Initech

Initech's Journal

September 22, 2017

Back In Black: Republicans Don't Know What Insurance Is!

Way to call out their ignorance Lewis!

September 21, 2017

Alt Right Figure "Baked Alaska" Wants His Old Friends Back

Tim “Treadstone” Gionet, known online as the neo-Nazi Alt-Right personality and wannabe rapper “Baked Alaska,” posted a video this week in which he claims that he is no longer Alt-Right and begs for his former allies among the Alt-Lite and Alt-Right movements to reaccept him and sympathize with his humiliating run-ins with counter-protesters.

Earlier this week, Milo Yiannopoulous posted a video mocking Gionet’s reaction to receiving a face full of pepper spray from counter-protesters at the white supremacist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last month. After the video sparked discussion and further humiliated Gionet among Alt-Right social media users, Gionet took to Periscope last night to issue his plea to reunite with Yiannopoulous—who once employed Gionet as his manager—and other former allies who disowned Gionet earlier this year over explicitly anti-Semitic social media posts.

“Imagine if me, Milo, Mike Cernovich and Bill Mitchell teamed together,” Gionet said. “Imagine what we could do. Imagine the damage we could do to the left. That’s what we did during the election, right? We were all teamed up together and we did a fantastic job.”

When Gionet refers to the election, he pays homage to a time when he and other far-right social media personalities worked in tandem to organize support for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. The honeymoon ended, however, when Alt-Right organizers rescinded invitations to an inauguration party called “The Deploraball” from personalities who organizers thought were too transparent in their allegiance to the Alt-Right’s racist ideologies, including Gionet.
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/alt-right-figure-baked-alaska-begs-for-his-old-friends-to-take-him-back/

Good lord... that's the Psychopath Avengers.

September 20, 2017

Top 10 Conservative Idiots #3-14: First Amendment And Boobs Edition

Top 10 Conservative Idiots #3-14: First Amendment And Boobs Edition

Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! Hey this is the π edition - #3.14 everybody! For you math people at home, we like to include you too! We’re all inclusive here. We are back everybody! So did everyone watch the Emmys? Well apparently nobody did because the Emmys were the lowest rated *IN HISTORY*. Sorry Stephen, we love you here. Yes - the ratings are in and they tanked. Maybe it's because people don't care anymore? Or because there's simply too much TV out there right now and it's become virtually impossible to sort all these shows? I mean who has time to watch everything? I know I dont! Well there’s the Emmys, and then there was the best supporting actress in a Limited Series. The winner was Laura Dern who won for the show “Big Little Lies”. But then there was one of the actresses who didn’t win – Jackie Hoffman, who didn’t win for her role in the series “Feud: Bette & Joan”. Well, the term “sore loser” definitely applies here. She apparently screamed “DAMN IT!” and then like a 3:00 AM Trump toilet tweet, took to Twitter to begin trashing her enemies. As Master Yoda would say “Much anger, you have!”. So it started with this seemingly innocent tweet:

https://twitter.com/JackieHoffman16/status/909579464757075968

And then she completely lost it. I get losing one of the biggest awards ever, but don’t go accusing the winner of doing this:

https://twitter.com/JackieHoffman16/status/909583092603437056

Or this:

https://twitter.com/JackieHoffman16/status/909593765353971712

To which the rest of us responded:

Yeah really. Don’t go accusing your opponents of running child porn rings or looting the Nazis. All right that’s enough of the intro. In keeping with the Emmys we’re going to play some of Stephen Colbert’s hilarious monologue as the host of that show:

At least Sean Spicer isn’t as completely insane as we would expect! So where do we begin this week? In the first slot is the Alt Right (1). Did you know they held two rallies this weekend and both were epic, colossal failures? We’ll tell you about the “Mother Of All Rallies” in the first slot, which turned out to be a giant nothing burger (to use their phrasing). At number 2 is also the Alt Right (2). We’re going to talk about how Trump humpers in Virginia held their own rally against removing a confederate statue in Charlottesville, and nobody showed up! Taking the third slot is of course president Trump. He referred to Kim Jong Un as “Rocket Man” multiple times, and we’re going to pick our favorite rendition of the Elton John classic! In the number 4 slot again is Donald Trump (4). So did you know that Trump’s lawyers are just as incompetent as he is? Yeah I’m shocked as well! Taking the 5th slot is also Donald Trump (5). Because we are going to recap his speech at the UN, and believe me it’s quite literally insane. At number 6 is Alex Jones (6). We have to talk about his latest half baked (or maybe in this case, completely baked) conspiracy theory. Did you know that someone has been putting drugs in Trump’s Diet Coke? Neither did we! At the number 7 spot we’ve got another installment of “Holy Shit” because right wing religious zealots are back and they aren’t going away. At number 8 we need to do something much lighter. I mean where do you go after extremely hateful religious zealots? So we’re going to once again bring back “People Are Dumb” and there’s a lot of stupid people in the news, but we also have to talk about the Mad Pooper in Colorado Springs, and this story is crazy! In the number 9 (NEIN!!!!) slot we’re going to bring back “I Need A Drink”. We’ve previously discussed Gene Simmons (9) in this segment before, but he’s back and his latest offering is quite certifiably insane. We can’t wait to tell you about it. Finally this week its’ more of the Top 10 World Tour (10). This time we’ve got one more go-round in South America before we have a bit of shore leave and come home to the States before we jet off to Asia, the Middle East, and Australia. This time we’re going to the home of the Andes Mountains, and we’re visiting Argentina! Plus we have some live music from a little band called Imagine Dragons. Yayyyyyy!!! Oh the kids love Imagine Dragons, don’t they? Enjoy! And as always don’t forget the key!

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[font size="8"]The Mother of All Rallies Vs. The Juggalos
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So before we get this started this week, I want to show you a clip from this Fox Sports announcer, Clay Tucker , who was being interviewed on CNN. This is what the Alt Right believes in, perfectly explained in one sentence:

Yes ladies and gentlemen – he believes in the First Amendment…. And Boobs! Bravo, well done, Clay Tucker – in one sentence you said what the alt right is pretty much thinking. As if that wasn't enough, this Alt Right deplorable law maker from South Dakota tweeted out this extremely horrible graphic:

RAPID CITY — A Republican state lawmaker faced calls to apologize Tuesday after she shared an image on Facebook depicting protesters being hit by a vehicle under the caption, "All Lives Splatter."

Rep. Lynne DiSanto shared the image September 7, less than one month after a driver plowed through counter protesters at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., killing a 32-year-old woman and injuring 19 others.

The Box Elder Republican deleted the post Tuesday after it was circulated by members of progressive groups South Dakota Forward and Indivisible Rapid City, who called on the lawmaker to apologize.

"To put up a meme that pretty much encourages violence and possibly murder, that's inappropriate. She's a community leader and an elected official," said Lori Miller, a spokeswoman for Indivisible Rapid City. "Not only is she inciting violence, she is targeting a certain race of people."

DiSanto, who is the GOP's majority whip in the House, did not immediately return a phone call requesting comment.

http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/politics/2017/09/19/s-d-gop-whip-shares-meme-endorsing-vehicular-assault-protesters/682564001/

Yeah BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Is right! I'd prefer it if all lives splattered with fabulous colors! This is where I would have a funny graphic accompanying this, but you can't really make this funny. Well, segueing, there were plenty of boobs on display at the Mother Of All Rallies, and I’m not talking about the ones on women’s chests.

Earlier this week, a middle-aged woman who gave her name only as Jessica boarded an Amtrak train in Richmond, California, and made the three day trip eastward to Washington. In her bag was a red, white and blue T-shirt and a beanie that simply read "TRUMP."

"Where I’m from, you’re not free to express your political opinions without harm or shunning," she said, after declining to give her full name. "Free speech has been repressed by violence. You can't have a Trump bumper sticker on your car. And listen — I don't consider myself a Republican. I'm an American. But I love his agenda."

Jessica was one of the hundreds of supporters of President Trump who gathered on the National Mall on Saturday for what was called the "Mother of All Rallies" — an event intended, according to promotional material, to "send a direct message to Congress, the media and the world that we stand united to protect and preserve American culture."
http://time.com/4945077/donald-trump-rally-washington/

Oh I like that one. So what else could have happened that day? Hey come on, we can only attend one rally at a time here people!

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Followers of the hip-hop group Insane Clown Posse — known as Juggalos — held a march Saturday on the National Mall, alleging discrimination after the FBI labeled the group a gang in a 2011 report.

“We’re different. We’re not dangerous,” Kevin Gill, who is an announcer for a Juggalo wrestling league, said from the rally stage. “Music is not a crime.”

The band, consisting of the duo Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope, said the gang accusation "has resulted in hundreds if not thousands of people subjected to various forms of discrimination, harassment, and profiling simply for identifying as a Juggalo." In a video on the their website, the hip-hop artists claim their fans have lost jobs, custody of their children and been denied access to the military for their Juggalo affiliation.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/09/16/hundreds-pro-trump-activists-descend-d-c-mother-all-rallies/673539001/

So because the alt right and Trump love their crowd sizes, which have been dwindling in numbers, can we show what that looked like?

And then you know which rally drew the bigger crowd?

Nine months into the administration of President Donald Trump, fans of the eccentric Detroit rap duo Insane Clown Posse assembled a larger rally on the national mall this Saturday than the president’s diehard supporters stationed a few hundred yards away.

The dueling rallies reflected the difficulty that any sitting president has in mobilizing his base, and the particular challenge that Trump has as he struggles to pass major legislation and honor his campaign promises.

Unlike the pro-Trump rally, Juggalos, as clown-makeup-wearing Insane Clown Posse fans call themselves, protested on the National Mall on Saturday for an actual specific purpose. That could explain why the gathering that surrounded the base of the reflection pool at the Lincoln Memorial this afternoon was significantly larger than the pro-Trump rally.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/juggalos-donald-trump-rally_us_59bd9754e4b02da0e1427777

So it turns out that the alt right can’t draw a crowd. They can’t even get supporters bussed in! Which kind of defeats their theory about us! I mean come on! So what did the MOAR want exactly?

On Saturday, protesters are planning to march on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to proclaim their support for "traditional American culture" and "the America first agenda." The event is called "The Mother of All Rallies," (MOAR) a name that is unnervingly similar to the "Mother of All Bombs" that U.S. forces dropped in Afghanistan in April.

The Mother of All Rallies "About" section on its website bills itself as a "grassroots movement" to "peacefully unite in honor of America." The event's Facebook page described the MOAR event as an "America First patriot rally in support of America

In values, American culture, American traditions, and of course President Donald Trump," adding:
Our goal is to rally 1 million patriots to Washington DC to send a shock-wave message to the world that they have to go through us to take this country or change its culture. This is a not for profit event and all the credit goes to all the participating patriots and not particular individuals or groups. This is about America First. This is about protecting and supporting President Donald Trump, protecting our Constitution, and protecting our flag and all that it stands for.

While event organizers claim the rally it's about patriotism, that appears to have a distinctly partisan bent. For starters, its speakers list includes names that are well-known among "alt-right" circles, such as Marco Gutierrez, who founded Latinos for Trump but is probably more famous for insisting that a Hillary Clinton presidency would result in "taco trucks on every corner"; Republican congressional candidate Omar Navarro, who's using the slogan "Make California Great Again" in his campaign against Rep. Maxine Waters; Peter Boykin, founder of Gays for Trump and host of a pro-Trump radio show; and several other medium-profile Trump supporters.
https://www.bustle.com/p/why-is-it-called-mother-of-all-rallies-the-march-sounds-disturbingly-similar-to-this-weapon-2357596

1 million people? They are so obsessed with crowd sizes that they couldn’t even get 1,000 in! Even if the Koch Brothers paid them and bussed them in! I mean look at how many people showed up!

Yeah Latinos for Trump? Trump got the sketchiest guy he could for “Blacks For Trump”, how is Latinos For Trump or Gays For Trump any different? Well…

Gutierrez's controversial ideas about his "dominant" culture may sound as if the United States faces an impending civilizational threat coming through the Mexico border but his comments became even more eyebrow-raising as he spoke with Reid. "Let's be honest," Gutierrez warned, "If you don’t do something about it, us as Hispanics, we’re going to have the White House full of taco trucks and we are going to be selling paletas on every corner around the White House. And, we are going to have piñatas and atole. I know my people, guys. You need to defend your country, our country." For those who may not know, "paletas" and "atole" are frozen fruit popsicles and a Mexican drink respectively.

Last year, Gutierrez's faction of supposedly pro-Trump Latinos carried out "Operation Taco Bowl" after Trump tweeted, "The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!" On social media like Twitter and Facebook as well as video websites like YouTube, Gutierrez remains remarkably active with over 50 self-recorded videos of himself on YouTube alone where he talks about the Latinx community and Trump's politics.

Gutierrez is also a vociferous supporter of Trump's controversial vow to build a border wall. At present, Gutierrez's Twitter page boasts a header image in favor of Trump's notorious campaign promise to build a "big, beautiful" wall between Mexico and the United States of America. But Trump supporters have started expressing concern that their political icon is "going soft" on his promise.
https://www.bustle.com/p/who-is-marco-gutierrez-the-latinos-for-trump-founder-will-speak-at-moar-2366790

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[font size="8"] Confederate States II: Electric Boogaloo Die Harder
[br] [/font] [br]

So while that gigantic pile of fail known as the Mother Of All Rallies was going on in Washington DC, let’s go west and show you what was happening in Virginia. Can we get a shot of that?

Now just remember kids, let this be a lesson – dress for the job you want, not the job you have! Thank you! Although what job does confederate flag spandex qualify you for? Not too many that I can think of off the top of my head! Well, maybe this one.

Richmond, Virginia is bracing for violence as neo-Confederates target the former capitol of the Confederacy less than one month after Heather Heyer was killed in what many are calling an act of domestic terrorism.

CSAII: The New Confederate States of America is planning an unpermitted “Heritage not Hate” rally to defend Richmond’s Robert E. Lee Monument following the deadly “Unite the Right” rally to defend Charlottesville’s Robert E. Lee statue.

“I hope nobody loses their lives tomorrow, on either side, I really do,” CSA II organizer and Three Percenter militia organizer Tara Brandau told WTVR. “That’s not why we are here.”
http://www.rawstory.com/2017/09/i-hope-nobody-loses-their-lives-armed-neo-confederates-descend-on-virginia-to-defend-statue-at-all-costs/

Yeah we’re going pessimistic here today at the Top 10. But what happened in Richmond exactly? Oh sure, if you saw Twitter and Facebook, all you would see is the usual bullshit about how George Soros is paying Antifa to silence conservatives. But they really just bring it on themselves. Case in point:

A pro-Confederate rally that put city officials and residents alike on edge in the aftermath of Charlottesville ended without major incident shortly after it began Saturday morning.

About seven people stood for an hour and a half holding Confederate flags and arguing with a crowd of counterprotesters that steadily climbed into the hundreds until police ushered the Confederates away.

“As the group (of counterprotesters) started getting bigger, we escorted them out a little earlier than planned,” said Richmond police spokeswoman Koury Wilson.

But the organizers’ departure from the rally site just west of the Lee statue on Monument Avenue was complicated by two flat tires they discovered when they arrived back at their truck two blocks away. A crowd of several dozen counterprotesters confronted and then chased them as they attempted to drive away in the disabled vehicle.

The group made it several blocks through the Fan District before stopping and waiting with police for a tow truck.
http://www.richmond.com/news/local/city-of-richmond/monument-avenue-rally-attracts-few-confederate-supporters-ends-peacefully/article_470b9be6-0140-55ee-b99d-48bf7302d44a.html

By the way, we really need to explore the confederacy in “How Is This Still A Thing” in a future top 10 because they really are convinced its’ still a thing.

RICHMOND, Va. -- Most of the pro-Confederate demonstrators who held a rally near the Robert E. Lee monument on Monument Avenue in Richmond Saturday morning ended their rally around 11 a.m. A Richmond Police officer on scene told WTVR reporter Brendan King that members of the CSA II: The New Confederate States of America, decided it was in their best interest to end the rally at that time.

The rally, anxiously anticipated all week by Richmond Police, and which led to the deployment of a vast array of city and state resources, got underway Saturday about 10 a.m. A large crowd of people who opposed the pro-Confederates gathered at the Maggie Walker statue on Broad Street in downtown Richmond at about 10 a.m. and marched to Monument Avenue. Upon their arrival, their group far outnumbered the pro-Confederates -- some of whom arrived in Virginia from out-of-state.
http://wtvr.com/2017/09/16/live-updates-monument-avenue-rally/

Oh and here’s the biggest fail – the group isn’t even from Virginia! I mean how did they even hear about this? Did they have a Google alert setup for “confederate statue removal”?

A small, Tennessee-based group is planning to hold a rally to show support for Confederate memorials on Monument Avenue in Richmond on Saturday morning. Counterprotests are planned. Police have uncovered no intelligence leading them to believe the event will draw the large and violent crowds seen in Charlottesville, but said they've nonetheless spent weeks preparing and are ready for the worst.
http://www.richmond.com/news/local/city-of-richmond/live-coverage-about-six-pro-confederate-protesters-being-confronted-by/article_34eb5282-25f0-5a0d-b9f4-4e1ffaeb024a.html

I like that one! And then while 7 arrests were made, they just packed up and left quietly with their tail between their legs.

6:20 p.m.: There were a total of seven arrests made during Saturday's pro-Confederate rally and counterprotests in Richmond.

Four of the arrests were for wearing a mask in public.

Caroline Hill, 24, of McLean; Thomas W. Rockett, 21, of Herndon; Corissa C. Duffey, 25, of Stockbridge, Ga.; and Ian M. Gerson, 32, of Brooklyn, N.Y. were charged with wearing a mask in public. It's against Virginia law for anyone over age 16 to wear a mask to conceal their identity.

Brittany D. Bush, 29, of Petersburg, was charged with disorderly conduct. She was arrested for allegedly threatening a bystander.

Jabari A. Robinson, 21, of Roanoke, was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
http://www.richmond.com/news/local/city-of-richmond/live-coverage-about-six-pro-confederate-protesters-being-confronted-by/article_34eb5282-25f0-5a0d-b9f4-4e1ffaeb024a.html

[font size="8"]Donald Trump
[br] [/font] [br]

We need some music for this one.

No, wait. How about…

Or:

So of course you know the Trump Pentagon has been threatening the very real possibility of a nuclear war with North Korea. And if you live on the east coast, the west coast, in Hawaii, or in Alaska, or any of the US territories in the Caribbean or the Pacific Islands, one thing is certain, we’re all gonna die. At least we’ll go out laughing. Why? Well…

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/909384837018112000

That’s right – Rocket Man! You know he’s a rocket man, burning out his fuse here all alone. Rocket Man, yeah! Of course there’s always this.

Midway through his Sunday morning Twitter storm, President Trump assigned his latest in a long line of nicknames — this time to the leader of nuclear-armed North Korea, Kim Jong Un, henceforth known as “Rocket Man.”

Without addressing the geopolitical wisdom of tweet-baiting an unpredictable dictator, even some of Trump’s critics had to admit that he’d come up with a pretty clever name.

In a mere nine letters, the president simultaneously mocked Jong Un, belittled his regime’s missile arsenal and alluded to the popular lyrics of Elton John.

But that really shouldn't surprise anyone. A brief review of the long history of Trumpisms shows that, regardless of how he’s doing as leader of the free world, Trump has really stepped up his name game.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/09/17/from-sleepy-eyes-to-rocket-man-a-compendium-of-belittling-nicknames-trump-has-invented/?utm_term=.dd9e5fd10ead

So is it just Sunday when Trump seems more off his rocker than usual? I mean all those trips to golf on his properties must be exhausting. And of course, like everything Trump does, that tweet was once again, ill advised:

President Donald Trump's mocking of Kim Jong Un as "Rocket Man" was unhelpful in dealing with North Korea's nuclear threat, former diplomat Nicholas Burns said Monday.

Trump made the reference to the North Korean leader in a tweet Sunday.

"The interesting thing about the Trump policy is the Trump policy I think has been right in what they've been trying to do," said Burns, who was undersecretary of State for political affairs during the George W. Bush administration.

"The president's public remarks have been off. 'Rocket Man' [is] probably not the best things to say even to a brutal leader like Kim Jong Un," Burns added in an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

Trump will address the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday and is expected to touch on the crisis that has seen the president and Pyongyang trade threats of military action. North Korean diplomats will also be present.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/18/trump-rocket-man-tweet-about-kim-jong-un-was-ill-advised-ex-diplomat.html

But yes once again – Trump is wrong on everything, like most things he does. Can we just admit two things: 1 is that we’re all gonna die, and 2 is that Trump is wrong on everything!

New international sanctions against North Korea have led to a spike in petrol prices, but there is little evidence for US claims that the country is being “economically strangled” or that motorists are panic-buying petrol.

On Sunday, Donald Trump combined a taunt aimed at the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, with the assertion that the country’s citizens were queuing for petrol before the latest round of sanctions hits supplies.

Referring to a telephone conversation earlier in the day with the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, Trump tweeted: “I spoke with President Moon of South Korea last night. Asked him how Rocket Man is doing. Long gas lines forming in North Korea. Too bad!”

A week after the United Nations security council voted to reduce gasoline exports and cap crude oil supplies to North Korea in response to its sixth nuclear test, Washington insisted the regime was starting to “feel the pinch”.

The comments came from the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, who said recent sanctions had caused the country to be “cut off from the world”.

But experts have challenged claims that the oil sanctions will exert sufficient pressure on the North Korean economy to convince the regime to change course.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/18/trumps-rocket-man-tweet-oil-sanctions-north-korea-kim-jong-un

[font size="8"]Donald Trump
[br] [/font] [br]

So our 45th president, Donald J. Trump, has some attorneys who are just as horrible as he is. In fact, not only do they not care, they go out of their way to make a point about not caring. It’s kind of like 21st Century Dadaism. You know – the da da art movement was started in the 1920s as sort of a rebellion against art at the time. Sort of art against art. This is neo-dadaism – it’s conservatives who hate the government waging war against the government. They don’t care so much they’re literally doing it next to the people who Trump calls “FAKE NEWS!”.

It is every Washington reporter’s dream to sit down at a restaurant, overhear secret stuff and get a scoop. It rarely happens. Still, everyone in town important enough to have secrets worth keeping knows that secrets are not safe on the Acela train and in Washington restaurants. This is especially true in eateries next door to a major newspaper.

Yes, Ty Cobb and John Dowd, lawyers for President Trump, we’re talking to you. But it’s too late now. Dowd represents Trump but does not work at the White House. Cobb is a White House employee who is instantly recognizable to many because of his handlebar mustache. Together, they went for what appears to have been a working lunch at BLT Steak, 1625 I St. NW in Washington. It’s close to the White House and very convenient. It’s also next door to 1627 I St. NW, which happens to house the Washington bureau of the New York Times.

Sitting at the next table, according to the Times, was Kenneth Vogel, one of Washington’s most skillful investigative reporters. Vogel is former reporter for Politico, which is based in Virginia, who arrived at the Times just in time for the Russia investigation and, as it turned out, just in time for lunch.

Vogel overheard the lawyers talking about White House counsel Donald F. McGahn II and Jared Kushner ................
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/09/18/trump-lawyers-spill-beans-after-terrible-restaurant-choice-next-to-nyt/?tid=ss_fb&utm_term=.34dec31c52fahttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/09/18/trump-lawyers-spill-beans-after-terrible-restaurant-choice-next-to-nyt/?tid=ss_fb&utm_term=.34dec31c52fa

And yeah he really does have the worst attorneys. You don’t go blabbing evidence in a trial out in the open. You don’t make threats while you’re on trial. Just ask Martin Shkreli. Hey o!!!

The New York Times published a fascinating look on Sunday at internal clashes between President Trump's various lawyers, who are fighting diligently over the extent to which the administration should cooperate with Robert Mueller's myriad requests for emails and documents. Ty Cobb, the curly-mustachioed attorney helming the president's response to the Mueller investigation, apparently wants to be more forthcoming with disclosures, while White House counsel Don McGahn, citing concerns about preserving the scope of executive privilege, has been reluctant to so readily accede to the special counsel's demands. Cobb has grown irritated with the White House's reticence of late, theorizing that McGahn is keeping "a couple documents locked in a safe" and may have even planted a spy on Cobb's team.

How did the Times learn so many fascinating details about the extremely sensitive discussions between the leaders of the president's army of well-compensated attorneys, you ask? Because Cobb and John Dowd, another personal attorney for Donald Trump, elected to discuss them in great detail over lunch at BLT Steak, a thoroughly mediocre Washington dining establishment that has nonetheless become a fixture for the city's power players and aspiring power players alike—and that happens to be located immediately adjacent to the Times' D.C. bureau. Lest there be any doubt about the hilariously literal nature of this statement, one of the reporters appearing on the story's byline posted photographic evidence of his scoop.
https://www.gq.com/story/steakhouse-scoop

So why blab secrets out in the open when you’re right next to the NEW YORK TIMES BUILDING??? I mean are you really that fucking stupid? Or could it be because of this?

The very fact that the F.B.I. raided Manafort’s home is telling: the former Trump campaign manager is reportedly under investigation for potentially violating tax laws, money laundering, and the failure to disclose foreign lobbying on behalf of pro-Russian interests. In order for Mueller to obtain the warrant to search and enter Manafort’s home unannounced, his team would have had to convince a judge not only that the home contained evidence of a crime, but that Manafort was likely to destroy evidence. “Clearly they didn’t trust him,” Jimmy Gurulé, a Notre Dame law professor and former federal prosecutor, told the Times. “This is more consistent with how you’d go after an organized crime syndicate,” he added. (Manafort has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.)

If Mueller’s tactics are extraordinary, it may be because the F.B.I. does not view this as a typical white-collar case. Also on Monday, CNN reported that U.S. law enforcement had wiretapped Manafort under a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant as early as 2014, when he came under investigation by the F.B.I. for work that he conducted as a political consultant for the pro-Kremlin Party of Regions in Ukraine. According to CNN, Manafort was under surveillance before the 2016 election, but the work was discontinued due to a lack of evidence at some point last year. The F.B.I. later obtained a new FISA warrant, which reportedly extended into early 2017 and was part of the probe into whether members of the Trump campaign worked with the Kremlin to derail Hillary Clinton’s candidacy.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/09/robert-mueller-paul-manafort-investigation

[font size="8"]Donald Trump
[br] [/font] [br]

So this week Trump went to the UN, and his speech, as you can imagine is about as batshit crazy as it gets. It had all of his greatest hits – and there was also some new material as he called North Korea’s glorious dictator Kim Jong Un “Rocket Man”. Again.

NEW YORK — President Trump warned the United Nations in a speech Tuesday that the world faces “great peril” from rogue regimes with powerful weapons and terrorists with expanding reach across the globe, and called on fellow leaders to join the United States in the fight to defeat what he called failed or murderous ideologies and “loser terrorists.”

“We meet at a time of immense promise and great peril,” Trump said in his maiden address to more than 150 international delegations at the annual U.N. General Assembly. “It is up to us whether we will lift the world to new heights or let it fall into a valley of disrepair.”

The president's address was highly anticipated around the world for signs of how his administration would engage with the United Nations after he had criticized the organization during his campaign as being bloated and ineffective, and threatened to slash U.S. funding.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/09/19/in-u-n-speech-trump-warns-that-the-world-faces-great-peril-from-rogue-regimes-in-north-korea-iran/?utm_term=.9d67f3a4f1b4

Now it’s time to play “What’s in the background?” . Can we show that shot of the UN audience during Trump’s speech? Especially look at what Gen. Kelly is doing.

I mean really I think it’s time to say Trump has gone mad with power, am I right about that? And I think the take away from this is that we’re all gonna die. But here’s the first take away:

'Sovereign' or 'sovereignty'

The word "sovereign" is the embodiment of Trump's "America First" vision of US foreign policy, and Trump made clear to the world that the US will ultimately act in its own self-interest and said that other countries would naturally do the same.
"In foreign affairs, we are renewing this founding principle of sovereignty. Our government's first duty is to its people, to our citizens, to serve their needs, to ensure their safety, to preserve their rights and to defend their values," Trump said. "I will always put America first, just like you, as the leaders of your countries, will always and should always put your countries first."
Trump also said that sovereignty can be a "call for action," noting that "all people deserve a government that cares for their safety, their interests and their well-being."
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/19/politics/donald-trump-united-nations-speech/index.html

And the second take away:

'Radical Islamic terrorism'
In vowing Tuesday that "we will stop radical Islamic terrorism," Trump dimmed hopes that he had begun to understand the damaging impact the controversial phrase can have on relations with Muslims in the US and abroad.
Many of the President's foreign policy advisers -- most notably national security adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster -- have urged him to drop his use of the phrase, which associates terrorism with the religion of Islam.
Trump's prepared remarks for his speech in Saudi Arabia called for him to say "Islamist extremism" instead -- a phrase used to distinguish between the religion of more than a billion people around the world and the fundamentalist political ideology that drives terrorist groups like ISIS and al Qaeda.

Of course his favorite 3 words – “Radical Islamic Terrorism”. You know I’m going to call my new stand up comedy album that. Ooh, ooh! Can you do the bit about building the wall next because that one is hilarious!

After first tweeting it days earlier, Trump himself publicly uttered his new moniker for the North Korean dictator during his speech on Tuesday.
A senior administration official told CNN's Jim Acosta the "Rocket Man" term was a late addition to the President's formal speech -- added this morning.
The nickname, coupled with his vow to "totally destroy North Korea" if need be, made clear that Trump still firmly believes in the power of dramatic rhetoric as a tool in his ongoing confrontation with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un.

Oh come on, don’t you know we’re onto making fun of you about Rocket Man? And why hasn’t anyone recorded a parody of someone singing Rocket Man as Trump? I’d do it but I don’t have skills, talent, or a budget. But this might be the worst part of the whole speech:

United Nations (CNN)President Donald Trump delivered Tuesday a doomsday warning to North Korea and mocked its young leader, a pugnacious escalation in rhetoric in a wide-ranging debut address to the United Nations, the world's foremost diplomatic body.
In blunt terms, Trump warned the US would "totally destroy North Korea" if forced to defend itself or its allies. He said while the US has "great strength and patience," its options could soon run out.
Directly putting the country's leader on notice, Trump suggested Kim Jong Un could not survive an American attack. "Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself," he said.
www.cnn.com/2017/09/18/politics/donald-trump-un-speech-iran-north-korea/index.html

[font size="8"]Alex Jones
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Man, do I really have to talk about Infowars this week? Ah…. I don’t want to. Make me. Fine. It takes one to know one! But mom! OK fine. We have to talk about Infowars this week because if you thought his theories about NASA holding child slave colonies on Mars, or that the “deep state” (whatever that is) is creating AI bots that will eat your soul are crazy, wait until you see what this guy has cooked up for this week!

It's a big day for InfoWars conspiracy chief and definitely-not-Bill-Hicks-after-faking-his-own-death Alex Jones. It is, first and foremost, the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, which Jones has long contended was a false flag operation in which the Bush administration played a role. It's also the anniversary of Hillary Clinton's fainting incident at the 9/11 Memorial, which Jones' website is celebrating with unmitigated glee. But it's also time for a fresh tale out of the seemingly endless Jonesian conspiracy archive, and this one concerns the man who defeated Clinton with Jones' full-throated support: President Donald J. Trump.

It can't be an easy task for Jones to shoehorn Trump's presidency into his worldview. After all, his narrative during the election was that a vast conspiracy of globalist elites was working to stop Trump, the rightful representative of The People. These dark forces, which control all the levers of financial and political power, promptly failed to stop Trump becoming president. Since, Trump has adopted an orthodox conservative approach to many issues while simultaneously engaging in impressive feats of self-sabotage. It puts his anti-establishment right-wing defenders in a bit of a pickle.

Let none of that detract from this legendary tirade, however. Because no one can force world events into the tiny box of his worldview like Alex Jones. Bare witness as the InfoWars host—whose website plays host to 4.78 million unique viewers a month—explains how The Globalists are drugging the president's Diet Coke, which Trump orders with the push of a Big Red Button on the Resolute Desk. Watch as Jones explains they're doing this so they can slowly damage Trump's brain and then claim he has Alzheimer's. Notice the casual reference to the theory that Ronald Reagan was given "cold blood," a "transfusion that causes brain damage." Jones has "talked to people, multiple ones" about all this, who shared that the president is "slurring his words" each evening because of a drug that is simultaneously brain-destroying and highly addictive—and not just because they're serving it to him in a delicious Diet Coke!
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a12222847/alex-jones-trump-drug-diet-coke/

That’s right! Donald Trump isn’t stupid! The Deep State is putting drugs in his Diet Cokes! Really, you can’t make this shit up. I love how he’s like “Oh and this is information that could kill you”. Oh and by the way Alex, talking to “people, even multiple ones” does not include the voices in your head, you got that? Oh and it gets weirder:

Two of President Trump’s most loyal allies have expressed concern that he is being drugged. On “The Alex Jones Show” Monday, political attack dog Roger Stone revealed bombshell information about the president’s speech.

“He is slurring his words on various times, and that’s what’s concerning,” Stone told host Alex Jones.

“Let’s be very clear: I have a source at The New York Times, a reporter who expressed to me a concern that in a conversation they had on the phone with the president that he was slurring his words,” he added.

Because Trump does not drink, and “certainly does not do drugs,” the only plausible explanation for the president’s slurred speech is that he is being involuntarily medicated, according to Stone. That, or the president is just exhausted.
http://www.salon.com/2017/09/12/alex-jones-roger-stone-agree-someone-may-be-drugging-president-trump/

Of course he had to get Roger Stone involved in this. Because, why not? Oh and then his own theory is debunked by Trump’s actions – his lack of energy is due to his extremely poor diet:

Let’s start with the Diet Cokes: The president likes to slurp them down, sometimes through a straw, and he can press a red button on the Resolute Desk to have them delivered to him. They are, demonstrably, health bummers. Filled with artificial sugars known to contribute to weight gain, regular consumption has been shown to increase a person’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

A small, controversial study published in the journal Stroke in April reported a correlation between diet soda consumption and a higher risk of developing dementia or experiencing a stroke. While the study’s authors could not definitely prove a cause-effect relationship, numerous studies have confirmed that habitual diet soda drinking is linked to obesity.

Even Trump, who grappled with his own passion for Diet Coke in 2012, seems to be aware of this correlation.

What makes up the rest of Trump’s diet is less than ideal for someone tasked with leading the United States of America. He loves to get down with Doritos and Lays potato chips, overcooked steaks, and McDonald’s burgers. That’s a far cry from Obama’s seven almonds.

Trump’s diet is high in salt and in fat, which can lead to the development of cardiovascular disease, especially for people over the age of 50. Studies also demonstrate that fast food consumption has a strong positive association with weight gain, and increases the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. And being overweight, scientists have found, makes people to become sedentary and tired.
https://www.inverse.com/article/36402-alex-jones-conspiracy-donald-trump-diet

[font size="8"]Holy Shit
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It’s time for this week in:

Yes, friends!!! Gather around, friends!!! Praise the lord and pass the collection plate! Yes, and on the seventh day, God created the poop emoji with the halo over it. And then he rested. Welcome friends! This week in religious white supremacy, there’s a lot to talk about. And let’s face it – the religious right is why we can’t have nice things, like a $15 minimum wage, or disaster relief after two massive hurricanes. Let’s start with some some lawsuits that prove exactly why we can’t have nice things:

Under ‘Key Achievements’, Mr Savage had written: “Standing up for and defending my religious beliefs which include that abortion on demand is evil and homosexuality is an intrinsic disorder inclined towards evil.”

When the adviser at Seeter warned him that the passage could harm his chances of getting the job, Mr Savage instead decided to open a complaint against them for religious discrimination.

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/09/15/man-called-homosexuality-evil-on-his-cv-then-sued-for-for-discrimination/

Yeah so that’s a fail. As if that’s bad enough, there’s these douchebags in the UK. I really wonder if they really think Jesus must be proud because of their hatred?

A Christian couple are reportedly threatening to sue a Church of England primary school because it allowed a boy in their son's class to wear a dress.

The family withdrew the six-year-old from the school and will now educate him at home, alongside his eight-year-old brother, who was taken out of school a year ago after a boy in his class also began to wear dresses.

The boys' parents, Nigel and Sally Rowe, will argue that the school has acted without due regard to pupils and not respected their rights to bring up their children according to their biblical beliefs.

The school, which has not been named, said it followed Church of England guidance and that transgender people were protected under the Equalities Act.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/christian-parents-sue-school-allowed-wear-dress-uniform-transphobia-church-enland-a7938926.html

Oh come on, even Judge Judy is giving you the facepalm. I can only imagine what she would say in that trial. “Suck it up, snowflakes! You can handle this!!!”. Well, maybe she wouldn’t use the term “snowflake”. At least neither the UK or the US is Africa, though that’s what religious conservatives want:

Twenty people have been arrested on Tanzania's semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar for alleged homosexuality, police say.

The 12 women and eight men were picked up in a hotel where they were receiving training about HIV/Aids education programmes.

Earlier this year, authorities banned many private health clinics from providing HIV/Aids services, saying they encouraged gay sex.

Homosexuality is a crime in Tanzania.

Regional police commander Hassan Ali Nasri said on state television: "They are implicated in homosexuality. We arrested them and are busy interrogating them. The police cannot turn a blind eye to this practice."
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-41292920

Yeah we can live with that. It definitely sucks when the conservative hate machine cranks things up way past 11. But they’re not hate mongers, they will tell you. Oh and just like the Chumbawumba song, the Christian right gets knocked down, but they get up again. They will never let you down:

Lawmakers this year proposed no fewer than two dozen bills aimed at restricting the rights of LGBT Texans. In June, Governor Greg Abbott signed into law a measure that critics say allows private, religious-based adoption agencies to turn away LGBT parents. A so-called bathroom bill to police public restroom access for transgender Texans became a defining issue in the Legislature, but with overwhelming opposition from schools, police officials and big business leaders, the more moderate House refused to pass it. As House Speaker Joe Straus told the New Yorker’s Lawrence Wright, “I don’t want the suicide of a single Texan on my hand.”

Despite, or perhaps because of, that defeat, Parker and other activists are still hunting for bathroom battles. It makes sense they’d look for them in schools. After conservative Christian groups such as Texas Values killed LGBT protections in Houston with the rallying cry “No Men in Women’s Restrooms” in 2015, they zeroed in on schools with trans-inclusive policies. When Fort Worth ISD issues guidelines for faculty on navigating gender issues, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick demanded that the superintendent resign and called the conflict a “modern day come-and-take-it moment.”
https://www.texasobserver.org/legislative-defeat-conservative-groups-take-bathroom-fight-local-schools/

I like that one! Next up – there’s our old buddy Lance Wallnau, who we love to make fun of in the Wheel Of Corruption because he’s just so batshit fucking crazy. Well, he may have officially lost it. Not that he’s ever had it to begin with:

Right-wing preacher Lance Wallnau streamed a video on Periscope yesterday in which he blasted the “knucklehead bloggers” who dared to mock his claim that his prayer changed the course of Hurricane Irma and suggested that the storm didn’t damage any of President Trump’s properties in Florida because he is protected by God.

“I’ve got these knucklehead bloggers that watch me and always make fun of me,” he said. “They were crazy last week over the hurricane. They kept saying, ‘He thinks his prayers with 5,000 people influenced the direction of the hurricane.’ Well, I’ll tell you what, I believe our prayers, along with everybody else’s, did influence the direction of the hurricane.”

Responding to Bill Maher’s joke that the fact that Trump’s properties made it through the hurricane without damage is proof that there is no God, Wallnau declared that “of course nothing happened to Donald Trump’s property, that was a demonic storm … The Lord didn’t send it, the devil is loosing chaos in America.”
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/lance-wallnau-suggests-hurricane-irma-was-unable-to-damage-trumps-florida-properties-because-he-is-protected-by-god/

Oh and finally this week for Holy Shit, there’s Roy Moore. Yes, conservative trolls never go away, they just find new troll caves to hide under:

Roy Moore, the disgraced former judge leading the pack in a US Senate election, has close ties to a pastor who has called for gay people to be put to death.

Roy Moore is running for the US Senate seat vacated by Trump’s Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and has a lead over his GOP primary opponent.

It has emerged this week that Moore also has ties to an extremist pastor who has called for gay people to be put to death.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/09/12/republican-senate-candidate-roy-moore-doesnt-know-if-gay-people-should-be-executed/

Yeah BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Yeah Roy, you do. Don’t hide behind it – own that shit. Either you’re a hardcore hate monger, or you’re not. Don’t sugarcoat your hate, douchebag. That’s it for this week in:

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

So of course you know by now people are people, and people are dumb. So after an extremely heavy dose of holy shit, we’re going to cover some actual shit. See what I did there? We’re going to start by going to Colorado Springs, Colorado for this insane story.

The Colorado Springs family has spent weeks trying to get a mystery woman they've dubbed "The Mad Pooper" to stop defecating in their neighborhood, right outside their house.

Cathy Budde says her kids caught her first mid-squat, pants down and unashamed.

"They are like, 'There's a lady taking a poop!' So I come outside, and I'm like ... 'are you serious?'" Budde recalled. "'Are you really taking a poop right here in front of my kids!?' She's like, 'Yeah, sorry!'"

The family says it was just the first time it actually caught the runner doing it, but it wouldn't be the last. Budde estimates the runner leaves behind human waste at least once a week. She says "The Mad Pooper" has been at it for the last seven weeks.

She can't help but laugh at the absurdity of the whole situation.

"Two other times we've caught her -- caught her yesterday -- she changed up her time a little bit because she knew I was watching," Budde said.
http://www.wbay.com/content/news/Mad-Pooper-wanted-by-Colorado-Springs-police-445687083.html

So not once has this woman been caught doing the nasty in someone’s lawn – it has happened MULTIPLE TIMES!!! And people wonder why we can’t have nice things. Speaking of not having nice things, let’s now go to Germany. And really – this only applies to the men out there. Don’t do this. I mean really. Don’t do this.

Firefighters spent three hours using power tools to free a man with his penis trapped in a gym weight.

The crew used an angle-grinder and a circular saw to prise the 2.5kg dumbbell disc off the unfortunate weight-lifter at a hospital in Worms, Germany.

"One person had a very sensitive part of the body trapped in the hole of a 2.5 kg dumbbell disc," it said on Facebook, describing the call-out as "somewhat different".

Perhaps wisely, the department offered no details on how the man became trapped. But it cautioned: "Please do not imitate such actions."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/firefighters-penis-gym-weight-caught-three-hours-worms-germany-dumbbell-disc-a7952961.html

Yeah it’s kind of like that. OK so we have mad poopers and male organs stuck in barbell weights. Where do we go from there? How about let’s go to Arizona where a man trying to eat a snake and the snake eats back?

A Coolidge man remained hospitalized Friday after surviving a rattlesnake bite to the face while trying to show off to friends at a party by attempting to cook the reptile on the barbecue.

Victor Pratt 48, has been at Banner-University Medical Center in Phoenix since Sept. 7.

While celebrating his child's birthday with friends, Pratt said he decided to show them how to catch and cook a rattlesnake after one of the reptiles showed up in his yard during the party.

Pratt, who spoke to The Arizona Republic on Friday, grabbed the venomous snake and was showing it off to friends and family, posing for several photos. But he lost his grip on the snake's head, and it attacked him.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2017/09/15/arizona-man-tries-eat-rattlesnake-snake-bites-back/672586001/

So maybe don’t do that? Speaking of not doing things, maybe don’t stuff cash in a toilet so it overflows?

(GENEVA) — Talk about flush with cash.A Geneva official has confirmed a newspaper report that said wads of cut-up 500-euro notes (about $600 each) mysteriously turned up jammed into the toilets of three neighborhood restaurants and a bank in separate episodes in recent months.

Prosecutor's office spokesman Henri Della Casa confirmed Friday's report in the Tribune de Geneve, saying the shredded notes were once worth tens of thousands of euros in total.

Preliminary clues from an investigation suggested the bounty once belonged to unnamed "Spanish women who had placed the loot in a Geneva vault several years ago," the report said.

At one pizzeria, police were informed after the clogged toilet had overflowed.

http://time.com/4944867/switzerland-toilets-clogged-with-money/?utm_campaign=time&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&xid=time_socialflow_twitter

Flush with cash! Excuse me a minute! Now how about fast food? Remember that one story I did way back during the first season of the Top 10 about the guy who threw the alligator in the Wendys drive thru? Well maybe don’t expose yourself in the Chik Fil A drive thru. Or their god might smote you. Or at least have you arrested.

A 63-year-old man was arrested Tuesday, accused of exposing himself to a drive-thru cashier at a Waco fast-food restaurant for the second time this year, Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said.

Bobby Mathew Dove, of Waco, was arrested after two employees of the Chick-fil-A at 4310 Franklin Ave. reported Dove had exposed himself to them while he was in the drive-thru, Swanton said. The employees notified their manager, but Dove had left the area when police were called, he said.

The vehicle and driver description the employees gave police matched a similar incident reported in late January at a Dairy Queen drive-thru in the 1400 block of North New Road, Swanton said. Dove had received a misdemeanor ticket charging indecent exposure in the first incident.

"On this second incident, officers were able to remember the first incident, went to his house, determined it was him again, and detectives were able to get a warrant for his arrest," Swanton said.

Read more: http://www.wacotrib.com/news/police/waco-man-accused-of-exposing-himself-in-chick-fil-a/article_7370e46c-a1c5-55eb-b429-e743b5e335b9.html

Finally for people are dumb – it’s never too early for Christmas, at least that’s it for the luxury auto manufactures and their seemingly endless barrage of ads for their “holiday sales events” that usually start on what seems like July 1st. But what happens when Santa is a crook?

Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, will have one fewer Papá Noel (Santa Claus) this year.

James Earl Bailey, 69, a self-proclaimed hippie who had been on the lam for 14 years, pleaded guilty Thursday in San Antonio to charges of manufacturing more than 100 marijuana plants.

Since skipping bail in 2003, he’d settled in the northern Mexico town that borders Laredo and lived in a modest home there with the earnings he got from playing ol’ St. Nick.

“Everybody knew him as Santa Claus in Nuevo Laredo,” said his lawyer, Tom McHugh. “He’d go into shops there and charge to take pictures with people and kids. He’d use that (money) to survive the year.”
http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/local/article/Santa-Claus-pleads-guilty-to-12199201.php

That’s it this week for:

[font size="8"]Gene Simmons
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It’s time for:

And man do I need a drink this week, which is why we’re doing a live podcast from Gene Simmons’ Rock N Brews restaurant in my home county at their Buena Park, California location. Say hi to the home audience everybody! So let me just peruse the beverage list… something strong, not too weak. Eh, fuck the specialty drink list. Just bring me a Stone double IPA! Ah there we go! Beer. Can’t go wrong there. So why am I here? Well, Gene Simmons, the founder of Rock N Brews, has got quite the offer for you!

Gene Simmons has announced “the Gene Simmons Vault Experience.” The ambitious endeavor will send the Kiss frontman all over the world, hand-delivering his unwieldy, 38-pound, career-spanning box set The Vault to happy fans in the comfort of their homes. The 10-disc set contains over 150 unreleased songs in addition to a leather-bound photo book, a Gene Simmons “non-makeup” action figure, an “In Gene We Trust” oversized medallion, a “very special surprise item,” and more. The whole thing costs just $2,000.

Of course, there’s also the $50,000 “Home Experience” package that involves Simmons himself bringing the damn thing straight to your doorstep. (Note: Some scheduling and travel restrictions may apply.) A more affordable $25,000 package grants you Executive Producer credit on the box set, exclusive studio time with Simmons, and access to unreleased recordings. Watch an informational video for “The Gene Simmons Vault Experience” below, and find out more information here.
https://pitchfork.com/news/gene-simmons-will-come-to-your-house-and-deliver-his-giant-box-set/

Wait…. Wait… wait…. Wait…. Wait… wait… wait. Did you say $50,000? What I could spend on buying a 2017 Cadillac CTS-V, I could spend on having Gene Simmons come to my house for an hour? Let me just ask my investment advisor… yeah he’s saying that is a terrible investment. He’s also saying *this* is a terrible investment!

Gene Simmons, the co-founder and front-man for the 70's rock band Kiss, is a fan of bitcoin, according to a new interview.

Simmons revealed his interest in an interview with TheStreet, during which he said he views the cryptocurrency primarily as an investment that fits into his wider portfolio. Kiss, formed in 1973, is known for hit songs like "Rock And Roll All Nite" and "Detroit Rock City."

"I am interested in bitcoin, but only as a piece of the [investment] puzzle," he said, according to the publication.

Though he didn't go into much further detail on his investment strategy around cryptocurrencies, he argued in the interview that buying into an asset like bitcoin should be one part of that "puzzle".

"Anybody that goes to Las Vegas and bets all their money on 35-black, [it's] an insane idea," he said, later adding: "Coins? Great. Real estate? Great."
https://www.coindesk.com/kiss-front-man-gene-simmons-interested-bitcoin/

Now Gene, assuming this is true, we might all be M&Ms as currency if the rumors about North Korea and Bit Coin are true:

Hackers linked to North Korea are ramping up attempts to steal bitcoin in order to bring in money for Kim Jong Un's regime, a top cybersecurity firm says.

Bitcoin and other forms of virtual money -- known as cryptocurrencies -- appeal to North Korea as the U.S. pursues international sanctions aimed at further isolating the country, according to a new report from FireEye.

"Sanctions against North Korea are likely to fuel their cybercrime activity," said Bryce Boland, Singapore-based chief technology officer with FireEye. "Attacks on cryptocurrency exchanges can be a great vehicle to obtain what is ultimately hard currency."
http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/12/technology/north-korea-hackers-bitcoin/index.html

At this point you’re probably better off hiding your money under your mattress, Gene. But if you’re looking to make some money, Gene says don’t bother with a career in rock and roll music, as that seems to be the only way to make money these days!

When Kiss legend Gene Simmons talks about the music business, you just shut up and listen.

Here is what Simmons had to say in an interview with TheStreet about the current state of music:

"The state of the music industry is unfortunately very, very dim. I have said before that rock is dead, it really is. It's not because there isn't talent out there, there is a dearth of talent out there. But the system is broken because fans have gotten used to the idea of not paying for anything. There needs to be new legislation. The record companies were asleep at the wheel when that first kid downloaded music for free -- they should have taken his home."

Hey Sean Parker, waiting for your reply.
https://www.thestreet.com/story/14306240/1/gene-simmons.html

[font size="8"]World Tour Destination #14: Argentina
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Part of our mission statement here at the Top 10 Conservative Idiots is to show you that conservative idiocy isn’t just a problem with America. No, it’s a global problem that is stemming far and wide, and it’s not just America where conservative idiots ruin everything they touch. And if you’re thinking of moving out of the United States just because Donald J. Trump is our current president and our nation is turning to shit, you should know what it is you’re getting into should you decide that you want to leave the country. So if you want a recap of where we’ve been so far, in the last few weeks we’ve discovered that the Czech Republic is a liberal utopia with some very bad neighbors, South Africa’s racists make ours look like chumps, and Brazil is still recovering from that epic disaster of an Olympics last year. This week we’re headed to South America! Here’s the tour schedule:

[font size="6"]Argentina[/font]

We got one more stop to make before we head home for a bit of shore leave. So we’re in beautiful Argentina everybody! Argentina is home to some of the most beautiful scenery known to man – you have such scenic places as the Iguazu Falls and the Pietro Moreno glacier – quick! – go see it before it melts thanks to global warming! It’s also home to one of the extremes of nature – the infamous chain of islands known as Tierra Del Fuego and the Beagle Channel where Charles Darwin studied the nature of glaciers. It’s also home to the city of Buenos Aires. Which includes such places to visit as the presidential palace Casa Rosada and La Bombonero Stadium. It’s also the home of such things as the La Ricoleta Art Museum. But what else is Argentina the home of? Remember that whole Equifax breach that we covered already? Well they were one of the countries hit hardest by it.

As you may be well aware by now, Equifax last week disclosed a breach impacting approximately 143 million US consumers as well as some UK and Canadian residents. Now, researchers have discovered that the personal information of thousands of Argentinians may be at risk too due to lax Equifax security practices.

Brian Krebs, a security researcher and author of the KrebsOnSecurity blog, this week revealed that he was recently contacted by researchers at Milwaukee-based information security firm Hold Security who discovered a portal used by Equifax employees in Argentina that was practically "wide open" for anyone to access.

The portal, which let Equifax employees in the Latin American country manage customer credit report disputes, was "protected by perhaps the most easy-to-guess password combination ever: 'admin/admin,'" Krebs wrote. It doesn't take a security expert to know that's a bad idea.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/356215/report-equifax-argentina-portal-was-wide-open

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Go away Gollum! We don’t want to give you our precious! There’s lots of things going on in Argentina, like a bonafied murder mystery involving a private investigator:

A team of investigators in Argentina has reportedly determined that Alberto Nisman, the special prosecutor who investigated the Iran-linked 1994 AMIA Jewish center bombing in Buenos Aires, was murdered and did not commit suicide as claimed by the defense, according to a Spanish-language report Thursday.

Twenty-eight experts in different areas, from ballistics to psychology, determined that Nisman was murdered by a shot to the head, and that the murderer (or murderers) then attempted to cover their tracks at the scene of the crime, according to a report in the Argentine news site Infobae.

Argentinian officials have has not confirmed the report, which comes just days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the first-ever visit by an Israeli premier to Argentina.

Netanyahu brought the issue up in his talk with Argentinean President Mauricio Macri. Israeli officials were told Monday that the investigation was advancing nicely and that they expect an official announcement soon. However, officials in the prime minister’s delegation said that the timing was merely coincidental.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/argentina-experts-said-to-confirm-alberto-nisman-was-murdered/

Yeah that always happens! Let’s talk about something much lighter involving Argentina – like how about street crime? There’s always this.

Argentina's Lower House has approved a bill criminalizing street harassment against women.

The measure was approved in the beginning of a special session and without debate. Senators are now expected to discuss the bill.

The new bill will incorporate street harassment in the Penal Code as a type of “violence against women in the public space.”

Street harassment — often euphemistically referred to as "catcalling" — is defined as “harassment carried out against women by one or more people, in public spaces like public transports or malls, through behaviors or words, with sexual connotation, affecting or harming the dignity, integrity, liberty, freedom of circulation, or generating a hostile or offensive environment.”
https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Street-Harassment-to-Become-a-Crime-in-Argentina--20170913-0038.html

Argentina is also the home of Bit Coins, and Bit Coins and Bit Coin mining are so popular in Argentina that they’re actually starting to incorporate Bit Coin ATMs throughout the country:

Argentina is set to receive 200 ‘bi-directional’ Bitcoin ATMs next month in an initiative responding to the “world monetary order changing.”

Speaking to local news outlet CryptoNoticias, CEO of organizer Odyssey Group Sebastian Ponceliz said there would be multiple benefits of the machines in a country where economic policy was an early driver of consumers towards Bitcoin.

“The idea was born from the understanding that the world monetary order is changing,” he told the publication..
https://cointelegraph.com/news/argentina-jumps-on-bitcoin-atm-bandwagon-with-200-expected-in-october

But no country is immune from the Trump cabal right now, and even our vice president Mike Pence is praising Argentina and its’ message of anti-populism which is what the Trump admin is trying to do here:

BUENOS AIRES — Vice President Pence celebrated Argentina as a model for a prosperous Latin America and vowed additional U.S. trade partnerships here Tuesday while also seeking to further isolate Venezuela and pressure its autocratic leader to reverse course and restore democracy there.

Delivering the centerpiece speech of his week-long visit to South and Central America, Pence on Tuesday declared “the dawn of a new era in the New World.” He carried a message of unity here to Buenos Aires and promoted economic and security ties between the Trump administration and Argentine President Mauricio Macri’s government.

“A secure Latin America means a more secure United States of America,” Pence said. “A prosperous Latin America means a more prosperous United States of America. And the advance of freedom and democracy in Latin America benefits the cause of freedom everywhere.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/pence-praises-argentina-as-a-model-partner-while-raising-pressure-on-venezuela/2017/08/15/93e3feea-81f7-11e7-b359-15a3617c767b_story.html?utm_term=.38f76b7d8f3c

I believe the technical term for that is what is known as a “shit eating grin”, and that is something Argentina should definitely not trust. Especially when the Trump admin is going after 3rd world dictators hard, and they have one right next door:

Except in times of war, few politicians have achieved great electoral success by telling voters to sacrifice living standards today for the sake of a better tomorrow. But in a surprising turn of events, voters in Argentina have just given an unexpected endorsement to this message, which has been the guiding logic behind the anti-populist policies of President Mauricio Macri.

On Sunday, Argentina held primary elections ahead of the Oct. 22 midterm legislative polls. It wasn’t supposed to be a very momentous event, but the results, as it happened, came loaded with significance. Voters didn’t just give a boost to Macri’s governing project. They also showed that Argentina—a country with a history of politics driven by personalities, emotions and short-termism—has developed a new level of political maturity.

After one-and-a-half years of Macri’s bitter economic medicine, and with former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner on the ballot for a Senate seat, few expected Argentineans to give a hearty vote of confidence to Macri and his Cambiemos—or “Let’s Change”—coalition. But that is exactly what they did.
http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/22968/argentina-s-primary-elections-show-that-macri-s-anti-populism-can-win

Define “bad hombres”, Trump. At least Argentina has a friend in Israel in case things go south with the US:

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — President Mauricio Macri of Argentina gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tens of thousands of documents about World War II, some of them related to Nazi war criminals.

Digital copies of the documents — mainly letters, telegrams, newspaper articles, notes and reports — were delivered Tuesday in a box with five discs totaling 5 terabytes of information.

Argentina’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs produced the 139,544 documents mostly between 1939 and 1950.

“I gave to the prime minister an historic Argentinean documentation digitalized about the Holocaust for the use of the State of Israel to investigate and spread the information. This is very important for us,” Macri said at the presidential residence in Buenos Aires at the first-ever formal meeting between the leaders of both countries.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Argentina-turns-over-tens-of-thousands-of-Holocaust-documents-to-Israel-504982

[font size="6"]The Verdict & Scorecard[/font]

While anti-populism is gaining huge support in Argentina, they’re much friendlier to outsiders than Brazil is, and be sure to visit before Putin interrupts another election.

Tourism: C
Culture: B
Political Spectrum: C
Liberal Appeal: B

Overall: B-

[font size="6"]Next Week[/font]

We’re planning to hit all 7 continents, and like any good world tour, this is leaving some time for a bit of shore leave before we head out to Asia, Australia and the Middle East. We’re coming home to the States to visit the great state of New York!

[font size="8"]And Now This:[/font]
[font size="8"]Imagine Dragons[/font]

Ladies and gentlemen, I’m really excited to have this next guest on. They recently hosted the LoudLove Festival in Salt Lake City and they have a new album out called “Evolve” that is getting rave reviews. Playing their song “Lightning”, give it up for Imagine Dragons!

Yeah how about that?

See you next week!

September 19, 2017

Inside The Christian White Supremacist "Creativity Movement"

The Creativity Movement was formed in 1973 by the late racist Ben Klassen under the name Church of the Creator (COTC). Its adherents believe that race, not religion, is the embodiment of absolute truth and that the white race is the highest expression of culture and civilization. Jews and non-whites are considered subhuman "mud races" who conspire to subjugate whites. While Klassen's "religion" attracted few followers at first, by the late 1980s, increasing numbers of white supremacists were drawn to his Nazi-like belief system, which was spelled out in a whole series of Klassen books that included such titles as Nature's Eternal Religion, Rahowa! This Planet Is All Ours, and The White Man's Bible.

Creators, as Creativity followers call themselves, have sometimes literally taken up the movement's calls for RAHOWA — or "racial holy war" — by committing violent hate crimes. Creativity "reverend" George Loeb, for instance, was convicted of the racially motivated murder of Harold Mansfield Jr., a black sailor and Gulf War veteran, in Mayport, Fla., in 1991. In 1993, eight individuals with ties to the COTC were arrested in Southern California for plotting to bomb a black church in L.A. and assassinate Rodney King, whose videotaped beating by white police officers in 1991 had sparked national outrage. Later in 1993, Jeremiah Knesal, a member of the COTC, was found with weapons, ammunition and hate literature in his car; he later confessed to his involvement in a July 1993 firebombing of an NAACP office in Tacoma, Wash. Later (see below), a close associate of the group's leader would go on a murderous racist rampage before police killed him.

In 1992, anticipating a civil lawsuit by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in connection with the Mansfield murder, Klassen sold most of his Otto, N.C., compound at a fire-sale price to William Pierce, founder and leader of the neo-Nazi National Alliance. After searching for a successor to head his group, Klassen, a former Florida state legislator and inventor of one version of the electric can opener, then committed suicide in 1993 by swallowing four bottles of sleeping pills. After his death, his successor, Richard "Rick" McClarty, failed to defend COTC in the 1994 lawsuit SPLC did bring on behalf of Mansfield's family. As a result, Mansfield's family was awarded a $1 million default judgment. (Later, the SPLC also sued Pierce, who had immediately resold the Otto land at an $85,000 profit, for engaging in a scheme to defraud Mansfield's estate. Pierce was forced to give up the profit he had made on the resale of Klassen's land.)
https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/creativity-movement-0

Holy shit.

September 14, 2017

Trump says recent antifa violence justifies his condemnation of both sides in Charlottesville

President Trump on Thursday condemned the violence by the anti-fascist protest movement known as “antifa,” saying their tactics around the country have proved him right for denouncing bad actors on both sides of the racially charged clashes with white supremacists in Charlottesville last month.

Trump said he explained his views on antifa to Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) during their private meeting at the White House a day earlier. Scott had expressed disgust with Trump’s handling of the Charlottesville aftermath.

President Trump on Thursday condemned the violence by the anti-fascist protest movement known as “antifa,” saying their tactics around the country have proved him right for denouncing bad actors on both sides of the racially charged clashes with white supremacists in Charlottesville last month.

Trump said he explained his views on antifa to Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) during their private meeting at the White House a day earlier. Scott had expressed disgust with Trump’s handling of the Charlottesville aftermath.

Even after denouncing the hate groups by name, Trump within days mounted a defense of his initial response, asserting there were “very fine people” among the marchers and suggesting both sides were to blame for the violence.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-says-recent-antifa-violence-justifies-his-condemnation-of-both-sides-in-charlottesville/ar-AArWbC0?li=AA5a8k&ocid=spartandhp

No asshole. The unfiltered hate is only coming from one side. The white supremacy is only coming from one side. The tiki torch marches are only coming from one side. You do not get it.

September 13, 2017

Top 10 Conservative Idiots #3-13: Stop Making Insanely Good Sense Edition

Top 10 Conservative Idiots #3-13: Stop Making Insanely Good Sense Edition

Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! Switch to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots today and we'll give you 4 free smart phones! We are back everybody! We’re going to start with a couple of different stories. The first is that our good friend Ted "Machine Gun Bacon" Cruz (hey! that's the name of my blues band!) liked a porn tweet. Yes – the champion of family values and guy who goes out of his way to let you know he’s more American than the next guy – he loves his guns and his patriotic symbols and slogans – like d a porn tweet. And this wasn’t just amateur stuff – we’re talking some bonafied hardcore pornography here. And we wont show it out of decency, but you fair warning. And then there's KISS frontman Gene Simmons, who is releasing "The Vault". It's a collection of 10 CDs of previously unreleased material. And if you're wondering the cost - don't bother. It can be yours for the low low price of $2000. Or if you want to go even higher and listen to the albums with Gene personally, it can be yours for the low low price of.... drum roll....

.... $25,000!!!! And, if you want Gene Simmons to literally come to your house, that's a cool $50,000 you're going to be spending. Hey instead of spending that kind of money on that, how about funding our show? We could use the money, you know! You know the other story I wanted to briefly touch on for the intro is the new Dennys mascot. You know – you’re one of the largest restaurant chains in North America and possibly the entire world. And if you’re a restaurant that large, maybe you shouldn’t have this as your new mascot. Can we show that?

Yeah it’s a walking, talking piece of shit. Literally. And you definitely don’t want that bringing you breakfast or lunch. You would think that Dennys would have to approve of this giant turd before it went into production, am I right? Is this what they mean by grand slam? Slam it in the toilet! I mean this is an actual turd on their new menu. And why doesn’t it have Trump hair? Someone needs to get on that, ASAP! Oh and by the way, South Park called! They want Mr. Hankey back! All right enough of the intro. But first Bill Maher is back and he reminds people: fuck fees!

Taking the first 2 slots is of course President Trump, two words that go together like “Nutella gum” or “pulsating cyst”. In the first slot we are going to talk about how Trump (1) reacted to yet another extremely horrible hurricane. In the second slot we’re going to take a look at Trump and spirituality – something which he has none of. At number 3 is Rush Limbaugh (3), who said that the hurricane is a liberal hoax, and he’s getting taken to the woodshed about it. In the fourth slot is Infowars. So what happens when you get owned in a debate? Easy – attack the person you’re debating with! Taking slot number 5 is Virgin Atlantic’s founder and CEO Richard Branson (5), and well let’s just say he has more money than brains when it comes to disaster preparedness. In the number 6 slot we’re going to try a new feature called *cue reverb* This Week In HATE (6)! Because there’s lots of hate out there. Trump pardoned Sheriff Joe, Kid Rock said something racist, Newt Gingrich has an online series devoted to stopping liberals, and so much more. At number 7 is one of our favorite punching bags in the Top 10 – Martin Shkreli (7). And whew, wait until you see why he’s in the news this week, and it should put him behind bars for a very long time! At slot number 8 is the Alt Right (8). So you know we reported on this last year that Taylor Swift is a darling of the Alt Right, but this week with the release of her new song “Look What You Made Me Do”, the alt right is taking their love and admiration to newer, creepier heights. Vomit alert. In the number 9 (NEIN!!!) slot we’ve got yet another installment of “People Are Dumb” because, well, people are dumb. Finally this week, we are continuing our ambitious World Tour. We’ve already hit two continents and we’re going for a third as we head to South America! We’re going to the land of cha chas, Carnivale, and extreme corruption as we visit Brazil! Plus we have some live music for you from Brazil’s own heavy metal group Sepultura! Yay!!!! The kids love Sepultura don’t they? Enjoy! And as always don’t forget the key!

[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"]Donald Trump
[br] [/font] [br]

So if you’re living under a rock or don’t watch the news because you’re a kid, then you know about Hurricane Irma, which preceded Hurricane Harvey and is followed by Hurricane Jose. Though I personally like Stephen Colbert’s idea and we should start naming hurricanes after bad people. You know Hurricane Trump, Hurricane Joe Arpaio, Hurricane Infowars, I think you get the idea. But this Hurricane season – it’s been a Category 5 Crap Storm. Yes it’s the hurricane trifecta! You know what? Let’s talk about something much lighter before we get into how Trump fucked this one up.

Some marriages might be dark and stormy, but for Harvey and Irma Schluter, 75 years of marriage were mostly smooth sailing.

Harvey, who turned 104 in July, and Irma Schluter, 92, told the Spokesman-Review in March that there was no secret to how they managed to make it through decades together.

“It’s not hard,” Irma told the Spokesman-Review. “Not at all.”

The Washington couple told the New York Times on Wednesday that they were amazed when they learned two devastating back-to-back hurricanes bear their names.

“I don’t know how they’ve done that, to have a Harvey and Irma,” Irma Schluter, 92, told the New York Times on Wednesday. “I don’t know how that worked out.”
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/washington-couple-harvey-irma-amazed-by-hurricanes-bearing-their-names/472625534

Really? That’s your go-to is that you find the one couple whose name matches the names of the hurricanes? You have no other news to report? OK. So of course this ignites a debate on climate change, as it should. Which prompted some classic Trump tweets to resurface.

Long before he even declared his run for the White House, Donald Trump has been issuing periodic statements affirming his belief that man-made global warming is a myth, meant to stifle US manufacturing. While as recently as 2009 he was cosigning letters with other business leaders calling for “meaningful and effective measures to control climate change,” since about 2011 he has been tweeting his climate denialism regularly, a denialism that culminated in his exiting the Paris climate agreement on Thursday.

Most of his tweets involve some kind of confusion between climate and weather (“hey, it’s cold outside, global warming must be fake”) or condemnation of President Obama for making climate change a priority, which Trump interpreted as foolish. While the vast majority of the tweets predate Trump’s campaign, a couple were issued during the 2016 Republican primary, where this kind of climate change denial was common among candidates.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/6/1/15726472/trump-tweets-global-warming-paris-climate-agreement

But it’s not wrong – that’s what happened! So the guy that Trump picked to head the EPA, is of course, dead set against the idea!

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said Thursday that talking about climate change while a hurricane sliced through the Caribbean on its way to Florida was “very, very insensitive” to the people of Florida.

“Here’s the issue,” Scott Pruitt told CNN. “To have any kind of focus on the cause and effect of the storm; versus helping people, or actually facing the effect of the storm, is misplaced.”

“To discuss the cause and effect of these storms, there’s the… place (and time) to do that, it’s not now,” he said. Pruitt, the fossil fuel-friendly EPA administrator who sued the agency more than a dozen times before leading it, similarly said in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey’s landfall in Texas that it was “opportunistic” and “misplaced” to talk about climate change.

He added to CNN: “Congress should address that at some point. And Congress hasn’t. All I’m saying to you is, to use time and effort to address it at this point is very, very insensitive to this [sic] people in Florida.”

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/scott-pruitt-climate-change-insensitive-floridians

Yeah and there’s good reason to be scared. Because behind door #2, Trump once again proved to be Mr. Sensitive in a time where we need sensitivity! Because the guy they have to be the media director of the White House, Dan Scavino, tweeted a picture of what looks like an airport under water. Can we show that?

White House Social Media Director Dan Scavino tweeted a video of an airplane moving through a flooded tarmac on Sunday, claiming it was the Miami International Airport, according to a Buzzfeed News reporter who got a screen shot of the tweet before it was deleted.

In his tweet, Scavino said he was sharing information about Hurricane Irma from social media with the President and Vice President, as the storm pummeled the Florida coastline Sunday.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/miami-airport-corrects-wh-social-media-director

Which by the way prompted the Miami Airport to respond… “WRONG!!!!”.

But we’re still not done with all the hurricane madness. So what does Trump propose while Florida is being pounded with destructive winds and floods because of the hurricane, what does he propose? Any guesses? You miss? Aid for the victims? Ha ha ha!!! How about you sir? Making insurance companies pay the victims? Nope! What he’s proposing is….. *drum roll*… wait for it…

Trump’s got another priority for his cabinet: massive tax cuts for the uber rich.
That’s right. At today’s cabinet meeting, Trump made sure every cabinet member present knew that the hurricane means a “speed up” in delivering on his “tax reform” agenda.
Despite the populist rhetoric, the reality of Trump’s push for tax cuts could not be more clear: massive tax breaks for corporations and the nation’s millionaires and billionaires.

TRUMP: To create prosperity at home we’ll be discussing our plan for dramatic tax cuts and tax reform. And I think now with what’s happened with the hurricane, I’m gonna ask for a speed up. I wanted a speed up any way, but now we need it even more so. So we need to simplify the tax code, reduce taxes very substantially on the middle class. And make our business tax more globally competitive. We’re the highest anywhere in the world right now.

https://shareblue.com/trump-tells-cabinet-hurricane-irma-means-wealthy-need-their-tax-cuts-faster/

Whew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tax cuts! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!! Yeah!! Called it! All right!

[font size="8"]Donald Trump
[br] [/font] [br]

So we’re going to do something a bit different for this entry and explore Donald Trump’s religious beliefs and spirituality, or lack thereof. So when his spiritual advisor is the Richmond Valentine of Christianity, what does one really believe in? And what do you do when there’s an alarming rate of white nationalism spurting up and it’s all tied into the far right American clergy?

Paula White, the closest thing President Trump appears to have to a spiritual adviser, gave her lengthiest public statements Saturday about the president, saying she’s seen him “on many occasions” show repentance and that her belief that God elevated Trump extends to all leaders — including former president Barack Obama and Trump’s presidential election opponent, Hillary Clinton.

White, 51, is leader of the New Destiny Christian Centre, a huge Pentecostal church near Orlando. Her luxurious lifestyle and celebrity adherents — including Michael Jackson, Tyra Banks and now Trump — has made her both beloved and controversial.

White has been a counsellor and friend to Trump for more than 16 years, she said Saturday at the annual meeting of the Religion News Association, a convention for religion journalism. White is the chair of Trump’s informal evangelical advisory board. She was speaking on a panel about the rise of Pentecostal and charismatic Christians like herself.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-god-president-spiritual-advisor-obama-clinton-christian-orlando-religion-politics-paula-a7938856.html

But then Paula White gets weird with it – as do nearly all right wing evangelicals who still support Trump. Did someone put something in the holy water?

Yeah things are getting really weird with Trump and his spiritual advisers. But it’s not just limited to the clergy! Oh no, even your average Joe church goer is seeing the dark light:

Americans who voted for President Donald Trump tend to call themselves very religious, think Muslims are a threat to the country and see the U.S. as a Christian nation.

Those are some of the core values shared among Trump voters, a new Baylor Religion Survey shows.

Baylor University researchers analyzed responses from 1,501 adults to find out how religious beliefs and behaviors predicted a person's political support. They also found that Trump voters tend to believe in an authoritative God and prefer men and women to adhere to traditional gender roles.
http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2017/09/07/baylor-survey-trump-voters-say-theyre-very-religious-think-muslims-threat-u-s/637609001/

Yes really. But wait a minute – if they’re saying that Trump was chosen by god, what about Obama? Was he also chosen by god?

Paula White, the pastor of New Destiny Christian Center, a Florida megachurch, recently said in a televised interview that Trump had been “raised up” by God and suggested that those who opposed his agenda were “fighting against the hand of God.”

At a conference of religion journalists Saturday, White said that she regretted some of what she had said. But the pastor also reaffirmed her belief that those in authority have been elected by God and said this applied not only to Trump but to his predecessor and presidential opponent as well.

“I’m a preacher, and I got a little fired up and I said some things invariably that I wished I would not have said...and some things that could most definitely, and have most definitely, been taken out of context,” said White at the Religion News Association conference in Nashville, in a Q&A that was shared on Facebook.
http://www.newsweek.com/barack-obama-trump-paula-white-663088

And then why is this becoming such a big deal? Sure there’s Paula White, but what does the rest of the clergy think? There’s got to be someone crazier out there!

Or how about this guy?

But there might actually be something in the holy water that’s turning people into batshit crazy frothing at the mouth lunatics. Hatewatch has more:

[font size="8"]Rush Limbaugh
[br] [/font] [br]

You know in all the editions of the Top 10 so far I don’t think we’ve ever had Rush Limbaugh as a featured entry at all. But that’s about to change. Because this week, Rush Limbaugh proved he’s one of the biggest cowards on the planet. And also one of the stupidest idiots on the planet. I wonder if when Al Franken was writing his book “Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot” if he ever pictured the GOP’s Jabba The Hutt doing something like this?

Conservative icon, radio giant, and Palm Beach resident Rush Limbaugh suggested to his listeners today that the media and meteorologists are exaggerating the threat from Hurricane Irma. In a breathtakingly irresponsible monologue that literally could put lives at risk and directly contradicts virtually every government official and expert of all ideologies, Limbaugh said the attention on Irma is largely driven by political and business agendas:

...So there is a desire to advance this climate change agenda, and hurricanes are one of the fastest and best ways to do it. You can accomplish a lot just by creating fear and panic. You don’t need a hurricane to hit anywhere. All you need is to create the fear and panic accompanied by talk that climate change is causing hurricanes to become more frequent and bigger and more dangerous, and you create the panic, and it’s mission accomplished, agenda advanced.

Now, how do you do this? Well, any number of ways. Let’s take south Florida television, for example. There is symbiotic relationship between retailers and local media, and it’s related to money. It revolves around money. You have major, major industries and businesses which prosper during times of crisis and panic, such as a hurricane, which could destroy or greatly damage people’s homes, and it could interrupt the flow of water and electricity. So what happens?

Well, the TV stations begin reporting this and the panic begins to increase. And then people end up going to various stores to stock up on water and whatever they might need for home repairs and batteries and all this that they’re advised to get, and a vicious circle is created. You have these various retail outlets who spend a lot of advertising dollars with the local media.
http://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2017/09/06/rush-limbaugh-warnings-about-irma-inflated-to-advance-climate-change-agenda/

Excuse me a minute…

OK back to the subject at hand. OK so he claims that the hurricane Irma, one of the largest hurricanes in recorded history, is a liberal hoax. Uh… did you see some of the destruction coming out of St. Maarten?

SAN JUAN, P.R. — One of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded crescendoed over the Caribbean on Thursday, crumpling islands better known as beach paradises into half-habitable emergency zones and sideswiping Puerto Rico before churning north. It is expected to hit the Florida Keys and South Florida by Saturday night.

More than 60 percent of households in Puerto Rico were without power. On St. Martin, an official said 95 percent of the island was destroyed. The Haitian government called for all agencies, stores and banks to shut down as the storm hit. Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda said that half of Barbuda had been left homeless.

Watching Hurricane Irma maraud across Barbuda and Anguilla, residents of Florida and others who found themselves on the wrong side of the forecast were hastening to get out of the way. Government officials in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina pleaded for people to evacuate vulnerable areas, triggering a scramble for the essentials — gasoline, water, sandbags — that, even for hurricane-hardened Floridians, was laced with dread and punctuated with dire warnings from every direction.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/us/destruction-caribbean-irma-florida.html

Yeah there’s nothing funny about that so we wont try to make anything funny out of it. But what we can make fun of is Limbaugh’s decision to skip town.

Rush Limbaugh will be evacuating South Florida, just days after the popular conservative radio host claimed that Hurricane Irma would not hit the United States and that scientists and the liberal media were hyping up the hurricane as proof of their global warming “lie.”

“So there is a desire to advance this climate change agenda, and hurricanes are one of the fastest and best ways to do it. You can accomplish a lot just by creating fear and panic. You don’t need a hurricane to hit anywhere,” Limbaugh said on his show Tuesday. “All you need is to create the fear and panic accompanied by talk that climate change is causing hurricanes to become more frequent and bigger and more dangerous, and you create the panic, and it’s mission accomplished, agenda advanced.”
https://thinkprogress.org/limbaugh-to-evacuate-south-florida-after-claiming-irma-was-a-hoax-cb3fb5fb35b8/

Oh and did we mention how dangerous and reckless this was? No?

NBC meteorologist Al Roker clashed with Rush Limbaugh on Wednesday after the conservative radio host suggested warnings about Hurricane Irma were driven by political agendas around climate change.

The longtime "Today" personality took to Twitter to slam Limbaugh in two tweets while using a #ShameOnRush hashtag in a message to his 1.7 million followers.

"Do not listen to @rushlimbaugh when he says #Irma is not a dangerous #storm and is hype. He is putting people's lives at risk," wrote the 63-year-old Roker.

"To have @rushlimbaugh suggest the warnings about #Irma are #fake or about profit and to ignore them borders on criminal. #ShameOnRush," he wrote in subsequent tweet.

Read more: http://thehill.com/media/349502-al-roker-shames-limbaugh-for-dismissal-of-hurricane-irma-panic

To which of course crybaby Rush blabbed to the “mainstream media” (natch) that – gasp – the media lies!!! The horror!!!

Nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh slammed the media for what he called its "lies and misstatements" over his comments about there being "no reason to panic" in Florida over Hurricane Irma last week.

"I'm going through one of the greatest smears of my career," said Limbaugh to kick off his program on Monday. "This is all over the place that I told people there's no storm. That I told people you don't have to run away from Florida. You don't have to evacuate because I said the storm wasn't coming. I did not say that. I didn't say the storm is not big. I didn't say the storm was going somewhere else. (The media) did.

"There isn't a thing I said about this that anybody can prove that I was wrong about," the best-selling author added.

Limbaugh showed long-range forecasts from 7-10 days ago that showed some possible storm tracks putting Irma further out in the Atlantic before hitting South Carolina or North Carolina and not Florida.

http://thehill.com/homenews/media/350089-limbaugh-slams-media-lies-and-misstatements-over-irma

[font size="8"]Infowars
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So after that last spat in Seattle where Alex Jones got called an asshole and got coffee thrown in his face, it turns out that the Infowars youth outreach program isn’t going so well. In fact you could say that Alex Jones has lost his mind, but his mind went bye-bye a long time ago. And I think my favorite thing about Infowars is their overuse of hyperbolic language. They love to use big words to make them sound intelligent, you know! Lets’ roll the tape and then discuss.

Yeah so that happened. And I’m definitely agreeing with the woman in that video there. Of course Infowars is stupid. But then again their leader is batshit fucking crazy. Especially when he comes up with this as a retort.

It started when Infowars reporter Owen Shroyer was called, “a f*cking idiot” by the girl as he randomly spoke to passersby in an Austin park.

Shroyer went on to call the girl a “vitriolic, petulant child that has no discipline.”

Now Alex Jones is attacking the girl who dared to question the intelligence of an Infowars reporter.

“On his show today, Alex Jones came to his employee’s defense, saying the girl sounded like ‘John Belushi on PCP’ and ‘acts basically like some thug woman'” Media Matters reported.

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/09/some-thug-woman-alex-jones-goes-ballistic-on-young-girl-who-mocked-his-infowars-reporter/#.WbMC1cfkRis.twitter

Just… I don’t even know anymore. I cant even begin to decipher this crap anymore. First of all, Infowars, you should be aware that using big words like “vitriolic, petulant child” is the very type of thing that conservatives make fun of liberals for. And these snowflakes should probably go back to their safe spaces because it gets worse from there.

No matter what the White House might have you think, Infowars and its chief “performance artist,” Alex Jones, are not paragons of virtuous journalism. In fact, their “news” is every bit as fake as the supplements that entire empire is built upon. Their story about a child slave colony on Mars, for example, was recently shot down by NASA, in case you needed proof that such a thing doesn’t exist. Still, despite its rampant fear-mongering and harassment, the Trump-obsessed online hub is still quick to clutch its pearls should anyone direct their bilious invective back at it.

Take the child in the above video, who, after seeing the Infowars logo on the microphone of one of the site’s cronies (wearing a shirt that says “Enjoy nationalism,” natch), recoils like any sane human would at the sight of evil. Unlike many of us, however, this shining light of a human took a moment to say what we’re all thinking in its most basic, boiled-down form: “You’re a fucking idiot.”

The Infowars guy’s heart hammered after hearing such “foul language,” though we’re sure he’ll be back to ruthlessly harassing the parents of Sandy Hook victims in no time.
http://www.avclub.com/watch-a-kid-call-an-infowars-host-a-fucking-idiot-1801901675

&t=10s

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww…. Poor little snowflake cant handle the language? Do you need to go back to your safe space?

But as if that couldn’t get any crazier, Infowars delved into some of the craziest conspiracies they’ve ever cooked up. And Alex Jones has lost it. Although you can’t really lose it when you never had it to begin with. They also got owned on Orwell:

Folks online have given a much-needed history lesson to Infowars editor-at-large Paul Joseph Watson.

The British-based conspiracy theorist tweeted Wednesday that author George Orwell “rolls in his grave” at the idea of antifa ― the far-left anti-fascist movement confronting hate groups at public protests like the one in Charlottesville, Virginia, last month ― holding signs that say “no hate.”

Under a photograph of antifa activists, Watson described them as “the most hateful group in America.”

Watson appeared to forget (or didn’t realize) that Orwell himself actually fought fascists in the Spanish Civil War, and even wrote Homage to Catalonia about his experience.

Historical researcher Mike Stuchbery, who teaches the history of the 1936-1939 conflict to children in schools, was quick to remind Watson that Orwell was “as ‘Antifa’ as it gets.”
www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/infowars-editor-gets-owned-by-historian_us_59aa6035e4b0b5e530fee6c8

And if that couldn’t get any crazier, Alex cooks up what might be his most batshit insane theory to date, and this is coming from the guy who thought NASA had child slave colonies on Mars. And by the way, I’m titling my stand up album “The Race Narrative”. Fair warning. I mean really, how much blow do you have to do to believe something like this? :

Infowars radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones claimed yesterday that artificial intelligence is “warring humans against each other” with discussions about race and culture, in addition to “bringing in foreign stimuli like the Islamists.”

During yesterday’s broadcast of “The Alex Jones Show,” right-wing internet personality and Infowars guest host Mike Cernovich joined Jones to discuss recent reports that tech giant Elon Musk fears the future of artificial intelligence (AI).

“You notice the computer is already warring humans against each other with the race narrative, the culture narrative, and then bringing in foreign stimuli like the Islamists, which we have to fight,” Jones said, “because it wants to take us over like the AI and it brings in that artificial stimuli to then just super-charge it.”

Cernovich agreed, adding that “the next evolution, though, is going to be little quantum AI bots and they could just send them in to a part of your brain where you don’t even know.”
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/alex-jones-computers-are-using-the-race-narrative-and-the-islamists-to-attack-humans/

You know what guys? You've been making a lot of insanely good sense. You need to stop making insanely good sense. And I mean really, stop it. It's not funny. And by the way if you think that’s crazy – wait until you see the latest crazy tirade that Alex went on, and he’s got his favorite tin foil hatter Roger Stone backing him up. Uh no guys, no one is drugging Trump, he just naturally is like this.

Two of President Trump’s most loyal allies have expressed concerned that he is being drugged. On “The Alex Jones Show” Monday, political attack dog Roger Stone revealed bombshell information about the president’s speech.

“He is slurring his words on various times, and that’s what’s concerning,” Stone told host Alex Jones. “Let’s be very clear: I have a source at The New York Times, a reporter who expressed to me a concern that in a conversation they had on the phone with the president that he was slurring his words,” he added.

Because Trump does not drink, and “certainly does not do drugs,” the only plausible explanation for the president’s slurred speech is that he is being involuntarily medicated, according to Stone. That, or the president is just exhausted.

“Now, in the president’s defense, could he be exhausted? Yeah, he works very hard for the country,” Stone said. “But I have now heard not from one, but two different sources, that he seemed disoriented and was slurring his speech in conversations. To me this is a tip off that he may be being medicated.”
http://www.salon.com/2017/09/12/alex-jones-roger-stone-agree-someone-may-be-drugging-president-trump/

[font size="8"]Richard Branson
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Anyone remember that show LOST? Sure you do – it’s only one of the biggest shows of this or any decade. You know – it’s the story of the mysterious crash of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 that was routing between Sydney and Los Angeles. The plane crashes on a mysterious island in the South Pacific that was home to an evil corporation’s insane experiment. Well, Virgin Atlantic CEO Richard Branson got a taste of what LOST was like during the hurricane when he was vacationing on his private island in the Caribbean.

Sir Richard Branson, the billionaire entrepreneur and founder Virgin Group, is riding out Hurricane Irma in a wine cellar along with his team on Necker Island, a private Caribbean island he purchased decades ago.

The eye of Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm that is packing winds of more than 185 miles per hour, has prompted U.S. officials to close airports and issue mandatory evacuations as forecasters predict the storm will hit Puerto Rico, Florida and other states. The "superstorm" Irma is already being called the most powerful Atlantic Ocean hurricane in recorded history and has caused major damage in the eastern Caribbean, including St. Kitts and Nevis, the Virgin Islands, and Hispaniola (shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti).

But Branson, whose Necker island is located in the British Virgin Islands, an area that the storm barreled through Wednesday, decided to stay as he has in the past. In a blog posted published Tuesday he explained his reasoning and said guests of Necker Island have evacuated.
http://fortune.com/2017/09/06/richard-branson-hurricane-irma/

Hiding out in a hatch…. Evil corporation owns private island? Lots of hidden traps and secrets that they don’t want you to know about? Where have I seen that before? Oh yeah! That’s right! Now there’s nothing funny about this, but can we really mock a billionaire’s private island getting destroyed?

Hurricane Irma destroyed much of Richard Branson’s private island in the Caribbean, and the billionaire is opening up about surviving one of the most powerful storms in history while hunkered down in his wine cellar.

“I have never seen anything like this hurricane. Necker and the whole area have been completely and utterly devastated. We are still assessing the damage, but whole houses and trees have disappeared,” Branson wrote in a blog post using a satellite phone from Necker Island, which he has owned since 1978. “Outside of the bunker, bathroom and bedroom doors and windows have flown 40 feet away.”
http://people.com/human-interest/richard-bransons-private-caribbean-island-devastated-hurricane-irma/

&t=6s

Sorry, Sir Richard, but not all of us have a WINE CELLAR on a PRIVATE ISLAND that we can hang out in case a 195 MPH HURRICANE barrels toward you! Yeah we’re not all sad about this. But the pictures that Branson showed were pretty horrifying:

Richard Branson has given a heartbreaking, first-person account of Hurricane Irma, saying the 185mph storm has sent doors and windows "flying 40 feet away".

In an emotional message, the billionaire Virgin boss describes how his luxurious Necker Island home has been "completely and utterly devastated" by the hurricane.

He says entire houses and trees have vanished - and vows to do whatever possible to support and assist the local community in "this extremely testing time".

"It is a traumatic time here in the British Virgin Islands," says Mr Branson, who spoke the words to Virgin colleagues via a satellite phone that was "just about working".
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/billionaire-richard-branson-describes-traumatic-11130405

[font size="8"]This Week In Hate
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So we’re going to try a new feature here and I hope it goes well. Because there’s a lot of hateful assholes out there, and so we’re calling it… *cue reverb* THIS WEEK IN HATE!!!

Ooh that felt good. We’re going to start with this horrifying story out of Iowa where some kids took pictures of themselves wearing KKK hoods, burning a cross – and oh yeah – brandishing a giant assault rifle! Because, guns!

A high school in Iowa has disciplined some of its students after a recent photo was posted online of five young men dressed in Ku Klux Klan hoods burning a cross.

In addition to the KKK hoods and the burning cross, the photo also featured one young male holding a rifle, and another holding a Confederate flag.

The Omaha World Herald reports that students at Creston Community High School were disciplined for the photo but would not explain what discipline the students received.

The school told KMALand that the people in the photo are Creston students.

“This is embarrassing for everyone,” school principal Bill Messerole told the Omaha World Herald. “This is not a good reflection of Creston High School. This is not a reflection of our community.”

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2017/09/iowa-high-school-tight-lipped-after-armed-students-caught-burning-a-cross-in-kkk-hoods/

Let’s show that photo:

Really principal? That’s your response? Your school’s reputation? I’d be far more concerned about the safety of the students at this point! Really. And one of them at least is fighting back against the hatemongers:

CRESTON, Iowa — I had planned to write a much different and happier narrative about Kylan Smallwood, the junior quarterback at the heart of the Creston/Orient-Macksburg High School football team.

That was my plan before Thursday's final hours, when the racial controversy roiling this town took another nasty turn that will only fan the flames.

Smallwood, 16, already had been hit with the heaviest week of his career as an athlete and student. When I met him Thursday afternoon at football practice, I hoped that he already had endured the worst.

Speaking with him and his family was inspirational. They were full of grace and insight in their reaction to what has become probably the most notorious and widely shared photo in the history of this small southwest Iowa town, the seat of Union County.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/nation-now/2017/09/08/cross-burning-photo-5-teammates-white-hoods-shocks-black-high-school-quarterback-kyle-munson-column/647120001/

No, Cartman, no race war. But really this shit has to stop, and even one of their own is considering running for senate for Michigan. I’m of course talking about Kid Rock:

Colin Kaepernick is NOT being blackballed by the NFL, he's unemployed because he's not a good quarterback -- so says Kid Rock.

The rock star has been blasting Kaepernick at his concerts for a while -- pissed off over his national anthem protest.

But after his latest shot at Kaep, Kid decided to clarify his stance on the QB.

"To be clear -- F*ck ANYONE who takes a knee or sits during our national anthem," Kid Rock said in a Facebook post.

"Pretty sure if Russell Wilson or Tom Brady were doing it they would have no problem finding a job playing for any team they wanted in the NFL! So cut the bullsh*t!"

Kid Rock has been under fire for using the Confederate flag at his shows. Some people have straight up called him racist -- but Kid says he's not.

In fact, he wrote, "I LOVE BLACK PEOPLE!!"
http://www.tmz.com/2017/09/11/kid-rock-kaepernick/

I’m pretty sure the rest of the tweet was “The best soul food comes from Kid Rock’s Made In Detroit Restaurant! I love black people!!”. Thank you! You know what? Fuck you Kid Rock! OK so you’re fine with all the arrests and DUIs and rapists populating the NFL, but you single out Colin Kaepernick because he dared to exercise his first amendment right to protest? Seriously, fuck you!

Oh and:

Thank you! Moving on! So this week professional liberal basher, former House Speaker and current after model for double chin lift plastic surgery, Newt Gingrich went to everyone’s favorite prime time hatemonger Sean Hannity to announce his new online lecture series. Hey, wait a minute, I thought that was my job!

Thursday night on Hannity, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich stopped by to plug an online course he’s teaching called “Defending America.”

“It’s really on how to defeat the left intellectually,” Gingrich said. “And remind people why America is unique and why American history matters and why being patriotic is important.”

It’s a standalone course — not being taught in association with any institution of higher learning — for which the former House Speaker is charging $49.99 (with 20 percent off for early registrants).

The comparisons to Trump U, of course, are inevitable. And Twitter didn’t disappoint. Here’s a sampling of the online reaction to this money grab:
https://www.mediaite.com/online/newt-gingrich-went-on-hannity-to-plug-an-online-course-hes-teaching-the-twitter-reactions-are-gold/

Finally for *cue reverb* This week… come on, damn it! You screwed up the reverb! OK now I’m ready for it. THIS WEEK… IN HATE! We have of course the Nazis. Who you know, are your average fun loving, free speech supporting hate mongers! So apparently this guy admits what we’re all thinking when it comes to Trump supporters. I’m not saying all Trump supporters are Nazis, but all Nazis are Trump supporters!

Holding a whiteboard sign under swaying Gadsden flags, Robert Tweeten sat on the east side of Mandan Avenue, awaiting President Donald Trump's arrival at the Mandan Refinery.

The Hensler farmer and rancher was there Wednesday to advocate proactive local political action and Trump's speech on tax reform. About 300 people supporting or opposing Trump turned out along the refinery road to await the president's arrival ......

Strolling on the supporters' side was Craig Cobb, the white supremacist who in 2013 sought to turn the small town of Leith into a community for like-minded people.

"I wanted to join the other 63 million Nazis," he said, referencing those who voted for Trump in 2016. "I know all 63 million can't be here today."
http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/trump-supporters-protesters-crowd-refinery-road/article_b681238f-333b-585f-8f7b-4399e2db622c.html

That’s it this week for:

[font size="8"]Martin Shkrelii
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Martin Shkreli just cant seem to keep himself out of trouble, can he? Well the embattled pharmaceutical thief and multiple time recipient of Maxim Magazine’s “Most Punchable Face” award,,, my producer is telling me that’s not a thing… apparently listens to way more Alex Jones than he should. So this week he sent on Twitter (by the way, wasn’t he banned from Twitter a while back?) something that actually sounds like a credible death threat to Hillary Clinton:

The so-called pharma bro, Martin Shkreli, is seeking to procure a lock of Hillary Clinton’s hair, stating he would reward the person who could grant his wish “if the sequence matches.”

The controversial former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, who was found guilty of securities fraud in August, said he would offer money to anyone who can get some of Clinton’s hair while she is on her book tour, in what could be viewed as assault if anyone attempts to do so.

“The Clinton Foundation is willing to KILL to protect its secrets. So on HRC’s book tour, try to grab a hair from her. I must confirm the sequences I have. Will pay $5,000 per hair obtained from Hillary Clinton. Payment after the sequence matches. Good luck, patrollers,” he wrote.
http://www.newsweek.com/pharma-bro-martin-shkreli-offering-5k-lock-hillary-clintons-hair-659922

Yeah BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! To which he added, and I absolutely love this part:

Shkreli then added, “(this is satire, meant for humor and not an endorsement of violence against a truly wonderful public servant).”

Oh my fucking god is he kidding with that shit? Oh and by the way his threat may have cost him his freedom, and that’s a good thing for those of you paying attention at home!

Federal prosecutors on Thursday said they want a judge to revoke "Pharma bro" Martin Shkreli's $5 million release bond and throw him in jail, after the convicted fraudster encouraged Facebook followers to grab Hillary Clinton's hair and give him samples of it.

Prosecutors cited that threat, as well as other threatening comments Shkreli has directed at two other women in online comments, in a court motion that suggests the 34-year-old former pharmaceuticals executive could be a "danger to the community.

Their bid to jail Shkreli comes a month after a jury in Brooklyn federal court convicted him of three counts of securities fraud, but acquitted him of five other criminal counts.

Shkreli, who plans to challenge that conviction, remains free and living in his Manhattan apartment while awaiting his yet-to-be-scheduled sentencing.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/07/prosecutors-seek-to-revoke-release-bond-of-martin-shkreli.html

So this of course has Shkreli panicked, so what do you do when you’re being jailed for possible fraud and some definite light death threats? First thing, look around for any loose ends you might have. Something that could tie you to the original crime and get rid of it. Ha! I’ve got it! And he wants to “Bring Da Ruckus” with this latest idea:

Notorious "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli is testing the credo that Wu-Tang Clan ain't nothing to ... mess with.
The business executive and former hedge fund manager took to eBay on Tuesday to sell the legendary rap collective's sole copy of "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin."
Bidding for the two-disc album, which will end September 15, started at $1. By Thursday morning it had topped $1 million.

Why would Shkreli, 34, give up this piece of hip-hop history? A piece for which he paid $2 million at auction?
He says it's about respect, which he failed to receive from the Wu or the world.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/07/entertainment/martin-shkreli-sells-wu-tang-clan-album-ebay/index.html

[font size="8"]The Alt Right
[br] [/font] [br]

So let’s go back to the 2nd season of the Top 10 Conservative Idiots. Anyone remember when we covered how the Alt Right was madly in love with Taylor Swift? If you need a recap here’s Edition #2-1. And we should have thought this was the end of it because even Taylor Swift denounced these creeps for well, being super creepy. Now last week Taylor Swift debuted a new song and a new album and announced a new tour. The album is called “Reputation” and the song is called “Look What You Made Me Do”. So what was the alt right’s reaction to this song and album? Well, you might want to get a vomit bag ready.

Taylor Swift, Aryan Goddess?

It's not exactly news that Taylor Swift has long been adopted by the alt-right as a pop culture icon to underscore their ideologies, but it does seem to be going a step further with her new single.

In a somewhat unsettling turn, far right-wing news site Breitbart News began tweeting all of Swift's new lyrics to announce their news stories– with no real pattern or message seeping through, except deep appreciation for Swift's newfound edge, apparently. The publication in the past has been celebrated as "the platform for the alt-right" by CEO Steve Bannon.

A lengthy investigation into Taylor Swift's influence within the neo-nazi/alt-right community was exposed last year by Broadly, and now Dazed have started connecting the dots too; the new single just seems to push these theories further.

"Look What You Made Me Do" is fierce, fearless and fearful... or at least that's the intention. It's provocative and shows that Swift is more than aware that a lot of people just don't love her as much as they used to. On the surface, there are a lot of jabs at recent pop culture events: references to Kanye's tilted stage, a hit at Kim's jewel burglary.
http://www.konbini.com/ng/entertainment/nazis-adopted-taylor-swift-aryan-goddess/

As if that couldn’t be creepy enough, there’s even more to it than that! But seriously way too much time on their hands, although I am one to talk!

They claim there are some serious hidden messages in "Look What You Made Me Do".

If anyone knows how to break the internet, it's Taylor Swift.

After staying out of the spotlight for most of 2017, Swift stopped the world for a moment when she deleted all content on all her social media accounts to build some serious hype for her album, "Reputation," and her new single, "Look What You Made Me Do."

The song and its accompanying video were filled with some serious hidden messages that are driving some speculation about the meaning and symbolism.
http://www.yourtango.com/2017306424/reason-theories-taylor-swift-nazi-new-song-lyrics-meaning-white-supremacy

Oh come on, even Hitler is pissed at you guys! And come on, if you’re going to upset Hitler, be prepared, that’s all I’m saying! But seriously this has raised some concerns because of what’s going on – like what do you do when Nazis are obsessed with Taylor Swift to creepy, epic proportions?

Nazi devotion to Swift was first reported by Broadly over a year ago, but recent right-wing public celebration of her new album has sparked coverage in the Daily Beast, Dazed, and Elle UK. The latter two articles have mysteriously gone offline. At the pop-culture site Kobini, writer Ella Page called Swift the "blank space the alt-right has been craving." If she's not going to fill the space with explicitly articulated anti-racist views, the argument goes, Nazis can project anything they want onto her white visage.

I'm telling you about Taylor Swift because slightly more people care about her than the current controversies embroiling Medieval Studies. Both the mega pop star and the esoteric field face the same problem: Nazis love us and we're not used to overtly signaling our disdain. I can't speak for Taylor, but Medieval Studies must do better.

Telling the story of the Nazi love affair with the medieval past doesn't require blaming medievalists per se. It's not about whether our intentions are good. Sure, there have been some bad actors among the profession, and there's a collection of right-wing thinkers in certain subfields, but mostly we're just a collection of predominantly white scholars who are surprised and disturbed to discover our classes and books might be well-received by white supremacists. Having discovered it, the question is what to do. And the first step is to understand the myriad forms that racist engagement with the Middle Ages can take.
http://www.citywatchla.com/index.php/important-reads-for-rss/13949-medieval-historians-what-to-do-when-nazis-are-obsessed-with-your-field

That’s right – never go full creep status! And that goes for you too alt right Nazis! But here’s something that makes this whole thing even creepier – Breitbart is now tweeting all their stories with Taylor Swift lyrics.

Taylor Swift’s squad might’ve had a lukewarm reaction to her new single, but it looks like Breitbart News — which executive chair Steve Bannon once described as “the platform for the alt-right” — is really into it. The site’s Twitter account has been tweeting out its regular stories since this morning, but instead of relevant captions, every single one is accompanied by a lyric from “Look What You Made Me Do.”

https://twitter.com/oliverdarcy/status/901155757122613250

Thank you Hank! I think I'll do both.

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

So of course you know by now people are people and people are dumb. And as always there’s a lot of stupid fucking people in the news this week. But first we got to start with our old friend Ted "Machine Gun Bacon" Cruz - who we mentioned in the monologue but I want to touch (PHRASING!) a bit more on this story. And when you run on a platform of anti-masturbation, don't be surprised when you like a tweet with some hardcore porn and it gets blown (PHRASING!) out of proportion:

Sen. Ted Cruz washed his hands of blame in the bulging controversy surrounding a pornographic video on his Twitter account.

The former presidential hopeful said a staffer, not himself, “liked” the video.

The conservative Texas Republican blamed “someone” with access to his Twitter account for clicking the little heart-shaped icon below a risqué two-minute clip from @SexuallPosts on the social media site.
http://www.nydailynews.com/amp/news/politics/sen-ted-cruz-likes-porn-video-twitter-article-1.3488752

And by the way would you be surprised at all to learn that ol' Teddy was blaming this self display (PHRASING!) on someone else? We're not! It's the "take no responsibility" party doing what they do best!

Sen. Ted Cruz said Tuesday that a staff member of his was responsible for "liking" a pornographic Twitter post with the Texas lawmaker's account, chalking up the social media snafu to a "mistake."

"There are a number of people on the team who have access on the account. It appears that someone inadvertently hit the like button. When we discovered the post, which was I guess an hour or two later, we pulled it down," Cruz (R-Texas) said of the incident. "It was a staffing issue. And it was inadvertent, it was a mistake. It was not a deliberate act. We're dealing with it internally, but it was a mistake. It was not malicious."
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/12/ted-cruz-twitter-pornographic-post-242584

Next up - with this story from where else, Florida, and of course it involves Walmart, the Florida of department stores:

A homeless Broward County man was arrested over the weekend after authorities alleged he ran naked and intoxicated through the parking lot of a West Palm Beach Wal-Mart.

Jacob Steiner, 25, is a “well-known narcotics user and this is unfortunately a very common practice for him,” police wrote in an arrest report made public this week.

Steiner, who is from the Pompano Beach area, faces charges of disorderly intoxication, indecent exposure and trespass after warning. He remained in custody at the Palm Beach County at the Palm Beach County Jail early Wednesday after twice refusing to appear in court. A judge set his bond at $5,500.

City police were called shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday to the Wal-Mart in the 4200 block of 45th Street, west of Village Boulevard. An officer arrived to find Steiner riding naked on a shopping cart as bystanders pointed in his direction.

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/crime--law/man-arrested-for-running-naked-through-wal-mart-lot-west-palm/4PzlW3WHRqJL10E1DsJkKJ/

I love that movie. Next up – dating! And specifically online dating. This story has everything – and it seems like it would make a perfect episode of a sitcom:

A woman who threw her poo out of her date's toilet window because it "would not flush" had to be rescued after she got stuck trying to retrieve it.

The amateur gymnast was on a first date with Bristol student Liam Smith when she "panicked" and threw the feces out of the window.

It did not land in the garden, but became wedged between two non-opening windows.

After climbing in head first after it, she became wedged.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-41167296

Next up – clowns! You know we cant get enough of creepy clowns in the news. Especially with the remake of Stephen King’s classic “IT” hitting theaters this week. But if you’re celebrating the movie, maybe don’t dress your 3 year old like Pennywise The Clown.

A three-year-old boy in Meridian, Mississippi, loves clowning around, but it’s creeping out the internet.

Louie Tilghman has scared up lots of interest online thanks to a photo shoot that shows him dressed as Pennywise, the creepy clown from the new movie “It”, based off the Stephen King novel of the same name.

The creepy photo shoot is the brainchild of Louie’s 17-year-old brother, Eagan.

Doing elaborate photo shoots is a hobby of the elder Tilghman, who often recruits his seven younger siblings to pose for him.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/louie-tilghman-pennywise-clown_us_59b07c8de4b0dfaafcf538af?section=us_weird-news

Can we show that picture? Yeah. I know, creepy right?

Next up in People Are Dumb – guns! Really, I know it’s easy to get caught up in the hurricane madness, but really, people, don’t do this. I mean it – do not do this!

A Florida man who suggested shooting guns at Hurricane Irma out of "stress and boredom" has found that his idea has captured peoples' imaginations - with over 46,000 signing up to join in.

Hurricane Irma is due to hit Florida on Saturday, and the state is currently experiencing the largest ever mass evacuation due to a hurricane in American history.

But Ryon Edwards, 22, came up with a novel way of amusing himself during the storm: firing bullets into it.

He started a Facebook "event", and as of Friday evening 46,000 people say they are interested.

"A combination of stress and boredom made me start the event," he told the BBC.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/08/florida-gun-owners-encouraged-shoot-storm-fire-guns-hurricane/

This is seriously so stupid that the Sheriff of Miami actually had to issue this statement:

A Florida sheriff is warning citizens not to shoot guns at Hurricane Irma as the monster storm approaches Florida.

“To clarify, DO NOT shoot weapons @ #Irma,” the Pasco County, Fla. sheriff tweeted. “You won't make it turn around & it will have very dangerous side effects.”

The sheriff was responding to a viral Facebook event that jokingly encouraged people to shoot guns at the hurricane. More than 26,000 people have marked themselves as “attending” the event.
The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence also issued a warning to followers to not shoot guns at the storm.

One of the creators of the event, Ryon Edwards, told Yahoo News that he created the event out of “stress and boredom.”

"I never envisioned this event becoming some kind of crazy idea larger than myself. It has become something a little out of my control,” Edwards said.
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/349968-florida-sheriff-warns-citizens-dont-shoot-at-hurricane-irma

Next up in People Are Dumb – hospitals! You know the ER is a very hectic place, and if you’re employed at one, maybe you shouldn’t have a penis measuring contest.

Five Denver Health Medical Center nurses were disciplined for admiring a patient's genitals after he'd gone on to meet his maker.

According to KMGH, the health workers had helped themselves to a peek at the deceased man's penis, at one point going so far as to open a body bag to view his departed parts.

"Multiple staff members viewed the victim while he was incapacitated, including after he was deceased," a Denver Police Department report states. "The complainant, Risk Management for Denver Health, made a mandatory report."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/nurses-suspended-checking-size-corpse-genitals-article-1.3474233

Next up on people are dumb - sex robots! And come on, if you invent technology that allows you to date robots, don't be surprised when they get hacked! I mean is this what happens when robot AI becomes self aware?

The sex robot craze has swept the globe, with punters willing to fork out the cash to have their wicked way with the dolls.

But tech experts have warned that the more advanced these robots get, the greater the risk they will pose to mankind.

Cyber security lecturer Dr Nick Patterson worryingly said that hacking into a sex robot could even be easier than gaining access to someone’s laptop or phone.

“The last thing you want is for a hacker to have control over one of these robots! Once hacked they could absolutely be used to perform physical actions for an advantageous scenario or to cause damage.”
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/643302/sex-robots-hackers-killer-cyborgs-technology-elon-musk-artificial-intelligence-world-war-3

Finally this week – wild animals! There’s this crazy story out of Atlanta where a wild tiger got loose in a neighborhood and wound up being shot. I mean come on haven’t you seen The Hangover? The way to get rid of a tiger is to give it a steak loaded with tranquilizers!

Authorities are investigating the origins of a tiger seen running around a Georgia neighborhood before attacking a dog, leading to its shooting death by police.

The big cat was spotted around 6 a.m. Wednesday near I-75 outside of Stockbridge, roughly 20 miles southeast of Atlanta, before it was fatally shot, the Henry County Police Department said.

“The tiger began to run toward the Meadow Brook community off of Jodeco Road, to the back of a residence and began to attack a dog,” police said in a release that noted animal professionals were contacted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tiger-shot-killed-georgia_us_59afe974e4b0dfaafcf42e3b?section=us_weird-news

That’s it for:

[font size="8"]World Tour Destination #13: Brazil
[br] [/font] [br]

Part of our mission statement here at the Top 10 Conservative Idiots is to show you that conservative idiocy isn’t just a problem with America. No, it’s a global problem that is stemming far and wide, and it’s not just America where conservative idiots ruin everything they touch. And if you’re thinking of moving out of the United States just because Donald J. Trump is our current president and our nation is turning to shit, you should know what it is you’re getting into should you decide that you want to leave the country. So if you want a recap of where we’ve been so far, in the last few weeks we’ve discovered that The Netherlands has a serious case of food poisoning,, the Czech Republic is a liberal utopia with some very bad neighbors, and South Africa’s racists make ours look like chumps. By the way, our date in Chile was cancelled due to the holiday and refunds are available at the point of purchase. This week we’re headed to South America! Here’s the tour schedule:

[font size="6"]Brazil[/font]

Welcome to South America everybody! Sorry folks, I really wanted to do Chile. Ha ha, one woman in the audience blurting out “That’s what she said!”. But hey like any good method comedian, I am committed to this bit! We are determined to hit all 7 continents, plus a couple of destinations in the US, as part of our World Tour. Unfortunately when I did the scheduling I forgot to factor in Labor Day as a holiday and we took last week off. Now back to the show. So Brazil. That country that looks like it has an angry vein popping out of its’ forehead. You know – they’ve been in the news a lot the last few years. And I do mean a lot. They’ve been host to the World Cup and the Olympics. I mean do we need to run John Oliver’s piece on Brazil to remind you of the epic shit storm that was the 2014 World Cup – and the subsequent shit storm that was the 2016 Olympics?

Yeah that was pretty fucked up. But let’s talk about some good things about Brazil. Brazil is the home of Carnivale – the drunker, rowdier party that Mardi Gras wishes it was! It’s also the home of the giant Jesus statue known as Cristo Redentor (aka Christ The Redeemer) that’s been a centerpiece of Rio De Janiero and countless movies about Brazil. As well as this song sung by drunken frat boys everywhere since the 80s!

But what else is Brazil the home of? Well… it’s the home of extreme police corruption! Well, you thought the guy who pulled you over while you were seeing this on your phone was bad…

Brazilian police have raided a number of addresses over "strong evidence" of vote-buying in the country's 2016 Olympic bid.

The raids are part of an ongoing investigation into an "international corruption scheme".

The investigation relates to the alleged bribery of International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials.

The president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee (BOC) president has had his home raided and his assets frozen.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-41163264

I love that movie. But Brazil is still recovering from the onslaught of crime and corruption in the wake of the disastrous World Cup and the nearly disastrous Olympics. Sort of.

Rio de Janeiro: Brazilian investigators said on Tuesday that politicians and the head of the national Olympic committee arranged a $US2 million bribe to bring the 2016 games to Rio de Janeiro, despite the city having the worst conditions to host the event.

Police in Rio raided the home of Brazil's Olympics chief, Carlos Arthur Nuzman, after prosecutors accused him of conspiring with former state Governor Sergio Cabral, already convicted in a separate corruption case, to buy the games.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/brazil-olympic-chief-brokered-us2-million-bribe-to-buy-rio-games-police-20170905-gybm0k.html

But the greed and corruption doesn’t end there folks! Oh no! Turns out there’s lots of corrupt people at all levels of the government.

Brazil's top prosecutor said Monday that he was investigating potential wrongdoing in his own office and at the country's highest court.

Attorney General Rodrigo Janot told reporters a recorded conversation between two executives who have given plea bargain testimony in a widespread corruption case implied a prosecutor meddled in plea deals. The recording also mentioned the Supreme Federal Tribunal.

Janot cautioned that the recording of the executives from meatpacking giant JBS offered no proof but said the allegations needed to be looked into.

In a twist, he said the people speaking did not appear to know they were being recorded, even though the audio was handed to the prosecutors by their defense team. The information contained in the recording had not previously been revealed as part of the executives' plea bargains, and Janot also said he would investigate whether they withheld the material.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/article171243382.html#storylink=cpy

You know let’s talk about some lighter news in Brazil. Like one of my favorite subjects – man eating tourist attractions!

You probably couldn’t pay me to do this but travellers are loving this weird tourist attraction in Brazil where you get “swallowed” by rocks.

Pedra Que Engole, which roughly translates to “Swallow Rock," is a rock formation with a small waterfall above a river in Trindade, about 170 miles south of Rio de Janeiro.

What you do is slide your body through a crevice between these two rocks, letting the water take you, until you disappear into a small, dark cave — as the name suggests, it looks like you are literally swallowed by the rocks.
http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2017/09/05/terrifying-tourist-attraction-in-brazil-swallows-travelers-whole.html

Uh… WTF was that one?

[font size="6"]The Verdict & Scorecard[/font]

Let’s just say Brazil doesn’t take too kindly to outsiders and we’ll leave it at that. Let’s also say that Brazil’s extreme greed and corruption means that if you visit, do so with extreme caution!

Tourism: C-
Culture: A
Political Spectrum: F
Liberal Appeal: D-

Overall: D-

[font size="6"]Next Week[/font]

We’re keeping in South America for one more week before we have a bit of shore leave and come home to the States. We’re heading to the land of the Andes Mountains – Argentina!

[font size="8"]And Now This:[/font]
[font size="8"]Sepultura [/font]

Folks let’s get a circle pit going! My next guest hails from Brazil and they are one of the heaviest bands you’ll ever see. They have a new album out called “Machine Messiah”. Playing their song “Phantom Self”, give it up for Sepultura!

Yeah how about that?

See you next week!

September 13, 2017

Hatewatch: Hate In God's Name (Part 1 Of 5)

“The War on Terror,” a phrase now part of the American lexicon, has been portrayed by U.S. policy makers and military commanders as a battle against radical Islam. As a result, many academics, government officials and counter-terrorism experts have researched, analyzed and assessed the role of Muslim extremists using the Islamic religion (rather, the misinterpretation of Islam) to radicalize and mobilize terrorists to wage “Jihad” (e.g. “Holy War”) against the West. Few, however, acknowledge or understand how American right-wing extremists have also used religious concepts and scripture to recruit, radicalize and mobilize their adherents toward hate and violence against similar enemies. Much like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, right-wing terrorists — who often refer to themselves as “Soldiers of Odin,” “Phineas Priests,” or “Army of God” — are inspired by their interpretations of religious concepts and scripture to lash out and kill in God’s name.

Religious extremism and its relation to violent conflict is not a new phenomenon. Many isolated confrontations, wars and conquests have been instigated or carried out in the name of religion. Throughout history, violent clashes between nations, religions and civilizations have resulted from differences in religious beliefs, scriptural interpretation and spiritual practices. Various religious factions, some more radical, have emerged from these armed conflicts. Other more dominant religions have also spread their influence through force and aggression.

During the 1980s and 1990s, right-wing extremists were galvanized by several national issues such as the perceived erosion of parental rights and authority through court rulings, expanding multiculturalism, abortion rights and the decline of the American family farm – all perceived as an attack on their Judeo-Christian beliefs which right-wing extremists view as a key component to America’s founding). These issues were magnified because of the far-right’s perception of a changing political climate which favored expanding benefits and equal opportunities to ethnic minorities, immigrants and other diversity groups. So it was no surprise that religious concepts and scriptural interpretation played a role in the armed confrontations between right-wing extremists and the U.S. government during this time period — specifically, at the Covenant, Sword, Arm of the Lord (CSA) compound in 1985, Ruby Ridge in 1992, and Waco in 1993. These standoffs not only showed extremists rebelling against the U.S. government and its laws, but also asserted what they believed were their divine religious and Constitutional rights. These events served as radicalization and recruitment nodes to boost the ranks of white supremacists, militia extremists, sovereign citizens, and other radical anti-government adherents who viewed the government’s response to these standoffs as tyrannical and overreaching
https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/09/12/hate-god%E2%80%99s-name

Kind of hard to fight a war on terror when we're brewing perfectly good terrorists at home.

September 12, 2017

"This Machine Kills Fascists": The 15 Best Anti-Fascist Songs

Everything old is new again, as songs about fascism, dictators, Nazis, government-sanctioned oppression and racially-motivated violence are frustratingly relevant. This administration, among countless other missteps and failures, has repeatedly found it difficult to condemn Nazis and the KKK by name (on the first attempt) with any shred of conviction (on the second attempt) or to the full extent of any heinous actions and ideologies spread (if we can even call that one a third attempt). As violent Nazis, unhooded klansmen, flag-waving neo-Confederates, anti-Semitic white nationalists and armed militias openly walked the streets of Charlottesville, Va., during the recent “Unite the Right” rally, it’s more important than ever to find inspiration, education and motivation in the calls to action of songs that champion anti-fascist ideals and values.

To help the president and his administration find the right words and actions for the next (inevitable) opportunity to call out (and do something about) fascism in its various incarnations (including those found within their own ranks), here are 15 anti-fascist anthems from some of our most important and influential musicians.

15. Elvis Costello, “Night Rally”
With the very first line of his very first single (“Calling Mr. Oswald with the swastika tattoo” from 1977’s “Less Than Zero”), Elvis Costello let everyone know he was comfortable trafficking in outspoken anti-fascist themes. It’s been a theme he’s often returned to throughout his songwriting catalog—in both literal and metaphorical employment—but the closing track to his sophomore album This Year’s Model feels the most immediately relevant in light of the recent “Unite the Right”white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. Scenes of angry white supremacists holding Tiki torches and shouting racist epithets under cover of night on the University of Virginia campus seems to bring Costello’s “Night Rally” directly into the present day again. Originally bringing to mind the secret meetings of the KKK, Nazis, and other fascist hate groups, “Night Rally” has become scarily relevant again as we don’t have to look very far to see evidence of those “singing with their hand on their heart about deeds done in the darkest hours.” Costello’s song also serves as a warning to those who may too quickly dismiss the threat and find themselves unwittingly falling in with the wrong crowd: “You think they’re so dumb / You think they’re so funny. / Wait until they’ve got you running to the night rally.”

<snip>

3. Dead Kennedys, “Nazi Punks Fuck Off”
After the release of their debut album Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables in 1980, Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra noticed that much of his lyrical satire was being taken literally as an influx of neo-Nazis started infiltrating their shows. Incredibly incensed by this unanticipated and unwelcome turn of events, his direct response was to write the song “Nazi Punks Fuck Off,” release it as the lead single for their follow-up album In God We Trust, Inc., and include a free armband in the 7” single that featured a crossed-out swastika (a symbol which was also used on the vinyl’s label sticker). While many of the verse’s lyrics are specific to the anti-Nazi movement within the early punk subculture, the song’s simple chorus (“Nazi punks, Nazi punks, Nazi punks, FUCK OFF!”) is a cathartic refrain whose evergreen employment never falls out of use.

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/08/the-15-best-anti-fascist-songs.html

Great list! I will listen to every one of these!

September 11, 2017

South Park Premier Takes On White Nationalist Movement

South Park is back for its 21st season and the show has its sights set on the white nationalist movement that has made recent headlines.

The new season of the cartoon premieres Wednesday with the episode "White People Renovating Houses."
"Protestors armed with tiki torches and confederate flags take to the streets of South Park. Randy comes to grips with what it means to be white in today’s society," according to the episode's description.

South Park is back for its 21st season and the show has its sights set on the white nationalist movement that has made recent headlines.

The new season of the cartoon premieres Wednesday with the episode "White People Renovating Houses."
"Protestors armed with tiki torches and confederate flags take to the streets of South Park. Randy comes to grips with what it means to be white in today’s society," according to the episode's description.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/south-park-season-21-takes-on-white-nationalist-movement/ar-AArIbsm?ocid=spartandhp

I could totally picture South Park characters going "This is free speech! We can say this! We can say this!" This is going to be good!

September 8, 2017

Prosecutors Want Martin Shkreli Jailed After Hillary Threat

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