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Top 10 Idiots

(598 posts)
Thu May 13, 2021, 05:02 PM May 2021

Top 10 Conservative Idiots #10-14: The Trouble With Truthers Edition


Top 10 Conservative Idiots #10-14: The Trouble With Truthers Edition

Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! How’s everybody doing? Oh man it’s great to finally have an audience again! Once we get live music back everything will be set! I know we promised that the Wheel Of Corruption is coming back but unfortunately it’s not going to happen this week, but I think we’ll bring it back during season 11. So do we have time for the thing? Of course we do! Look can we talk about celebrities for a minute? Sure? OK! Well hey it’s my show and you’re just her e in the audience. So please explain to me why we suddenly need to care about Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez again? Yeah yeah I know that South Park episode. But really, I thought we’d be past this sort of thing by 2021 but I guess there’s no stopping tabloid journalism. I mean just ask Harry and Meagan. Oh come on, too soon? And I know that I might seem like I’m “not cool” because I don’t care about the sex lives of the stars of movies and TV I watch, but still… fuck this. But you know one thing I know we definitely don’t need to relieve again? The movie Gigli. Because that is still one of the worst movies ever made and it’s one of the reasons why the Razzie Awards exist. Well I’m happy that Ben was able to make time for Ms. Lopez given both of their busy schedules. And that they could make time for each other. That said… there’s always room for J. Lo!!! YAY!!!! Oh man that felt good! OK enough of the intro, we have a lot of idiocy to get to. But first John Oliver is back and he discusses racial discrimination in the form of your hairstyle. This is why I love Last Week Tonight!

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Where do we begin this week? Well the top slot this week is going to Fox News (1). After a Capitol Rioter claims that Fox News had addictive qualities to it, we are going to take a deep look into this subject and he’s probably right! Taking the second slot this week is the GOP (2) and the same people who are railing about “cancel culture” are actively trying to cancel anyone’s notions that slavery was bad, and we all knew that’s where they were heading! Taking the number 3 slot this week is the Former Guy (3). Yes, the Former Guy attempted to get back on Facebook but was denied by Facebook’s oversight committee, and his attempt to get back on Twitter backfired on him big time! In the #4 slot this week is Caitlyn Jenner (4). Now that the CA governor’s recall is heating up, Jenner has been making the talk show rounds and her first interview on Hannity was the stuff of insanity! Hey, that rhymes! In the #5 slot this week is our weekly investigative piece, Top 10 Investigates (5) and this week we have to take a look at an insane story out of England – why was Boris Johnson’s private phone number made public for 15 years before someone caught it? It’s a clusterfuck of epic proportions and there’s way more to this story than you might think! In the number 6 slot this week is our weekly visit to the Holy Church Of The Top 10 in “Holy Shit”, and this week our resident pastor is becoming increasingly alarmed at the far right’s claims about genocide and is going to debunk some of the crazier myths out there! Taking the number 7 slot this week we’ve got a new “How Is This Still A Thing” and this week after Tom Cruise turned in his HFPA awards due to their discrimination policies, we’re going to ask – “The Golden Globes: How Is This Still A Thing?”! In the number 8 slot this week we have a new edition of our segment that attempts to explain the unexplainable, Conspiracy Corner (8) and this week the winner of the Kentucky Derby was caught cheating – and what does the owner of the horse blame it on? Cancel culture! No, dude, it’s you. It’s all you. In the number 9 (NEIN!!!) slot this week we have a new People Are Dumb because of course they are! Finally this week it’s time for Stupidest State 2021! This week it’s Round 2 Week 4 which means it’s time for the Fiscal Irresponsibility Conference Championships! #2 Wyoming is set to take on #3 Nevada in a winner take all quest to go for broke! Enjoy! And as always don’t forget the key!

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[font size="8"]Fox News
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For this entry we decided to do something a bit different. The thing is we’ll probably never hear the end of the Capitol Riots because of how many people were there. But a claim made by a guy who got arrested for participating in the insurrection this week really made us begin thinking about this subject and it’s really not that far off! The claim made by this rioter said that Fox News had addictive qualities and we’re going to explore this subject in detail. But here’s what happened. A man who was arrested at the Capitol Riot claims that he had a serious case of “Fox-itis” and that he watched so much Fox News that he believed everything they said. So how true is it?

Anthony Antonio, who is accused of being part of the 6 January Capitol riot, apologised and claimed part of what inspired him was a steady stream of misinformation coming from conservative TV news and former President Donalf Trump.

His lawyers have previously said he had a case of “Fox-itis” from watching too much Fox News and believed the election was stolen.

"I shouldn’t have been there that day. I shouldn’t have been involved on those Capitol steps," Mr Antonio, 27, told CNN on Monday, telling anchor Chris Cuomo he "got wrapped up in what was being told to me, and what was on TV”.

The network’s hosts and guests made frequent, baseless allegations that the 2020 presidential election wasn’t legitimate throughout election season.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/anthony-antonio-cnn-capitol-riot-b1845847.html




Whoa, that one couldn’t be more perfect for this entry! So yeah it’s a serious problem. I’m sure that everyone in the audience here and those of you who are viewing at home know someone who has Fox News on in every TV in their house and even listens to the Fox News channel on XM while they’re driving around in their car. Now that’s an addiction! Can it be serious? Oh yes! Can it be fatal? Well let’s ask the people involved in the Capitol Insurrection. Or the victims of the Unite The Right rally in 2017 (see: Top 10 #3-10. Or any of the hundreds of other rallies in the last 4 years. But this claim may not be that far off!

A US Capitol riot defendant whose lawyer says he was hooked on Fox News and developed "Foxitis" said Monday evening that he had "believed that America was being robbed of a President" when he participated in the insurrection.

Anthony Antonio, who is charged with five federal crimes related to the riot, told CNN's Chris Cuomo on "Prime Time" that he "got wrapped up in what was being told to me, and what was on TV" and as a result "truly believed that (former President Donald Trump) won the election."

"As of right now, I acknowledge, I know that Joe Biden is our President. That's not a mystery; that's a fact. But, I felt like, maybe I believed that America was being robbed of a president," Antonio said. "And I now know that that was a lie."

The charges against Antonio include violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and destruction of government property. He has not yet entered a plea.

His court proceedings drew considerable attention last week when his lawyer, Joseph Hurley, said Antonio had lost his job at the beginning of the pandemic and for the next six months watched Fox News constantly. Antonio developed what his lawyer called "Foxitis" and "Foxmania," and believed the lies about the 2020 election from Fox News and then Trump.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/10/politics/foxitis-us-capitol-riot-cnntv/index.html?utm_term=link&utm_medium=social&utm_content=2021-05-11T13%3A00%3A07&utm_source=fbCNN




Seriously, we could use the Simpsons making fun of Fox for the duration of this clip, and they rightfully deserve every bit of shit that they get. Especially when the misinformation they peddle 24 hours a day on programs like Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and Jeannie Pirro is dangerous and can have long lasting implications. But it’s unlikely that Mr. Antonio will be able to claim the insanity defense and use Foxitis as his defense. But this is shedding light on something very interesting.

For decades a debilitating disease has been spreading across America. Risk factors include being over 65, Republican and white. Symptoms include unhinged muttering, delusional thinking and an irresistible urge to storm the Capitol. The disease is called “Foxitis” and a lawyer called Joseph Hurley, who is representing alleged US Capitol rioter Anthony Antonio, wants us to believe his client is suffering from it.

Antonio lost his job at the beginning of the pandemic and spent the next six months sitting at home watching Fox, Hurley told a DC court on Thursday. “He became hooked with what I call ‘Foxitis’ or ‘Foxmania’ and … started believing what was being fed to him.” According to Hurley, Fox brainwashed Antonio into believing Trump wanted him to march on Washington as part of a patriotic movement.” Now Antonio is facing five charges over his role in the January riot.

It seems unlikely that Hurley’s inspired defense will get Antonio off the hook. Particularly as a number of alleged Capitol rioters have, in a similar move, already unsuccessfully tried to blame the former president for their actions: a tactic that has become known as the “Trump defense”. (Gotta love rightwingers! While they love to talk about individual responsibility, they seem incapable of taking any themselves.) That said, while it may not end up getting a judge’s seal of approval, “Foxitis” is no joke. Unlike affluenza, another disease-defense dreamed up by a lawyer, Foxitis is something we should all take very seriously indeed.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/08/fox-news-deadly-disease-foxitis-arwa-mahdawi




OMG this is too damn good! And I mean I was worried we wouldn’t have enough material for this entry but it’s definitely proving me wrong! But here’s the thing – the Foxitis defense may not work in real life but it’s almost like you can instantly tell which of your friends and neighbors watches Fox. If you’re at a function and someone starts going off about male athletes posing as female to win competitions, or starts bashing education, it’s a pretty clear what they have on the boob tube!

(CNN)Some criminal defendants will say just about anything to try to evade responsibility for their actions, blaming anyone or anything but themselves for the situation they find themselves in.

A defendant in the January 6 insurrection, Anthony Antonio, made headlines recently when his lawyer claimed that Antonio's significant consumption of the Fox News Channel was responsible for his participation in the siege on the Capitol, resulting in five federal criminal charges against him.

The lawyer called it "Foxitis" and "Foxmania," suggesting that Antonio's steady diet of Fox misinformation in the weeks after the 2020 election convinced him that the election was stolen.

When Antonio recently spoke to CNN's Chris Cuomo about his case, he confirmed that as a result of what he was watching on TV at the time, he believed falsely that the election had been stolen from President Donald Trump.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/11/opinions/capitol-riot-foxitis-defense-rodgers/index.html





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[font size="8"]Matt Gaetz & Marjorie Taylor Greene
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Hey kids! Remember Nazism? Remember those good old fashioned values of extreme hate and racism and corporate greed that fueled the Nazi party’s wildest desires? Well, guess what? They’re making a comeback under the name “Make America Great Again”! And I mean come on, does this base really need to be riled up? They’ve already got 1500 radio stations, 3 24 hour TV networks, and one former president who won’t shut up! You know we’ve all been cooped up at home too long and we’re eager to get back out on the road, but is this a road show we needed? But there is some good news in all of this is that it’s showing the GOP for what it really is, and the future they want is definitely not the future that the rest of us want!

There's a sort of time warp going on at The Villages, the enormous retirement community in Florida.

On streets made up to look like small-town Main Streets, it's maybe an idealized, slickly varnished version of the 1950s — albeit with legions of golf carts.

At a hotel ballroom on Friday night, it was something like 2017.

"I just got to check something; I just want to make sure I'm in the right place. Tell me, who is your president?" Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene yelled to a packed ballroom of mostly maskless supporters.

"Donald Trump!" they yelled in response.

"That's my president, too," she said, to cheers.

Greene, the freshman congresswoman from Georgia, was there with Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz to kick off what they say will be a series of America First rallies.
https://www.npr.org/2021/05/10/995285714/a-look-at-the-gop-from-inside-a-matt-gaetz-marjorie-taylor-greene-rally




You know maybe comparing them to Hitler is going too far. Or is it? you know this is the Trouble With Truthers – they can’t take reality seriously! But what this really is, is not just the ramblings of two batshit crazy people. It’s a raging racist gymnasium owner and an about to be convicted of some really heinous crimes sex offender. But why did they pick The Villages as the place to start this campaign? That seems like a very odd choice but whatever.

Marjorie Taylor Greene will join Matt Gaetz to kick off their “America First Tour” at the retirement community known as The Villages, a major Republican base.

The two controversial Republicans say they are coming together on 7 May to push back against Democrats and call out fellow Republicans who they think did not support former president Donald Trump, such as the 10 House members who voted to impeach him after the Capitol riots.

Mr Gaetz said they will also work against Joe Biden’s border policy with Mexico, “taking on the threat of the Chinese Communist Party” and “ensuring real election integrity”, reported the Washington Examiner.

Florida representative Mr Gaetz is facing federal investigations for an alleged sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and accusations that he violated federal sex trafficking by paying for prostitutes. He has consistently denied the charges.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/marjorie-greene-matt-america-first-b1840029.html




OK… enough with the Hitler comparisons already! But really where are the Basterds when you need them? But seriously this has got to be the worst tour ever. I mean would you want to wear a shirt with the tour dates on the back in public? I know I wouldn’t! And while this may seem like an unlikely duo, I would go as far as to say that Gaetz and Greene are the Tenacious D of Q Anon. Of course that’s an insult to Tenacious D.

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, both controversial GOP members of Congress, are joining forces to head out on a national "America First Tour" together.

Their first stop will be on May 7 at The Villages, a conservative stronghold located in a Florida retirement community.

An hour north of Orlando, the community advertises itself as a "collection of quaint retirement neighborhoods located in the heart of Florida nestled between two beautiful coastlines." Its 115,000 residents are also 98% white and overwhelmingly voted for Trump in 2016.

According to a report by Politico, Gaetz announced the tour in a radio ad, asking for conservatives to join him and Greene at the May 7 event.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/matt-gaetz-marjorie-taylor-greene-032140841.html




Let’s see – I think I know where they’re going with this. 98% white, mostly voted for Former Guy, and they have serious rage issues, but don’t necessarily know why they’re angry, or who they are even angry at. Sounds like the kind of minds that Former Guy attracts! And by the way if you want to see the type of mind they’re attracting, just take a look at who’s speaking at their next engagement. If they come to a city near you, run away!

An "America First" rally with a lineup of conspiracy theorists and election deniers, to be headlined by controversial U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, is now scheduled for the fairgrounds as a public event Saturday morning.

This is an upgrade and change from initial plans announced last week to host Greene as a speaker during a private breakfast at a local restaurant.

Wilke's 14 Bones BBQ was first scheduled to host Greene and the Indian River County Republican Party, but the Vero Beach restaurant announced over the weekend that it was backing out after “threats and concerns with the safety of our employees,” according to a Facebook post by the establishment.

Owner Scot Wilke last week told TCPalm he was open to hosting anyone, regardless of political association, as long as it was not a hate group.
https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/politics/2021/04/20/rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-headlining-america-first-rally-indian-river-county/7292260002/





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[font size="8"]Former Guy
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So for this story, we’ve taken the liberty of replacing all the instances of his name with “Former Guy” because he’s still a loser. Enjoy! Now that we’ve got that off our chest – the guy who inexplicably was president between #44 and #46 recently got his ass handed to him again. And I’m not talking about the ridiculously shady Arizona recount that’s going on. Instead I’m talking about the fact that he’s still banned from social media. And that’s actually a good thing that Facebook did. Because right now he’s still stroking the fires and he’s not even president. It is nice not to pay attention to him isn’t it? But seriously, Facebook, keep him banned! There is literally nothing good that will come of letting him back on social media. Do people not realize he was banned for being a boorish jackass and inciting violelnce? I mean come on!

Facebook was justified in its decision to suspend then-President Former Guy after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the company's Oversight Board said on Wednesday.

That means the company does not have to reinstate Former Guy's access to Facebook and Instagram immediately. But the panel said the company was wrong to impose an indefinite ban and said Facebook has six months to either restore Former Guy's account, make his suspension permanent, or suspend him for a specific period of time.

Facebook indefinitely suspended Former Guy's accounts in January after a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, saying he used his account to "incite violent insurrection." Other social networks also kicked off the then-president, with Twitter going as far as banning Former Guy for good.

"At the time of Mr. Former Guy's posts, there was a clear, immediate risk of harm and his words of support for those involved in the riots legitimized their violent actions," the Oversight Board wrote in the announcement of its decision. "Given the seriousness of the violations and the ongoing risk of violence, Facebook was justified in suspending Mr. Former Guy's accounts."
https://www.npr.org/2021/05/05/987679590/facebook-justified-in-banning-donald-trump-social-medias-oversight-board-rules




That’s right – he’s still banned! Cue the “ha ha” again! Oh man that felt good! Oh here’s where it gets better – Former Guy attempted to get back on social media with a new account that didn’t post anything except posting things that come from his blog where he barfs his brain. And he was found out and banned immediately. To put it in perspective using a meme from his term, his new account lasted 1/10th of a Scaramucci!

Twitter has suspended an account sharing posts from former US president Former Guy's new communications platform.

The account claimed to be tweeting "on behalf" of Mr Former Guy.

A spokesperson for the company said the account, @DJTDesk, violated the ban evasion policy by sharing content "affiliated with a suspended account."

But the BBC found similar accounts still active on the social media platform.

Mr Former Guy was permanently banned from Twitter in January after he voiced support for rioters who stormed the US Capitol.

He launched his own communications platform - titled "From the Desk of Former Guy" - on Tuesday.
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57018148




Banned, canceled it’s the same thing. But, my friends, he’s got a website! Oh yes, he has a website now where he can say anything he wants! Can someone e-mail back in 2008 when I might have cared about such a thing? But think of all the damage he can do with a website! And if his BFF Mike Lindell has anything to do with it, his social media comeback will be an absolute disaster. I can’t wait to talk about that one next week!

Former Guy is back online.

The former president and first lady, Former First Lady, have launched a website to serve their personal offices. The website, 45office.com, comes after Former Guy's ban from social media sites in the aftermath of the January Capitol insurrection.

The site features a lengthy biography for the former president that starts, "Former Guy launched the most extraordinary political movement in history, dethroning political dynasties, defeating the Washington Establishment, and becoming the first true outsider elected as President of the United States."

It also includes more than a dozen pictures of himself, in which he is depicted boarding Air Force One, greeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and, yes, kissing a baby. Other photos are of the president and Former First Lady dancing at the inaugural ball and at black tie dinners in the White House. The website makes no mention of his two impeachment trials. It does reference how "the coronavirus plague arrived from China," and says that Former Guy "acted early and decisively to ban travel from China and Europe, which saved countless lives."
https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/30/media/donald-trump-website-launch/index.html




Oh yeah? Well I’ll start my own social media site with blackjack and hookers! On second thought, forget about the social media site! But hey if you’ve got Stephen Miller as your PR advisor and Mike Lindell as your financier, what could go wrong? But the good news is that now that he’s had his megaphone taken away – Twitter and Facebook – he’s not as powerful anymore. Think of it like Spinal Tap when they went from headlining stadiums to being second billing to puppet shows. And come on, if he disables comments you know he’s up to something shady!

Four months after former President Former Guy was banished from most mainstream social media platforms, he returned to the web last Tuesday with “From the Desk of Former Guy,” essentially a blog for his musings.

A week since the unveiling, social media data suggests things are not going well.

The ex-president’s blog has drawn a considerably smaller audience than his once-powerful social media accounts, according to engagement data compiled with BuzzSumo, a social media analytics company. The data offers a hint that while Former Guy remains a political force, his online footprint is still dependent on returning to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The Desk of Former Guy is limited — users can’t comment or engage with the actual posts beyond sharing them to other platforms, an action few people do, according to the data.

Former Guy’s new blog has attracted a little over 212,000 engagements, defined as backlinks and social interactions — including likes, shares and comments — received across Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Reddit. Before the ban, a single Former Guy tweet was typically liked and retweeted hundreds of thousands of times.
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/trumps-blog-isnt-lighting-internet-rcna890





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[font size="8"]Caitlyn Jenner
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For those of you who don’t live in California, allow me to school you on what happens when a California recall election happens. It brings out some crazy fucking people. And not only that, it brings out clueless people two. And I divide these people into two camps. Crazy people are people like Randy Quaid, who have announced that he’s exploring running for governor – despite that he’s a convicted felon who bailed to Canada after being accused of fraud, got blacklisted from Hollywood, and can’t reenter the state. And then there’s Caitlyn Jenner. Who has positioned herself as an “outsider” looking for “solutions”. Oh dear god. Where have we heard that one before? NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! This can’t be happening! Well yes it can! And her campaign is going swimmingly, especially with former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale at the helm. Oh this is going to be a disaster, my friends. Oh yes, just sit back and grab some popcorn and your favorite beverage of choice!

Republican candidate for California Governor Caitlyn Jenner talked up her private airplane hangar on Wednesday as she took issue with the number of homeless on local streets and set out her vision for the state.

As she criticized the Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom from her hangar near Malibu, Jenner told Fox News host Sean Hannity that a friend of hers with a hangar across the tarmac planned to leave California over its homeless problem.

The Olympic gold medalist also mentioned her private plane when the interview ended, saying that she was going to take it for a flight.

Speaking on the Hannity show last night, Jenner said: "My friends are leaving California. Actually my hangar, the guy right across, he was packing up his hangar and I said, where are you going? And he says 'I'm moving to Sedona, Arizona, I can't take it anymore. I can't walk down the streets and see the homeless.' I don't want to leave. Either I stay and fight, or I get out of here."
https://www.newsweek.com/caitlyn-jenner-airport-hangar-hannity-interview-1589095




OK… OK… OK. There’s a lot to unpack here! Here’s the thing – if you have your own private jet and you’re complaining about stepping over homeless people in your designer heels to get to your private airplane hangar, it’s about the same as if you eat a whole ton of fast food combo meals and then you complain about seeing your fat stomach hang out over your pants! The solution is painfully obvious and you’re enabling the problem. But what I love is the ensuing feud between Sean Hannity and Jimmy Kimmel. You don’t question the cult, or incur their wrath!

Sean Hannity appears to be, once again, looking to renew his feud with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel. The war of words between them began in early 2018, when Hannity took offense to a joke Kimmel made about former first lady Melania Trump. Kimmel eventually called for an end to that feud claiming the amount of vitriol from all sides was “harmful to the country.” Then in December 2019, seemingly unprovoked, Hannity dared Kimmel to renew the feud. Kimmel never publicly responded.

On Monday’s Hannity, the Fox News host took exception to Kimmel slamming Caitlyn Jenner last week for comments she made about homelessness in an interview with Hannity. Sitting in her Malibu airplane hangar last Wednesday, Jenner told Hannity about a conversation she had with a fellow private plane owner who was leaving California because of the homeless problem. The comments were widely criticized, including on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

“Is it transphobic to call a trans person an ignorant a-hole?” Kimmel asked on Thursday night’s show. “Or does calling that trans person an ignorant a-hole, even though she happens to be a trans person, show that we don't discriminate against ignorant a-holes no matter their gender orientation?”

“Jimmy, what is with all the anger and all the cheap shots?” Hannity fired back. “Yeah, in case you haven’t noticed, homeless people are all over your state. And by the way, don’t you have anything better to do? Maybe actually trying to be funny or boost your dismal ratings?”
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/sean-hannity-jimmy-kimmel-ignorant-ahole-criticizing-caitlyn-jenner-062647723.html




Yeah and by the way in case you’re wondering what Ms. Jenner’s positions on the issues are, what does she think of her own former profession? Let’s say that she took the Fox News bait and is now adding to the madness about trans athletes in sports. This is a problem that affects like nobody anywhere ever, like 0.00000001% of athletes, yet somehow affects 99.99999999% of Fox News viewers! And yes this is something that is going to get way worse before it gets better, mainly because the GOP doesn’t have anything else to run on.

Caitlyn Jenner has come out against trans girls competing against biological girls in school sports.

Caught in an impromptu street interview with Disclose.TV, which describes itself as “a non-partisan online community of like-minded users who observe together how world events unfold in the great theater of our time,” Jenner addressed the issue when asked for her point of view.

Jenner, a former athlete and reality TV star who announced her own transition from Bruce Jenner in an April 2015 interview, is running in California’s gubernatorial recall election. She will sit down with Fox News’ Sean Hannity for an interview that will be telecast on May 5. It is her first with a national outlet since announcing her candidacy.

In the Disclose.tv interview, posted today to Twitter, Jenner was asked about legislation in other states that would ban biological boys who have transitioned from participating in girls sports. “This is a question of fairness,” she said. “That’s why I oppose biological boys who are trans competing in girls spots in school. It just isn’t fair. And we have to protect girls sports in our schools.”
https://deadline.com/2021/05/caitlyn-jenner-supports-banning-trans-girls-from-girls-sports-1234748372/




Oh and it gets better my friends! Yes while this campaign has gone south as I predicted it would, and we haven’t even got to the recall ratings yet, which are going in Newsom’s favor. But this could completely derail Ms. Jenner’s campaign before it even gets off the ground. While you don’t question the cult, at least don’t say you didn’t vote. Because that not only looks bad for you it looks bad for them. Even a vote for President Turd Burglar at least says you voted!

Republican gubernatorial candidate Caitlyn Jenner told CNN this week that she never voted for president in the November 2020 election and opted to golf instead because she "couldn't get excited" about the dozen measures on the California ballot. For someone seeking support in the upcoming recall, it was a head-turning statement.

Then came the head-scratcher: Los Angeles County records show she actually did cast a ballot last fall.

POLITICO reported last month that Jenner did not vote in nearly two-thirds of the elections in which she was eligible since 2000. After Jenner's latest comments to CNN aired Tuesday morning, a representative of the registrar’s office reconfirmed to POLITICO that Jenner voted — with documentation.

The issue arose when CNN’s Dana Bash asked Jenner this week if she had voted for former President Donald Trump in last year's election. Jenner is relying on former Trump aides for campaign strategy, but she had broken with the Republican president in 2018 over his positions on transgender issues.
https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2021/05/11/jenner-says-she-didnt-vote-in-2020-but-records-show-she-did-1381459




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[font size="8"]Top 10 Investigates: Boris Johnson’s Phone Number
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It’s time to investigate beyond the headlines! This is Top 10 Investigates!



One thing we make very clear on this program is that conservative idiocy isn’t just limited to the United States. It’s a growing problem that affects the entire world. If you’re a politician, one thing you should never do is allow your personal phone number to become public domain. Especially if you’re at the top of the food chain like British prime minister Boris Johnson is. And PM Johnson is one of those guys who has had the same mobile number forever. But how did it get out in the open as long as it has? And why has nobody done anything about it? And here’s the really crazy thing – it’s not like this was a one time incident. This has been going on for 15 years before somebody noticed that this was a problem. And in fact you actually could Google this.

Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Boris Johnson has come under considerable criticism of late regarding access to him via his mobile phone number. With figures of business able to access him directly, including using the WhatsApp messaging app, there has been considerable criticism and demands that Boris Johnson changes his mobile number. He has kept the number the same since he was a journalist, an MP, and Mayor of London. As a result, he is accessible by many he has had contact with personally and professionally. He has reportedly refused to change the number.

But something may have made him change his mind. Gossip mailout, and strong influence on Bleeding Cool, Popbitch, ran a story regarding said phone number, saying;

It's not as though the Prime Minister's personal phone number could just be floating out there on the internet, is it? It would be absolutely insane if it was tacked on to the bottom of an old press release that he dished out freely while MP for Henley, and Shadow Minister for Higher Education.

It took me seconds to Google it. Direct access to the pocket of the most powerful person in the United Kingdom. Now, obviously, I am not going to use it, not even to send him a delivery notification from John Lewis, but the fact that I could find it just by googling would suggest that anyone could find it. Even Budgie.
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/google-boris-johnson-mobile-phone-number/




Yes, there it is in all its’ glory – Boris Johnson’s personal phone number sitting at the very bottom of a 15 year old press release. But here’s where this could be a risk having this number out in the open. It presents a security risk to the entire country because then it’s quite possible that spies and scammers have got a hold of his number and it could pose a risk to members of the British House and Parliament, as well as Johnson himself.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's personal phone number was publicly available on the internet for 15 years, raising concerns that his phone could have been vulnerable to hacking by foreign agents.

The prime minister's number was attached to the bottom of a 2006 press release that was published when he was the shadow education minister.

The press release, which was promoting a pamphlet written by Johnson, invited readers to contact Johnson "directly" on his House of Commons landline or on his personal number.

The presence of the number was first reported by Popbitch, a UK gossip newsletter. The press release was subsequently deleted.

"If his mobile phone number has been that widely available, you can't rule out that others who you really don't want to have his number like hostile states with sophisticated cyber capabilities or criminal gangs may have it as well," Peter Ricketts, the former UK national security advisor, told BBC Radio 4's "Today" program.
https://www.businessinsider.com/boris-johnson-mobile-number-was-publicly-available-for-15-years-2021-4




So why take steps to protect your mobile number? Well for one thing hackers. And when you’re someone as important as Boris Johnson, the last thing you want to do is invite hackers and scammers into your realm. So what can hackers do with your phone number when it’s out in the open? Well they can do lots of things with it, and none of them are good. In fact, hackers can do a lot of damage with just your mobile phone number with very little effort.

Boris Johnson's personal phone number has been publicly available on the internet for 15 years. Listed at the bottom of a 2006 press release, the number has reportedly been accessible online from the time the prime minister was shadow higher education minister through to his rise to Number 10.

That such a high-value mobile number has been publicly available for so long has raised cybersecurity concerns. If hostile states had access to the number, it's possible they could have used it to spy on the prime minister. That would pose a serious security risk.

Hackers and cybercriminals place a high premium on our mobile phone numbers – with which they can do a lot of damage with very little effort. While there is currently no evidence that Boris Johnson's data and communications have been compromised, having your mobile phone number being freely available significantly increases your vulnerability to cyber-attacks.

One such cyber-attack is the "SIM swap" – a very common technique that's difficult to stop. It's usually used by hackers to exploit a high-value individual's exposed phone number.
https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2021/0511/1220878-mobile-phone-number-cyber-attacks-impersonation-access-surveillance/




Now you might be asking – “what happens *IF* you actually call Johnson’s phone number? Well two bloggers from the UK’s Channel 4 actually called it. What they didn’t know is that soon members of M:I-5, which is the British equivalent of the FBI, would come knocking at their door. So yes, even if you see the number, just don’t call it. Because the simple act of doing so could land you in the interrogation hot seat.

Gogglebox siblings Sophie and Pete Sandiford got the shock of their lives when they called Boris Johnson’s mobile number on this week’s episode of the Channel 4 show.

Last week it was revealed that the PM’s personal number could be found on the bottom of an old press release dating back to when he was MP for Henley and a shadow minister in 2006.

After watching a news report that revealed callers would now get an automated message saying that the phone was switched off, Sophie tried it out for herself.

But she wasn’t prepared when someone actually answered the call.

Cue Sophie hilariously lobbing the phone at her equally panicked brother.
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/gogglebox-sophie-pete-sandiford-boris-johnson-phone-call_uk_60966bbee4b0f73e530de337




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 that I’ve recently been troubled by my brothers and sisters on the right for two reasons and we’re going to explore both of these this week. The first thing that has been troubling me is the way they’re attempting to accuse the left of something as heinous as genocide, which has never, not once, ever been discussed by anyone. And the second thing is how certain members of this party are elevating themselves to prophet status! That’s right – people are claiming that they have been chosen by GAWD! It takes a special kind of crazy to elevate yourself to prophet status, then claim that your political opponents are up to something when they’re really not. I mean really these guys need to turn off the TV and put the crack pipe down. Or whatever their drug of choice that they’re smoking is. I mean really this shit is bad for you, kids!

Radical right-wing conspiracy theorist Rick Wiles used Friday’s edition of his “TruNews” broadcast to declare that COVID-19 vaccines are really part of a plot to carry out “global genocide.”

Relying entirely on an article from an obscure conspiracy theory website in India that claimed the next wave of COVID-19 will kill up to 70 percent of those who have been vaccinated, Wiles bellowed that he intends to survive this “genocide” by refusing to get vaccinated while noting that the upside of this “mass death campaign” will be that “a lot of stupid people will be killed off.”

“I am not going to be vaccinated,” Wiles said. “I’m going to be one of the survivors. I’m going to survive the genocide.”

“I am not going to allow the COVID maniacs to convince me to be vaccinated or [to] vaccinate me against my will,” he continued. “I know what I’m reading. I know what I’m seeing. There is a mass death campaign underway right now—and I don’t care what people [say], they can they write any article they want to write about me, they can do everything they can to deplatform me—I’m going to survive a global genocide.”
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/rick-wiles-says-covid-19-vaccines-are-a-plot-to-carry-out-global-genocide/




And that devil is anti-vaccination crusaders! Because actually *NOT* taking the vaccine means that you’re far more likely to die from a deadly disease. Just think of the stupidity that it takes for someone to stand up and say ridiculously dumb stuff like that despite that nothing happens like that anywhere on earth! But this is becoming a pattern with the right and this isn’t an isolated incident either. No, getting vaccinated does not mean that it’s like the Holocaust or Jim Crow days.

QAnon conspiracy theorist DeAnna Lorraine appeared on “The Stew Peters Show” last Thursday, where she railed against proposals to offer separate seating sections for vaccinated and non-vaccinated spectators at sporting events and other large gatherings, predictably likening it to Nazi Germany.

Lorraine, who has been an ardent COVID-19 denier and tireless anti-vaxxer from the very start of the pandemic, complained that offering separate seating sections for those who have been vaccinated is no different than Jim Crow.

“They’re gonna start dividing up their sections of sporting events, churches, and other areas of public interest and it’s gonna say vaccinated people or non-vaccinated people,” Lorraine griped. “And we know that—because there’s so many mindless sheeple out there—that the vaccinated section is going to be a hell of a lot bigger than the non-vaccinated section, but that’s how it’s going to be. So, sporting events, if you go to a baseball game, a football game, etcetera, you can expect to be put in a different section, whether you’ve been vaccinated or not.”

“I’m actually okay with it,” host Stew Peters responded, “because I don’t really want to be hanging around these vaccinated people. All this talk about transmission and shedding and all of this other stuff, I mean, this is a contagious vaccination, it’s a self-spreading vaccination.”
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/deanna-lorraine-complains-that-offering-different-seating-sections-to-vaccinated-spectators-is-just-like-the-holocaust-and-jim-crow/




And yes they probably do feel bad about themselves! But here’s where it gets really disturbing is when they refer to themselves as prophets. See, you can’t say ridiculously dumb stuff like vaccines are the sign of the devil without calling yourself at least a prophet, because nobody would listen to you. And I’m sure even the good LAWRD JAYSUS is rolling his eyes about as far into the back of his head as they can go! So what’s driving this insanity? Where is this coming from?

Earlier this year, Jeff Jansen, a self-proclaimed “prophet” who leads Global Fire Ministries International in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, declared that Donald Trump is still recognized in Heaven as the legitimate president of the United States and prophesied that the military would remove President Joe Biden from office and reinstate Trump by the end of April.

“We’re gonna be dancing in the streets,” Jansen boldly proclaimed.

April has come and gone, and Biden remains in the White House, but that doesn’t mean that Jansen is prepared to admit that he was wrong. Quite the contrary, in fact, as he posted a video on his Facebook page Tuesday insisting that his prophecy was correct and is unfolding exactly as he predicted it would.

“Today is the May the fourth,” Jansen said. “I just want to be able to come on and say, ‘Look, it’s May and what’s coming can’t be stopped.’ There’s all kinds of amazing things that are happening, and I’m talking about President Trump, I’m talking about him coming back into power, and I’m talking about the church, I’m talking about everything that God promised—back-to-back terms—everything that God has promised with this election and overturning corruption.”
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/its-may-but-prophet-jeff-jansen-still-insists-his-prophecy-that-the-military-would-remove-biden-from-office-by-april-is-coming-true/




Yeah you guys have been promising this for the last four months now. But here’s the truth – he isn’t coming back! And when I refer to him, you know who I am talking about – the unholy, ungodly Dark One, a man who is so disgusting that his name shall not be mentioned in my church! You know we must never question the prophets though – their work is DIVINE and all holy! Seriously though, even we don’t make this claim! And we’re followers of the almighty GAWD!

Last week, we noted that there is a battle brewing between the various self-proclaimed “prophets” who guaranteed that Donald Trump would win reelection in 2020 and a group of conservative Christian leaders who are concerned that the refusal by these “prophets” to acknowledge they were wrong is harming the church.

Right-wing pastor Hank Kunneman has been one of the most obstinate of these supposed “prophets,” refusing to apologize for his mistaken prophesy, instead promising that God will reward those who stand with him, and attacking those who have dared to criticize him.

Last Thursday, Kunneman appeared on the “His Glory” program, where he lashed out at the Christian leaders behind the recently released “prophetic standards” declaration—a document signed by such luminaries as Steven Strang and Doug Stringer—saying that none of them are qualified to criticize him because they are not prophets like him.

“It’s amazing,” Kunneman said. “Nobody wrote a letter and thanked me for all the years that I prophesied the other presidents and even President Trump. No, but as soon as something didn’t look like it happened, boy, they jump on the bandwagon to attack you. And my question is: How many of those people that are attacking; A) Are you a prophet? The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 14 that the prophets are to judge the prophets. ‘If a prophet is to prophesy, let the others judge’; the other prophets, that’s what he was speaking about.”
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/self-proclaimed-prophet-hank-kunneman-says-only-other-prophets-have-the-authority-to-question-him/




So there you have it – the prophets are all knowing and all powerful, and they can say ridiculously dumb things just as long as you don’t question them. Mass has ended, may you go in peace! That’s it this week for:





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[font size="8"]The Golden Globes: How Is This Still A Thing?
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It’s time once again to ask:



This week: The Golden Globes. How are they still a thing? The Golden Globes are entertainment awards given out to the best in movies and TV. But the organization that puts on the ceremonies – the Hollywood Foreign Press Association – has recently come under fire for discriminatory hiring practices and lack of diversity. Which begs the question – does anyone actually watch the Golden Globes anymore and are they a victim of “cancel culture”? Well who does watch awards shows anymore when right now they’re just glorified Zoom calls? The organization that was one high and mighty atop the Hollywood food chain has now slipped through the cracks. Everyone from A listers to even D listers are expressing their outrage at the organization.

Growing Hollywood pushback against the scandal-plagued Hollywood Foreign Press Association became an avalanche Monday, as NBC announced it won't broadcast the HFPA's Golden Globe Awards ceremony in 2022.

The network's decision comes after an array of top-flight film and TV companies, including Netflix, Amazon and WarnerMedia, distanced themselves from the HFPA and the Globes in recent days. The HFPA has not said whether it will try to hold a Globes ceremony next year.

The 87-member group, made up of critics for overseas media outlets, has been engulfed by issues ranging from preferential treatment sought by its members to lack of racial representation in its ranks, which included no Black members, according to a Los Angeles Times investigation this year.

Some of the HFPA's problems have been an open secret for years among Hollywood insiders, even as entertainment companies elevated the stature of the Globes as a major awards event and a harbinger of the Oscars, which follow weeks later.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2021/05/10/golden-globes-2022-ceremony-dropped-nbc-after-hfpa-scandal/5026394001/




That’s about what people are doing with their Golden Globe awards too after realizing that they’re pretty meaningless anymore. So what is the HFPA controversy? Well there’s more to the headlines than what we’ve seen lately. It’s time for the networks to take a stand against the corrupt governing body of the HFPA and NBC is doing exactly that. With no plans to currently overhaul the organization, one of their key events of the year is getting the axe.

Aiming to beat a self-imposed reform deadline and a Tinseltown firestorm, the board of the besieged Hollywood Foreign Press Association on Monday released a new plan to overhaul the 86-member nonprofit group behind the Golden Globes.

While no one has been hired yet and nothing really happens until a majority of the full membership ratifies the plan this summer, with help from Boston-based law firm Ropes & Gray, the HFPA is now promising again to bring “Black and other racially diverse journalists into our organization,” which currently lacks a single Black member.

They are also pledging a lot more, including adding 20 new members over the next year and increasing their total membership by 50% in the next two years. The HFPA is also looking for a Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer and self-described oversight board to help with “critical organizational reform.” Additionally, the suddenly ambitious 78-year-old outfit says it will change the way money changes hands internally, hold members accountable, limit board terms, and bring in “a professional management staff, including, but not limited to, a Chief Executive Officer, Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer, Chief Human Resources Officer, and Chief Financial Officer.”

“We know that the past few months have presented many challenges for our members, and we appreciate all of the time and effort you have invested in this process thus far,” said an unsigned letter from the HFPA board to the group’s members, outlining the changes they propose. “We want to be clear – these outlined changes are just the first steps in the long journey ahead. We also know that in this existential moment for our association, change is difficult and sometimes scary.”
https://deadline.com/2021/05/hfpa-accusations-plan-diversity-conduct-golden-globes-nbc-1234749141/




Hey don’t throw your junk down here! And look it’s been a year, you can’t exactly use that as an excuse anymore. It’s pretty common knowledge at this point. But shady hiring and business practices aside, how do you begin to send a message to the HFPA? Well leave it to Tom Cruise. Yes, that Tom Cruise, the same one who has been a champion for evil religious organization Scientology, has been actively campaigning against the HFPA.

The organization that sponsors the Golden Globe Awards is under fire for an alleged lack of diversity and its for this reason that some actors are distancing themselves from the Golden Globes.

According to CNN, one of the most familiar faces in the industry has actually returned his Golden Globe to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).

Tom Cruise, who won Globes for his roles in "Jerry Maguire," "Born on the Fourth of July," and "Magnolia," has reportedly returned all of the awards.

His move comes after actress Scarlett Johansson issued a lengthy statement, encouraging her colleagues to step back from participating in events sponsored by the HFPA.

Johansson said, "As an actor promoting a film, one is expected to participate in awards season by attending press conferences as well as awards shows."
https://www.wbrz.com/news/tom-cruise-returns-golden-globe-awards-amid-controversy-surrounding-hfpa/




So both Tom Cruise and Scarlett Johannson are distancing themselves from the HFPA after this controversy, and with two huge stars taking a stand, what’s left for the organization? As you can imagine, losing their key event has really hurt the HFPA so much that they’ve fired their president, and you can imagine the standard PR response that “sweeping changes” are going to be made for this organization. Until then it’s a the same old story of “same shit, different day”.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association said Tuesday that it has expelled its former president Phil Berk from its membership rolls.

“Effective immediately, Phil Berk is no longer a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,” the HFPA board said in a statement that has just gone out.

NBC and the parent company of the Golden Globes producers both weighed in already today on the latest embarrassing incident involving the HFPA. This concerns the bizarre email from Berk, a longtime member and former president, to membership on Sunday referring to Black Lives Matters as a “racist hate movement.” The email was leaked to the Los Angeles Times.

The HFPA, already mired in controversy amid revelations during its most recent Golden Globes cycle that it hasn’t had a Black member in 20 years, on Monday night distanced itself from the email Berk sent.
https://deadline.com/2021/04/hollywood-foreign-press-expels-phil-berk-email-1234740447/




So add up discriminatory hiring practices, angry Hollywood stars, and a lack of an audience, and you’ve got a nightmare of a toxic cocktail. That’s enough to make you ask – The Golden Globes:





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[font size="8"]Conspiracy Corner
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Welcome back to our segment that attempts to explain the unexplainable, Conspiracy Corner! We are of course coming to you live from our underground bunker in the New Mexico badlands – undisclosed location. Let me just adjust my tin foil hat for maximum government interference. Ah, there we go, everything is ready! So now that events are coming back one of the big ones every year is the annual horse racing extravaganza known as the Kentucky Derby. Along with this, the Belmont Stakes, and the Preakness, determine if a horse is worthy of the coveted Triple Crown or not. But we might not have a Triple Crown winner this year because… of cheating! That’s right – you can apparently cheat in horse racing and this year it’s come under lots of public scrutiny!

If Medina Spirit is stripped of the 2021 Kentucky Derby victory, second-place Mandaloun would be deemed the winner … but bettors on Mandaloun would still be out of luck.

Medina Spirit’s win is now under investigation after blood tests determined an elevated presence of betamethasone, a regulated anti-inflammatory used to manage pain. Churchill Downs has suspended trainer Bob Baffert pending the final results of the investigation, which will include a second round of testing.

Baffert, a Hall of Fame trainer and (currently) winner of a record seven Kentucky Derbys, maintains innocence, saying Medina Spirit had never even been treated with betamethasone.

If the second test comes back positive, Medina Spirit would lose the victory and Mandaloun will be named the winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby. All prize money would then be taken from Medina Spirit’s team and awarded to Mandaloun’s.
https://sports.yahoo.com/kentucky-derby-what-happens-to-bets-if-medina-spirits-win-is-overturned-151729294.html




So this is an interesting conundrum – what happens if the horse indeed is caught cheating? Could the race results be overturned? At least we know that the betting won’t be affected. Because the last time that a horse got disqualified for using illegal performance enhancers was 1968. To put things in perspective, that is a long fucking time between cheating attempts. Which means if you’re stupid enough to get caught, son, just don’t.

Medina Spirit’s Kentucky Derby win is at risk after a positive test for betamethasone, but what about the bets cashed in on the victory?

Even if Medina Spirit is ultimately disqualified – something that can only happen after a second positive test – pari-mutuel wagering is unlikely to be affected.

The last time a Kentucky Derby winner was disqualified for a positive drug test (Dancer’s Image, 1968), the Kentucky Horse Racing commission ordered Forward Pass, the horse that crossed the finish line second in the race, be considered the winner of the 1968 Kentucky Derby, except for pari-mutuel payoffs.

When Bob Baffert-trained filly Gamine was disqualified from her third-place finish in the 2020 Kentucky Oaks, pari-mutuel wagering was not affected by the ruling.

While Churchill Downs confirmed Mandaloun, the horse that finished second in the 2021 Derby, will be declared the winner of the race if the findings of Medina Spirit's positive test are upheld by the split sample test, anyone who bet on Mandaloun to win is unlikely to be able to cash it the ticket if Medina Spirit is disqualified.
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/kentucky/2021/05/09/what-happens-to-bets-kentucky-derby-winner-medina-spirit-after-drug-test/5013697001/




Yeah that’s about what happens when you get caught cheating. Now here’s where it gets weird and becomes a conspiracy because you knew it was going to. That guy had to weigh in on the controversy – you know, Former Guy. The guy who won’t be included the next a presidential reunion of the still living presidents happens. The guy who calls everyone a stupid loser. Yes, you know who I am talking about so I will shut up now.

The big news in the sporting world over the weekend was that Medina Spirit, the surprise winner of the Kentucky Derby, had tested positive for an anti-inflammatory drug that is often used to mask injury or ease joint pain in thoroughbred racehorses.

That Medina Spirit is trained by Bob Baffert, perhaps the most recognizable person in horse racing, and that this is the fifth time a horse he has trained has failed a drug test in the last year, made it not just national but international news. Baffert insists the horse was not given the anti-inflammatory drug and everyone is awaiting a second test until a hard and fast conclusion is drawn. He told Fox News on Monday that the horse is a victim of "cancel culture." Yes, really.

Lots and lots of people had takes on Medina Spirit, Baffert and the horse racing game more broadly. But none of them was as weird -- and out of left field -- as that of former President Donald Trump.

Here it is:

"So now even our Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit, is a junky. This is emblematic of what is happening to our Country. The whole world is laughing at us as we go to hell on our Borders, our fake Presidential Election, and everywhere else!"

(Before you ask, yes this is a real statement by the former President -- appearing on his revolutionary new communications site ... kidding ... "From the Desk of Donald J. Trump.&quot
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/10/politics/donald-trump-medina-spirit/index.html




Yeah seriously can we just not pay attention to anything he thinks anymore? All he does is spew bile and garbage and it’s not good for anybody. Even though I’m in my end times bunker, I still have a connection to the outside world though! But here’s what makes this a conspiracy – even the owner, now that he’s been banned from the upcoming Preakness, has a theory! And that theory is… drum roll! See if you can guess what he’s blaming it on? That’s right – cancel culture, kids! He’s blaming this whole affair on cancel culture! It is all clear now! Guess we can close the book on this one!

Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit is already at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore for the next leg in this year's Triple Crown. But the horse's future, as well as that of trainer Bob Baffert, remains in limbo.

The celebration of Baffert's record-setting seventh Derby win lasted one week. Racing officials notified him that Medina Spirit tested positive for Betamethasone, a steroid used to treat inflammation but banned on race day.

The horse racing world is anxiously awaiting the second round of test results, which will be performed at a different lab. If a second test is positive, Medina Spirit could be stripped of his Derby crown and the $1.8 million purse that came with it. The horse would then become just the second Derby winner to be disqualified over medication.

Baffert denies that the horse has ever been treated with the particular drug. "He's never been treated, and that's the scary part," he said.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/medina-spirit-bob-baffert-kentucky-derby-cancel-culture/





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[font size="8"]People Are Dumb
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Hit it!



Of course you know by now that people are people, and people are dumb! And as we have shown in the amount of time we’ve been doing this – nobody is immune from the People Are Dumb segment. That’s right – there’s no vaccine for stupidity! And don’t worry my faithful viewers – we have plenty of the Sunshine State to get to. But first I want to share this story out of Kentucky and my father’s alma matter – the University Of Kentucky! Look, I know we’re still in the middle of a raging pandemic and everyone is not up to speed with everything that they’re doing because we’re just starting to come out of lockdown from the stay at home orders. But that said… how do you overlook *THIS* error? Crap I could apply to UK and get accepted with just an internet form! I’m sure my dad and his UK alumni friends would approve of this. Or not.

The University of Kentucky mistakenly sent acceptance emails to 500,000 high school seniors for a program that usually accepts about three dozen students a year.

The school followed up with another email less than 24 hours later and apologized for its mistake, citing a “technical issue,” WLEX-TV reported.

“Only a handful of those on the prospect list had been admitted to UK,” UK spokesman Jay Blanton said. “The vast majority had not, nor had the vast majority of these students expressed an interest in the program. Nevertheless, we regret the communication error and have sent correspondence to all those who were contacted, offering our apologies.”

The acceptance was for this fall in the clinical leadership and management program in the College of Health Sciences.
https://apnews.com/article/science-kentucky-5953f92673185b7f7baed3937d876d16




Yeah… ooopsie! I bet there’s a lot of disappointed applicants out there, as well as parents! Next up we go to one of my favorite places to visit – the state of Colorado! And here’s the thing – this sort of crime is one of the worst that anyone could commit. But when you see why the name was changed well this is what makes it dumb, and why it would be included in our segment. Because this is magical. If you’re going to commit something evil, maybe don’t change your name to that of a James Bond villain!
A former Colorado lawyer who legally changed his name to that of a James Bond villain is accused of plotting with his mother to kill his father after learning he'd been cut out of his will.

Jean-Joseph Danger Le Chiffre, formerly known as 55-year-old Patrick Joseph Sandoval, and his mother Marcella Sandoval, now 78, were arrested last August in connection to the July murder of Gilbert Sandoval, according to the Colorado Springs police.

Le Chiffre is accused of beating his 83-year-old dad to death with a baseball bat inside a Colorado Springs home owned by both of the parents. He was charged with first-degree murder while his mother was charged with being an accessory.

Le Chiffre pleaded not guilty in court on Friday, during a hearing which unveiled strange details about the case. During the half-day long hearing, detectives outlined their case against Le Chiffre and his mother.
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/man-legally-changes-name-james-145600990.html




Ah that’s what a grenade is supposed to do! Next up – OK look we’re all getting tired of Zoom and working from home. I get that, we’re all Zoom fatigued. I think I remember reporting on this last year but driving while Zooming is a thing that has started because of the pandemic. And if you’re caught doing this, this is an entire new level of stupid! Oh and you think you might get away with it by using a virtual background, but we’re onto you!

An Ohio state senator used a virtual background of his home office in an apparent attempt to conceal the fact that he was, in fact, driving while attending a Zoom meeting. The reason Republican Senator Andrew Brenner drew criticism from various quarters was the fact that the Ohio State Assembly had introduced a bill to ban distracted driving the very same day. Despite Brenner's attempt to show his car as a part of his house using a computer-generated background, a seatbelt across his chest, continuous movement of his hands and his attention to the left and right were enough for people to call his bluff.

Later, the senator defended his actions, saying he wasn't distracted, adding he was paying attention to driving and listening to the people at the meeting.

“I had two meetings that were back to back that were in separate locations. And I've actually been on other calls, numerous calls, while driving. Phone calls for the most part but on video calls, I'm not paying attention to the video. To me, it's like a phone call," he said.

As reported by The Guardian, at the beginning of the call, the senator was seen sitting inside a parked car. Minutes later, he left the call and reappeared with wooden cabinets, paintings hanging on the wall, and a house plant in the background.
https://gadgets.ndtv.com/social-networking/news/zoom-work-from-home-us-senator-driving-pretending-virtual-background-seatbelt-car-andrew-brenner-2437630




Yeah we can’t have too many people driving while Zooming, though I’m sure that does happen! Next up – I told you we would not be neglecting the Sunshine State! Of course America’s most penis-shaped state, the state of Florida – never ceases on delivering the crazy. So this story, we go to the town of St. Petersburg. So this guy decided to quite literally take the law into his own hands when dealing with a neighbor’s loud music. Why does this remind me of that movie Dirty Work?

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. [WFLA] – A St. Petersburg man is accused of impersonating of a police officer and handcuffing his neighbor, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

John Switzer, 67, reportedly pretended to arrest his neighbor over a dispute about loud music on Monday, PCSO reported. According to deputies, Switzer was armed with a with a gun, displayed a badge and claimed to be an officer.

The neighbor who was handcuffed told WFLA that she was held hostage for 15 minutes and is now badly bruised.

When deputies arrived on scene, Switzer quickly admitted he was not an officer, but rather, a former officer, according to the report. ...............(more)

https://nbc-2.com/news/2021/05/06/deputies-florida-man-impersonating-officer-handcuffed-neighbor-over-loud-music/




Yeah hi… real cops? We’ve got a complaint! Next up – fast food rage! You know me, I love a good fast food rage story. I collect them, share them, trade them with my friends. No seriously, give me a story about a woman who destroys the local McDonalds because they ran out of chicken nuggets and I’m there! Well this story comes from the area of Florida known as the Villages. And it’s all fun and games until… yeah… there it is! The N word has been let out!

A 77-year-old Villager was arrested in an alleged racial tirade after throwing her Whopper sandwich at a Burger King employee.

Judith Ann Black of the Village of Pine Ridge was apparently enraged over the thickness of the tomato served in her Whopper sandwich Friday evening at the Burger King restaurant at Trailwinds Village on County Road 466A in Wildwood. She confronted a Burger King employee at the counter and was “yelling” at her, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department.

The Burger King worker tried to convince the Texas native to calm down and said she could not help her if she did not stop yelling. The worker turned her back on Black who threw the Whopper at the employee, hitting her in the back, the report said.

“Shut up you black bitch,” the Villager told the employee.

Black proceeded to use the “N” word before storming out of the restaurant, the report said.

The Burger King manager, a worker at Burger King and an independent customer all verified the employee’s account of what happened. Video surveillance footage also corroborated what the employee told law enforcement.
https://www.villages-news.com/2021/05/03/villager-arrested-in-alleged-whopper-throwing-racial-tirade/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter




Finally this week – I’ve got a bonus People Are Dumb for you! And this one, we go to the state of Michigan. Look I get it, I think people have had an ass full of Zoom. We’re tired of virtual events and we want to get back to having real ones. We’ve all been cooped up too long and are itching to get back out into regular society. But until that happens, one person you don’t screw with is a judge. Especially if it’s for your own virtual court appearance. But this guy came up with what might be the strangest user name yet on Zoom:

No, this isn't a deleted scene from the 2006 dark comedy Idiocracy. This is just another day in the life of judge Jeffrey Middleton, who serves Michigan's St. Joseph County.

Middleton, who is pretty well known for his transparency and calling it like it is on the r/ZoomCourt subreddit, where people post videos of viral goofs and mishaps that occur during Zoom-based court hearings (remember cat lawyer?), was confronted with a not so hole-some situation.

During a Monday Zoom court hearing for drug paraphernalia charges a man, Nathan Saxaon, logged on with the very public screenname of Buttfucker 3000. While there is nothing inherently wrong with being an actual buttfucker, Middelton was not having any of Saxaon's buttfucking bullshit, Vice reported.

“We’ll bring this fool in,” Middleton said to the Zoom meeting, which consisted of eight people waiting for their hearing.
https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2021/05/12/michigan-judge-boots-man-with-buttfucker-3000-as-screenname-from-zoom-hearing




That’s it this week for:




[div style="padding: 20px; background-color: #ffffff; border-radius: 10px; box-shadow: 0px 2px 4px 1px #aaa;"][div style="font-family: arial, helvetica; font-weight: bold; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999; padding-bottom: 8px;"]
[font size="8"]Stupidest State
[br] [/font]
[br]

16 states will enter and only one state will become the new Top 10 Conservative Idiots Stupidest State!



Welcome back to our ongoing coverage of the NFFSA and the 2021 Stupidest State tournament! We are just two short rounds away from the championship game! Last week Georgia handed red hot Michigan a defeat with a last second buzzer beater to win the Batshit Conference and advance to their first Final Four in team history! This week it’s a battle of Fiscal Irresponsibility heavyweights as the playground for the super-rich, #2 Wyoming, is set to take on the casino and gambling industry in #3 Nevada!

[font size="4"]Fiscal Irresponsibility Conference Championship: Wyoming Vs Nevada [/font]

[font size="2"]Wyoming [/font]


Wyoming is referred to as the “Equality State”. But when your rich billionaire friends are leaving Hollywood and San Jose for Jackson Hole, buying up all the land and creating obscene wealth gaps not seen since the Great Depression, something is inherently fucked up in that state. So that said, why are so many millionaires and billionaires ditching the city for the mountains? Well, besides fresh air, low population, and an anything goes approach to how the government is run, it’s a haven for the uber-wealthy. So what is life like there?

Wealthy people across the globe have been fleeing major cities like New York and London to wait out the coronavirus pandemic in more secluded communities such as the Hamptons and the English countryside.

In the US, one of these communities is Jackson Hole, a picturesque Wyoming valley where billionaires go to ski. Affluent families and individuals are flying into Jackson Hole on their private jets to shelter in their vacation homes, Justin Farrell reported for The New York Times. Some are even bringing their own ventilators and other medical equipment along with them, a local doctor told the Times.

The valley's central resort town, Jackson, is also the most economically unequal place in America, according to a 2018 report published by the Economic Policy Institute.

In the Jackson metro area, which encompasses Teton County in Wyoming and Teton County in Idaho, the wealthiest residents make, on average, 132 times as much as everyone else: The average income of the 1% is more than $16.1 million, and the average income of the bottom 99% is $122,447.
https://www.businessinsider.com/most-unequal-place-america-jackson-wyoming-photos-2019-8




So in case you’re wondering why your favorite old west paraphernalia stores are turning into high end goods stores, blame your billionaire friend. I didn’t know Armani made cowboy boots! A western wagon made by Bentley? Sure, why not? But the bottom line is that billionaires have a weird obsession with recreating the Wild West. I’m sure because they watch too many cowboy movies.

The mountains loom overhead, mere blocks from a main drag filled with souvenir T-shirt shops, luxury stores and high-end art galleries. Things like the wooden plank boardwalk that’s ubiquitous through the main shopping section of town and the stage coach rides are meant to harken back to Jackson Hole’s Wild West past.

It’s more complicated than that though — and Jackson as the locals call it (Jackson Hole is technically the whole valley, which includes Teton Village) tends to evoke strong emotions yeah or nay from Wyoming locals.

Maybe it’s due to too much time spent watching Kevin Costner’s melodrama Yellowstone, but I assumed that tension would be more noticeable in the town.

Instead, it’s largely a bunch of friendly enough folks trying to make money off tourists and more regular summer visitors.
https://www.papercitymag.com/culture/jackson-hole-billionaires-wyoming-guide-hotel-finds-best-restaurants-yellowstone/




But billionaires aren’t just the only group moving to Wyoming. It’s celebrities too. That’s right – in fact including Wyoming this year was brought to our attention because of Kanye West and many others leaving Hollywood for Grand Teton. But the one thing that COVID has taught us is that if you can work remotely, you might as well go all the way! And there’s nothing more remote than living in a rural mountain town hundreds of miles from any major city!

A segment on MTV News this week highlighted the influx of celebrities moving to Wyoming, specifically Jackson Hole.

The 7-minute segment known as “The Pop Factor” discussed the implications of wealthy celebrities moving to Wyoming. According to the video, “Wyoming has the highest number of billionaires per capita…despite being off the beaten path.” The video cited Wyoming’s income tax breaks as the culprit behind this mass exodus of the ultra-wealthy to the state.

A long-standing and contentious issue in the valley, the COVID pandemic has seen a rising trend of more wealthy citizens moving to the northwest corner of Wyoming which has put pressure on locally-based professionals to find affordable housing options.

“For a studio, you’re looking at $1,800 plus, and those are on the lower end of the spectrum,” ShelterJH coordinator Clare Stumpf said in an interview on the segment.
https://buckrail.com/mtv-news-highlights-influx-of-celebrities-moving-to-wyoming-inequality-in-jh/




[font size="2"]Nevada [/font]


The last time we checked in with the Silver State, they were still reeling as the casino and gambling industry lost record revenues because of the pandemic. Which that fuels about 95% of the state’s tourism industry. To make things even worse, Nevada gets most of their revenue from gambling and doesn’t charge state taxes. So that created a crash the likes of which haven’t been seen in decades. Now they’re looking for alternate solutions to keep those sweet tourism dollars rolling in! Do your best Zach Galaifinakis impression here!

Gov. Steve Sisolak said Monday he will scale back his proposal to let technology companies establish zones where they could exercise powers similar to those of local government. Instead of asking lawmakers to pass a resolution to approve the proposal this session, he plans on introducing a measure to create a committee to further study the so-called “Innovation Zones.”

The decision, first reported by the Reno Gazette Journal, deals a blow to Blockchains LLC — the northern Nevada-based technology company that said an Innovation Zone would enable it to build a blockchain-powered city in the rolling hills of the state’s desert.

“I know that legislators, stakeholders and Nevadans still have questions, and I want those questions to be discussed and answered. I want people to be enthusiastic about this opportunity, not skeptical about a fast-tracked bill,” Sisolak said in a statement.

To lure new industries to Nevada, the governor proposed letting technology companies establish “Innovation Zones” with powers similar to those of local government, if they commit to invest $1.25 billion and possess at least 78 square miles (202 square kilometers) of land.
https://apnews.com/article/local-governments-technology-business-government-and-politics-nevada-e3bd9ef669145af228adcfaadcf7cdb1




Well see, Steve, that’s what happens when you put all of your eggs in one basket, and that basket gets taken down by a raging pandemic! But yeah let’s give entire industries state powers and the ability to generate their own currency, what could go wrong there? And in fact when you put all your eggs in one basket, it has what one might call a “ripple effect” that could take out many other industries besides tourism and casinos! In fact it even has the US Senate talking!

A U.S. Senate subcommittee focused on travel and tourism has met for the first time to discuss ways to help the industry recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Subcommittee on Tourism, Trade and Export Promotion met on Tuesday.

"Travel and tourism-related industries drive job creation and economic growth in states across America, especially in Nevada," said Democratic U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, the committee’s chair. "These industries and the workers they employ are absolutely essential to our state’s prosperity."

Rosen said the committee will develop bipartisan solutions to bring the industry back to pre-pandemic levels. The committee is split evenly between Democrats and Republicans.

In Nevada, the pandemic closed casinos for more than two months last year and they have yet to fully recover. The state’s unemployment rate reached a high of about 30%, and the loss of gaming and other tax revenue left the state in a $1.2 billion budget deficit.
https://news3lv.com/news/local/us-senate-panel-meets-to-tackle-nevada-tourism-recovery-amid-pandemic




So no tourism = no money = Nevada is seriously in the red. This is a shining example of what reckless Koch Industries inspired laws can bring. But no fear, recovery is on the way! But like everything else, the recovery for Nevada’s tourism industry is going to be long, slow, and incredibly painful as Nevada and the rest of the world recovers from COVID. But don’t expect to break out the craps and roulette tables just yet, folks!

Fears over the pandemic and government impose lockdowns have hurt tourist travel and related revenue, although the economy is now slowly recovering due to increased vaccination.

Some industries were hit especially hard by the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing orders. Restaurants, movie theaters, live theaters and music venues were all greatly harmed. But one other industry that got hit especially hard was tourism.

If no one can travel, after all, those businesses cannot function the way they normally do. However, there is help on the way, both from the receding of the pandemic and from funds from the American Rescue Plan stimulus package.

A recent MarketWatch piece looked at how things are playing out in Napa, California, a place that often draws tourists. The site quotes the city’s finance director as stating that tourism revenues are not likely to reach back to pre-pandemic levels until 2024.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/coronavirus/tourism-coming-back-it-might-take-until-2024-get-back-2019-numbers-184557




[font size="2"]And The Winner Is: [/font]

No contest ladies and gentlemen! Nevada has 15 unanswered points against Wyoming going into the last 50 seconds of the game. Nevada has the ball… yes!! Nevada now up by 17 against Wyoming, and that’s game! Nevada advances to their first Final Four in their team’s history! Final score – 88 – 71! They are celebrating on the court as they have finally prevailed! Nevada moves on, Wyoming goes home!

[font size="4"]Next Week: [/font]

It’s the Stupidest State Final Four! Representing the Layover League - #1 Georgia is set to take on #3 Nevada while over in the Flyover League, #2 Texas is set to challenge the Cinderella Story in #4 Arkansas! Two of these teams will advance to the Stupidest State Championship!


See you next week!

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Top 10 Conservative Idiots #10-14: The Trouble With Truthers Edition (Original Post) Top 10 Idiots May 2021 OP
Please keep this up. I lurked for years just to read this feature every monday AZLD4Candidate May 2021 #1
Appreciate the support! Top 10 Idiots May 2021 #2

AZLD4Candidate

(5,838 posts)
1. Please keep this up. I lurked for years just to read this feature every monday
Thu May 13, 2021, 05:04 PM
May 2021

It made my week.

Please don't stop it. . .maybe those that did it originally can give you their template.

Top 10 Idiots

(598 posts)
2. Appreciate the support!
Thu May 13, 2021, 05:20 PM
May 2021

And we make our own templates here! We've got two more editions left this season, taking a couple of weeks off in June and posting some Best Of editions, then coming back strong in July, with our first edition of the new season being on July 8th!



Also you can follow us on Twitter for updates - @10Idiots!

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