. The sooner we accept that as a society the better. They also think that they can mix religion and politics. That’s something that never mixes well and sits in a puddle like when you mix olive oil and vinegar. So how has the two weeks since the inaguaration gone for the new governor of Oklahoma?
Oklahoma's CEO-turned-governor Kevin Stitt rocketed from virtually unknown in politics a year ago to the state's highest office, largely on his reputation as an outsider with no experience in elected office or state government.
Aided by millions of his own money, the Tulsa mortgage company owner defeated formidable GOP primary opponents, including a popular Oklahoma City mayor and a two-term lieutenant governor, before coasting to a 12-point lead over his Democratic opponent in this month's midterm elections.
But Stitt now must pivot from campaigning to governing, a delicate balancing act that requires working with an ideologically diverse Legislature. That has proven difficult for some other business leaders in other states, such as Illinois, who shifted into politics. Unlike the CEO of a company that can hire and fire top executives at will, Stitt faces the reality of being the leader in a weak-governor state, where it can take years to put his own appointees on various agency governing boards.
"One thing people find out once they get involved in politics is that there are some awfully big egos involved," said outgoing state Auditor Gary Jones, a former chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party who ran against Stitt in the primary. "Being able to work with the House and Senate is going to take some skills."
https://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news/oklahoma-s-new-ceo-governor-kevin-stitt-must-pivot-from-campaign
Aided by millions of his own money, the Tulsa mortgage company owner defeated formidable GOP primary opponents, including a popular Oklahoma City mayor and a two-term lieutenant governor, before coasting to a 12-point lead over his Democratic opponent in this month's midterm elections.
But Stitt now must pivot from campaigning to governing, a delicate balancing act that requires working with an ideologically diverse Legislature. That has proven difficult for some other business leaders in other states, such as Illinois, who shifted into politics. Unlike the CEO of a company that can hire and fire top executives at will, Stitt faces the reality of being the leader in a weak-governor state, where it can take years to put his own appointees on various agency governing boards.
"One thing people find out once they get involved in politics is that there are some awfully big egos involved," said outgoing state Auditor Gary Jones, a former chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party who ran against Stitt in the primary. "Being able to work with the House and Senate is going to take some skills."
https://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news/oklahoma-s-new-ceo-governor-kevin-stitt-must-pivot-from-campaign
But… but… elections have consequences. We herd a guy say that on TV once. Of course you are going to get some massive egos in politics. Especially when you start combining politics with religion and running the government like a business. Think of it like that episode of Seinfeld where George tries to combine all of his vices at once.
Newly elected Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma attended an “Inaugural Prayer Service” today, during which declared that it is his mission to align the state “with what God is doing in Oklahoma,” while his wife proclaimed that it is their responsibility as Christians to use their position in elected office “to go our into our state and save people and bring people to” Jesus.
Trump-loving right-wing evangelist Lance Wallnau was in the audience at today’s prayer service and posted video of the Stitt’s remarks on his Facebook page.
“Every time I would go to prayer and I would say, ‘Lord, what do you want me to do?’ I just felt like he kept saying, ‘I already told you what to do,'” Stitt told the congregation as he recounted his decision to run for governor. “So finally I surrendered … It’s just amazing, nothing in the natural says that I’m supposed to be right here … I’m just so honored to be your governor and I just want to encourage you, when God puts anything on your hearts or on your children’s hearts, we can do anything we put our minds to.”
“I am so excited,” he continued. “It’s not about me. This is something, I pray and I tell our team when we get together, we have an opportunity to join in with what God is doing in Oklahoma … We’re going to engage the non-profits and the churches to really heal and solve some of these social issues, county by county, that the government can’t do, no law can do, but our Heavenly Father can do.”
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/gov-kevin-stitt-plans-to-use-his-office-to-align-with-what-god-is-doing-in-oklahoma/
Trump-loving right-wing evangelist Lance Wallnau was in the audience at today’s prayer service and posted video of the Stitt’s remarks on his Facebook page.
“Every time I would go to prayer and I would say, ‘Lord, what do you want me to do?’ I just felt like he kept saying, ‘I already told you what to do,'” Stitt told the congregation as he recounted his decision to run for governor. “So finally I surrendered … It’s just amazing, nothing in the natural says that I’m supposed to be right here … I’m just so honored to be your governor and I just want to encourage you, when God puts anything on your hearts or on your children’s hearts, we can do anything we put our minds to.”
“I am so excited,” he continued. “It’s not about me. This is something, I pray and I tell our team when we get together, we have an opportunity to join in with what God is doing in Oklahoma … We’re going to engage the non-profits and the churches to really heal and solve some of these social issues, county by county, that the government can’t do, no law can do, but our Heavenly Father can do.”
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/gov-kevin-stitt-plans-to-use-his-office-to-align-with-what-god-is-doing-in-oklahoma/
Because just remember – it’s not about us, or you, or him. It’s about GAWD and doing GAWD’s bidding, and you always know how that turns out. Just ask our resident pastor. But in case you’re wondering what side Gov. Stitt is on, just remember that Mr. I’m More Oklahoma Than Thou, Toby Keith, performed at his inauguration. Remember the last time we saw Mr. Keith? That’s right, the orb.
Country music star and Oklahoma native Toby Keith will be among the performers at a series of events marking the inauguration of incoming Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt.
The three inaugural events will take place between Jan. 10 and Jan. 14 in Lawton, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Stitt announced Tuesday that Keith would be performing at the Oklahoma City inaugural ball on Jan. 14.
Other performers at the Oklahoma City event include the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, the Cherokee Youth Choir and country singer Jimmie Allen.
Tickets are $250-per-person for the black-tie affair.
Stitt, a Republican and political newcomer, defeated Democrat Drew Edmondson in the November election.
https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/country/8492010/toby-keith-perform-oklahoma-governor-inauguration
The three inaugural events will take place between Jan. 10 and Jan. 14 in Lawton, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Stitt announced Tuesday that Keith would be performing at the Oklahoma City inaugural ball on Jan. 14.
Other performers at the Oklahoma City event include the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, the Cherokee Youth Choir and country singer Jimmie Allen.
Tickets are $250-per-person for the black-tie affair.
Stitt, a Republican and political newcomer, defeated Democrat Drew Edmondson in the November election.
https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/country/8492010/toby-keith-perform-oklahoma-governor-inauguration
And you might be wondering what sort of issues does Gov. Stitt stand on? He’s a relative newcomer to the scene. Well, guess what? He’s full anti vaccination crusader. Yes, that’s right he is full on anti-vaxxer and believes that vaccines cause autism. Yup, that’s your new governor of Oklahoma.
The Republican nominee for Governor in Oklahoma expressed skepticism of childhood vaccinations in a speech earlier this year, aligning himself with a fringe movement that equates immunization with government overreach.
At an appearance before a conservative political forum this past February, Tulsa businessman Kevin Stitt said he personally did not vaccinate some his own kids and opposed legislation that would require vaccinations for children if they wanted to attend public schools.
“I believe in choice,” Stitt said, “And we’ve got six children and we don’t vaccinate, we don’t do vaccinations on all of our children. So we definitely pick and choose which ones we’re gonna do. It’s gotta be up to the parents, we can never mandate that. I think there’s legislation right now that are trying to mandate that to go to public schools, it’s absolutely wrong. My wife was home schooled, I went to public schools, our kids go to Christian school, and that’s back to a parent’s choice.”
Stitt’s comments raise the specter that Oklahoma could water down immunization laws should he be elected the state’s governor this fall. They also place him within a growing fringe of politicians who have, in recent years, expressed skepticism over the prevalence of childhood vaccinations—a group that includes President Donald Trump himself.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/oklahomas-gop-gubernatorial-candidate-kevin-stitt-is-an-anti-vaxxer
At an appearance before a conservative political forum this past February, Tulsa businessman Kevin Stitt said he personally did not vaccinate some his own kids and opposed legislation that would require vaccinations for children if they wanted to attend public schools.
“I believe in choice,” Stitt said, “And we’ve got six children and we don’t vaccinate, we don’t do vaccinations on all of our children. So we definitely pick and choose which ones we’re gonna do. It’s gotta be up to the parents, we can never mandate that. I think there’s legislation right now that are trying to mandate that to go to public schools, it’s absolutely wrong. My wife was home schooled, I went to public schools, our kids go to Christian school, and that’s back to a parent’s choice.”
Stitt’s comments raise the specter that Oklahoma could water down immunization laws should he be elected the state’s governor this fall. They also place him within a growing fringe of politicians who have, in recent years, expressed skepticism over the prevalence of childhood vaccinations—a group that includes President Donald Trump himself.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/oklahomas-gop-gubernatorial-candidate-kevin-stitt-is-an-anti-vaxxer
That’s Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt – another one to add to the ever growing list of:
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[font size="8"]Top 10 Investigates: LA Teacher’s Strike
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It’s time to investigate beyond the headlines. This is Top 10 Investigates!
While the US government is in the midst of one of the worst shutdowns in government history, at the local level teachers are experiencing some of the worst working conditions the country has ever seen, and one district has taken their complaints to the next level and gone on strike. But now that the strike is tentatively over, the question that remains is why? Why did it happen? What are the striking teachers attempting to accomplish? Well the working conditions and teacher salaries paint a pretty abysmal picture in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
If striking Los Angeles teachers needed an omen as they rallied in Grand Park downtown Friday, Mother Nature obliged. After four days of picketing in rain and chill and gloom, the sun burst forth.
“Do you feel your power?” union President Alex Caputo-Pearl asked the masses, who stretched from the steps of City Hall through Grand Park all the way to the Music Center.
They thundered their response.
Union treasurer Alex Orozco reminded teachers that bargaining teams could hear them on the other side of the stage, inside City Hall.
Thousands raised fists, thrust signs skyward and chanted: “Let’s go, team! Let’s go, team!”
With the celebrity help of singer Aloe Blacc, musician Tom Morello and actor Sean Astin, teachers made noise and memories — and also made their point.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/la-me-edu-lausd-teachers-strike-talks-20190118-story.html
“Do you feel your power?” union President Alex Caputo-Pearl asked the masses, who stretched from the steps of City Hall through Grand Park all the way to the Music Center.
They thundered their response.
Union treasurer Alex Orozco reminded teachers that bargaining teams could hear them on the other side of the stage, inside City Hall.
Thousands raised fists, thrust signs skyward and chanted: “Let’s go, team! Let’s go, team!”
With the celebrity help of singer Aloe Blacc, musician Tom Morello and actor Sean Astin, teachers made noise and memories — and also made their point.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/la-me-edu-lausd-teachers-strike-talks-20190118-story.html
Yes, sun’s out guns out! These teachers braved the pouring rain – which rarely happens in Los Angeles anymore – to get better pay and working conditions. But just how bad did things get in the LA school system?
Some San Fernando Valley parents were on pins and needles this weekend to see if marathon negotiations would yield a deal to end a strike that entered its seventh day Sunday.
“I am grateful that the negotiations are underway,” said EvelynAleman, parent of a sophomore at Grover Cleveland High School inReseda. “I’m hopeful that they will, obviously, reach an agreement assoon as possible. I think that would be best for everyone.”
Weekend negotiations lasted 11 hours on Saturday and began anew after 10 a.m. Sunday. While there were no breakthroughs — at least publicly — L.A Mayor Garcetti’s own hope — and expectation — for a deal was evident on Saturday, when he noted the strike while addressing a huge crowd at the women’s march: “They deserve justice and we will get it this weekend,” he said. “Let’s hear it for the teachers.”
Aleman hoped for a message of unity and collaboration from leadership on both sides, and at the city, county and state level. She was surprised by school board member Scott Schmerelson’s statement released last week, which highlighted the discord on the board. She hoped he would have explained how he would “lead the conversation in the direction of the resolution,” she said.
https://www.dailynews.com/2019/01/20/weekend-lausd-teacher-strike-negotiations-are-on-parents-radar-screens/
“I am grateful that the negotiations are underway,” said EvelynAleman, parent of a sophomore at Grover Cleveland High School inReseda. “I’m hopeful that they will, obviously, reach an agreement assoon as possible. I think that would be best for everyone.”
Weekend negotiations lasted 11 hours on Saturday and began anew after 10 a.m. Sunday. While there were no breakthroughs — at least publicly — L.A Mayor Garcetti’s own hope — and expectation — for a deal was evident on Saturday, when he noted the strike while addressing a huge crowd at the women’s march: “They deserve justice and we will get it this weekend,” he said. “Let’s hear it for the teachers.”
Aleman hoped for a message of unity and collaboration from leadership on both sides, and at the city, county and state level. She was surprised by school board member Scott Schmerelson’s statement released last week, which highlighted the discord on the board. She hoped he would have explained how he would “lead the conversation in the direction of the resolution,” she said.
https://www.dailynews.com/2019/01/20/weekend-lausd-teacher-strike-negotiations-are-on-parents-radar-screens/
Yes it’s pretty much like that. Once again, the Simpsons predict the future! While we’re hopeful that things are on the right track, negotiations have started that could see the strike ending as early as today with teachers going back to work later this week. So what is in store?
Los Angeles public school teachers reached a tentative deal with school officials on Tuesday to end a weeklong strike that had upended learning for more than half a million students in the nation’s second largest public school system.
The teachers won a 6 percent pay raise and caps on class sizes, which had become one of the most contentious issues between the union and district officials. The deal also includes hiring full-time nurses for every school, as well as enough librarians for every middle and high school in the district by the fall of 2020.
The city and county will also expand programs into public schools, providing more support services for the neediest students.
The settlement came after tens of thousands of teachers marched in downtown Los Angeles and picketed outside schools for six school days, and after a round of marathon negotiating sessions over the holiday weekend.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/22/us/la-teacher-strike-deal.html
The teachers won a 6 percent pay raise and caps on class sizes, which had become one of the most contentious issues between the union and district officials. The deal also includes hiring full-time nurses for every school, as well as enough librarians for every middle and high school in the district by the fall of 2020.
The city and county will also expand programs into public schools, providing more support services for the neediest students.
The settlement came after tens of thousands of teachers marched in downtown Los Angeles and picketed outside schools for six school days, and after a round of marathon negotiating sessions over the holiday weekend.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/22/us/la-teacher-strike-deal.html
But as history shows us, our teachers have a long way to go before they’re out of the woods. Rising rent costs in the greater Los Angeles area and things like taxes and other necessary expenditures have hurt growth. And we can hopefully think that things are going to get better as we move forward from this strike.
In a highly anticipated move that for key organizers has been years in the making, more than 30,000 educators on Monday kicked off a strike that’s put regular K–12 classes on hiatus in the country’s second-largest public-school district. A whopping 98 percent of L.A. teachers, who because of stalled negotiations with the district have been working without a contract for more than a year, voted to authorize the strike. They are demanding smaller class sizes and more funding for support staff such as counselors and nurses. They’re also calling for higher pay, though that is less of a sticking point now that the district and teachers’ union are all but in agreement on this front, with the former offering raises that are just 0.5 percent lower than the 6 percent hikes educators are demanding.
Rodolfo Dueñas, an L.A. native and public-school teacher who is picketing, describes this burgeoning movement as a natural next step for the many Latinos like him whose activism can be traced back to the mid-1990s, when thousands of Latino teens staged a school walkout in opposition to an anti-immigrant state-ballot initiative known as Proposition 187. For many like Dueñas in the “187 Generation,” those experiences eventually drove them into teaching. And Dueñas’s generation has been following in the footsteps of the Latino education activists who came before them, during the 1968 walkouts known by some as the Mexican Student Movement.
The L.A. strike is the latest teacher uprising in a string of walkouts across the country over the past year. Strikes took place in Republican strongholds including West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Arizona last spring, all of them generally calling for increased funding and improved school conditions on top of better pay and benefits; smaller-scale walkouts also took place in Colorado and, just last month, Chicago, when teachers at a predominantly Latino charter-school network went on strike to demand things like smaller class sizes and stronger support for immigrant children. While the L.A. strike, which is United Teachers Los Angeles’s first strike in almost 30 years, is the latest installment of a trend driven by exasperated educators, various factors make it unique.
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/01/why-los-angeles-teachers-are-striking/580360/
There you have it – Los Angeles isn’t alone, there are strikes happening all over the country. We will cover those in future editions. That’s it for Top 10 Investigates. Good day.
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[font size="8"]Holy Shit
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Gather around my fair brothers and sisters of Las Vegas! It’s time to take a seat in the pew and pass the collection plate, for the Holy Church Of The Top 10 has convened and it’s time to remind you that the holiest among us are the most full of:
My fair congregation! Have a seat please! And give it up for our gospel choir, how great are they? You know… I have just returned from Washington DC. This week there was an event that the religious right of America felt the need to have their voices heard. Which is their right under GAWD that they can do that. So what has the fundamentalists’ underwear in a wad? Why are they going so nuts over this one topic that they need to hold their OWN march? Well let’s take a look at what actually happened last week that got lost in the headlines!
Conservative radio host Ben Shapiro said Friday at the annual March for Life rally in Washington, D.C., that "no pro-life person would kill baby Hitler" because "baby Hitler was a baby," with the comments quickly going viral on social media.
“The argument, I guess here, is that would you kill baby Hitler?” Shapiro said in answering a question that appeared to be submitted online during a live broadcast at the anti-abortion rally.
“And the truth is that no pro-life person on earth would kill baby Hitler, because baby Hitler wasn’t Hitler, adult Hitler was Hitler. Baby Hitler was a baby," he continued.
"What you presumably want to do with baby Hitler is take baby Hitler out of baby Hitler’s house and move baby Hitler into a better house where he would not grow up to be Hitler, right? That’s the idea.”
The hashtag #BabyHitler began trending on Twitter not long after the comments on Friday afternoon, drawing the ire of mostly liberals on the platform.
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/426100-ben-shapiro-at-march-for-life-rally-no-pro-life-person-would-kill-baby-hitler
“The argument, I guess here, is that would you kill baby Hitler?” Shapiro said in answering a question that appeared to be submitted online during a live broadcast at the anti-abortion rally.
“And the truth is that no pro-life person on earth would kill baby Hitler, because baby Hitler wasn’t Hitler, adult Hitler was Hitler. Baby Hitler was a baby," he continued.
"What you presumably want to do with baby Hitler is take baby Hitler out of baby Hitler’s house and move baby Hitler into a better house where he would not grow up to be Hitler, right? That’s the idea.”
The hashtag #BabyHitler began trending on Twitter not long after the comments on Friday afternoon, drawing the ire of mostly liberals on the platform.
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/426100-ben-shapiro-at-march-for-life-rally-no-pro-life-person-would-kill-baby-hitler
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Yes. You know what? Let’s play the clip because it’s quite spectacular:
Now you know, my fair congregation, it says that in the Good Book that murder is illegal! But… that hasn’t stopped the Baby Hitler debate. In fact if you take a look at some past clips, judging on the actions of this weekend, well, they haven’t aged well.
So there you go, the very idea that murdering Baby Hitler has been the subject of some rather interesting debate. But the debate over killing Baby Hitler is actually pretty toxic for sponsors – they really don’t want anything to do with it.
Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro has now lost two sponsors of his podcast after a live recording at an anti-abortion rally in which he read advertisements out to the crowd and also mulled over the philosophical dilemma of killing “baby Hitler.”
Calm, a sleep and meditation phone app, became the second company to drop its sponsorship of Shapiro after the right-wing host appeared before thousands of abortion opponents during Friday’s March for Life rally in Washington, D.C.
“We do not align with this message,” the company posted on Twitter. “We’re pulling our sponsorship.”
Earlier Friday night, another brand, the toothbrush maker Quip, told HuffPost it was ending its sponsorship of Shapiro’s podcast over the ad readings.
“Our mission is to make good oral health more accessible to everyone, and podcast advertising is one way we’re able to realize this,” Quip said in a statement. “However, following one of our ads being read in a venue we did not endorse, we have chosen to discontinue our advertising relationship with this show. We are also taking steps to ensure all of our advertising partners are aligned with our oral health mission and values.”
Right Wing Watch reporter Jared Holt first drew attention to the ad readouts during an appearance that had already made news over Shapiro’s “baby Hitler” moment.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/another-sponsor-just-dropped-ben-shapiro-after-his-bizarre-march-for-life-appearance_us_5c434e23e4b027c3bbc23d12
Calm, a sleep and meditation phone app, became the second company to drop its sponsorship of Shapiro after the right-wing host appeared before thousands of abortion opponents during Friday’s March for Life rally in Washington, D.C.
“We do not align with this message,” the company posted on Twitter. “We’re pulling our sponsorship.”
Earlier Friday night, another brand, the toothbrush maker Quip, told HuffPost it was ending its sponsorship of Shapiro’s podcast over the ad readings.
“Our mission is to make good oral health more accessible to everyone, and podcast advertising is one way we’re able to realize this,” Quip said in a statement. “However, following one of our ads being read in a venue we did not endorse, we have chosen to discontinue our advertising relationship with this show. We are also taking steps to ensure all of our advertising partners are aligned with our oral health mission and values.”
Right Wing Watch reporter Jared Holt first drew attention to the ad readouts during an appearance that had already made news over Shapiro’s “baby Hitler” moment.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/another-sponsor-just-dropped-ben-shapiro-after-his-bizarre-march-for-life-appearance_us_5c434e23e4b027c3bbc23d12
But while this is a touchy subject for advertisers, it’s apparently a touchy subject for Mr. Shapiro himself because thanks to his anti-abortion views, he wouldn’t kill Baby Hitler because… he’s a baby. That’s sound logic there!
Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, appearing Friday as the keynote speaker of the annual March for Life on the National Mall in Washington, shared with his audience a head-scratching scenario about abortion and Adolf Hitler.
“The argument, I guess here, would you kill baby Hitler?” he started off, in a clip posted to Twitter. “And the truth is that no pro-life person on earth would kill baby Hitler. Because baby Hitler wasn’t Hitler — adult Hitler was Hitler. Baby Hitler was a baby.”
Shapiro, who is Jewish, offered a suggestion: “What you presumably want to do with baby Hitler is take baby Hitler out of baby Hitler’s house and move baby Hitler into a better house, where he would not grow up to be Hitler.”
The crowd erupted into applause as the clip closed.
Shapiro, a prominent supporter of the pro-life movement, appeared to be making his remarks as part of his popular podcast, HuffPost reported.
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/ben-shapiro-i-wouldn-t-kill-baby-hitler-1.6852105
“The argument, I guess here, would you kill baby Hitler?” he started off, in a clip posted to Twitter. “And the truth is that no pro-life person on earth would kill baby Hitler. Because baby Hitler wasn’t Hitler — adult Hitler was Hitler. Baby Hitler was a baby.”
Shapiro, who is Jewish, offered a suggestion: “What you presumably want to do with baby Hitler is take baby Hitler out of baby Hitler’s house and move baby Hitler into a better house, where he would not grow up to be Hitler.”
The crowd erupted into applause as the clip closed.
Shapiro, a prominent supporter of the pro-life movement, appeared to be making his remarks as part of his popular podcast, HuffPost reported.
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/ben-shapiro-i-wouldn-t-kill-baby-hitler-1.6852105
By the way let’s hear it for my gospel choir. How great are they? Can I get an amen??? Anyone remember a few years ago when Pat Robertson had that clip about the mom who lost a baby to miscarriage and then he justified it? Let’s play that!
Yeah BOOOOOOOOOOO! Boo indeed. So they’re conflicted on the message TO THIS DAY in case you can’t tell! And by the way in case you’re wondering if there really is a Baby Hitler out there, well here’s your answer!
A Neo-Nazi couple who named their child after Adolf Hitler are facing jail after they were found guilty of belonging to a banned terrorist organisation.
Adam Thomas, 22, and his girlfriend, Claudia Patatas, 38, were convicted of being members of the far-right organisation National Action, which was outlawed in 2016.
Birmingham Crown Court heard the pair gave their baby the middle name “Adolf”, which self-confessed racist Thomas told jurors was done in “admiration” for the leader of Nazi Germany.
A third defendant - a prominent member of National Action's Midlands chapter, Daniel Bogunovic, 27, of Leicester, was also convicted on Monday following the seven-week trial.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/national-action-baby-adolf-hitler-terror-guilty-nazi-court-patatas-a8629846.html
Adam Thomas, 22, and his girlfriend, Claudia Patatas, 38, were convicted of being members of the far-right organisation National Action, which was outlawed in 2016.
Birmingham Crown Court heard the pair gave their baby the middle name “Adolf”, which self-confessed racist Thomas told jurors was done in “admiration” for the leader of Nazi Germany.
A third defendant - a prominent member of National Action's Midlands chapter, Daniel Bogunovic, 27, of Leicester, was also convicted on Monday following the seven-week trial.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/national-action-baby-adolf-hitler-terror-guilty-nazi-court-patatas-a8629846.html
So there really is a real Baby Hitler out there! Raised by Neo Nazis at that! Well, there’s a test for this debate right now! Mass has ended, may you go in peace! That’s it this week for:
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[font size="8"]Beating A Dead Horse: The Gillette Ad
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Shut up! Yeah you! Don’t leave! Hey I’m talking to you on both sides! Can we please take a step back, take a deep breath and pull our heads out of each other’s asses? So there’s a new commercial for Gillette razors that has everyone’s collective boxers, boxer briefs, tidy whities, panties, thongs, shapewear, and Depends undergarments in wads and has reignited the ages old debate between toxic masculinism and toxic feminism. Why is this 90 second ad so controversial? Is it because it encourages ultra masculine males to be nice in their lives for once? Or is it trying to reach across the aisle and do something that no ad has done before – and actually attempt to bridge the gender gap? Well you can definitely *NOT* count on it doing the latter. And maybe the former too. So let’s show the commercial first.
That’s not so bad is it? I mean it’s literally putting Gillette’s money where their mouth is by encouraging men to be the best they can get. So why does it have everyone’s underwear in a wad?
Gillette’s new ad campaign invoking the #MeToo movement is the latest test of how big consumer brands can navigate social movements to appeal to millennials without turning off customers who don’t agree with their message or don’t believe it is well-executed.
The nearly two-minute ad from Procter & Gamble Co.’s Gillette tries to tackle sexual harassment, bullying and “toxic” masculinity. “Is this the best a man can get?” the ad released online Monday asks.
The ad, which plays on the tagline Gillette has used for three decades, “The Best A Man Can Get,” has been viewed about 17 million times on YouTube. Reaction has been divided: with 833,000 dislikes on YouTube and 421,000 likes as of Thursday morning.
In the first three days of the ad’s release, there have been more than 1.6 million mentions of Gillette on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as well as blogs, forums and news sites, according to data from Brandwatch, a social-media monitoring company. Tuesday had the most mentions with more than 893,000, above Gillette’s daily average of about 1,300 mentions for the previous 25 days.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/gillettes-ad-with-a-metoo-edge-gets-mixed-reactions-11547754187
The nearly two-minute ad from Procter & Gamble Co.’s Gillette tries to tackle sexual harassment, bullying and “toxic” masculinity. “Is this the best a man can get?” the ad released online Monday asks.
The ad, which plays on the tagline Gillette has used for three decades, “The Best A Man Can Get,” has been viewed about 17 million times on YouTube. Reaction has been divided: with 833,000 dislikes on YouTube and 421,000 likes as of Thursday morning.
In the first three days of the ad’s release, there have been more than 1.6 million mentions of Gillette on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as well as blogs, forums and news sites, according to data from Brandwatch, a social-media monitoring company. Tuesday had the most mentions with more than 893,000, above Gillette’s daily average of about 1,300 mentions for the previous 25 days.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/gillettes-ad-with-a-metoo-edge-gets-mixed-reactions-11547754187
?itemid=11190708
Oh calm down people! It’s just an ad for razors, it’s not like they’re encouraging men to wear tights and high heels or anything. Although if they did, we would have no problem with that! Because that’s what we do here – we analyze the situation before flinging mud at it. But the men that this is targeting really have a problem with this ad. I mean for guys who love to rail on snowflakes, they really are a bunch of snowflakes aren’t they?
The enlightened ad debuted earlier this week and recasts the razor company’s “The Best a Man Can Get” slogan, urging the next generation of men to oppose harassing and mistreating women, stop bullying one another and shave off their “toxic masculinity.” Watch it below.
The company’s short film drew both praise from women’s groups and a backlash from men. As Colbert notes, one such man was “Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade, who said, “So let’s point out all the bad things you might say about men, put them into an ad, make men feel horrible, and then say, ‘Overpay for a razor.’”
“Wow, he really gets worked up about ads,” Colbert quipped, joking about what Kilmeade’s reaction might be to other directives. “‘Please drink responsibly? Oh, so now I’m not supposed to crash my car into a nursing home, stumble out and puke in the therapy pool? Thanks for the lecture, Mike’s Hard Lemonade!’”
Colbert said he was “sincerely moved” by the Gillette ad, particularly by the boys featured at the end, but still asked: “Are our public institutions so weak that we need to be taught moral lessons by razor companies? Because first it’s Gillette, and the next thing you know, every company is going to try to jump on the woke bandwagon.”
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-colbert-gillette-ad-toxic-masculinity-20190117-story.html
The company’s short film drew both praise from women’s groups and a backlash from men. As Colbert notes, one such man was “Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade, who said, “So let’s point out all the bad things you might say about men, put them into an ad, make men feel horrible, and then say, ‘Overpay for a razor.’”
“Wow, he really gets worked up about ads,” Colbert quipped, joking about what Kilmeade’s reaction might be to other directives. “‘Please drink responsibly? Oh, so now I’m not supposed to crash my car into a nursing home, stumble out and puke in the therapy pool? Thanks for the lecture, Mike’s Hard Lemonade!’”
Colbert said he was “sincerely moved” by the Gillette ad, particularly by the boys featured at the end, but still asked: “Are our public institutions so weak that we need to be taught moral lessons by razor companies? Because first it’s Gillette, and the next thing you know, every company is going to try to jump on the woke bandwagon.”
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-colbert-gillette-ad-toxic-masculinity-20190117-story.html
Well you know, Stephen, let me do some man ‘splainin here. Gillette’s not the first one to do a “woke” ad. Remember last year when Nike hired Colin Kaepernick to be their spokesman and Fox News viewers got worked up for that? This is just another in a list of things that get people “triggered”. And speaking of triggering, everyone’s favorite Fox News Barbie, Tomi Lahren, attempted to troll the ad and it backfired on her big time! Yes, I do realize that last joke was sexist, but that’s what this whole thing is about! Does that make me woke?
Right-wing activist and Fox News contributor Tomi Lahren has a habit of making grand statements on Twitter and then being thoroughly owned for them.
Previous self-owns include the time when she said that she didn't listen to celebrities despite being a Trump supporter and when she was fact-checked by an 11-year-old girl over claims about money spent on the proposed border wall.
Lahren has now waded into the debate surrounding the new Gillette advert, which has created a huge backlash against the razor blade company from men's rights activists and people of a right-wing persuasion.
The advert which addresses toxic masculinity, sexual harassment and the #MeToo movement has seen a boycott of Gillette products and claims that 'not all men' are like this.
https://www.indy100.com/article/tomi-lahren-gillette-advert-men-women-bullying-twitter-8732631
Previous self-owns include the time when she said that she didn't listen to celebrities despite being a Trump supporter and when she was fact-checked by an 11-year-old girl over claims about money spent on the proposed border wall.
Lahren has now waded into the debate surrounding the new Gillette advert, which has created a huge backlash against the razor blade company from men's rights activists and people of a right-wing persuasion.
The advert which addresses toxic masculinity, sexual harassment and the #MeToo movement has seen a boycott of Gillette products and claims that 'not all men' are like this.
https://www.indy100.com/article/tomi-lahren-gillette-advert-men-women-bullying-twitter-8732631
Now you might be thinking “Hey! Right wingers are triggered over this discussion! Where’s the wanton property destruction at?”. We’ve seen time and time before how Trump fans destroy property when they think they “own the libs”. Well, here’s your answer!
Gillette is facing a lot of backlash over its new ad.
The Procter & Gamble-owned brand released a new commercial called "We Believe" on Monday.
The ad is meant to confront American culture, showing men and boys bullying each other and engaging in sexual harassment. Narration then encourages them to "say the right thing" and "act the right way."
<snip>
While some have praised the ad, it has caused an uproar among others. Some have taken to social media to say they are now boycotting the brand and have posted photos and videos of themselves discarding Gillette razors in protest:
https://www.businessinsider.com/gillette-razor-protest-after-controversial-ad-2019-1
The Procter & Gamble-owned brand released a new commercial called "We Believe" on Monday.
The ad is meant to confront American culture, showing men and boys bullying each other and engaging in sexual harassment. Narration then encourages them to "say the right thing" and "act the right way."
<snip>
While some have praised the ad, it has caused an uproar among others. Some have taken to social media to say they are now boycotting the brand and have posted photos and videos of themselves discarding Gillette razors in protest:
https://www.businessinsider.com/gillette-razor-protest-after-controversial-ad-2019-1
Dude, you really think that the people who are throwing their razors in the toilet are the ones who are failing to get the point of the ad? Well now here’s where the salt gets rubbed in the wound. Apparently while some people are failing to see the point of the ad, others are blowing it way out of proportion! I mean it’s a fucking ad people. Do you take Aflac’s commercials as being offensive to ducks? Or Geico’s commercials as being offensive to cavemen? Really?
P&G acquired Gillette for $57 billion almost 14 years ago to the day this year. What seemed to be a brilliant move, buying a high-margin, market-dominant brand, this soured quickly as grooming habits changed and competition intensified. The biggest threat came from Dollar Shave Club, a direct-to-consumer start-up with great appeal for Millennials. It ships its customers a month worth of razors for just $1, a deep discount tin comparison to Gillette’s price.
In the new commercial from Grey, Gillette, a company which made billions of dollars from men for over a century, disparages every one of those very same men. The brand clumsily attempts to contemporize its long-lasting slogan, “The Best a Man Can Get”, by featuring sinister males bullying and harassing – an action which Gillette describes as "toxic” masculinity. The ad is amateurishly stereotypical and mostly offers a caricature of masculinity.
What makes this ad so offensive is that Gillette doesn’t just condemn bad behavior, something most men do as well. It implies that the vulgar behavior represents the norm among men and, in doing so, it smears an entire gender. Substitute another gender, or ethnic group, in place of men”, and you start getting a sense how outlandish this insight is.
The single most insulting moment of the 90-second video comes at :37, showing a bunch of men standing in a row behind their outdoor grills, in menacing posture. It’s not just that it screams clichés and stereotypes. Imagine a row of women as props in front of washing machines or ovens baking cookies (none of the grills contain meat, BTW. Only vegetables. Seems the food police visited the set during the shoot).
https://www.forbes.com/sites/avidan/2019/01/16/for-men-gillette-is-no-longer-the-best-a-brand-can-get/#364b6a3e5ea5
In the new commercial from Grey, Gillette, a company which made billions of dollars from men for over a century, disparages every one of those very same men. The brand clumsily attempts to contemporize its long-lasting slogan, “The Best a Man Can Get”, by featuring sinister males bullying and harassing – an action which Gillette describes as "toxic” masculinity. The ad is amateurishly stereotypical and mostly offers a caricature of masculinity.
What makes this ad so offensive is that Gillette doesn’t just condemn bad behavior, something most men do as well. It implies that the vulgar behavior represents the norm among men and, in doing so, it smears an entire gender. Substitute another gender, or ethnic group, in place of men”, and you start getting a sense how outlandish this insight is.
The single most insulting moment of the 90-second video comes at :37, showing a bunch of men standing in a row behind their outdoor grills, in menacing posture. It’s not just that it screams clichés and stereotypes. Imagine a row of women as props in front of washing machines or ovens baking cookies (none of the grills contain meat, BTW. Only vegetables. Seems the food police visited the set during the shoot).
https://www.forbes.com/sites/avidan/2019/01/16/for-men-gillette-is-no-longer-the-best-a-brand-can-get/#364b6a3e5ea5
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[font size="8"]We’re All Gonna Die
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Hey everyone guess what! We’re all gonna die in a horrible fiery apocalypse! Woooooooo!!! Well at least one sign of the apocalypse is happening this week and like all horrible things that have been happening lately, this involves our good friends in Russia. See, while we’re arguing back and forth about the validity of masculinity in commercials, they’re developing new and better ways to kill us and turn world elections on their ears. This week it was announced that the Russian navy has received a group of smart torpedoes. Great, that’s what we need – missiles that have the ability to become self aware! So here’s how they’re going to kill us this week, and it could possibly be even more horrible than you might imagine!
Russian state news media is reporting that the country’s armed forces will receive more than thirty, long-range nuclear-tipped super-torpedoes. Named Poseidon, the super-torpedoes will be armed with thermonuclear warheads designed to obliterate coastal cities and other targets and spread lethal radioactive fallout. The fast-moving, nuclear armed torpedo would be difficult for U.S. and allied forces to stop, and failure to do so would guarantee the deaths of millions.
Poseidon, originally known as Kanyon or Status 6, was originally revealed in in November 2015 when the weapon’s name and a picture were “accidentally” leaked by Russian state television. The leaked information included a range of 6,200 miles, maximum submergence depth of 3,280 feet and a top speed of 56 knots, which works out to 64 miles an hour on land. The name was changed to Poseidon in 2018, and full scale tests are anticipated to begin this year.
Now, TASS media agency is reporting Moscow will procure 32 Poseidon torpedoes, with sixteen based with the country’s Northern Fleet and sixteen based with the country’s Pacific Fleet. Poseidon missiles based with the Northern Fleet could attack targets in Europe, Canada, and the East Coast of the United States, while Pacific Fleet torpedoes could attack Japan, China, Canada and the West Coast of the U.S.
Poseidon will be the largest torpedo designed by any country, with a diameter of 6.5 feet and a length of 65 feet. It will be nuclear powered, giving it the ability to cross the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans solo. It will be inertially guided, allowing it to avoid the need to surface to get a GPS fix on its position. The warhead was previously claimed to be up to 200 megatons but is now reported at 2 megatons. While not as horribly over the top as a 200 megaton weapon, it’s still worth keeping in mind that 2 megatons = 2,000 kilotons—and the Hiroshima nuclear blast was a mere 16 kilotons.
https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/report-russia-plans-more-than-30-nuclear-apocalypse-to-1831817225
Poseidon, originally known as Kanyon or Status 6, was originally revealed in in November 2015 when the weapon’s name and a picture were “accidentally” leaked by Russian state television. The leaked information included a range of 6,200 miles, maximum submergence depth of 3,280 feet and a top speed of 56 knots, which works out to 64 miles an hour on land. The name was changed to Poseidon in 2018, and full scale tests are anticipated to begin this year.
Now, TASS media agency is reporting Moscow will procure 32 Poseidon torpedoes, with sixteen based with the country’s Northern Fleet and sixteen based with the country’s Pacific Fleet. Poseidon missiles based with the Northern Fleet could attack targets in Europe, Canada, and the East Coast of the United States, while Pacific Fleet torpedoes could attack Japan, China, Canada and the West Coast of the U.S.
Poseidon will be the largest torpedo designed by any country, with a diameter of 6.5 feet and a length of 65 feet. It will be nuclear powered, giving it the ability to cross the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans solo. It will be inertially guided, allowing it to avoid the need to surface to get a GPS fix on its position. The warhead was previously claimed to be up to 200 megatons but is now reported at 2 megatons. While not as horribly over the top as a 200 megaton weapon, it’s still worth keeping in mind that 2 megatons = 2,000 kilotons—and the Hiroshima nuclear blast was a mere 16 kilotons.
https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/report-russia-plans-more-than-30-nuclear-apocalypse-to-1831817225
Calm down, we’re all not gonna die yet. Because guess who Trump has in charge that can ease people’s biggest fears about situations where the entire world is at risk? That’s right, we’ve got Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo. A guy who keeps a Bible on his desk open at his desk every day to remind him of “God and country”. Is it any wonder why he might not be the best man to bring stop the rapture? Or is he here to help escalate it?
Mike Pompeo keeps a bible open at his desk to remind him of “God, and his word and the truth”, he told an audience in Cairo on Friday. The US secretary of state also appears to keep a darts board of Barack Obama’s face in his office. That America’s chief diplomat would give a speech in Egypt is unremarkable. That he would give one attacking the last US president is less normal, though not unprecedented. That he would start with a declaration of his evangelical faith is even less typical, but still pardonable. To do all three at once — attacking America’s last president in the Middle East in a speech to a Muslim audience that was aimed at Christian radicals — is in a category of one. It’s certainly not diplomacy.
But that’s the kind of politician he is. As Julian Borger reminds us in the Guardian, Pompeo is a genuine, end-of-days, believer in the apocalypse. It’s a cloud-parting eschatology he shares with Mike Pence, the vice-president. “We will continue to fight these battles,” Pompeo told a church congregation in Wichita three years ago. “It is a never-ending struggle . . . until the rapture. Be a part of it. Be in the fight.” Generally I believe a public figure’s beliefs should be irrelevant to their job. Whether they’re atheist, Opus Dei, Buddhist or Muslim, should have no bearing on our assessment of their fitness for office. Yet I can’t help but feel anxious that both of Donald Trump’s main global envoys, Pompeo and Pence, have a conflict between their private beliefs and what they publicly claim to be doing.
https://www.ft.com/content/53087e90-174d-11e9-9e64-d150b3105d21
But that’s the kind of politician he is. As Julian Borger reminds us in the Guardian, Pompeo is a genuine, end-of-days, believer in the apocalypse. It’s a cloud-parting eschatology he shares with Mike Pence, the vice-president. “We will continue to fight these battles,” Pompeo told a church congregation in Wichita three years ago. “It is a never-ending struggle . . . until the rapture. Be a part of it. Be in the fight.” Generally I believe a public figure’s beliefs should be irrelevant to their job. Whether they’re atheist, Opus Dei, Buddhist or Muslim, should have no bearing on our assessment of their fitness for office. Yet I can’t help but feel anxious that both of Donald Trump’s main global envoys, Pompeo and Pence, have a conflict between their private beliefs and what they publicly claim to be doing.
https://www.ft.com/content/53087e90-174d-11e9-9e64-d150b3105d21
Hey Christian right, I believe the goal of Armageddon was to stop it, not escalate it! Yeah so Russia is most likely going to kill us all and Mike Pompeo is doing everything in his path to help escalate the situation. But if Russia doesn’t kill us all, North Korea might! Remember when Trump was bragging about how he helped progress with North Korea more than any other president? Would you be surprised that he was wrong this whole time? I’m shocked, shocked I tell you!!!!
WASHINGTON — With a second U.S.-North Korea nuclear summit looming in February, researchers have discovered a secret ballistic missile base in North Korea — one of as many as 20 undisclosed missile sites in the country, according to the researchers’ new report.
The Kim regime has never disclosed the existence of the Sino-ri Missile Operating Base to the outside world. Ballistic missiles are the primary delivery mechanism for North Korean nuclear warheads.
The report from Beyond Parallel, a project sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a defense think tank, was released Monday and comes after an announcement Friday that President Donald Trump "looks forward" to meeting with Chairman Kim Jong Un next month "at a place to be announced at a later date."
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/north-korea/report-finds-another-undisclosed-north-korea-missile-site-says-there-n958801
The Kim regime has never disclosed the existence of the Sino-ri Missile Operating Base to the outside world. Ballistic missiles are the primary delivery mechanism for North Korean nuclear warheads.
The report from Beyond Parallel, a project sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a defense think tank, was released Monday and comes after an announcement Friday that President Donald Trump "looks forward" to meeting with Chairman Kim Jong Un next month "at a place to be announced at a later date."
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/north-korea/report-finds-another-undisclosed-north-korea-missile-site-says-there-n958801
But if you’re going to go through the end times, there’s plenty of people who have your back, like Jim Bakker who sells end times survival food buckets, but for Jesus. But not to be outdone, Costco has entered the Doomsday Prepper market! Gee, this will be the perfect thing to eat from your underground bunker while the rest of the world dies from radiation poisoning!
If we’re all about to wind up in an apocalyptic hellscape, at least Costco is making sure we won’t starve (for awhile)—we may even enjoy our long-lasting, vast quantities of food. On the heels of its near-seven-pound tub of Nutella, Costco now offers a 27-pound bucket of mac-and-cheese with a 20-year shelf life.
Inside the six-gallon bucket are 180 servings of mac-and-cheese, stored in separate individual pouches of noodles and cheese sauce. All this can be yours as a Costco member for under $100.
Or rather, could have been. Time reports that less than 24 hours after People announced the existence of said mac-and-cheese bucket, the item has sold out. Sure enough, it is listed as “out of stock” on Costco’s all-important Emergency Kits & Supplies Section on its website. May we interest you instead in 60 servings of Mountain House Freeze Dried Breakfast Skillet or Lasagna With Meat Sauce for $160? You can also go for Mountain House’s 204-serving, 30-day Outdoor Adventure Meal kit for just under $500. Or, just stock up on those Nutella jars.
https://thetakeout.com/costco-27-lb-tub-of-long-life-mac-and-cheese-sold-out-1831737890
Inside the six-gallon bucket are 180 servings of mac-and-cheese, stored in separate individual pouches of noodles and cheese sauce. All this can be yours as a Costco member for under $100.
Or rather, could have been. Time reports that less than 24 hours after People announced the existence of said mac-and-cheese bucket, the item has sold out. Sure enough, it is listed as “out of stock” on Costco’s all-important Emergency Kits & Supplies Section on its website. May we interest you instead in 60 servings of Mountain House Freeze Dried Breakfast Skillet or Lasagna With Meat Sauce for $160? You can also go for Mountain House’s 204-serving, 30-day Outdoor Adventure Meal kit for just under $500. Or, just stock up on those Nutella jars.
https://thetakeout.com/costco-27-lb-tub-of-long-life-mac-and-cheese-sold-out-1831737890
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[font size="8"]I Need A Drink
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Yo Las Vegas – we’re here on Fremont St and I really need a drink!
Now normally the idea behind this segment is that we have a few drinks and discuss just about anything in the news as long as it doesn’t relate to politics. But this week, politics are having a huge effect on the industry that is responsible for this segment – drinking. Yes, the drinking industry is being heavily affected by the Trump led shutdown. So tell me bartender, is there anything that goes well with a craft beer shortage? More beer? Great! I think I will have some beer and then some more beer. But people it’s bad. You know we have that funky president in the White House who is fucking with just about everything and ruining just about everything that he touches. So how does that affect my and your drinking? Well a great deal!
There's trouble brewing in the craft beer industry over the government shutdown.
Because the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has been furloughed by the partial government shutdown, breweries have been unable to secure necessary approvals from the agency's tax and trade bureau — ranging from permits for new facilities to new labels on cans.
In a business dependent on releasing and marketing new beers regularly to quench its customers' expectations for novelty, those delays could potentially be financially devastating.
"It’s really that question mark that’s the scary part, because we don’t have that end in sight," Mariah Scanlon, brand manager for Smuttlab, a line from Smuttynose Brewing Company in Hampton, New Hampshire, told NBC News.
"You can’t develop a contingency strategy without knowing how long [the shutdown] is going to go on."
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/government-shutdown-brewing-trouble-america-s-craft-beer-makers-n957751
Because the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has been furloughed by the partial government shutdown, breweries have been unable to secure necessary approvals from the agency's tax and trade bureau — ranging from permits for new facilities to new labels on cans.
In a business dependent on releasing and marketing new beers regularly to quench its customers' expectations for novelty, those delays could potentially be financially devastating.
"It’s really that question mark that’s the scary part, because we don’t have that end in sight," Mariah Scanlon, brand manager for Smuttlab, a line from Smuttynose Brewing Company in Hampton, New Hampshire, told NBC News.
"You can’t develop a contingency strategy without knowing how long [the shutdown] is going to go on."
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/government-shutdown-brewing-trouble-america-s-craft-beer-makers-n957751
Yeah so there unfortunately wont be any of that happening until this mess gets sorted out. But it’s not good right now in the world of craft beer. There’s no ATF and there’s no FDA so that means that breweries can’t get permits to brew and to distribute. But that’s not all. How much worse can it get?
Fat Point Brewing has some beer in a tank without a home inside a can.
The Punta Gorda brewers have had their share of hiccups. They almost shuttered in 2017, before Tampa Bay's Big Storm Brewing swooped in and acquired the microbrewery. Now, just as some of its tap-only beers were finally en route to make their canned debut, another snag.
This time, the federal government.
The government has to sign off every time a brewer comes up with a new variety and label. Three Fat Point beers — including a “malty” 80 Degrees Winter Warmer — are awaiting approval. But Fat Point's Tampa Bay parent company might not hear back for a while. More than 192,000 labels are sitting in an ever-growing queue creating a worrisome backlog for alcohol makers across the country.
The government has to sign off every time a brewer comes up with a new variety and label. Three Fat Point beers — including a “malty” 80 Degrees Winter Warmer — are awaiting approval. But Fat Point's Tampa Bay parent company might not hear back for a while. More than 192,000 labels are sitting in an ever-growing queue creating a worrisome backlog for alcohol makers across the country.
https://www.tampabay.com/business/as-shutdown-drags-craft-brewers-anxious-over-backlog-in-label-approval-20190114/
The Punta Gorda brewers have had their share of hiccups. They almost shuttered in 2017, before Tampa Bay's Big Storm Brewing swooped in and acquired the microbrewery. Now, just as some of its tap-only beers were finally en route to make their canned debut, another snag.
This time, the federal government.
The government has to sign off every time a brewer comes up with a new variety and label. Three Fat Point beers — including a “malty” 80 Degrees Winter Warmer — are awaiting approval. But Fat Point's Tampa Bay parent company might not hear back for a while. More than 192,000 labels are sitting in an ever-growing queue creating a worrisome backlog for alcohol makers across the country.
The government has to sign off every time a brewer comes up with a new variety and label. Three Fat Point beers — including a “malty” 80 Degrees Winter Warmer — are awaiting approval. But Fat Point's Tampa Bay parent company might not hear back for a while. More than 192,000 labels are sitting in an ever-growing queue creating a worrisome backlog for alcohol makers across the country.
https://www.tampabay.com/business/as-shutdown-drags-craft-brewers-anxious-over-backlog-in-label-approval-20190114/
Speaking of which, I need some more learning juice! Ahh… that’s the stuff! So just so we’re being clear this is not existing beers that’s being affected, so go ahead and chug those Stone IPAs, Deschutes Porters, and Widmer Hefs because those are still being produced. It’s new product lines and distribution channels that are being affected. So what that means is that your favorite breweries can’t expand and they can’t market that new 15% barrel aged peach sour at $25 a bottle. How’s that affecting business you might ask?
Mike Yohannes has run a food stand in downtown Washington for the past 20 years, surviving economic downturns while selling hot dogs, candy bars and an assortment of other edible items.
But the latest government shutdown could be the death knell for his business.
Foot traffic is markedly down at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 11th Street where he operates, and Yohannes said sales have fallen about 60 percent during the closure, which has affected nearby federal offices, museums and other tourist spots.
“Business is very, very bad,” said Johannes, adding that he pays about $525 in license and other fees every three months, besides food costs. “If it continues like this another two, three months, I’m looking at another job.”
While President Donald Trump and Democratic congressional leaders haggle over his demand for $5.7 billion to fund a southern border wall – both sides went on national TV to argue their case Tuesday night – millions of Americans increasingly feel the impact of the impasse.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/01/09/federal-shutdown-impacting-everyday-american-life-jobs-vacations/2519465002/
But the latest government shutdown could be the death knell for his business.
Foot traffic is markedly down at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 11th Street where he operates, and Yohannes said sales have fallen about 60 percent during the closure, which has affected nearby federal offices, museums and other tourist spots.
“Business is very, very bad,” said Johannes, adding that he pays about $525 in license and other fees every three months, besides food costs. “If it continues like this another two, three months, I’m looking at another job.”
While President Donald Trump and Democratic congressional leaders haggle over his demand for $5.7 billion to fund a southern border wall – both sides went on national TV to argue their case Tuesday night – millions of Americans increasingly feel the impact of the impasse.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/01/09/federal-shutdown-impacting-everyday-american-life-jobs-vacations/2519465002/
I could down a whole six pack in the amount of time it’s taking to get through this! And this can’t be good for business. I mean we’re three weeks into this mess and it’s only going to get worse. Now if only I had something to ease the pain of waiting for my favorite brewery to produce new beers! I know, I need some more beer!
The federal shutdown is beginning to have an impact on one of Colorado's favorite things: craft beer.
Every time a new beer is produced and sold across state lines, the label has to be approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. The agency isn't working during the shutdown.
"We spend a lot of time developing our new recipes," says Matt Cutter, the founder of Boulder's Upslope Brewing Company. "Now, all of that is completely on hold."
Cutter says Upslope has quickly grown in popularity over the past 10 years.
"We are in seven out-of-state markets, plus Colorado," says Cutter. "In order to distribute to those states, we're required to have the Tax and Trade Bureau approve the label."
https://kdvr.com/2019/01/19/government-shutdown-hitting-colorado-breweries-hard/
Every time a new beer is produced and sold across state lines, the label has to be approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. The agency isn't working during the shutdown.
"We spend a lot of time developing our new recipes," says Matt Cutter, the founder of Boulder's Upslope Brewing Company. "Now, all of that is completely on hold."
Cutter says Upslope has quickly grown in popularity over the past 10 years.
"We are in seven out-of-state markets, plus Colorado," says Cutter. "In order to distribute to those states, we're required to have the Tax and Trade Bureau approve the label."
https://kdvr.com/2019/01/19/government-shutdown-hitting-colorado-breweries-hard/
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[font size="8"]Deep State Diaries Episode 26: The Fed
[br] [/font] [br]
It’s time for episode 26 of Deep State Diaries. Yes we’re touring the many branches and services that make up the United States government. Everything from the FBI to the IRS to the Pentagon to the CIA to the DPW to the DVA to parks and recreation and all branches and services in between. Of course if you’re here you probably already know more about our government and how it works than your average Fox News loving Trump supporter does. So that’s what this segment is going to address. We are going to do a deep dive into all that makes the United States the United States. Because we here at the Top 10 love to educate as well as entertain. Because we care.
[font size="6"]The Fed[/font]
We need some music for this one!
So now we come to the branch of the government that handles our money – the United States Federal Reserve. Known in short as “The Fed”. So what does the Fed do exactly? Well the Fed is basically the central bank of the United States. It’s the branch of government that monitors our money and sets the value of our currency and it also controls the flow of money as to help with current financial crises. Well, with the shutdown over this ridiculous wall, I say good luck with that one! The Fed also regulates the banks to prevent economic crashes. So here’s what is going on with the Fed currently:
Federal Reserve officials next week will continue to stress that they will be “patient,” and that is largely being interpreted at this point to mean no hikes until at least June, economists said.
Since the financial market turmoil after their December meeting, so many Fed officials used the word in their speeches that it felt like the central bank has “done all but take out a Super Bowl ad that repeatedly flashes the word “PATIENT,” said Blake Gwinn, a market strategist at NatWest, in a note to clients.
But what does patient mean exactly?
“A March hike is unlikely at this point, that’s how I would interpret patience,” said Andrew Hollenhorst, chief U.S. economist at Citigroup.
Vince Reinhart, chief economist and investment strategist at Standish, agreed: “They’re saying they are taking a pass on March.”
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-to-stress-patience-and-that-means-no-interest-rate-move-until-at-least-june-2019-01-22
Since the financial market turmoil after their December meeting, so many Fed officials used the word in their speeches that it felt like the central bank has “done all but take out a Super Bowl ad that repeatedly flashes the word “PATIENT,” said Blake Gwinn, a market strategist at NatWest, in a note to clients.
But what does patient mean exactly?
“A March hike is unlikely at this point, that’s how I would interpret patience,” said Andrew Hollenhorst, chief U.S. economist at Citigroup.
Vince Reinhart, chief economist and investment strategist at Standish, agreed: “They’re saying they are taking a pass on March.”
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-to-stress-patience-and-that-means-no-interest-rate-move-until-at-least-june-2019-01-22
That’s right – everything burns! Even money! But hey no shutdown agreement means that we have no Fed, so how is that working? How are they dealing with Trump? Well, things are going about as well as you might expect. Why try to argue with the guy who burned the forest down?
President Trump's months-long feud with the Federal Reserve is cooling off as central bank officials indicate a pause in interest rate hikes.
Various Fed officials this week have said they're reluctant to move forward with raising borrowing costs while inflation remains low and the economy continues to add jobs.
The bank's policymakers are expected to hike rates twice this year, down from four times in 2018, but some of the Fed's most hawkish members have moved away from that projection in recent remarks.
Trump has repeatedly hit the Fed and its chairman, Jerome Powell, since July for raising rates. The president has said the central bank poses "the biggest threat" to the economy and blamed it for triggering a December stock sell-off that was the worst since the Great Depression.
But with a rate hike unlikely until March at the earliest, Trump's anger with his preferred economic scapegoat appears to be easing.
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/426116-trump-fight-with-fed-blows-over
Various Fed officials this week have said they're reluctant to move forward with raising borrowing costs while inflation remains low and the economy continues to add jobs.
The bank's policymakers are expected to hike rates twice this year, down from four times in 2018, but some of the Fed's most hawkish members have moved away from that projection in recent remarks.
Trump has repeatedly hit the Fed and its chairman, Jerome Powell, since July for raising rates. The president has said the central bank poses "the biggest threat" to the economy and blamed it for triggering a December stock sell-off that was the worst since the Great Depression.
But with a rate hike unlikely until March at the earliest, Trump's anger with his preferred economic scapegoat appears to be easing.
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/426116-trump-fight-with-fed-blows-over
Damn straight! Even Mueller is working with the Fed to take down a hostile foreign bank with ties to some dark money. Yes, for you conspiracy theorists out there, there really is an actual conspiracy unfolding in front of our very eyes. Only it doesn’t involve Hillary Clinton and pizza parlors. Instead, it involves Germany!
The Federal Reserve is investigating billions of dollars in suspicious transactions involving Deutsche Bank AG and Denmark’s Danske Bank.
Investigators are examining whether Deutsche Bank’s U.S. operations adequately monitored funds sent through an Estonian branch of Danske Bank A/S, which the Danish bank has admitted handled up to $230 billion in dirty money, reported Bloomberg.
Two sources briefed on the probe confirmed the investigation, which Deutsche Bank denied in an emailed statement.
“(The bank) received several requests for information from regulators and law enforcement agencies around the world,” Deutsche Bank said. “It is not surprising at all that the investigating authorities and banks themselves have an interest in the Danske case and the lessons to be learned from it. Deutsche Bank continues to provide information to and cooperate with the investigating agencies.”
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/01/mueller-targeted-foreign-bank-investigated-federal-reserve-230-billion-sketchy-payments/
Investigators are examining whether Deutsche Bank’s U.S. operations adequately monitored funds sent through an Estonian branch of Danske Bank A/S, which the Danish bank has admitted handled up to $230 billion in dirty money, reported Bloomberg.
Two sources briefed on the probe confirmed the investigation, which Deutsche Bank denied in an emailed statement.
“(The bank) received several requests for information from regulators and law enforcement agencies around the world,” Deutsche Bank said. “It is not surprising at all that the investigating authorities and banks themselves have an interest in the Danske case and the lessons to be learned from it. Deutsche Bank continues to provide information to and cooperate with the investigating agencies.”
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/01/mueller-targeted-foreign-bank-investigated-federal-reserve-230-billion-sketchy-payments/
Yes let’s all throw money at the problem! That will make it go away! Except that it helps the rich get richer and the wrong people get rich. Especially when it comes to touchy subjects like our nation’s crippling student loan debt, how does the Fed deal with something like that?
Student debt has obviously forced some number of young adults to either delay or give up on homeownership. But how many, exactly? A group of economists from the Federal Reserve Board have taken a stab at answering that question, and come up with a number that is noteworthy even if some might find it surprisingly low.
Between 2005 and 2014, the share of young adults who owned a house fell by almost 9 percentage points, more than double the drop seen among Americans overall. The Fed team’s upcoming paper, summarized in a new research note, concludes that just 2 percentage points of that decline were due to rising student debt levels—meaning that college loans locked somewhere over 400,000 individuals out of home ownership that year.
That’s not a small number. But it’s a bit below what you might expect, given the generationally important role student debt has played in Millennials’ financial lives.
The way the authors arrive at their conclusion is a bit complicated. Using credit and education data on Americans who were between the ages of 24 and 32 in 2005, they create a model estimating the impact of student debt on the probability that an individual would own a home.
https://slate.com/business/2019/01/fed-estimates-college-loans-millenials-home-ownership.html
Between 2005 and 2014, the share of young adults who owned a house fell by almost 9 percentage points, more than double the drop seen among Americans overall. The Fed team’s upcoming paper, summarized in a new research note, concludes that just 2 percentage points of that decline were due to rising student debt levels—meaning that college loans locked somewhere over 400,000 individuals out of home ownership that year.
That’s not a small number. But it’s a bit below what you might expect, given the generationally important role student debt has played in Millennials’ financial lives.
The way the authors arrive at their conclusion is a bit complicated. Using credit and education data on Americans who were between the ages of 24 and 32 in 2005, they create a model estimating the impact of student debt on the probability that an individual would own a home.
https://slate.com/business/2019/01/fed-estimates-college-loans-millenials-home-ownership.html
[font size="6"]Score Card [/font]
Overall importance: A
How Things Are Going: B-
Likely hood To Survive: B+
Overall: B+
[font size="6"]Next Week [/font]
Next week we’re going to get drunk, smoke some cigars and shoot some guns as we hang out with the Bureau Of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms!
[font size="8"]And Now This:[/font]
[font size="8”] The Claypool Lennon Delirium[/font]
Ladies and gentlemen, my next guest are the duo of Les Claypool and Sean Lennon! They have a new album coming out called “South Of Reality” which will be available everywhere on Feb. 22nd. You can see them live on tour this March and April. Playing their new song “Blood & Rockets”, give it up for the Claypool Lennon Delirium!
Thank you Vegas! This was fun! We will be back soon! We are off to Salt Lake City next! See you next week!
Credits
Host: Initech
Top 10 Conservative Idiots Recorded In Front Of Live Audience At: Jokester’s Comedy Club, Las Vegas, NV
Special Thanks To: Jokester’s Management
Holy Shit Gospel Choir: UNLV Choir Club, Las Vegas
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Wheel Of Corruption By: Studio 1 Stage Props, Burbank, CA
The Claypool Lennon Delirium Appear Courtesy Of: ATO Records
Management: Initech Productions, CCC Management
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