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Top 10 Conservative Idiots #6-6: A Tale Of Two Crowd Sizes Edition
Last edited Thu Feb 14, 2019, 01:36 AM - Edit history (1)
Top 10 Conservative Idiots #6-6: A Tale Of Two Crowd Sizes Edition
Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! We have the best deals on travel – act now and get double your bonus miles! We are back! Holy crap did we pick the wrong time to be off for a week or what? I mean we had Trump’s second State Of The Union, and the drama and the speech itself weren’t the craziest thing of the week! There’s a lot to unpack here so we will do the best we can! Do we have time for the thing? Sigh... FML people. Just... seriously I hate humanity sometimes. Why? Theme parks. Yes, those places your kids really want to go to where you can easily blow a grand waiting in line all day. There's lots of news out there that proves why I gave up theme parks a long time ago. And you know what? I don't really miss 'em either. Shit, I live 15 minutes from Disneyland and I maybe go there about once every two years. But this... this is just one of the strangest theme park attractions I've ever seen. Remember that animated flick from a couple of years ago called Trolls? If you don't I suggest going on Youtube and watching the CinemaSins Everything Wrong With video because that's about all you really need. So if you go visit Universal Studios in Orlando, there is a human size troll that greets people with glitter farts. Yes, glitter farts. Seriously, WTF is wrong with people??? And imagine being the guy who gets paid to wear purple body paint and be made up like a troll doll and all day all he does is sit there and fart glitter? Yeah that's a thing that exists in 2019. I'm sure it's probably already bad enough for the people who have to put on costumes and dance for tourists all day because they probably get paid shit, but I really wonder what they think of the glitter farts guy? And also imagine being the guy who thought of this! What you mean people are amused by glitter troll farts? I know let's put it in our theme parks! Brilliant! And he walks away with a giant sack of money. OK that's enough of the intro, I don't want to think about glitter farts anymore. We have a lot of idiocy to get to. But first Keenan Thompson of SNL explains to white people that maybe you shouldn’t do blackface no matter what the situation is:
You know it’s a fucked up week when Trump’s 2nd State Of The Union is the 2nd craziest thing that happened! For the first slot this week is AMI (1). Yes, the parent company of sleazy supermarket tabloid the National Enquirer is back in the news for an insane blackmail scheme involving the richest guy in the world, Jeff Bezos. Yeah, don’t go there, AMI, it won’t end well for you. In the second slot this week is the State Of The Union recap (2) which was summed up perfectly by one of Trump’s guests of honor.For the third slot this week is the guy who we currently call president, Donald J. Trump (3) and he went to Texas, because, border hysteria from the right, but Beto’s rally drew over twice as many people! In the words of Nelson Muntz, ha ha!! In the number 4 slot this week is the latest on the Ralph Northam scandal, and people, it’s not good. In fact I think it is saying more about the state of Virginia than it is about Gov. Northam. Taking the 5th slot this week, we’ve got our weekly investigative piece Top 10 Investigates, and this week we’re going to take a look at a controversy surrounding home DNA testing company 23 & Me (5) – just how accurate are the results? (hint: slim to nil) At number 6, is of course our weekly visit to the Holy Church Of The Top 10 in “Holy Shit” and this week our resident pastor is stunned that the Dark One is once again blurring the line between Separation Of Church & State by advocating for more Bible based classes. What could go wrong? For the 7th slot this week we’ve got a new edition of “NO!”. Really, Delta Airlines and Coke, WTF were you thinking with those creepy airplane napkins? NO!! In the number 8 slot this week it’s another installment of the hot new game that ‘s sweeping the nation – “IS IT RACIST???” . And this week there’s a literary professor who is making an absurd claim that Mary Poppins is racist, because, yeah it’s 2019. In the number 9 (NEIN!!!!) slot this week we have a new installment of one of our favorite segments, I Need A Drink. And this week we’re going to talk about the boiling water challenge. Really, people, just keep doing what you are doing.Finally this week in the latest installment of our ongoing series Deep State Diaries, we are going to the inner cities to check out what’s going on with the Department Of Housing & Urban Development, or the HUD! Enjoy! Plus we’ve got some live music from oh, I don’t know, a little band called Muse! Yes, they are too big for this crappy program but they are stopping by anyways! And as always don’t forget the key!
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[font size="8"]Jeff Bezos vs AMI
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Yeah… we need some sexy time music cause this one is for the lovers in the house! That’s right – we’re going to talk about one of the lowest forms of behavior that you just shouldn’t do – the dick pic! Yes, the subject of the dick pic once again rears its’ ugly head. But do we really need a guy with the last name pecker threatening to publish dick pics? Let’s just let that one sink in for a minute. This is quite possibly one of the most insane scandals ever to scandal.
In the blogpost, titled “No thank you, Mr Pecker”, Bezos accused AMI of telling him “they had more of my text messages and photos that they would publish if we didn’t stop our investigation”.
Bezos said his ownership of the Washington Post was a “complexifier” because it had made him the enemy of people including Donald Trump, who has frequently targeted him. Pecker is a longtime confidant of the president.
In December, prosecutors in the southern district of New York gave AMI immunity from prosecution for its cooperation in the investigation into Trump’s presidential campaign and alleged hush payments to a Playboy model. AMI admitted the company had coordinated with Trump’s presidential campaign to “catch and kill” – buy up but not publish – the story of Karen McDougal, the model who claimed she had an affair with Trump. AMI admitted it had worked “in concert” with the campaign to pay McDougal $150,000 for her story and then suppress it. Bezos noted in the blogpost that AMI had entered into the immunity deal.
According to Bezos, AMI’s chief content officer, Dylan Howard, emailed threats to Bezos’s lawyer, Martin Singer, allegedly writing: “In the interests of expediating [sic] this situation, and with The Washington Post poised to publish unsubstantiated rumors of The National Enquirer’s initial report, I wanted to describe to you the photos obtained during our newsgathering.”
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/07/jeff-bezos-national-enquirer-blogpost-blackmail-claim
Bezos said his ownership of the Washington Post was a “complexifier” because it had made him the enemy of people including Donald Trump, who has frequently targeted him. Pecker is a longtime confidant of the president.
In December, prosecutors in the southern district of New York gave AMI immunity from prosecution for its cooperation in the investigation into Trump’s presidential campaign and alleged hush payments to a Playboy model. AMI admitted the company had coordinated with Trump’s presidential campaign to “catch and kill” – buy up but not publish – the story of Karen McDougal, the model who claimed she had an affair with Trump. AMI admitted it had worked “in concert” with the campaign to pay McDougal $150,000 for her story and then suppress it. Bezos noted in the blogpost that AMI had entered into the immunity deal.
According to Bezos, AMI’s chief content officer, Dylan Howard, emailed threats to Bezos’s lawyer, Martin Singer, allegedly writing: “In the interests of expediating [sic] this situation, and with The Washington Post poised to publish unsubstantiated rumors of The National Enquirer’s initial report, I wanted to describe to you the photos obtained during our newsgathering.”
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/07/jeff-bezos-national-enquirer-blogpost-blackmail-claim
And by the way just how evil is AMI over this? Well this wouldn’t be the first time a sleazy tabloid got caught in an extortion ring. That’s pretty much what they do for a living! So just how legal is what AMI is doing? Well let’s ask a real lawyer!
So, The Hollywood Reporter canvassed intellectual property experts and asked them to weigh the four factors of fair use with regard to Bezos' lower selfies.
The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes:
"To the extent that there’s a public interest argument it certainly wouldn’t extend to the content of the photos themselves," says entertainment litigator Ashley Yeargan of Russ August & Kabat. "You can describe the photos without having to show them."
Kinsella Weitzman entertainment and intellectual property litigator Gregory Korn agrees the photo itself isn't newsworthy, adding that "it’s essentially just a commercial use. If you call it anything else, you’re just lying to yourself."
As a lawyer who typically defends these kinds of claims, Fox Rothschild's David Aronoff says he would argue it isn't a commercial use — but, he still thinks AMI doesn't have a winning case. "I think fair use would be pretty much their only defense, and it’s not a good one," he says. "Putting aside the issue of extortion, do they have a fair use argument to publish the photos? The answer to that is a pretty strong 'no.'"
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/jeff-bezos-nude-selfies-are-not-newsworthy-legal-experts-say-1184324
The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes:
"To the extent that there’s a public interest argument it certainly wouldn’t extend to the content of the photos themselves," says entertainment litigator Ashley Yeargan of Russ August & Kabat. "You can describe the photos without having to show them."
Kinsella Weitzman entertainment and intellectual property litigator Gregory Korn agrees the photo itself isn't newsworthy, adding that "it’s essentially just a commercial use. If you call it anything else, you’re just lying to yourself."
As a lawyer who typically defends these kinds of claims, Fox Rothschild's David Aronoff says he would argue it isn't a commercial use — but, he still thinks AMI doesn't have a winning case. "I think fair use would be pretty much their only defense, and it’s not a good one," he says. "Putting aside the issue of extortion, do they have a fair use argument to publish the photos? The answer to that is a pretty strong 'no.'"
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/jeff-bezos-nude-selfies-are-not-newsworthy-legal-experts-say-1184324
That’s right – hell no!!! But what is AMI getting out of all of this? Well they’re so deep in the collusion scandal that they actually asked the Justice Department whether or not they should register as a foreign agent with the Saudis! Yes that’s right! AMI is deep in a hostile foreign power that is against American interests, much like the WWE. I mean come on, it’s all connected don’t you know?
American Media asked the DoJ about having to register as foreign agent after publishing a glossy mag that hyped Saudi Arabia.
Remember that weird glossy magazine that came out last year promoting Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman? Daily Beast called it Saudi propaganda, and it was.
AMI, the parent company of The National Enquirer, produced it.
Right after they put this weird Saudi propaganda publication out, AMI asked the United States Department of Justice if it should register as a foreign lobbyist, according to multiple news reports out today.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has accused AMI of blackmailing him over intimate photos, and questioned whether Saudi Arabia may have been involved, which both AMI and the kingdom have denied.
https://boingboing.net/2019/02/11/national-enquirer-parent-compa.html
Remember that weird glossy magazine that came out last year promoting Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman? Daily Beast called it Saudi propaganda, and it was.
AMI, the parent company of The National Enquirer, produced it.
Right after they put this weird Saudi propaganda publication out, AMI asked the United States Department of Justice if it should register as a foreign lobbyist, according to multiple news reports out today.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has accused AMI of blackmailing him over intimate photos, and questioned whether Saudi Arabia may have been involved, which both AMI and the kingdom have denied.
https://boingboing.net/2019/02/11/national-enquirer-parent-compa.html
Yes… yes we are!!!! So you have a trashy entertainment company and a trashy supermarket tabloid journalism company both deep in a massive conspiracy to undermine the world’s largest retailer, but how far does it go? Yes, that’s what she said! Thank you sir! Got to love it when we have smart asses in the audience! But of course AMI is in full “nothing to see here” mode!
A lawyer for National Enquirer owner American Media Inc.'s CEO defended the company's correspondence with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, saying AMI did nothing illegal.
"It absolutely is not extortion and not blackmail," Elkan Abramowitz, attorney for AMI CEO David Pecker, said Sunday on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."
His comments came after Bezos published a blog post Thursday accusing AMI of attempting to blackmail him with threats to publish a trove of embarrassing photos, including some of a sexual nature.
The clash followed the Enquirer's previous publication of a report on Bezos' breakup with his wife and his romantic relationship with former Los Angeles news anchor Lauren Sanchez.
Bezos on Thursday posted emails in which AMI representatives offered to withhold publication of the embarrassing photos in exchange for Bezos acknowledging that the tabloid owner had no political motivation for publishing its original expose. Pecker has supported Donald Trump, and Trump has repeatedly criticized Bezos, who owns The Washington Post.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/02/10/jeff-bezos-american-media-elkan-abramowitz-this-week/2829977002/
"It absolutely is not extortion and not blackmail," Elkan Abramowitz, attorney for AMI CEO David Pecker, said Sunday on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."
His comments came after Bezos published a blog post Thursday accusing AMI of attempting to blackmail him with threats to publish a trove of embarrassing photos, including some of a sexual nature.
The clash followed the Enquirer's previous publication of a report on Bezos' breakup with his wife and his romantic relationship with former Los Angeles news anchor Lauren Sanchez.
Bezos on Thursday posted emails in which AMI representatives offered to withhold publication of the embarrassing photos in exchange for Bezos acknowledging that the tabloid owner had no political motivation for publishing its original expose. Pecker has supported Donald Trump, and Trump has repeatedly criticized Bezos, who owns The Washington Post.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/02/10/jeff-bezos-american-media-elkan-abramowitz-this-week/2829977002/
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[font size="8"]State Of The Union
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Whew, you know it’s a fucked up week when the State Of The Union is only the second craziest thing that happened! Of course we don’t have much time to cover and most of it has been covered already but of course… wait, my fact checker is going off!! Oh! Oh!!!! Trump broke the fact checker! Yes, that’s right, he broke the fact checker! But this might be my absolute favorite thing coming out of the SOTU is that Trump invited a kid with the last name Trump, because of course he did. And that kid was being bullied for his last name Trump, because of course, violent leftist mob, and such. And you know how this kid returned the favor? Well…
An 11-year-old boy called Joshua Trump who was invited by his presidential namesake to his State of the Union speech fell asleep and has been hailed as a hero of the anti-Trump resistance.
Joshua Trump, a middle-school student from Delaware, was invited to the delayed event by Melania Trump. He dropped out of school after being bullied because of his last name.
As cameras panned to the audience, the boy could be seen napping while Donald Trump renewed his promise to build a US-Mexico border and declared illegal immigration “an urgent national crisis”.
One Twitter user, who posted a screenshot of the younger Trump asleep, wrote: “JOSHUA TRUMP RULES.”
“Joshua Trump, welcome to the resistance,” said another.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/06/the-trump-who-fell-asleep-during-state-of-the-union-hailed-a-hero
Joshua Trump, a middle-school student from Delaware, was invited to the delayed event by Melania Trump. He dropped out of school after being bullied because of his last name.
As cameras panned to the audience, the boy could be seen napping while Donald Trump renewed his promise to build a US-Mexico border and declared illegal immigration “an urgent national crisis”.
One Twitter user, who posted a screenshot of the younger Trump asleep, wrote: “JOSHUA TRUMP RULES.”
“Joshua Trump, welcome to the resistance,” said another.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/06/the-trump-who-fell-asleep-during-state-of-the-union-hailed-a-hero
Screw the meme. Can we show that picture?
Don’t even have to Photoshop that one! My other favorite thing from the SOTU was Nancy Pelosi standing behind Trump doing the alligator clap, and Trump looked like he was having none of it, and Mike Pence was looking about as creepy as ever. I mean at this point would anyone be surprised that VP Pence actually has real skeletons in his closet? I know I am not!
President Donald Trump spoke for more than an hour and 20 minutes last night, but the moment that may be remembered best from his State of the Union address had no words at all.
It was when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stood and applauded a line from Trump’s speech in a way that seemed rife with sarcasm to many observers.
The moment came after an eyebrow-raising call for unity from Trump that seemed at direct odds with his own long history of Twitter insults, especially coming on the heels of a pre-speech luncheon in which he reportedly insulted multiple political rivals.
“We must reject the politics of revenge, resistance and retribution, and embrace the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise and the common good,” Trump said in his State of the Union address.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nancy-pelosi-state-of-the-union-memes_us_5c5a5731e4b0871047589ff9
It was when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stood and applauded a line from Trump’s speech in a way that seemed rife with sarcasm to many observers.
The moment came after an eyebrow-raising call for unity from Trump that seemed at direct odds with his own long history of Twitter insults, especially coming on the heels of a pre-speech luncheon in which he reportedly insulted multiple political rivals.
“We must reject the politics of revenge, resistance and retribution, and embrace the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise and the common good,” Trump said in his State of the Union address.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nancy-pelosi-state-of-the-union-memes_us_5c5a5731e4b0871047589ff9
Common good? Common good? Trump wouldn’t know common good if it jumped up and bit him on the ass! Thank you audience! And by the way, if unity was the theme of the SOTU, Trump certainly did a good job of conveying that message! Oh wait, he literally did the exact opposite and used it to threaten the democrats! Good job!!! NOT!!!
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday characterized President Trump's description of "ridiculous, partisan investigations" as a threat to Democrats.
"An economic miracle is taking place in the United States, and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics, or ridiculous, partisan investigations," Trump said during his State of the Union Address Tuesday night.
The next morning, Pelosi, who has gone toe to toe with the president since Democrats took over the House last month, pushed back.
“That was a threat. Presidents should not bring threats to the floor of the House," the California Democrat told a group of reporters at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
Despite the president's remarks, House Democrats moved forward with their inquiries, as the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said his panel will expand its Russia probe into Trump, including whether the Kremlin holds “leverage” over the president.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/02/06/state-of-the-union-pelosi-response-trump-threat/2788704002/
"An economic miracle is taking place in the United States, and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics, or ridiculous, partisan investigations," Trump said during his State of the Union Address Tuesday night.
The next morning, Pelosi, who has gone toe to toe with the president since Democrats took over the House last month, pushed back.
“That was a threat. Presidents should not bring threats to the floor of the House," the California Democrat told a group of reporters at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
Despite the president's remarks, House Democrats moved forward with their inquiries, as the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said his panel will expand its Russia probe into Trump, including whether the Kremlin holds “leverage” over the president.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/02/06/state-of-the-union-pelosi-response-trump-threat/2788704002/
There goes unity! And by the way he hammered that point home on Twitter in the last week regarding Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s proposed new Green Deal, which we won’t get to this week but will next week (that’s what happens when you are limited to 10 items a week!) :
Link to tweet
Someone didn't read! I mean really eliminating all those things, Trump? No planes means no Air Force One to take you to your golf courses, and no cows means no Big Macs. If this plan went through, what would you feed the Patriots when they visit? His incoherent word salads on Twitter usually make a whole lot of sense. And speaking of not making sense , remember his plan to eliminate HIV? Well…
When President Trump gave his State of the Union address last week, he made an ambitious promise to "eliminate the H.I.V. epidemic in the United States within 10 years." The announcement was followed by a blueprint from the Department of Health and Human Services that details the administration's plan to concentrate funding for treatment and preventative medicine in a few dozen counties nationwide with the highest rates of infection. Public health experts generally applauded the plan as achievable with existing tools and techniques.
The announcement also contained a second, less-noticed promise: To defeat AIDS "beyond" the U.S. But the president's own record on addressing the virus in other countries has been inconsistent.
In December, Trump signed a bill reauthorizing the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, a flagship foreign assistance program that was initiated in 2003 by President George W. Bush and has grown to be one of the biggest and most successful public health interventions in history, responsible for saving millions of lives around the world.
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/02/11/693508003/what-it-will-take-for-trump-to-end-aids-beyond-america
The announcement also contained a second, less-noticed promise: To defeat AIDS "beyond" the U.S. But the president's own record on addressing the virus in other countries has been inconsistent.
In December, Trump signed a bill reauthorizing the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, a flagship foreign assistance program that was initiated in 2003 by President George W. Bush and has grown to be one of the biggest and most successful public health interventions in history, responsible for saving millions of lives around the world.
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/02/11/693508003/what-it-will-take-for-trump-to-end-aids-beyond-america
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[font size="8"]Donald Trump
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The GOP hysteria over the US – Mexican border is reaching epic proportions. And this week it was Trump vs Beto, or as we’re calling it “A Tale Of Two Crowd Sizes”, duking it out in Texas. But why is it always the democrats are loony? Or we’re out of control? Or we’re unhinged and insane? Really we’re not the ones who are building a human wall full of gun nuts along the Mexican border. Yes, they are literally building a human wall to protect us against the non existent immigrant threat. I cannot fathom enough about how insane this is. I swear that if Trump told his supporters to go jump off the nearest tall building, they’d do it. Don’t these people have things like jobs and families? They don’t have anything better to do, really?
Dozens of supporters of President Donald Trump's border security efforts formed a human wall Saturday across a small part of the southern border where there is no fencing.
The group gathered near Sunland Park, New Mexico, linking arms and chanting "build a wall," according to CNN affiliate KFOX.
Many held up American flags. Some sported "Make America Great Again" hats, and said they were there to show their support for the construction of a wall at the border.
The demonstration came just two days before President Donald Trump's visit to El Paso, Texas for a rally on Monday.
https://www.kvia.com/news/us-world/trump-supporters-form-human-wall-at-southern-border/1011675662
The group gathered near Sunland Park, New Mexico, linking arms and chanting "build a wall," according to CNN affiliate KFOX.
Many held up American flags. Some sported "Make America Great Again" hats, and said they were there to show their support for the construction of a wall at the border.
The demonstration came just two days before President Donald Trump's visit to El Paso, Texas for a rally on Monday.
https://www.kvia.com/news/us-world/trump-supporters-form-human-wall-at-southern-border/1011675662
Yeah it’s kind of like that. But what will actually happen I think is more like this:
But then Trump decided to go down to El Paso himself, because he wants that damn wall, and he will get it or his supporters will be their wall! Because, reasons. And really, El Paso, we’re sorry that the shit show had to roll through your town, but don’t fret, other border towns will soon become victims of it!
Mariachis versus MAGA hats. Pro-wall versus pro-immigrants. President versus potential presidential hopeful.
This Texas border city of 684,000 residents was rocked Monday by dueling political rallies as a campaign event by President Donald Trump was met with protests led by former Democratic congressman and El Paso native Beto O'Rourke, a potential contender against Trump in next year's presidential election.
Across the city, pro-Trump backers voiced their support for the president, especially in his steadfast effort to erect a border wall along the southwest border with Mexico. A campaign rally at the El Paso County Coliseum drew several thousand supporters.
Trump took a jab at his El Paso rival, calling O'Rourke "a young man who has very little going for himself except he has a great first name." His speech was interrupted repeatedly by anti-Trump protesters in the crowd.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/02/11/trump-el-paso-border-wall-support-opposition/2841502002/
This Texas border city of 684,000 residents was rocked Monday by dueling political rallies as a campaign event by President Donald Trump was met with protests led by former Democratic congressman and El Paso native Beto O'Rourke, a potential contender against Trump in next year's presidential election.
Across the city, pro-Trump backers voiced their support for the president, especially in his steadfast effort to erect a border wall along the southwest border with Mexico. A campaign rally at the El Paso County Coliseum drew several thousand supporters.
Trump took a jab at his El Paso rival, calling O'Rourke "a young man who has very little going for himself except he has a great first name." His speech was interrupted repeatedly by anti-Trump protesters in the crowd.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/02/11/trump-el-paso-border-wall-support-opposition/2841502002/
That’s what Trump thinks will happen! Oh and by the way in case you had any doubt about the kind of person Trump attracts, let’s say that they pulled a Gianforte. Yeah, the MAGA morons grabbed and assaulted a BBC reporter. Because, MAGA.
A BBC camera operator was attacked at a rally held by President Donald Trump in El Paso, Texas, on Monday — one where the president repeatedly goaded his fans into booing the media.
The camera operator, identified by a colleague as Ron Skeans, was attacked by a man wearing a red Trump hat who could be heard yelling, “Fuck the media!”
Trump paused his speech while the assailant was escorted away. The audience responded with a smattering of “CNN sucks!” chants that eventually morphed into “Trump! Trump! Trump!”
According to the BBC, the assailant “shoved and swore at the BBC’s Ron Skeans and other news crews before being pulled away.” Skeans described a “very hard shove” coming from behind him:
https://www.vox.com/2019/2/12/18221640/bbc-cameraman-attacked-trump-rally-el-paso
The camera operator, identified by a colleague as Ron Skeans, was attacked by a man wearing a red Trump hat who could be heard yelling, “Fuck the media!”
Trump paused his speech while the assailant was escorted away. The audience responded with a smattering of “CNN sucks!” chants that eventually morphed into “Trump! Trump! Trump!”
According to the BBC, the assailant “shoved and swore at the BBC’s Ron Skeans and other news crews before being pulled away.” Skeans described a “very hard shove” coming from behind him:
https://www.vox.com/2019/2/12/18221640/bbc-cameraman-attacked-trump-rally-el-paso
Yeah there’s nothing funny about that so we won’t try. But really, fuck these people. And that’s about as classy of a response as we’ll get from Trump fans. And by the way in case you’re wondering what the response coming from the city of El Paso is, well, walls aren’t really the answer. But there really is no one good answer for this problem. And of course, Trump’s got the wrong idea on everything.
People walking over the Paso del Norte Bridge linking this West Texas border city to Mexico can watch President Donald Trump’s border wall getting bigger in real time.
Workers in fluorescent smocks can be seen digging trenches, pouring concrete and erecting rust-colored slabs of 18-foot-high metal to replace layers of barbed wire-topped fencing along the mud-colored Rio Grande, which is usually little more than a trickle.
Most of the more than 70,000 people who legally cross four city bridges daily — to shop, go to school and work — pay the construction in the heart of downtown no mind. But on a recent weekday, one man stopped and pointed, saying simply “Trump.”
In his State of the Union address, the president said a “powerful barrier” had cut crime rates in El Paso. He’s demanding more than 100 miles of new walls, costing $5.7 billion, along the 1,900-mile border, despite opposition from Democrats and some Republicans in Congress.
https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20190211/many-in-el-paso-reject-trumps-claim-that-wall-made-city-safe
Workers in fluorescent smocks can be seen digging trenches, pouring concrete and erecting rust-colored slabs of 18-foot-high metal to replace layers of barbed wire-topped fencing along the mud-colored Rio Grande, which is usually little more than a trickle.
Most of the more than 70,000 people who legally cross four city bridges daily — to shop, go to school and work — pay the construction in the heart of downtown no mind. But on a recent weekday, one man stopped and pointed, saying simply “Trump.”
In his State of the Union address, the president said a “powerful barrier” had cut crime rates in El Paso. He’s demanding more than 100 miles of new walls, costing $5.7 billion, along the 1,900-mile border, despite opposition from Democrats and some Republicans in Congress.
https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20190211/many-in-el-paso-reject-trumps-claim-that-wall-made-city-safe
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[font size="8"]Ralph Northam Scandal Update
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Sigh… this scandal is not going away anytime soon. And no, we’re not going to play a game of “Is It Racist” because we have a much more ridiculous topic saved for that this week. Yeah as you’re aware, the current Virginia governor and guy whose Amazon account includes buying the shovel with which he will use to dig his political grave, Ralph Northam, just doesn’t stop talking. In fact you know sometimes silence is the best answer. But no, he won’t shut up about it.
Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam held onto his office over the past week by saying as little as possible.
Following the circulation of a photo on Northam's medical school yearbook page that featured a man in blackface and another in KKK robes, Northam held a news conference that went, well, disastrously -- culminating in his almost-moonwalking.(Northam admitted to darkening his face to go as Michael Jackson to a dance party in 1984.)
At which point, Northam went almost completely silent. This paragraph, from a terrific Politico piece on Northam's plan to survive, gets to that silent strategy:
"This week, Northam has been largely holed up in his office and has not walked next door to the Capitol, where the Legislature is in session, according to multiple lawmakers. Most of the legislators he's called or texted are Republicans who had not called for him to resign."
And it worked! Now, much of that success was due to the fact that Democratic state Attorney General Mark Herring admitted he, too, had blackened his face in '80s, and the ongoing allegations of sexual assault against Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, also a Democrat. But regardless of the reasons, Northam stayed out of the spotlight -- mostly -- and lived to fight another week, a prospect that seemed very, very unlikely at this time last week.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/11/politics/ralph-northam-virginia-blackface/index.html
Following the circulation of a photo on Northam's medical school yearbook page that featured a man in blackface and another in KKK robes, Northam held a news conference that went, well, disastrously -- culminating in his almost-moonwalking.(Northam admitted to darkening his face to go as Michael Jackson to a dance party in 1984.)
At which point, Northam went almost completely silent. This paragraph, from a terrific Politico piece on Northam's plan to survive, gets to that silent strategy:
"This week, Northam has been largely holed up in his office and has not walked next door to the Capitol, where the Legislature is in session, according to multiple lawmakers. Most of the legislators he's called or texted are Republicans who had not called for him to resign."
And it worked! Now, much of that success was due to the fact that Democratic state Attorney General Mark Herring admitted he, too, had blackened his face in '80s, and the ongoing allegations of sexual assault against Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, also a Democrat. But regardless of the reasons, Northam stayed out of the spotlight -- mostly -- and lived to fight another week, a prospect that seemed very, very unlikely at this time last week.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/11/politics/ralph-northam-virginia-blackface/index.html
Yes, Gov. Northam, just shut up already! You know the sad thing is this whole thing was discovered by a Trump friendly news organization who figured out a way to weaponize blackface. And really, that’s as bad as the act of blackface itself. But then of course, he had to get involved. Yes, you know him. And he only makes things worse.
At a rally in El Paso, Texas, on Monday, President Donald Trump accused Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, of supporting infanticide.
“The governor stated that he would even allow a newborn baby to come out into the world,” Trump told the crowd, “and wrap the baby, and make the baby comfortable, and then talk to the mother and talk to the father and then execute the baby. Execute the baby!”
Trump was talking about comments Northam made in late January, when he was asked during a filmed radio interview about an abortion bill before the Virginia House of Delegates. The governor’s comments were confusing, and some took them, at the time, as an endorsement of infanticide. But the governor has said that he was “absolutely not” talking about infanticide — and in any case, the Virginia bill would certainly not allow doctors to “execute” a baby after it’s born.
Trump’s comments at the rally may be part of a larger strategy to stir up support among abortion opponents in advance of the 2020 election.
https://www.vox.com/2019/2/12/18221707/trump-rally-el-paso-northam-abortion-virginia
“The governor stated that he would even allow a newborn baby to come out into the world,” Trump told the crowd, “and wrap the baby, and make the baby comfortable, and then talk to the mother and talk to the father and then execute the baby. Execute the baby!”
Trump was talking about comments Northam made in late January, when he was asked during a filmed radio interview about an abortion bill before the Virginia House of Delegates. The governor’s comments were confusing, and some took them, at the time, as an endorsement of infanticide. But the governor has said that he was “absolutely not” talking about infanticide — and in any case, the Virginia bill would certainly not allow doctors to “execute” a baby after it’s born.
Trump’s comments at the rally may be part of a larger strategy to stir up support among abortion opponents in advance of the 2020 election.
https://www.vox.com/2019/2/12/18221707/trump-rally-el-paso-northam-abortion-virginia
Holy fucking shit!!!! He went there!!! Yes, execute the baby!!! Is it me or does Trump sound like a child when he says something like that? “They execute the baby!!!!”. I mean really this is a special kind of stupid, let’s call it MAGA. But in case you’re wondering what poll numbers are like for the VA governor, well, let’s say they’re not at all shocking .
Virginia residents are at an impasse over whether they feel Gov. Ralph Northam should step down after a racist photo from his past caught up with him last week, though a majority of black voters say they have still his back, according to new polls released this week.
The overall divide is an even split: 47 percent of Virginians want to see him stay; 47 percent want to see him go, according to a Washington Post/Schar School poll released Saturday. But what’s significant about the poll results is the racial breakdown of Northam’s support: Even after the governor admitted to using shoe polish to wear blackface in the 1980s, black Virginians still support him more than whites.
Roughly 58 percent of African Americans polled said Northam should remain in office, compared to 46 percent of whites who said the same.
The poll was conducted just days after a racist photo surfaced from the pages of Northam’s 1984 medical school yearbook, showing a picture of a man in blackface standing next to another man wearing a white Ku Klux Klan hood. After admitting the picture was his, Northam backtracked a day later and denied that he was either individual in the image. He did fess up, however, to dressing up in blackface that same year for a Michael Jackson dance contest.
https://www.vox.com/2019/2/10/18219220/virginia-northam-fairfax-polls-resignation
The overall divide is an even split: 47 percent of Virginians want to see him stay; 47 percent want to see him go, according to a Washington Post/Schar School poll released Saturday. But what’s significant about the poll results is the racial breakdown of Northam’s support: Even after the governor admitted to using shoe polish to wear blackface in the 1980s, black Virginians still support him more than whites.
Roughly 58 percent of African Americans polled said Northam should remain in office, compared to 46 percent of whites who said the same.
The poll was conducted just days after a racist photo surfaced from the pages of Northam’s 1984 medical school yearbook, showing a picture of a man in blackface standing next to another man wearing a white Ku Klux Klan hood. After admitting the picture was his, Northam backtracked a day later and denied that he was either individual in the image. He did fess up, however, to dressing up in blackface that same year for a Michael Jackson dance contest.
https://www.vox.com/2019/2/10/18219220/virginia-northam-fairfax-polls-resignation
If you’re not surprised by those poll numbers, not only are you in the wrong place but you have not been paying attention! Because…. Surprise, Americans are split down the middle on just about everything right now. And of course he’s in full on denial mode right now:
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam rejected mounting calls for his resignation Saturday and, in a sharp reversal, said he does not believe he in fact appears in a racist photo on his 1984 medical school yearbook page as he initially thought.
"I am not the person in that photo," Northam said at an afternoon news conference.
He apologized, however, for the photos being on a page with his name on it.
"I am asking for the opportunity to earn your forgiveness," the governor said, adding, "I am far from perfect and I can always strive to do more."
His remarks came in the face of widespread demands throughout the state Democratic party and beyond for him to step down.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, Terry McAuliffe, Northam's Democratic predecessor as governor, a half-dozen Democratic presidential hopefuls, the NAACP, Planned Parenthood and state Democratic lawmakers called on the governor to resign.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/02/02/virginia-governor-ralph-northam-racist-yearbook-photo-resignation-calls/2753016002/
"I am not the person in that photo," Northam said at an afternoon news conference.
He apologized, however, for the photos being on a page with his name on it.
"I am asking for the opportunity to earn your forgiveness," the governor said, adding, "I am far from perfect and I can always strive to do more."
His remarks came in the face of widespread demands throughout the state Democratic party and beyond for him to step down.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, Terry McAuliffe, Northam's Democratic predecessor as governor, a half-dozen Democratic presidential hopefuls, the NAACP, Planned Parenthood and state Democratic lawmakers called on the governor to resign.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/02/02/virginia-governor-ralph-northam-racist-yearbook-photo-resignation-calls/2753016002/
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[font size="8"]Top 10 Investigates: DIY DNA
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It’s time to investigate beyond the headlines. This is Top 10 Investigates!
You’ve probably seen home DNA testing kits come along fast and furious lately. From companies that offer just basic testing like 23 & Me to sites that offer more specific studies, like ancestry.com. But if you have been taking these tests or you’ve been hearing that the tests come back wrong every time, you’re not alone. In fact, you should be concerned immediately after sending back the kit, especially if you sign up for their health tests.
23andMe is pushing back against a recent The New York Times editorial board opinion piece that warned customers to be careful about the company's health tests.
The editorial board argued that 23andMe's genetic risk health tests, such as its test that claims to screen for two genetic mutations linked to colorectal cancer, can't determine the actual risk of developing the diseases because it relies on "much simpler technology" than a healthcare facility does.
In addition, the op-ed compared 23andMe's breast cancer screen to "proofreading a document by looking at only a handful of letters," as the test only looks at parts of the genome where mutations are known to occur.
"[23andMe's tests] look for only a handful of errors that may or may not elevate your risk of developing the disease in question. And they don't factor into their final analysis other information, like family history. (Not everyone with a given mutation will go on to develop the disease). So the results will not tell you much about your actual health risks," the editorial board wrote in the Feb. 1 opinion piece.
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/nyt-editorial-board-warns-about-23andme-dna-tests-23andme-responds.html
The editorial board argued that 23andMe's genetic risk health tests, such as its test that claims to screen for two genetic mutations linked to colorectal cancer, can't determine the actual risk of developing the diseases because it relies on "much simpler technology" than a healthcare facility does.
In addition, the op-ed compared 23andMe's breast cancer screen to "proofreading a document by looking at only a handful of letters," as the test only looks at parts of the genome where mutations are known to occur.
"[23andMe's tests] look for only a handful of errors that may or may not elevate your risk of developing the disease in question. And they don't factor into their final analysis other information, like family history. (Not everyone with a given mutation will go on to develop the disease). So the results will not tell you much about your actual health risks," the editorial board wrote in the Feb. 1 opinion piece.
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/nyt-editorial-board-warns-about-23andme-dna-tests-23andme-responds.html
Yes it definitely is! And in case you’re wondering, some disturbing facts about 23 and Me and similar DNA testing companies have recently been coming up. And they are very shocking, especially about the concentration of where your DNA is going. Right now, 4 companies control the DNA of 26 million people, and yes, you read that right.
Four companies now have DNA information on more than 26 million people.
That’s roughly the combined population of New York State (nearly 20 million), Connecticut (3.5 million) and Chicago (2.7 million).
According to MIT Technology Review , the number of people who submitted their most personal genetic details to companies including 23andme and Ancestry.com doubled in 2018. At that rate, 100 million people will have provided information about their DNA make-up to private companies by the end of 2020.
Testing kits like AncestryDNA can be purchased on Amazon.com for $69 and are simple to use. Customers simply rub a cotton swab inside their mouth, seal it in a package included in the kit, mail it to a lab, and wait up to a month to find out their ethnic makeup.
While many people enjoy learning about their heritage, critics argue such that DNA information might allow insurance companies to discriminate against people predisposed to certain ailments.
https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/ny-news-dna-ancestry-23andme-kits-insurance-20190212-story.html
That’s roughly the combined population of New York State (nearly 20 million), Connecticut (3.5 million) and Chicago (2.7 million).
According to MIT Technology Review , the number of people who submitted their most personal genetic details to companies including 23andme and Ancestry.com doubled in 2018. At that rate, 100 million people will have provided information about their DNA make-up to private companies by the end of 2020.
Testing kits like AncestryDNA can be purchased on Amazon.com for $69 and are simple to use. Customers simply rub a cotton swab inside their mouth, seal it in a package included in the kit, mail it to a lab, and wait up to a month to find out their ethnic makeup.
While many people enjoy learning about their heritage, critics argue such that DNA information might allow insurance companies to discriminate against people predisposed to certain ailments.
https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/ny-news-dna-ancestry-23andme-kits-insurance-20190212-story.html
Except it’s not dino DNA. It’s human DNA, sir. And by the way if you think that DNA testing screw ups are limited to just the US, you are wrong. In fact it’s a world wide problem that affects just about everyone who ponies up the $199 for the 23 & Me kit. Yes, the home DNA testing kits cost $200, and for that amount of money they had better get something right!
Mail-order genetic testing kits, which are all the rage right now, have been put through their paces by identical twins, and the results are a little baffling.
These test kits collect your DNA, typically by you spitting into a tube, and then you have to send the package back to the manufacturers for analysis. The results are shared electronically when ready.
To check out the accuracy of these test kits, Charlsie Agro – who fronts Canadian telly watchdog show Marketplace – and her identical twin sister Carly used them to submit their DNA to five separate consumer-grade genetic-testing outfits, and compared their results.
And their results were surprisingly varied. For one thing, the tests couldn't agree on where exactly their ancestors actually physically came from. Test kit supplier 23andMe reckoned the twins are about 40 per cent Italian, and 25 per cent Eastern European; AncestryDNA said they are about 40 per cent Russia or Eastern European, and 30 per cent Italian; and MyHeritageDNA concluded are about 60 per cent Balkan, and 20 per cent Greek.
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/01/18/dna_twins_gene_tests/
These test kits collect your DNA, typically by you spitting into a tube, and then you have to send the package back to the manufacturers for analysis. The results are shared electronically when ready.
To check out the accuracy of these test kits, Charlsie Agro – who fronts Canadian telly watchdog show Marketplace – and her identical twin sister Carly used them to submit their DNA to five separate consumer-grade genetic-testing outfits, and compared their results.
And their results were surprisingly varied. For one thing, the tests couldn't agree on where exactly their ancestors actually physically came from. Test kit supplier 23andMe reckoned the twins are about 40 per cent Italian, and 25 per cent Eastern European; AncestryDNA said they are about 40 per cent Russia or Eastern European, and 30 per cent Italian; and MyHeritageDNA concluded are about 60 per cent Balkan, and 20 per cent Greek.
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/01/18/dna_twins_gene_tests/
Except there’s no chaos theory here, at least not yet. There’s plenty of reasons why you should do a 23 & Me test but there’s also plenty of reasons why you shouldn’t. The fact that 26 million people have their DNA data in the hands of 4 companies is enough. But this also might shock you.
Last month, the DNA-testing company 23andMe secured Food and Drug Administration approval for a new screening for gene-based health risks. Along with celiac disease, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, breast cancer and several other medical conditions, the company can now screen clients for two mutations that have been linked to colorectal cancer.
But “F.D.A.-approved” does not necessarily mean “clinically useful.” 23andMe relies on much simpler technology than tests that you’d get at your doctor’s office. As a result, the company’s tests cannot tell you much about your actual risk of developing the diseases in question.
Here’s how those tests work — and why you should interpret them with caution.
They read your gene.
You can think of your genes as long text documents. The words are your genetic code. Genetic mutations are like typos — imperfections that scientists can spot with some scrutiny.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/02/01/opinion/23andme-cancer-dna-test-brca.html
But “F.D.A.-approved” does not necessarily mean “clinically useful.” 23andMe relies on much simpler technology than tests that you’d get at your doctor’s office. As a result, the company’s tests cannot tell you much about your actual risk of developing the diseases in question.
Here’s how those tests work — and why you should interpret them with caution.
They read your gene.
You can think of your genes as long text documents. The words are your genetic code. Genetic mutations are like typos — imperfections that scientists can spot with some scrutiny.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/02/01/opinion/23andme-cancer-dna-test-brca.html
That’s it this week 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! 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! You know… do we really need *MORE* religion in our lives? Now I ask this of you *AS* an ordained minister in my own church! Because it used to be religion was only confined to the churches. And that was before 1980. Now the Christian church has become a 24/7 lifestyle brand. They sell you the music, they sell you the movies, and they’re selling you education. Yes, education is now becoming a product of the ultra far right wing churches. And now they want to take it mainstream. Yes, with the help of the Dark One, whose name shall not be spoken in my church, they might just get their wish, and they will make you take Bible classes whether you want it or not!
With the government shutdown on the back burner, President Donald Trump has taken up another interest: Bible study.
“Numerous states introducing Bible Literacy classes, giving students the option of studying the Bible,” Trump said in a Monday morning tweet, asserting, “Starting to make a turn back? Great!”
The social media assertion was made 30 minutes after Fox & Friends played a related segment, Politico reported, then noting that Trump’s tweet was “not quite accurate.”
Although lawmakers have begun introducing various “Bible literacy” bills across the country, which would encourage or require public school students study the Old and New Testament, as has been documented in a USA Today report published last week, none of the bills have actually passed.
While the bills have been supported by some Christian groups, USA Today reports that other civil rights organizations argue that such a mandate would violate the Constitution’s separation of church and state.
http://fortune.com/2019/01/28/trump-blesses-teaching-bible-literacy-classes-in-public-schools-as-great/
“Numerous states introducing Bible Literacy classes, giving students the option of studying the Bible,” Trump said in a Monday morning tweet, asserting, “Starting to make a turn back? Great!”
The social media assertion was made 30 minutes after Fox & Friends played a related segment, Politico reported, then noting that Trump’s tweet was “not quite accurate.”
Although lawmakers have begun introducing various “Bible literacy” bills across the country, which would encourage or require public school students study the Old and New Testament, as has been documented in a USA Today report published last week, none of the bills have actually passed.
While the bills have been supported by some Christian groups, USA Today reports that other civil rights organizations argue that such a mandate would violate the Constitution’s separation of church and state.
http://fortune.com/2019/01/28/trump-blesses-teaching-bible-literacy-classes-in-public-schools-as-great/
Yes, this is so rich! The guy who is the ungodliest, most holy DAYMON in the room somehow wants to be more godly than the next guy. But he won’t! In fact if you look at your Good Book, JAYSUS said that the Dark One shall pose as a creature of light. But is there any coincidence to what he’s trying to do? Well, that news could be related to this!
President Donald Trump gave Bible literacy legislation a shout-out on Monday with a tweet praising states that are “starting to make a turn back” to an unspecified time when public schools apparently relished in Bible study.
As The Washington Post’s Mark Chancy noted, there was no such time in American history.
And as Trump’s former pastor noted, in any case, the president can’t exactly speak with much authority on the subject.
Pastor David Lewicki responded to Trump’s tweet on Tuesday morning, explaining how he served as a pastor at New York City’s Marble Collegiate Church for about five years in the mid-aughts.
Despite being on the member rolls, Trump never showed. Not to Bible study ― and not even to a service, according to Lewicki.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/former-marble-collegiate-pastor-says-he-never-saw-trump-at-church_us_5c51f51ee4b04f8645c728a8
As The Washington Post’s Mark Chancy noted, there was no such time in American history.
And as Trump’s former pastor noted, in any case, the president can’t exactly speak with much authority on the subject.
Pastor David Lewicki responded to Trump’s tweet on Tuesday morning, explaining how he served as a pastor at New York City’s Marble Collegiate Church for about five years in the mid-aughts.
Despite being on the member rolls, Trump never showed. Not to Bible study ― and not even to a service, according to Lewicki.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/former-marble-collegiate-pastor-says-he-never-saw-trump-at-church_us_5c51f51ee4b04f8645c728a8
He just can’t stop lying. And if I remember from the Good Book, LYING IS A SIN!!!! It is one of the most egregious of SINS!!!! And the Dark One can’t help himself in not telling the Truth! For JAYSUS himself even said “I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life!!!”. And the Dark One should realize that he ain’t the truth! In fact, he can’t handle it!
The Supreme Court barred devotional Bible reading and recitations of the Lord’s Prayer in public schools in 1963. But the ruling also said courses about the Bible were permissible, so long as they were “presented objectively as part of a secular program of education.”
Evangelical Christians promptly began a full-court press for Bible classes, which were hardly objective or secular. As I noted in my 2002 book, "Whose America?: Culture Wars in the Public Schools," a Florida teacher of “Bible history” said his class had helped recruit more than 100 new members into an after-school “Youth for Christ” course. And in South Carolina, a graduate of her own school’s “Bible survey” said the course had persuaded her to become a missionary. “I want everybody to have what I have,” she told her teacher, “And I’d like to spend my life sharing it with them.”
Both of these accounts appeared in the evangelical press, which didn’t disguise the purpose of the Bible classes: to spread the Christian Gospel. And that seems to be the same goal behind a recent round of state legislative proposals to enhance "Bible literacy" in our public schools.
As reported last month in USA TODAY, lawmakers in at least six states have introduced measures that would require or encourage elective classes about the Bible. Unlike their forerunners a half-century ago, who were explicit about their evangelical aims, supporters of the new bills insist that the classes seek only to inform people about a central text in American and world history.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/02/08/christian-gospel-public-school-bible-studies-classes-column/2805502002/
Evangelical Christians promptly began a full-court press for Bible classes, which were hardly objective or secular. As I noted in my 2002 book, "Whose America?: Culture Wars in the Public Schools," a Florida teacher of “Bible history” said his class had helped recruit more than 100 new members into an after-school “Youth for Christ” course. And in South Carolina, a graduate of her own school’s “Bible survey” said the course had persuaded her to become a missionary. “I want everybody to have what I have,” she told her teacher, “And I’d like to spend my life sharing it with them.”
Both of these accounts appeared in the evangelical press, which didn’t disguise the purpose of the Bible classes: to spread the Christian Gospel. And that seems to be the same goal behind a recent round of state legislative proposals to enhance "Bible literacy" in our public schools.
As reported last month in USA TODAY, lawmakers in at least six states have introduced measures that would require or encourage elective classes about the Bible. Unlike their forerunners a half-century ago, who were explicit about their evangelical aims, supporters of the new bills insist that the classes seek only to inform people about a central text in American and world history.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/02/08/christian-gospel-public-school-bible-studies-classes-column/2805502002/
Yes, even JAYSUS thinks this is ridiculous oh Dark One! And is anyone surprised that he gets it wrong? I mean if you are, you’re in the wrong church! Can I get an amen??? And if you need any further proof that he can’t get anything right, well, let’s take a look at what he said at last week’s National Prayer Breakfast, for once again we were not invited!!!
With his opening words at this year's National Prayer Breakfast, President Trump made clear he saw the largely conservative crowd as a friendly audience, one he was eager to please.
"I will never let you down," he said. "I can say that. Never."
In his first appearance at the event in 2017, Trump promised to get rid of the Johnson Amendment, a cause popular among those Christians who resent the law's restriction of political speech by pastors. The law is still on the books, and Trump did not repeat the promise this year.
He devoted much of his speech instead to other issues important to conservative Christians, from religious liberty to abortion. He praised Vice President Pence's wife, Karen, for teaching at a conservative Christian school that requires its staff to declare a belief in marriage as "the uniting of one man and one woman," and he pledged support for a government-funded Catholic adoption agency in Michigan.
https://www.npr.org/2019/02/07/692491459/at-national-prayer-breakfast-trump-pledges-i-will-never-let-you-down
"I will never let you down," he said. "I can say that. Never."
In his first appearance at the event in 2017, Trump promised to get rid of the Johnson Amendment, a cause popular among those Christians who resent the law's restriction of political speech by pastors. The law is still on the books, and Trump did not repeat the promise this year.
He devoted much of his speech instead to other issues important to conservative Christians, from religious liberty to abortion. He praised Vice President Pence's wife, Karen, for teaching at a conservative Christian school that requires its staff to declare a belief in marriage as "the uniting of one man and one woman," and he pledged support for a government-funded Catholic adoption agency in Michigan.
https://www.npr.org/2019/02/07/692491459/at-national-prayer-breakfast-trump-pledges-i-will-never-let-you-down
Did… did he just Rick Roll us? I’m never gonna give you up, I’m never gonna let you down. I’m never gonna run around and desert you. Mass has ended, may you go in peace!! That’s it this week for:
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[font size="8"]NO!
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Happy Valentine’s Day everybody! And you know with the entire country and world taking notice of the victims of sexual assault in the post #MeToo era, what the fuck was Delta Airlines thinking? Yeah we don’t need this right now. I mean yeah you can talk all you want about how Virgin America had that in seat entertainment system where you could buy anyone a drink and that was creepy enough. But do we really need this?
Delta Airlines and Coca-Cola wanted to make the dream of falling in love on a plane a reality. But their approach did not have the intended effect.
As part of Delta’s brand partnership with Coke, the airline handed out promotional in-flight napkins that encouraged passengers to give their number to others on the plane.
On one side of the napkin it read, “Because you’re on a plane with interesting people and hey…you never know.” The other side had space to write down a name and phone number, with the additional text, “Be a little old school. Write down your number and give it to your plane crush. You never know…”
Delta passengers apparently did not take kindly to the approach, and dozens wrote to the brands on social media, calling the stunt “creepy.”
http://fortune.com/2019/02/07/delta-diet-coke-napkins-number/
As part of Delta’s brand partnership with Coke, the airline handed out promotional in-flight napkins that encouraged passengers to give their number to others on the plane.
On one side of the napkin it read, “Because you’re on a plane with interesting people and hey…you never know.” The other side had space to write down a name and phone number, with the additional text, “Be a little old school. Write down your number and give it to your plane crush. You never know…”
Delta passengers apparently did not take kindly to the approach, and dozens wrote to the brands on social media, calling the stunt “creepy.”
http://fortune.com/2019/02/07/delta-diet-coke-napkins-number/
NO!!!!! The airplane is the last place where I’d expect people passing around creepy pick up notes like this! It’s like being on an elevator. You don’t make friends with random strangers on an elevator, you shut the fuck up, stare at the door until you arrive at your destination! Look guys, there’s a fine line between clever and creepy and this definitely crossed that line.
Maybe Delta should stick to flying planes instead of playing matchmaker.
After handing out Coca-Cola napkins suggesting passengers give their name and number to their "plane crush," both companies are apologizing.
It started with 33 words on napkins advertising Diet Coke:
"because you're on a plane of full of interesting people and hey ... you never know," the front teases.
The back nudges further, emitting a shocking amount of peer pressure from a paper square:
"be a little old school. write down your number & give it to your plane crush. you never know ..."
Some passengers, like Terry Pendergist, thought the napkins were "Pretty funny."
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/07/business/delta-coke-flirtatious-napkins-trnd/index.html
After handing out Coca-Cola napkins suggesting passengers give their name and number to their "plane crush," both companies are apologizing.
It started with 33 words on napkins advertising Diet Coke:
"because you're on a plane of full of interesting people and hey ... you never know," the front teases.
The back nudges further, emitting a shocking amount of peer pressure from a paper square:
"be a little old school. write down your number & give it to your plane crush. you never know ..."
Some passengers, like Terry Pendergist, thought the napkins were "Pretty funny."
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/07/business/delta-coke-flirtatious-napkins-trnd/index.html
Yes get a hold of yourself!!! And by the way if you want to be even more grossed out, Twitter’s worst comedian, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, somehow managed to make it even creepier!
Link to tweet
EW!!!!!!!!!!!!! EW EW EW EW EW!!!!! Wait a minute… EW!!I can guarantee that no one wanted to sign up for your daily newsletter, Mike! And you know here’s the thing, it started out like they were thinking it was going to be a good idea, you know, like having a shady billionaire real estate broker with ties to the New York mafia run for president, and well, just like that, it backfired! Big time!
With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, some would say this is kinda sweet and a little bit funny. But, as expected, there are some who find the notion behind the napkins just plain creepy.
This latest faux pas comes just days after Delta were accused of discrimination by a deaf couple travelling on the airline.
‘Creepy AF’
Although not many passengers were that keen to hand out their numbers (probably none at all), many failed to see the funny side of the promotion.
A torrent of complaints have rained down on social, with users branding them ‘creepy A
https://simpleflying.com/deltas-coke-napkin-sponsorship-backfires-leaving-some-passengers-creeped-out/
This latest faux pas comes just days after Delta were accused of discrimination by a deaf couple travelling on the airline.
‘Creepy AF’
Although not many passengers were that keen to hand out their numbers (probably none at all), many failed to see the funny side of the promotion.
A torrent of complaints have rained down on social, with users branding them ‘creepy A
https://simpleflying.com/deltas-coke-napkin-sponsorship-backfires-leaving-some-passengers-creeped-out/
And if things couldn’t possibly be even creepier do we really need your airline playing match maker for you? I mean here’s the thing – falling in love in 2019 is a bit trickier than it was in 1970 when it was much easier to get away with this kind of thing. And sure, going “old school” may seem like a good idea at the time, but really. And in the words of the great Jerry Seinfeld – “Who are the ad wizards who came up with this one?”
Falling in love on an airplane is the kind of story you only ever hear in a bar or see in a Lifetime movie. But for a brief time this winter, Delta Air Lines wanted to help passengers make it a reality - by gently nudging them to hit on other passengers.
With cocktail napkins.
"Be a little old school," said the small print on the napkin, advertising Diet Coke. "Write down your number & give it to your plane crush. You never know ..."
There was a little space on the napkin where flirtatious passengers could write down their name and another space for their number. The larger print said, "because you're on a plane full of interesting people and hey," again, "... you never know."
But while some found the napkins clever and charming, others thought they were creepy. In fact, evidently enough complained that Delta and Coca-Cola apologized for the marketing stunt Wednesday, saying the napkins have since been removed from flights.
https://www.nola.com/news/2019/02/delta-apologizes-for-creepy-napkins-urging-passengers-to-slip-phone-number-to-their-plane-crush.html
With cocktail napkins.
"Be a little old school," said the small print on the napkin, advertising Diet Coke. "Write down your number & give it to your plane crush. You never know ..."
There was a little space on the napkin where flirtatious passengers could write down their name and another space for their number. The larger print said, "because you're on a plane full of interesting people and hey," again, "... you never know."
But while some found the napkins clever and charming, others thought they were creepy. In fact, evidently enough complained that Delta and Coca-Cola apologized for the marketing stunt Wednesday, saying the napkins have since been removed from flights.
https://www.nola.com/news/2019/02/delta-apologizes-for-creepy-napkins-urging-passengers-to-slip-phone-number-to-their-plane-crush.html
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[font size="8"]Is It Racist???
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Hey everyone! It’s time to play the hot new game that’s sweeping the nation:
Yeah probably! You know… you know when you have racists in power, you’re going to get a lot of people asking whether or not something is racist. Now that we’re tackling real life racists, we’re also going after fictional ones. As evidenced by the fight with the Simpsons over the fate of Apu. But there’ another character in the news this week that’s making the rounds for a completely bizarre reason. And yes, this story is so insane that Snopes had to fact check it to prove that it was real. So is beloved Disney character Mary Poppins a racist? Was it soot or was it blackface? Well this is where we’re letting you be the judge!
Professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner accuses the much-loved movie dame of “blacking up” when her face is already covered with soot as she dances alongside Dick Van Dyke.
The iconic scene — accompanied to the tune of Step In Time — is one of the best-loved moments in the 1964 Oscar-winning classic, The Sun reports.
However, writing in the New York Times under the headline ‘Mary Poppins, and a Nanny’s Shameful Flirting With Blackface’ the professor reveals he is not a fan.
He writes: “Her face gets covered with soot, but instead of wiping it off, she gamely powders her nose and cheeks and gets even blacker.”
The English and gender studies professor at Oregon’s Linfield College also refers to passages in P.L. Travers’ original books that he believes are clearly racist.
He singles out a line where a housemaid says: “Don’t touch me, you black heathen,” to a chimney sweep.
And he argues when Admiral Boom shouts orders to fire on the chimney sweeps by yelling: “We’re being attacked by Hottentots!” it is also racist.
“The 1964 film replays this racial panic in a farcical key,” he writes.
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/disney-classic-mary-poppins-has-been-accused-of-racism/news-story/43c503309d87b752932dc8a1a54a4722
The iconic scene — accompanied to the tune of Step In Time — is one of the best-loved moments in the 1964 Oscar-winning classic, The Sun reports.
However, writing in the New York Times under the headline ‘Mary Poppins, and a Nanny’s Shameful Flirting With Blackface’ the professor reveals he is not a fan.
He writes: “Her face gets covered with soot, but instead of wiping it off, she gamely powders her nose and cheeks and gets even blacker.”
The English and gender studies professor at Oregon’s Linfield College also refers to passages in P.L. Travers’ original books that he believes are clearly racist.
He singles out a line where a housemaid says: “Don’t touch me, you black heathen,” to a chimney sweep.
And he argues when Admiral Boom shouts orders to fire on the chimney sweeps by yelling: “We’re being attacked by Hottentots!” it is also racist.
“The 1964 film replays this racial panic in a farcical key,” he writes.
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/disney-classic-mary-poppins-has-been-accused-of-racism/news-story/43c503309d87b752932dc8a1a54a4722
You know what? We’re going to forgo our usual meme here and show you the clip:
Oh come on!!!! It’s just dust! It’s not blackface. I think they’re reading too much into the situation, although that’s what we do here so.. really. Yeah this is where we are at in 2019. What? You saw the video from the intro or the segments we’ve done about Gov. Northam – just don’t do blackface! I mean it’s that simple!!! I mean really is it that hard? But what is this guy’s beef with the scene anyways?
An American academic has criticised Mary Poppins for projecting racial stereotypes, saying Dame Julie Andrews’s character wears “blackface” during one scene.
Writing for The New York Times, Professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner – a gender studies professor at Linfield College, Oregon – sharply criticises the scene where Mary Poppins joins Dick Van Dyke’s chimneysweep Bert to dance on a rooftop. The pair both get covered in soot as the dance number “Step in Time” is performed.
Pollack-Pelzner says that, while the scene may be comic, the author of the Mary Poppins books, PL Travers, often associated chimney sweeps’ blackened faces with racial caricatures.
He points to one scene in Mary Poppins Opens the Door in which a sweep reaches out to a woman with his darkened hand, to which she replies: “Don’t touch me, you black heathen.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/mary-poppins-racist-blackface-soot-controversy-dick-van-dyke-julie-andrews-disney-a8760771.html
Writing for The New York Times, Professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner – a gender studies professor at Linfield College, Oregon – sharply criticises the scene where Mary Poppins joins Dick Van Dyke’s chimneysweep Bert to dance on a rooftop. The pair both get covered in soot as the dance number “Step in Time” is performed.
Pollack-Pelzner says that, while the scene may be comic, the author of the Mary Poppins books, PL Travers, often associated chimney sweeps’ blackened faces with racial caricatures.
He points to one scene in Mary Poppins Opens the Door in which a sweep reaches out to a woman with his darkened hand, to which she replies: “Don’t touch me, you black heathen.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/mary-poppins-racist-blackface-soot-controversy-dick-van-dyke-julie-andrews-disney-a8760771.html
How does that guy play into it? Oh yeah that was making fun of method actors who take things way too far. And while the Gov. Northam scandal is going on, let’s not look past the fact that this movie was filmed in 1963, and that sort of thing wasn’t even thought about. I mean let’s extrapolate that for a minute – does this mean that anyone who comes into contact with a chimney now is wearing blackface? No? Well you might be focusing on the wrong thing then!
First of all, an admission. I've never seen Mary Poppins all the way through. While I know the chorus of Supercalifragilistic-et cetera off by heart – albeit not intentionally – jaunty chimney-sweeps and gaudy nannies just aren't my thing.
(My son, however, has seen Mary Poppins multiple times – apparently never when I've been in the same room.)
But now, an article written by Daniel Pollack-Pelzner in the New York Times has caused a stir by claiming that Mary Poppins is – pause here for a sharp intake of breath – racist.
Oh yes, indeed. Specifically, the professor draws attention to the books on which the film is based, featuring as they do occasional casual racist references that were wholly unexceptional in the mid-20th century. He also highlights visual parallels between the British sub-tradition of music-hall cheeky chappie chimney sweeps and the American tradition of blackface minstrelsy which, he claims, are subtly conflated in Disney's film.
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/mary-poppins-blackface-racist-disney-daniel-pollack-pelzner-a8762546.html
(My son, however, has seen Mary Poppins multiple times – apparently never when I've been in the same room.)
But now, an article written by Daniel Pollack-Pelzner in the New York Times has caused a stir by claiming that Mary Poppins is – pause here for a sharp intake of breath – racist.
Oh yes, indeed. Specifically, the professor draws attention to the books on which the film is based, featuring as they do occasional casual racist references that were wholly unexceptional in the mid-20th century. He also highlights visual parallels between the British sub-tradition of music-hall cheeky chappie chimney sweeps and the American tradition of blackface minstrelsy which, he claims, are subtly conflated in Disney's film.
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/mary-poppins-blackface-racist-disney-daniel-pollack-pelzner-a8762546.html
Whoa, whoa, whoa… the original books that Mary Poppins was based on were racist? I did not know this! And we may have to do a deep dive in a future edition. But my favorite thing is the Twittersphere, and you can always count on them to shoot a ridiculous opinion like this down!
A U.S. professor is deeming the classic 1964 film "Mary Poppins" racist, accusing Julie Andrews of "blacking up" her face with soot while dancing with chimney sweeps.
In a New York Times op-ed called "'Mary Poppins,' and a Nanny’s Shameful Flirting With Blackface," Professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner slammed the iconic dance scene where Poppins joins Dick Van Dyke's Bert on a rooftop for the song "Step In Time."
"When the magical nanny … accompanies her young charges, Michael and Jane Banks, up their chimney, her face gets covered in soot, but instead of wiping it off, she gamely powders her nose and cheeks even blacker," Pollack-Pelzner wrote.
The Linfield College literature professor linked the scene to racism in P.L. Travers' novels, which he claims "associate chimney sweeps’ blackened faces with racial caricatures."
Pollack-Pelzner also took aim at naval officer Admiral Boom, who ordered his cannons fired at the "cheeky devils" on the roof after mistaking the dark figures of the chimney sweeps for "Hottentots," a racial slur.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2019/02/04/professor-accuses-mary-poppins-blackface-twitter-isnt-having/2773748002/
In a New York Times op-ed called "'Mary Poppins,' and a Nanny’s Shameful Flirting With Blackface," Professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner slammed the iconic dance scene where Poppins joins Dick Van Dyke's Bert on a rooftop for the song "Step In Time."
"When the magical nanny … accompanies her young charges, Michael and Jane Banks, up their chimney, her face gets covered in soot, but instead of wiping it off, she gamely powders her nose and cheeks even blacker," Pollack-Pelzner wrote.
The Linfield College literature professor linked the scene to racism in P.L. Travers' novels, which he claims "associate chimney sweeps’ blackened faces with racial caricatures."
Pollack-Pelzner also took aim at naval officer Admiral Boom, who ordered his cannons fired at the "cheeky devils" on the roof after mistaking the dark figures of the chimney sweeps for "Hottentots," a racial slur.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2019/02/04/professor-accuses-mary-poppins-blackface-twitter-isnt-having/2773748002/
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[font size="8"]I Need A Drink
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Hey its’ the day before Valentines Day and I really need a drink!
So you know the idea behind this segment is that we cocktail and while we’re cocktailing we talk about literally anything in the news that doesn’t directly relate to politics, because there’s a lot of dark shit out there. Tell me bartender, what goes well with a pot of boiling hot water? More boiling hot water? What are you trying to do, kill me? Ah, I will just have my usual Jack Daniels mixed with even more Jack Daniels. Really people enough with the challenges! We had the cinnamon challenge, then the milk chug challenge, then the Tide Pod challenge. Now we have the boiling water challenge! During the polar vortex people were experimenting what happens when you mix boiling hot water with below freezing temperatures. Sure, it starts out innocently enough!
Folks across the country proved this week that subzero temperatures aren't an excuse to just sit inside and sulk.
Add a little boiling water to the outdoor elements and you've got yourself a fun, at-home science experiment.
Dubbed the boiling water challenge, it involves taking a mug or saucepan of boiling water outside and quickly throwing it into the air to watch it instantly transform into snow.
Kids of all ages are having a good time with this one while the weather permits. From cool slow-motion and Boomerang videos displaying their homemade snow, to adding food dye to the water to put on a magical show, people are having fun and being creative with this challenge.
If you're going to try it, just make sure you're doing it safely, away from others.
https://www.wlwt.com/article/subzero-temperatures-lead-to-boiling-water-challenge/26102170
Add a little boiling water to the outdoor elements and you've got yourself a fun, at-home science experiment.
Dubbed the boiling water challenge, it involves taking a mug or saucepan of boiling water outside and quickly throwing it into the air to watch it instantly transform into snow.
Kids of all ages are having a good time with this one while the weather permits. From cool slow-motion and Boomerang videos displaying their homemade snow, to adding food dye to the water to put on a magical show, people are having fun and being creative with this challenge.
If you're going to try it, just make sure you're doing it safely, away from others.
https://www.wlwt.com/article/subzero-temperatures-lead-to-boiling-water-challenge/26102170
Read that last sentence very carefully.Do it safely away from others!!! Because when you’re experimenting with boiling hot water, certain precautions should be taken. Just ask any chemist – they will tell you that. And boiling hot water is not a plaything, people!! When you throw it mindlessly in the air, well, this happens!
It's one of the weirdest, most magical-seeming tricks there is: the ability to instantly transform hot, boiling water into an icy mist in the blink of an eye.
This bizarre demonstration of what's called the Mpemba effect might seem like sorcery, but just because you can impressively fling hot, scalding water into the sky above your head doesn't mean you should. In fact, you absolutely, positively shouldn't.
Unfortunately, in the midst of abnormally freezing temperatures in the US resulting from a certain polar vortex anomaly, lots of people are making use of the stunning, cold conditions to take part in a viral 'Boiling Water Challenge': hurling dangerously hot water into the wintry air around them to see what happens.
What happens, lots of the time, is these people get seriously burned when that scalding water lands on their skin – with one hospital outside Chicago announcing it had to treat numerous patients who ill-advisedly attempted the stunt last week.
https://www.sciencealert.com/dangerous-viral-boiling-water-challenge-is-sending-people-to-hospital-doctors-warn
This bizarre demonstration of what's called the Mpemba effect might seem like sorcery, but just because you can impressively fling hot, scalding water into the sky above your head doesn't mean you should. In fact, you absolutely, positively shouldn't.
Unfortunately, in the midst of abnormally freezing temperatures in the US resulting from a certain polar vortex anomaly, lots of people are making use of the stunning, cold conditions to take part in a viral 'Boiling Water Challenge': hurling dangerously hot water into the wintry air around them to see what happens.
What happens, lots of the time, is these people get seriously burned when that scalding water lands on their skin – with one hospital outside Chicago announcing it had to treat numerous patients who ill-advisedly attempted the stunt last week.
https://www.sciencealert.com/dangerous-viral-boiling-water-challenge-is-sending-people-to-hospital-doctors-warn
Yeah so maybe… don’t do this. If you throw boiling hot water into the air and it’s windy outside, you know the wind can carry that water right back to you. It’s physics. Sure, it can turn out beautiful if done properly, but we know the internet. And there’s more fails than those that are done properly. Stop it people, just stop it. Or keep doing what you’re doing.
"Throwing caution to the wind" is a well-known idiom. Throwing boiling hot water to the wind is idiotic.
Nevertheless, the polar vortex has prompted a number of people to do both at the same time. The polar vortex is not polar bears in a washing machine but a meteorological phenomenon. Basically, the vortex has been an expanding low pressure area around the North Pole that has pushed cold air southward to cover much of the U.S. with frigid temperatures last week. For example, temperatures in Chicago fell to 21 degrees below Fahrenheit. Temperatures in Minnesota dropped to "holy hannah" levels. This deep freeze also seemed to lead to some brain freeze and the new "boiling water challenge," not to be confused with the "hot water challenge" which involves dumping boiling hot water on someone as a prank.
You have to figure that connecting the words "boiling water" and social media challenge can't be good. In this case, people are taking pots or cups of boiling water and launching the water into the cold, cold air. The result can be a spectacular frosty mist. But as Tinder will teach you, just because something looks good doesn't mean that it is safe. There are three problems with throwing boiling water into the air: wind, gravity, and, oh, the boiling hot water. As this CBS Chicago news segment shows, this boiling water challenge has landed at least 8 people in the emergency room at the Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2019/02/08/how-the-boiling-water-challenge-can-land-you-in-the-hospital/#723bcdaa488a
Nevertheless, the polar vortex has prompted a number of people to do both at the same time. The polar vortex is not polar bears in a washing machine but a meteorological phenomenon. Basically, the vortex has been an expanding low pressure area around the North Pole that has pushed cold air southward to cover much of the U.S. with frigid temperatures last week. For example, temperatures in Chicago fell to 21 degrees below Fahrenheit. Temperatures in Minnesota dropped to "holy hannah" levels. This deep freeze also seemed to lead to some brain freeze and the new "boiling water challenge," not to be confused with the "hot water challenge" which involves dumping boiling hot water on someone as a prank.
You have to figure that connecting the words "boiling water" and social media challenge can't be good. In this case, people are taking pots or cups of boiling water and launching the water into the cold, cold air. The result can be a spectacular frosty mist. But as Tinder will teach you, just because something looks good doesn't mean that it is safe. There are three problems with throwing boiling water into the air: wind, gravity, and, oh, the boiling hot water. As this CBS Chicago news segment shows, this boiling water challenge has landed at least 8 people in the emergency room at the Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2019/02/08/how-the-boiling-water-challenge-can-land-you-in-the-hospital/#723bcdaa488a
Well I can drink on the job here but you definitely shouldn’t try this at home. And you definitely shouldn’t mix alcohol while doing this. But really nothing good can come of a social media challenge can it? And during the next polar vortex, can we at least learn our lesson from the last one and don’t do this?
It looks cool -- throwing boiling water into the air and watching it instantly freeze in supercold weather -- but don't do it.
The boiling water challenge that has gone viral in the past few weeks as the polar vortex gripped a large part of the United States may be an interesting science experiment, but hospitals say it's also sending people to the emergency room.
Eight people who took part in the challenge have been treated at the burn center of Chicago's Loyola University Medical Center since the deep freeze happened last week, spokeswoman Chris Vicik said.
They had injuries to their "feet, arms, hands, face, and varying degrees of burns, as well," she said.
One person sought treatment at the University of Iowa Burn Treatment Center in Iowa City, spokesman Tom Moore said, and Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis said a "couple" of people were treated there in recent weeks.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/07/us/burns-from-boiling-water-challenge/index.html
The boiling water challenge that has gone viral in the past few weeks as the polar vortex gripped a large part of the United States may be an interesting science experiment, but hospitals say it's also sending people to the emergency room.
Eight people who took part in the challenge have been treated at the burn center of Chicago's Loyola University Medical Center since the deep freeze happened last week, spokeswoman Chris Vicik said.
They had injuries to their "feet, arms, hands, face, and varying degrees of burns, as well," she said.
One person sought treatment at the University of Iowa Burn Treatment Center in Iowa City, spokesman Tom Moore said, and Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis said a "couple" of people were treated there in recent weeks.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/07/us/burns-from-boiling-water-challenge/index.html
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[font size="8"]Deep State Diaries Episode 29: The Department Of Housing & Urban Development
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It’s time for episode 29 of Deep State Diaries. Yes we’re touring the 24 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 Department of Housing & Urban Development[/font]
We’re hanging out in the projects this week as we visit the Department of Housing & Urban Development, or the HUD. So what does the HUD actually do? Well it was started under president Lyndon Johnson in accordance with the National Housing Act proposed and ratified by president Franklin Roosevelt. The HUD’s job is to provide housing assistance for those in need, and to help end homelessness but as we’ve seen time and time again, those assistance programs can be easily abused, and there’s plenty of ways that the uber rich can abuse this program. Just ask the guy who we currently call president. Just take a look at who’s in charge right now.
After saying that the government shutdown delayed her plans, Department of Housing and Urban Development Regional Administrator Lynne Patton is moving into New York City’s public housing for one month. Patton, who once organized events for members of the Trump family (including Eric Trump’s wedding), was appointed by HUD Secretary Ben Carson in 2017 to oversee the country’s largest public housing system despite having zero housing experience.
On Facebook, Patton said she would be living in four different properties with four different families. “I have my own inflatable bed, towel, portable chargers, and will be purchasing all groceries for the family for the duration, so not to generate any undue expenses.”
The move comes on the heels of a historic deal between the New York City Housing Authority and HUD. In the coming weeks, HUD will be selecting a federal monitor who will report directly to HUD but be paid by the city to oversee the ailing public housing system. New York needs a whopping $32 billion in capital repairs to fix the buildings that house more than 400,000 residents. The NYCHA was subjected to a federal investigation after several scandals, including residents living without heat for years and reports that children were exposed to lead paint.
Patton’s first stop on her public housing tour is the Patterson Houses in the South Bronx. Residents and Patton complained that the NYCHA was taking steps to clean up the property simply because of the high-profile visit. “As I anticipated and declared in countless interviews leading up to my move-in,” she wrote on Facebook, “NYCHA is making immediate repairs on the ground (as they do whenever I come to visit one of their properties—lobbies are cleaned, trash is picked up, elevators work, etc).”
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/02/lynne-patton-new-york-city-public-housing-hud-trump-ben-carson/
On Facebook, Patton said she would be living in four different properties with four different families. “I have my own inflatable bed, towel, portable chargers, and will be purchasing all groceries for the family for the duration, so not to generate any undue expenses.”
The move comes on the heels of a historic deal between the New York City Housing Authority and HUD. In the coming weeks, HUD will be selecting a federal monitor who will report directly to HUD but be paid by the city to oversee the ailing public housing system. New York needs a whopping $32 billion in capital repairs to fix the buildings that house more than 400,000 residents. The NYCHA was subjected to a federal investigation after several scandals, including residents living without heat for years and reports that children were exposed to lead paint.
Patton’s first stop on her public housing tour is the Patterson Houses in the South Bronx. Residents and Patton complained that the NYCHA was taking steps to clean up the property simply because of the high-profile visit. “As I anticipated and declared in countless interviews leading up to my move-in,” she wrote on Facebook, “NYCHA is making immediate repairs on the ground (as they do whenever I come to visit one of their properties—lobbies are cleaned, trash is picked up, elevators work, etc).”
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/02/lynne-patton-new-york-city-public-housing-hud-trump-ben-carson/
Yeah BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! That’s right! Trump put the woman in charge who planned Eric’s wedding. And you’re probably asking – wait, Eric is married? What the what??? Yup, but we’ll save that for a different topic. But as you know, the HUD was previously run by Ben Carson. And how did that go?
On Jan. 31, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Ben Carson, the secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, struck a deal that subjected the New York City Housing Authority to federal oversight without any commitment of new federal funding.
“I think that it is not a good agreement for Nycha and for the city,” Mr. Brezenoff, the outgoing Nycha chairman, said in an interview.
Mr. Brezenoff, an ally of Mr. de Blasio who was hailed in April by the mayor as “one of the great public servants in the last generation,” said he believed the deal was unfair.
It was bad for New Yorkers, he said, especially for the more than 400,000 who are living in dilapidated public housing riddled with problems, from leaks to heating issues and vermin. It let the federal government off the hook.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/11/nyregion/brezenoff-nycha-hud.html
“I think that it is not a good agreement for Nycha and for the city,” Mr. Brezenoff, the outgoing Nycha chairman, said in an interview.
Mr. Brezenoff, an ally of Mr. de Blasio who was hailed in April by the mayor as “one of the great public servants in the last generation,” said he believed the deal was unfair.
It was bad for New Yorkers, he said, especially for the more than 400,000 who are living in dilapidated public housing riddled with problems, from leaks to heating issues and vermin. It let the federal government off the hook.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/11/nyregion/brezenoff-nycha-hud.html
Yes, daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn indeed! Of course only Trump is the opposite of King Midas in that everything he touches turns to shit! Although there is something interesting that might be a good social experiment is that Lynne Patton is going to actually live in HUD housing for a month. It will be interesting to see where this goes, and if she will have a different opinion of her boss upon emerging.
An administrator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has moved into a Bronx NYCHA building, prepared to live in public housing for a month to see the ailments for herself.
Lynne Patton arrived at the Paterson Houses Monday with her air mattress, towels and grocery money. She's planning to stay in four different NYCHA buildings across the city for one week each.
"I'm hoping that by being here, at the very least it sends a sense of urgency that not only can changes every day be made, they must be made," she said.
She said that moving in was no political stunt and that she wants to see firsthand what exactly is wrong.
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/HUD-Administrator-Moves-Into-NYCHA-Housing-for-Month-505694781.html
Lynne Patton arrived at the Paterson Houses Monday with her air mattress, towels and grocery money. She's planning to stay in four different NYCHA buildings across the city for one week each.
"I'm hoping that by being here, at the very least it sends a sense of urgency that not only can changes every day be made, they must be made," she said.
She said that moving in was no political stunt and that she wants to see firsthand what exactly is wrong.
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/HUD-Administrator-Moves-Into-NYCHA-Housing-for-Month-505694781.html
So………… this is happening! And I’m sure that Lynne will find absolutely nothing wrong at all with how things are going in inner city housing. I mean you know things are fucked up when you have $85 million allocated for one city and it’s still not enough! Maybe, I don’t know, the rent is too damn high? Yes, shout out to that guy by the way!
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced it was sending more funds to the Sunshine State to help battle homelessness.
U.S. HUD Sec. Ben Carson announced at the end of last week his department was sending an additional $6.7 million to back 47 new programs across the state in addition to the almost $79 million going to 250 other programs in Florida that he announced last month.
“Combined, this funding represents a record investment to support state and local efforts across the nation to reduce and end homelessness,” HUD noted on Friday.
“Today we make another critical investment to those persons and families living in our shelters and on our streets,” Carson said on Friday. “These new programs will join those already on the front lines in their communities working to end homelessness.”
With more than $85 million headed to almost 250 homeless programs in Florida, there are some signs on success.
At the end of last year, HUD noted that communities across Florida reported homelessness declined in 2018.
http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/hud-sending-85-million-florida-fight-homelessness
U.S. HUD Sec. Ben Carson announced at the end of last week his department was sending an additional $6.7 million to back 47 new programs across the state in addition to the almost $79 million going to 250 other programs in Florida that he announced last month.
“Combined, this funding represents a record investment to support state and local efforts across the nation to reduce and end homelessness,” HUD noted on Friday.
“Today we make another critical investment to those persons and families living in our shelters and on our streets,” Carson said on Friday. “These new programs will join those already on the front lines in their communities working to end homelessness.”
With more than $85 million headed to almost 250 homeless programs in Florida, there are some signs on success.
At the end of last year, HUD noted that communities across Florida reported homelessness declined in 2018.
http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/hud-sending-85-million-florida-fight-homelessness
[font size="6"]Score Card [/font]
Overall importance: C-
How Things Are Going: B-
Likely hood To Survive: C
Overall: C-
[font size="6"]Next Week [/font]
Speaking of disasters, next week we’re taking disasters head on in the face of adversary as we visit the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA!
[font size="8"]And Now This:[/font]
[font size="8”]Muse[/font]
Ladies and gentlemen I am extremely excited to have my next guest on, they need no introduction, their latest album is called “Simulation Theory” and you can see them March 11th at the Forum! Playing their song called “Pressure”, give it up for the one, the only Muse!
Thank you Oxnard! Happy Valentine’s Day Everybody! We’re off to Ontario next. Yes, the Top 10 is hanging out in the 909! See you next week!
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