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Top 10 Conservative Idiots #8-16: If This Country's Rocking, Don't Come Knocking Edition
Top 10 Conservative Idiots #8-16: If This Country’s Rocking, Don’t Come Knocking Edition
Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! How’s everyone doing out there? You going crazy stuck at home all the time? Wondering when this is going to end? Yeah me too, I am going fucking crazy being stuck at home all the time. And this is edition #199 too! Man, I hit #200 and I won’t get to celebrate it with the live audience and party that we deserve. Fuck. Stupid fucking coronavirus. But I do want to talk about something that I saw trending on social media the other day. So the kids who were babies in 2008 have now grown up and are discovering their parents’ taste in movies. And kids who are 17 now were 5 years old when the movie Tropic Thunder came out. And of course right now we’re stuck in this nightmare quarantine with absolutely nothing to do and nowhere to go. Naturally of course, those teenagers are watching movies like Tropic Thunder and Stepbrothers. Which means they’re now just discovering that Robert Downey Jr, had a role in which he used blackface. Of course if you do a Google search now, you will realize that even Downey himself argued that was a potential career killer even after he did the movie. And then you immediately discount the other brilliant performances from Jack Black and Ben Stiller. But I am loving this aspect of the pandemic. See kids? That’s how life used to operate before coronavirus came along! OK that’s enough of the intro, we have a lot of idiocy to get to, but first John Oliver is back and he delves into the latest surrounding everyone’s favorite subject:
Sigh, another week stuck at home. Quarantine can bite me. And social distancing blows too. I can’t wait to get back out and do the full and proper Top 10 we used to do. Anyway that said we actually have other things than the virus that we can talk about this week! For starters in the number one slot this week, is Gun Nut Terrorists (1). After Trump’s suggestion to “Liberate Michigan”, they took that way too literally. And Trump is egging them on! Taking the second slot this week is the economy (2) and while there’s tremendous pressure to reopen and get back to normal, I got news for ya, normal isn’t coming back for a while so we are going to ask - what could go wrong? At slot #3 is Elon Musk (3). Yes, the Tesla and Space X CEO is proving that like a virtual Superman, you can sink whole companies with a single tweet, but he’s the one laughing all the way to the bank. In the fourth slot, the Pentagon confirms something we’ve all been thinking – aliens exist (4)! Quick, someone call Tom DeLonge before it’s too late! aking the fifth slot this week is our weekly investigative piece, Top 10 Investigates (5). And this week we’re going to tackle the question – “where did coronavirus come from?”. There’s many different origin theories but only one is true! And in our weekly visit to the Holy Church Of The Top 10 in “Holy Shit” (6), our resident pastor is fully embracing his Jewish side because we really got to know what’s going on with New York’s Hasidic Jewish community. They seem to be defying orders and Gov. Cuomo isn’t having any of it. Taking the 7th slot this week is a new “Beating A Dead Horse” (7). And if you think the Land O’ Lakes decision to remove the native American from their 100 year old logo, wait until you see what we actually did to Native Americans! In the 8th slot this week, after former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura announced plans to run on the Green Party ticket, we ask – “The Green Party: How Is This Still A Thing?”. Taking the number 9 (NEIN!!!) slot this week, we have a new edition of “I Need A Drink” (9) . This week, Universal proved that we might not need movie theaters in the future, and movie theater chains aren’t having any of it. So yeah pour a drink for the possible end of traditional cinema. Finally this week it’s time for more Stupidest State! This week, it’s Round 2 Week 3 and it’s a tale of possible secession as #1 Virginia takes on #3 Idaho! Enjoy! And as always don’t forget the key!
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[font size="8"]The MAGA Reopen protests
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Look MAGAs, we get it, OK! We all want to get back to the plans that we had before this nightmare pandemic started too! Shit, I lost money on travel and concerts that I had planned. I lost money on sporting events. We all lost money, and everyone is pissed and wondering what our course of action is going to be until a vaccine is found. But in the meantime don’t go making it worse than it already is, because if you do, the virus wins, and we could be in this a long fucking time. And I’m not at all surprised that these protests that are popping up all over the country are lead by two groups: MAGAs and anti-vaxxers. And both groups can put up or shut up. But when you start brandishing your kill toys, don’t be surprised when the governor extends the stay-at-home order.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan issued a rebuke of the armed protesters who gathered inside the state capitol last week in defiance of statewide lockdown orders, saying the demonstrators embodied some of the “worst racism” of the nation’s history.
“Some of the outrageousness of what happened at our capitol depicted some of the worst racism and awful parts of our history in this country,” Whitmer said during a Sunday interview on CNN’s State of the Union.
Last week Donald Trump had said of the protesters: “These are very good people.”
Hundreds of protesters, many not wearing protective face masks and some armed legally with “long guns”, gathered inside the statehouse in Lansing on Thursday as lawmakers debated the Democratic governor’s request to extend her emergency powers to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The tightly packed crowd attempted to enter the floor of the legislative chamber and were held back by a line of state police and capitol staff, according to video footage posted by local journalists. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/03/michigan-gretchen-whitmer-lockdown-protest-racism
“Some of the outrageousness of what happened at our capitol depicted some of the worst racism and awful parts of our history in this country,” Whitmer said during a Sunday interview on CNN’s State of the Union.
Last week Donald Trump had said of the protesters: “These are very good people.”
Hundreds of protesters, many not wearing protective face masks and some armed legally with “long guns”, gathered inside the statehouse in Lansing on Thursday as lawmakers debated the Democratic governor’s request to extend her emergency powers to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The tightly packed crowd attempted to enter the floor of the legislative chamber and were held back by a line of state police and capitol staff, according to video footage posted by local journalists. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/03/michigan-gretchen-whitmer-lockdown-protest-racism
Yeah so here’s why we need real leadership. Brandishing giant guns, threatening the governor, and shouting racist slogans is UNACCPETABLE BEHAVIOR IN ANY SOCIETY!!! Do you get that MAGAs? You want to make it another 4 months of misery? Go right on ahead. Keep packing tightly into groups, like in Huntington Beach for instance. God damn motherfucking Huntington Beach.
Thousands of protesters have flocked to Huntington Beach to protest coronavirus lockdowns in the days following a mandatory closure of Orange County beaches. Angered by the forced closures, the protesters ignored social distancing guidelines and demanded the beaches be reopened.
Crowds took to the streets Friday — many without face masks — backing up traffic for at least a mile along Pacific Coast Highway, The Associated Press reports. "Freedom is essential," "Surfing is not a crime" and "Newsom is a kook" read some of their signs, which also called for the reopening of all businesses.
Last weekend, California made national news as an estimated 80,000 people gathered on Newport Beach and Huntington Beach during a heatwave. Orange County was the only county in the area where beaches remained open, as counties north and south had previously shut down public spaces.
"This virus doesn't take the weekends off," Governor Gavin Newsom said Monday. "This virus doesn't go home because it's a beautiful sunny day around our coasts."
On Thursday, Newsom announced the decision to close Orange County beaches. He again stressed that the "vast majority" of Californians have followed the stay-at-home order and social distancing guidelines, but said "specific issues" on some beaches "have raised alarm bells."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-thousands-storm-california-beaches-protest-closures/
Crowds took to the streets Friday — many without face masks — backing up traffic for at least a mile along Pacific Coast Highway, The Associated Press reports. "Freedom is essential," "Surfing is not a crime" and "Newsom is a kook" read some of their signs, which also called for the reopening of all businesses.
Last weekend, California made national news as an estimated 80,000 people gathered on Newport Beach and Huntington Beach during a heatwave. Orange County was the only county in the area where beaches remained open, as counties north and south had previously shut down public spaces.
"This virus doesn't take the weekends off," Governor Gavin Newsom said Monday. "This virus doesn't go home because it's a beautiful sunny day around our coasts."
On Thursday, Newsom announced the decision to close Orange County beaches. He again stressed that the "vast majority" of Californians have followed the stay-at-home order and social distancing guidelines, but said "specific issues" on some beaches "have raised alarm bells."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-thousands-storm-california-beaches-protest-closures/
Yeah seriously stop being so fucking stupid! Do we need to remind you that there’s a killer virus out there that – as George Carlin put it – is capable of turning your vital organs into liquid shit? And that it kills at a 5% rate? Go ahead and get your surf on while the rest of us stay inside. Yeah it sucks that we can’t go enjoy a nice day on the beach right now, but it’s better than being buried in a box in a ditch on an abandoned island. I can guarantee that. So there’s Michigan and my state. What about Texas? Well…
A 25-year-old man in Texas was arrested and charged with attempted assault on a public servant after a video showed him pushing a park ranger into a lake while the ranger went over rules on social distancing.
Authorities say Ranger Cassidy Stillwell was talking to a group of people about not distancing themselves from each other at Commons Ford Ranch Metro Park in Austin when Brandon Hicks pushed him into the lake.
As Stillwell was falling into the lake, he pulled Hicks in with him.
Hicks fled the scene but was later arrested, officials say.
If convicted, Hicks would be sentenced up to two years in jail.
https://www.abc15.com/news/national/coronavirus/texas-park-ranger-enforcing-social-distancing-pushed-in-lake-suspect-charged
Authorities say Ranger Cassidy Stillwell was talking to a group of people about not distancing themselves from each other at Commons Ford Ranch Metro Park in Austin when Brandon Hicks pushed him into the lake.
As Stillwell was falling into the lake, he pulled Hicks in with him.
Hicks fled the scene but was later arrested, officials say.
If convicted, Hicks would be sentenced up to two years in jail.
https://www.abc15.com/news/national/coronavirus/texas-park-ranger-enforcing-social-distancing-pushed-in-lake-suspect-charged
That’s a perfect example of one person making it worse for the rest of us. And if you want to see a whole bunch of stupid people in one tightly packed space, just look at what happened in Boston this week, this shit is getting real. People are rebelling against the SAH orders and well it’s going to be a fucking disaster when this thing comes back in the fall. Expect things to be that much worse. Beware.
Chants of "USA" rang out Monday at the steps of the Statehouse, where hundreds of people stood shoulder to shoulder protesting the state's stay-at-home advisory and closure of nonessential businesses, measures taken to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.
Many of the protesters weren't wearing masks, instead toting signs and garb supporting President Donald Trump. Large vehicles covered in Trump paraphernalia were at the scene. "Make America Free Again," read one woman's sign.
The Boston Globe reported the protest was organized in part by the people behind last fall's Straight Pride Parade.
"Beyond this COVID, it really is about power," said Mary Smith, who drove about 30 minutes to protest. "Our government really is holding on by a thread."
Some people shouted about tyranny, while others were upset about churches being closed while liquor stores remain open. One person held a "Fire Fauci" sign high above his head, a reference to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert.
https://patch.com/massachusetts/boston/hundreds-tightly-packed-protesters-gather-state-house
Many of the protesters weren't wearing masks, instead toting signs and garb supporting President Donald Trump. Large vehicles covered in Trump paraphernalia were at the scene. "Make America Free Again," read one woman's sign.
The Boston Globe reported the protest was organized in part by the people behind last fall's Straight Pride Parade.
"Beyond this COVID, it really is about power," said Mary Smith, who drove about 30 minutes to protest. "Our government really is holding on by a thread."
Some people shouted about tyranny, while others were upset about churches being closed while liquor stores remain open. One person held a "Fire Fauci" sign high above his head, a reference to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert.
https://patch.com/massachusetts/boston/hundreds-tightly-packed-protesters-gather-state-house
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[font size="8"]Reopening The Country – What Could Go Wrong?
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There’s one thing I will say about the MAGA crowd – they certainly know how to talk some trash. They also know how to leave giant piles of it for someone else to clean up (see: Top 10 #8-5 ). That said, they’ve been talking massive amounts of shit about reopening the economy after the Coronavirus came in like a wrecking ball and completely ravaged the US economy thanks to social distancing measures. And this that giant pile of trash that they’ve left behind. Since the economy has been opening very slowly, let’s examine the number of ways that this could go wrong. For starters – let’s take a look at Missouri. Would you want to take this risk? Jared Kushner says this country will be rocking by July. Well if this country’s rocking, don’t come knocking.
Missouri Governor Mike Parson has given the okay for concerts to begin again in the state as early as Monday.
On April 27, Governor Parson released his Show Me Strong recovery plan that details plans for gradually reopening the state's economy starting May 4. The plan allows for retail stores to serve customers in-store at limited capacities and for restaurants to re-establish dine-in services while remaining socially distanced.
A first for the country since governments started instating lockdown orders, Missouri will allow residents to attend live events, including concerts. According to the Show Me Strong guidelines, large events and gatherings are no longer banned, but in order to go to a concert, movie theater or stadium "seating shall be spaced out according to social distancing requirements."
A representative from Missouri's Department of Health and Senior Services clarified for Billboard that concerts do not have to adhere to the same occupancy limitations as retail businesses, but event organizers are expected to keep concertgoers six feet or more apart to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.
https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/9368428/missouri-concerts-resume-may-4-coronavirus
On April 27, Governor Parson released his Show Me Strong recovery plan that details plans for gradually reopening the state's economy starting May 4. The plan allows for retail stores to serve customers in-store at limited capacities and for restaurants to re-establish dine-in services while remaining socially distanced.
A first for the country since governments started instating lockdown orders, Missouri will allow residents to attend live events, including concerts. According to the Show Me Strong guidelines, large events and gatherings are no longer banned, but in order to go to a concert, movie theater or stadium "seating shall be spaced out according to social distancing requirements."
A representative from Missouri's Department of Health and Senior Services clarified for Billboard that concerts do not have to adhere to the same occupancy limitations as retail businesses, but event organizers are expected to keep concertgoers six feet or more apart to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.
https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/9368428/missouri-concerts-resume-may-4-coronavirus
Dude, seriously, this is like being in a 12 step program and skipping steps 2 – 11 and then saying you’re cured of your alcoholism. Look I am an avid concert goer and I love live music as much the next guy and I’ve been devastated at the end of live music until there’s a vaccine. But I’m not taking that risk right now, and that’s just one of many many problems we face right now. Like look at Texas for instance.
The Domain mall in Austin, Texas, is open for business - unlike most of its 100 upscale shops - as the state entered its first work week of eased pandemic restrictions in the hopes of rekindling the economy.
A dozen or so people were strolling about the sprawling open-air shopping center Monday afternoon, with three seated on the patio of a Tex-Mex restaurant. Only one shopper wore a mask, and the loudest noises were from songbirds perched in the live oak trees along the deserted pedestrian thoroughfares.
“I’ve seen one customer today - they didn’t buy anything,” said Taylor Jund, who was keeping watch over an empty Chaser clothing store. “There’s absolutely no one coming around here.”
While protests across the United States demand state governments allow business to reopen and people to get back to work, the vast majority of Americans balk at relaxing stay-at-home orders too quickly, according to Reuters/Ipsos opinion polling.
Texas, Georgia and other southern states are leading the way in letting stay at home orders expire and gradually allowing people go about their business. But the early days of the opening in Texas show that many residents might want to stay home anyway.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-texas/texas-back-in-business-barely-yall-as-malls-restaurants-empty-idUSKBN22H19K
A dozen or so people were strolling about the sprawling open-air shopping center Monday afternoon, with three seated on the patio of a Tex-Mex restaurant. Only one shopper wore a mask, and the loudest noises were from songbirds perched in the live oak trees along the deserted pedestrian thoroughfares.
“I’ve seen one customer today - they didn’t buy anything,” said Taylor Jund, who was keeping watch over an empty Chaser clothing store. “There’s absolutely no one coming around here.”
While protests across the United States demand state governments allow business to reopen and people to get back to work, the vast majority of Americans balk at relaxing stay-at-home orders too quickly, according to Reuters/Ipsos opinion polling.
Texas, Georgia and other southern states are leading the way in letting stay at home orders expire and gradually allowing people go about their business. But the early days of the opening in Texas show that many residents might want to stay home anyway.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-texas/texas-back-in-business-barely-yall-as-malls-restaurants-empty-idUSKBN22H19K
Yeah so another thing – would you take that risk going to your favorite bar right now? I wouldn’t with Texas reporting 1,000 new cases a day. Shit, even my home state of California is not immune from stupid people in the process of reopening. Look, we’re all starved to get out and go do something after being dormant for 2 months, I get it! But this guy here is *NOT* doing us a solid.
A San Clemente restaurant reopened over the weekend, in defiance of California’s stay-at-home order.
Nomads Canteen, located at 102 Avenida Cabrillo, was crowded with at least two dozen people who could be seen socializing, eating and drinking in the outside patio area Sunday afternoon, two days after the restaurant reopened its doors to dine-in services.
Owner Jeff Gourley told KTLA he took social distancing measures into account by reducing indoor capacity by about 40%, after removing several tables and placing bar stools several feet apart.
But out on the patio deck, patrons did not appear to be adhering to the state’s social distancing guidelines and were not wearing masks, video showed.
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/san-clemente-restaurant-reopens-drawing-crowds-as-o-c-becomes-hotspot-in-challenging-state-orders/
Nomads Canteen, located at 102 Avenida Cabrillo, was crowded with at least two dozen people who could be seen socializing, eating and drinking in the outside patio area Sunday afternoon, two days after the restaurant reopened its doors to dine-in services.
Owner Jeff Gourley told KTLA he took social distancing measures into account by reducing indoor capacity by about 40%, after removing several tables and placing bar stools several feet apart.
But out on the patio deck, patrons did not appear to be adhering to the state’s social distancing guidelines and were not wearing masks, video showed.
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/san-clemente-restaurant-reopens-drawing-crowds-as-o-c-becomes-hotspot-in-challenging-state-orders/
Yeah that’s probably the best protection out there right now. Do I need to go get that Twitter thread from that doctor who said that this thing shreds your insides even after you’ve been taken off the ventilators? Don’t make me. Because that’s where we are heading. And there will be a second wave of this when our guard is let down. But don’t let these assholes get you down either. Just keep calm and don’t go outside for a while.
The availability of a vaccine for the novel coronavirus will likely play a key role in determining when Americans can return to life as usual. Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on April 30 announced that a vaccine could even be available by January 2021.
Whether a vaccine can end this pandemic successfully, however, depends on more than its effectiveness at providing immunity against the virus, or how quickly it can be produced in mass quantities. Americans also must choose to receive the vaccine.
According to some estimates, 50% to 70% of Americans would need to develop immunity to COVID-19 – either naturally, or via a vaccine – in order to thwart the spread of the virus. If these estimates are correct, that could mean that nearly twice as many Americans would need to elect to receive a COVID-19 vaccine than those who currently opt to be vaccinated against seasonal influenza. Just 37% of American adults did so in 2017-2018, even in the midst of a historically severe flu season.
Making matters more complicated is the possibility that people who hold skeptical views about vaccine safety – sometimes referred to as "anti-vaxxers" – will not opt to receive the coronavirus vaccine. According to some estimates, about one-fifth to two-fifths of Americans express reservations about vaccine safety. If most of these individuals forego receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, they could potentially jeopardize the recovery process.
https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities/articles/2020-05-04/many-vaccine-skeptics-plan-to-refuse-a-covid-19-vaccine-study-suggests
Whether a vaccine can end this pandemic successfully, however, depends on more than its effectiveness at providing immunity against the virus, or how quickly it can be produced in mass quantities. Americans also must choose to receive the vaccine.
According to some estimates, 50% to 70% of Americans would need to develop immunity to COVID-19 – either naturally, or via a vaccine – in order to thwart the spread of the virus. If these estimates are correct, that could mean that nearly twice as many Americans would need to elect to receive a COVID-19 vaccine than those who currently opt to be vaccinated against seasonal influenza. Just 37% of American adults did so in 2017-2018, even in the midst of a historically severe flu season.
Making matters more complicated is the possibility that people who hold skeptical views about vaccine safety – sometimes referred to as "anti-vaxxers" – will not opt to receive the coronavirus vaccine. According to some estimates, about one-fifth to two-fifths of Americans express reservations about vaccine safety. If most of these individuals forego receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, they could potentially jeopardize the recovery process.
https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities/articles/2020-05-04/many-vaccine-skeptics-plan-to-refuse-a-covid-19-vaccine-study-suggests
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[font size="8"]Elon Musk
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Elon, Elon, Elon. What are we going to do with you? If you haven’t been following the news surrounding the latest look into the batshit crazy mind of the Tesla CEO and new dad Elon Musk, well, it’s the stuff of complete insanity. While corporations around the world are feeling the hits from COVID-19 – everything from giant financial gurus like Berkshire – Hathaway to your local mom and pop bar, even Tesla is feeling the pinch. Auto makers in general are feeling the heat right now. But Tesla’s current woes aren’t exactly COVID-related. In fact the stocks are tanking because – someone as powerful as Elon can sink a multi-billion dollar company with the stroke of a tweet.
Tesla boss Elon Musk wiped $14bn (£11bn) off the carmaker's value after tweeting its share price was too high.
It also knocked $3bn off Mr Musk's own stake in Tesla as investors promptly bailed out of the company.
"Tesla stock price too high imo," he said in one of several tweets that included a vow to sell his possessions.
In other tweets, he said his girlfriend was mad at him, while another simply read: "Rage, rage against the dying of the light of consciousness."
In 2018, a tweet about Tesla's future on the New York stock market led to regulators fining the company $20m and Mr Musk agreeing to have all further posts on the platform pre-screened by lawyers.
'Headache'
On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported it had asked the billionaire if he was joking about the share price tweet and whether it had been vetted, receiving the reply "No".
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52504187
It also knocked $3bn off Mr Musk's own stake in Tesla as investors promptly bailed out of the company.
"Tesla stock price too high imo," he said in one of several tweets that included a vow to sell his possessions.
In other tweets, he said his girlfriend was mad at him, while another simply read: "Rage, rage against the dying of the light of consciousness."
In 2018, a tweet about Tesla's future on the New York stock market led to regulators fining the company $20m and Mr Musk agreeing to have all further posts on the platform pre-screened by lawyers.
'Headache'
On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported it had asked the billionaire if he was joking about the share price tweet and whether it had been vetted, receiving the reply "No".
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52504187
Holy shit! He can wipe out billions with a single tweet… he is Super Idiot!!! Dude here’s the thing, if your stock prices are that high, you should revel in it! Seriously, what are you smoking man? If that’s not enough, Elon not only stood by his recent claims, he doubled down on his insanity. There must be some bad covfefe circulating because now he’s going even crazier than usual.
Two of Elon Musk’s Los Angeles mansions appear to be up for sale on property website Zillow for $30 million and $9.5 million.
The listings, which say they’re “for sale by owner,” went live on Sunday just two days after the eccentric billionaire tweeted that he intended to sell almost all of his physical possessions and that he “will own no house.”
Moments before he made those remarks on Friday, Musk tweeted to his 33.6 million followers that Tesla stock was too high, leading to $14 billion being wiped off the company’s market cap. It’s unclear why he did this.
Musk’s two luxury properties are both in the the exclusive Los Angeles neighborhood of Bel Air. One is a five bedroom ranch and the other is a six bedroom estate.
A representative for Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/04/elon-musks-lavish-la-mansions-sale.html
The listings, which say they’re “for sale by owner,” went live on Sunday just two days after the eccentric billionaire tweeted that he intended to sell almost all of his physical possessions and that he “will own no house.”
Moments before he made those remarks on Friday, Musk tweeted to his 33.6 million followers that Tesla stock was too high, leading to $14 billion being wiped off the company’s market cap. It’s unclear why he did this.
Musk’s two luxury properties are both in the the exclusive Los Angeles neighborhood of Bel Air. One is a five bedroom ranch and the other is a six bedroom estate.
A representative for Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/04/elon-musks-lavish-la-mansions-sale.html
Sure, what’s $30 million in the worst pandemic not seen in a century and the worst economic crash since the Great Depression? I’ll take two of them! Really who is he kidding? And why is he selling his house you might ask? Maybe he knows that since the virus is ruling all of humanity right now that you can’t take it with you? Or does he have some other ulterior motive behind this insane move? Well, he might be joining Tom DeLonge in the quest for UFOs.
A city on Mars? SpaceX has been training this whole time, Elon Musk declared Sunday.
The SpaceX CEO took to Twitter to decry his company's slow rate of progress in sending humans to Mars to set up a city. The firm is currently working on the Starship, a fully-reusable rocket designed to transport humans to Mars and beyond, which Musk noted is step one of three toward reaching this goal.
Musk also explained how the company has been working on step two of three through its existing resupply missions. The second step is orbital refilling, which will enable the Starship to refuel in space and continue its mission to the red planet.
On Sunday, YouTuber Tim Dodd asked Musk about current progress on the firm's research in this area in collaboration with NASA. Musk responded:
SpaceX has a lot of experience berthing & now docking with [the International Space Station], which is very difficult. Orbital refilling should in theory be easier, since Starships dock with themselves & will be uncrewed at first.
https://www.inverse.com/innovation/spacex-elon-musk-explains-how-dragon-capsules-pave-the-way-to-a-mars-city
The SpaceX CEO took to Twitter to decry his company's slow rate of progress in sending humans to Mars to set up a city. The firm is currently working on the Starship, a fully-reusable rocket designed to transport humans to Mars and beyond, which Musk noted is step one of three toward reaching this goal.
Musk also explained how the company has been working on step two of three through its existing resupply missions. The second step is orbital refilling, which will enable the Starship to refuel in space and continue its mission to the red planet.
On Sunday, YouTuber Tim Dodd asked Musk about current progress on the firm's research in this area in collaboration with NASA. Musk responded:
SpaceX has a lot of experience berthing & now docking with [the International Space Station], which is very difficult. Orbital refilling should in theory be easier, since Starships dock with themselves & will be uncrewed at first.
https://www.inverse.com/innovation/spacex-elon-musk-explains-how-dragon-capsules-pave-the-way-to-a-mars-city
Space X!!! Seriously Elon? We’re going to build a city on Mars? Why don’t we build a working city on earth first? And why don’t we cure coronavirus while we’re at it? Shit, it’s been 4 years and Flint still doesn’t have potable water! Let’s fix our problems on Earth first before we go ruin another planet, can we do that? Oh and it must be nice to be Elon, he can say literally anything and still make $700 million.
With Tesla’s stock closing at $761.19 yesterday, Tesla’s stock market value has now achieved a six-month average of $100.2 billion – making the first tranche of the compensation plan eligible to vest, according to an analysis of Refinitiv data via Reuters.
At a set price of $350.02 each per vested share, Musk would clear almost $700 million from the first tranche thanks to Tesla’s high share price.
Last Friday, Musk said that Tesla’s share price was “too high” in a series of tweets – wiping out billions of dollars worth of Tesla’s valuation.
At the time, we speculated that Musk was trying to prove his detractors wrong who have accused him of only pushing the “free America” narrative to get his stock options, which he ended up later confirming it was part of what drove him to call out Tesla’s share price.
The stock crashed almost 10% following his comment, Tesla investors didn’t care for long as the stock was back up to his pre-comment level the next day – triggering his stock option tranche anyway.
https://electrek.co/2020/05/05/elon-musk-tesla-700-million-payday/
At a set price of $350.02 each per vested share, Musk would clear almost $700 million from the first tranche thanks to Tesla’s high share price.
Last Friday, Musk said that Tesla’s share price was “too high” in a series of tweets – wiping out billions of dollars worth of Tesla’s valuation.
At the time, we speculated that Musk was trying to prove his detractors wrong who have accused him of only pushing the “free America” narrative to get his stock options, which he ended up later confirming it was part of what drove him to call out Tesla’s share price.
The stock crashed almost 10% following his comment, Tesla investors didn’t care for long as the stock was back up to his pre-comment level the next day – triggering his stock option tranche anyway.
https://electrek.co/2020/05/05/elon-musk-tesla-700-million-payday/
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[font size="8"]Aliens Exist
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Finally! We get some non virus news to talk about today. Yay!!! Good because I am fucking sick to death of this thing. Not quite that sick, sir! But first can we get some music to accompany this piece?
Yeah someone better call Tom DeLonge because the Pentagon has confirmed what we’ve all long been suspecting – aliens exist! Or do they? Maybe it’s a weather balloon or a black helicopter. You don’t know, man! That’s what they want you to think! OK enough of channeling my inner conspiracy theorist and UFO chaser. But now with everything turning upside down because of what’s out there, that’s not aliens, the Pentagon decide to simply say “fuck it” and confirm what we’ve all been suspecting. Which is that aliens do in fact exist. At least partially. The truth is out there! Oh wait, I’m supposed to say that at the end aren’t I?
The Pentagon has declassified three previously leaked top secret U.S. Navy videos that show "unexplained aerial phenomena" and that some believe could show Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) in an effort "to clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real or whether or not there is more to the videos," said a Pentagon spokesperson.
"The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as 'unidentified,'" the spokesperson added.
The videos, previously acknowledged by the Navy as being real, captured what Navy fighter pilots saw on their video sensors during training flights in 2004 and 2015. They were published by the New York Times in 2017.
"The Department of Defense has authorized the release of three unclassified Navy videos, one taken in November 2004 and the other two in January 2015, which have been circulating in the public domain after unauthorized releases in 2007 and 2017," said Susan Gough, a Defense Department spokesperson in a statement released Monday.
"After a thorough review, the department has determined that the authorized release of these unclassified videos does not reveal any sensitive capabilities or systems, and does not impinge on any subsequent investigations of military air space incursions by unidentified aerial phenomena," said Gough.
https://6abc.com/navy-ufo-videos-aliens-alien-caught-on-video-sightings/6134626/
"The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as 'unidentified,'" the spokesperson added.
The videos, previously acknowledged by the Navy as being real, captured what Navy fighter pilots saw on their video sensors during training flights in 2004 and 2015. They were published by the New York Times in 2017.
"The Department of Defense has authorized the release of three unclassified Navy videos, one taken in November 2004 and the other two in January 2015, which have been circulating in the public domain after unauthorized releases in 2007 and 2017," said Susan Gough, a Defense Department spokesperson in a statement released Monday.
"After a thorough review, the department has determined that the authorized release of these unclassified videos does not reveal any sensitive capabilities or systems, and does not impinge on any subsequent investigations of military air space incursions by unidentified aerial phenomena," said Gough.
https://6abc.com/navy-ufo-videos-aliens-alien-caught-on-video-sightings/6134626/
Of course it’s “unidentified”. It’s in the name “unidentified flying objects”! Remember last year when a group of idiots got the idea to storm the Pentagon to “see them aliens” (see: Top 10 #7-6 ? Well there might have been something to this. But I’m sure the last thing that the government wants is a bunch of idiots storming an otherwise classified military base. But this brings the question – have aliens ever visited earth? Well there’s plenty of theories out there.
Between 2002 and 2005, files released by the Ministry of Defence documented three sightings in Gwent - two in Newport, one in Croesyceiliog.
A further 4,400-page document relating to sightings reported between 2007 and November 2009 in Gwent was also released by the MoD, which revealed sightings had been reported in Newport, another in Argoed.
Further later documented sightings refer to two objects seen over Blaenavon in March 2009, and in December 2018, strange lights were spotted in the sky over Tranch, Pontypool.
One of the most memorable encounters in recent years includes the spherical floating object filmed by a South Wales police helicopter whilst officers were flying 1,000ft over the Bristol Channel in 2016.
Explanations
All manner of explanations have been offered for the strange sightings, from weather balloons and sky lanterns, to mistaking the bright planet Venus as a UFO.
However, while many sightings can be explained away, others cannot and remain a mystery. Bt linking them to extra-terrestrial activity is another question.
https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/18423301.aliens-ever-visited-us-take-look-gwents-x-files/
A further 4,400-page document relating to sightings reported between 2007 and November 2009 in Gwent was also released by the MoD, which revealed sightings had been reported in Newport, another in Argoed.
Further later documented sightings refer to two objects seen over Blaenavon in March 2009, and in December 2018, strange lights were spotted in the sky over Tranch, Pontypool.
One of the most memorable encounters in recent years includes the spherical floating object filmed by a South Wales police helicopter whilst officers were flying 1,000ft over the Bristol Channel in 2016.
Explanations
All manner of explanations have been offered for the strange sightings, from weather balloons and sky lanterns, to mistaking the bright planet Venus as a UFO.
However, while many sightings can be explained away, others cannot and remain a mystery. Bt linking them to extra-terrestrial activity is another question.
https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/18423301.aliens-ever-visited-us-take-look-gwents-x-files/
So aliens could have visited us, or they could not have but one thing is for absolute certain – it’s not a UFO that visited us. Or did it? Even if we assume that UFOs are real, it’s not going to be like Independence Day or Alien. Or Star Trek. Or any number of movies where humans interact with aliens like it’s no big deal. Is there a science to all of this? Probably. Do I know where I am going with this line of questioning? Hell no.
UFOs are very real, as we have recently seen — but that doesn't mean E.T. has been violating our airspace.
"UFO" refers to any flying object an observer cannot readily identify. And pilots with the U.S. Navy saw fast-moving UFOs repeatedly off the East Coast throughout 2014 and 2015, in one case apparently nearly colliding with one of the mysterious objects, The New York Times reported earlier this week.
Those incidents were reported to the Pentagon's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), whose existence the Times and Politico revealed in December 2017. (Interestingly, those 2017 stories cited Pentagon officials as saying that AATIP had been shut down in 2012.)
Former AATIP head Luis Elizondo, by the way, is involved with a new six-part series called "Unidentified: Inside America's UFO Investigation," which premieres tonight (May 31) on The History Channel.
The Navy pilots said some UFOs reached hypersonic speeds without any detectable exhaust plumes, suggesting the possible involvement of super-advanced propulsion technology. Still, Defense Department officials aren't invoking intelligent aliens as an explanation, according to this week's Times story — and they're right to be measured in this respect, scientists say.
https://www.space.com/ufos-real-but-not-alien-spaceships.html
"UFO" refers to any flying object an observer cannot readily identify. And pilots with the U.S. Navy saw fast-moving UFOs repeatedly off the East Coast throughout 2014 and 2015, in one case apparently nearly colliding with one of the mysterious objects, The New York Times reported earlier this week.
Those incidents were reported to the Pentagon's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), whose existence the Times and Politico revealed in December 2017. (Interestingly, those 2017 stories cited Pentagon officials as saying that AATIP had been shut down in 2012.)
Former AATIP head Luis Elizondo, by the way, is involved with a new six-part series called "Unidentified: Inside America's UFO Investigation," which premieres tonight (May 31) on The History Channel.
The Navy pilots said some UFOs reached hypersonic speeds without any detectable exhaust plumes, suggesting the possible involvement of super-advanced propulsion technology. Still, Defense Department officials aren't invoking intelligent aliens as an explanation, according to this week's Times story — and they're right to be measured in this respect, scientists say.
https://www.space.com/ufos-real-but-not-alien-spaceships.html
You’d better believe it, man! The boredom is excruciating! But of course when one things of aliens, one can’t help but think of what everyone’s favorite alien hunter Tom DeLonge thinks. Of course you know him as the voice and mastermind of Blink 182, who famously left the band he founded to explore the possibility that life might be out beyond the stars. The truth… is out there!
Last year, the research group announced a new partnership with the U.S. Army to collaborate on future UFO research which led to the release of videos of “unidentified aerial phenomena.”
They released three videos in December 2017 and March 2018 which the U.S. Navy confirmed to The Black Vault in September 2019 that they considered the “phenomena contained/depicted in those videos as unidentified.”
DeLonge later said in a Rolling Stone interview that he was surprised the Navy took his videos seriously and identified the objects as “unidentified aerial phenomena.”
In a report released by CNN earlier in the week, the Pentagon officially re-released the videos previously unveiled by DeLonge’s research group. You can see them for yourself below.
https://www.altpress.com/news/donald-trump-tom-delonge-ufo-videos/
They released three videos in December 2017 and March 2018 which the U.S. Navy confirmed to The Black Vault in September 2019 that they considered the “phenomena contained/depicted in those videos as unidentified.”
DeLonge later said in a Rolling Stone interview that he was surprised the Navy took his videos seriously and identified the objects as “unidentified aerial phenomena.”
In a report released by CNN earlier in the week, the Pentagon officially re-released the videos previously unveiled by DeLonge’s research group. You can see them for yourself below.
https://www.altpress.com/news/donald-trump-tom-delonge-ufo-videos/
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[font size="8"]Top 10 Investigates: The Origins Of Coronavirus
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It’s time to investigate beyond the headlines. This is Top 10 Investigates!
The Coronavirus has been dominating the headlines. But with the virus, come many questions and one of the biggest is – where did it come from? There’s many differing theories on the origins of the virus – some say it originated in a lab. Others say that it originated in bats. Then there’s some conspiracy theories who say that the virus was man made and that it was a hoax. And then there’s the origin theory that the President is parroting that says that the virus originated in a lab as a biological weapon. One thing is for absolute certain – we know it’s not that. But where did the virus come from? Let’s take a look at the differing theories out there.
You could be forgiven for wondering how a disease as fast-moving and deadly as COVID-19 could just appear naturally, out of nowhere, seemingly overnight. President Trump expressed doubt, saying that “a lot of people” were looking at the possibility that a Chinese lab was responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier that week, Fox News ran a story in which unnamed sources suggested that the COVID-19 outbreak originated in a Wuhan laboratory — the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which studies coronaviruses with a number of international collaborators. The New York Times reported that spy agencies are being pressured to find evidence blaming the lab, and at the end of April, the National Institutes of Health withdrew funding from a research consortium that had collaborated with the lab. As recently as this weekend, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, despite saying there was no reason to disbelieve the intelligence community’s assessment that the virus was neither manmade nor genetically modified, claimed there was “enormous evidence” connecting the virus to the WIV.
But the truth is almost certainly not that salacious. Robert Garry, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the Tulane University School of Medicine, said this dynamic is familiar. “Every time there’s an outbreak, people say, oh, there’s a lab close by.” He should know: In 2014, during the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, conspiracy theorists alleged his team’s lab in Sierra Leone, not far from the origin of the outbreak, was a George Soros-funded bioweapons site.
According to a growing body of research, SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) is almost certainly a naturally occurring virus that initially circulated in bats then spilled into humans. But that hasn’t stopped some from trying to find a more sinister origin. “It seems like such an extreme event that people are looking for an extraordinary explanation for it,” said Stephen Goldstein, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Utah who studies coronaviruses. No single piece of evidence has yet confirmed the virus’ origin. But according to scientists, the evidence that does exist paints a consistent picture of a wild virus, not one that sprang from a lab.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-scientists-think-the-novel-coronavirus-developed-naturally-not-in-a-chinese-lab/
But the truth is almost certainly not that salacious. Robert Garry, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the Tulane University School of Medicine, said this dynamic is familiar. “Every time there’s an outbreak, people say, oh, there’s a lab close by.” He should know: In 2014, during the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, conspiracy theorists alleged his team’s lab in Sierra Leone, not far from the origin of the outbreak, was a George Soros-funded bioweapons site.
According to a growing body of research, SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) is almost certainly a naturally occurring virus that initially circulated in bats then spilled into humans. But that hasn’t stopped some from trying to find a more sinister origin. “It seems like such an extreme event that people are looking for an extraordinary explanation for it,” said Stephen Goldstein, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Utah who studies coronaviruses. No single piece of evidence has yet confirmed the virus’ origin. But according to scientists, the evidence that does exist paints a consistent picture of a wild virus, not one that sprang from a lab.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-scientists-think-the-novel-coronavirus-developed-naturally-not-in-a-chinese-lab/
That is most definitely how the virus did not originate. But while multiple theories out there have disputes about where coronavirus came from, it did not come from where we think it did, but it has all the possibilities of starting the next World War. So far all the blame is being placed on China where they did not lock down when they first found out about it, and just made it that much worse.
The European Union has called for a worldwide investigation into the origins and spread of Covid-19 in a move its foreign policy chief described as “standing aside from the battlefield between China and the US”.
The EU said the bloc and its 27 member states would co-sponsor a draft resolution calling for an “independent review” into the novel coronavirus that causes the disease when the World Health Assembly convenes for a virtual meeting on May 18.
The meeting of the World Health Organisation’s decision-making body is shaping up as a test of China’s diplomatic standing in the wake of the pandemic.
In addition to calls for an independent investigation, nations such as the US are also pushing to reinstate Taiwan – which Beijing views as a renegade province – as an observer to the assembly.
China has so far not committed to an international probe, saying it would be a “blame game” that targets Beijing, even though China has repeatedly pledged support for the WHO.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3082989/european-union-backs-international-inquiry-origins-coronavirus
The EU said the bloc and its 27 member states would co-sponsor a draft resolution calling for an “independent review” into the novel coronavirus that causes the disease when the World Health Assembly convenes for a virtual meeting on May 18.
The meeting of the World Health Organisation’s decision-making body is shaping up as a test of China’s diplomatic standing in the wake of the pandemic.
In addition to calls for an independent investigation, nations such as the US are also pushing to reinstate Taiwan – which Beijing views as a renegade province – as an observer to the assembly.
China has so far not committed to an international probe, saying it would be a “blame game” that targets Beijing, even though China has repeatedly pledged support for the WHO.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3082989/european-union-backs-international-inquiry-origins-coronavirus
We can’t all be like Mr. Burns though. And of course China is to blame for not alerting the world to the severity of the disease that was coming our way, but who knew what would happen? But another thing is for certain – there’s nothing to trust about what Trump’s Secretary Of State, Mike Pompeo has to say about this. In fact there’s really no evidence of this fact, just a bunch of baseless theories that they pulled out of their ass.
U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said “enormous evidence” shows the novel coronavirus outbreak began in a laboratory in Wuhan, China, and that Beijing has refused to give international scientists access to learn what happened.
“I can tell you that there is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in Wuhan,” Pompeo said on ABC’s “This Week,” broadcast Sunday. “These are not the first times that we’ve had a world exposed to viruses as a result of failures in a Chinese lab.”
Pompeo stopped short of saying the virus was human-made, noting that he agreed with a report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that ruled out genetic modification or it having been human-made.
The virus’s origin has become a flash point in the pandemic and ratcheted up tensions between the U.S. and China. President Donald Trump has escalated efforts to attach blame to China as U.S. pandemic deaths pass 66,000.
https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2020/05/secretary-of-state-mike-pompeo-says-enormous-evidence-for-wuhan-lab-coronavirus-origin.html
“I can tell you that there is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in Wuhan,” Pompeo said on ABC’s “This Week,” broadcast Sunday. “These are not the first times that we’ve had a world exposed to viruses as a result of failures in a Chinese lab.”
Pompeo stopped short of saying the virus was human-made, noting that he agreed with a report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that ruled out genetic modification or it having been human-made.
The virus’s origin has become a flash point in the pandemic and ratcheted up tensions between the U.S. and China. President Donald Trump has escalated efforts to attach blame to China as U.S. pandemic deaths pass 66,000.
https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2020/05/secretary-of-state-mike-pompeo-says-enormous-evidence-for-wuhan-lab-coronavirus-origin.html
That’s definitely not how the Coronavirus originated. However, it’s a good thing that there are other countries in the world that have their own intelligence agencies besides the US and China. Because while the US wants retaliation against China and Chinese hostility is at an all time high not seen since 1989, along comes Australia to shoot down Trump’s claims that the virus was made in a lab. And we all could have seen this one coming.
Despite Trump's comment Thursday that he has seen information that gives him high confidence that the outbreak was the result of an accidental release from a Wuhan laboratory, U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News that they have made no such assessment. There is no "smoking gun" evidence pointing them in that direction, they say, and there may never be.
Intelligence officials stand by the public statement put out Thursday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which said that the intelligence community has concluded that the virus was not man-made but that it had reached no conclusion about whether it emerged accidentally from a lab or was transmitted to humans through animals.
NBC News reported last week that the White House has tasked the intelligence community with investigating that and other questions about the origin of the virus, the extent to which China covered it up and whether the World Health Organization was complicit in the cover-up. Some critics have raised the concern that the White House is pushing the intelligence agencies to validate a conclusion that helps it politically, by distracting attention from the question of whether it acted soon enough. China and the WHO deny that they were less than forthcoming, and China says the virus couldn't have come from one of its labs.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday on ABC that "there is enormous evidence ... I can tell you that there is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in Wuhan." But he declined to detail the evidence, as did Trump when he was asked about it.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/did-coronavirus-really-escape-chinese-lab-here-s-what-we-n1199531
Intelligence officials stand by the public statement put out Thursday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which said that the intelligence community has concluded that the virus was not man-made but that it had reached no conclusion about whether it emerged accidentally from a lab or was transmitted to humans through animals.
NBC News reported last week that the White House has tasked the intelligence community with investigating that and other questions about the origin of the virus, the extent to which China covered it up and whether the World Health Organization was complicit in the cover-up. Some critics have raised the concern that the White House is pushing the intelligence agencies to validate a conclusion that helps it politically, by distracting attention from the question of whether it acted soon enough. China and the WHO deny that they were less than forthcoming, and China says the virus couldn't have come from one of its labs.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday on ABC that "there is enormous evidence ... I can tell you that there is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in Wuhan." But he declined to detail the evidence, as did Trump when he was asked about it.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/did-coronavirus-really-escape-chinese-lab-here-s-what-we-n1199531
That’s it for Top 10 Investigates. Good day!
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[font size="8"]Holy Shit
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Gather around my fair brothers and sisters! It’s time to take a seat in the pew and pass the collection plate, for the Holy Church Of The Top 10 has convened and it’s time to remind you that the holiest among us are the most full of:
Shabbat shalom, my fair congregation! You know on this program we talk a lot about the Christian right and make fun of their antics on this program and rightfully so! But this week, we have to talk about what went down in New York City. Now do we necessarily agree with Gov. Cuomo’s actions here? No. We believe in the right to free expression, even in the worst pandemic not seen in over a century. And the very sad thing is that it’s my fellow zealots, who see the virus as an attack on their personal freedoms, that are going to keep this thing going. See, guys, there’s nobody attacking your rights, and the virus has put us all on the same page until there’s a way to deal with it. So in the meantime definitely don’t do something like this. Because that’s not what the good LAWRD would want!
The Anti-Defamation League and a New York City councilman are calling out Mayor Bill de Blasio after he condemned a large funeral gathering, saying he targeted the entire Jewish community when only one group of people broke the rules.
De Blasio said the gathering for a rabbi's funeral Tuesday in Williamsburg, New York, was "absolutely unacceptable" and noted it won't be tolerated.
"Something absolutely unacceptable happened in Williamsburg tonite: a large funeral gathering in the middle of this pandemic," de Blasio tweeted. "When I heard, I went there myself to ensure the crowd was dispersed. And what I saw WILL NOT be tolerated so long as we are fighting the Coronavirus."
"My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed," de Blasio said in another tweet. "I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period."
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/29/us/new-york-city-mayor-large-funeral/index.html
De Blasio said the gathering for a rabbi's funeral Tuesday in Williamsburg, New York, was "absolutely unacceptable" and noted it won't be tolerated.
"Something absolutely unacceptable happened in Williamsburg tonite: a large funeral gathering in the middle of this pandemic," de Blasio tweeted. "When I heard, I went there myself to ensure the crowd was dispersed. And what I saw WILL NOT be tolerated so long as we are fighting the Coronavirus."
"My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed," de Blasio said in another tweet. "I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period."
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/29/us/new-york-city-mayor-large-funeral/index.html
But let’s not drink to this just yet. Here’s the thing, Rabbis, and no matter what your religious beliefs happen to be – this virus doesn’t care what your religion is. It doesn’t care what your status is or your economic level. Instead it targets all of us. And until there’s a cure, we’re all in the same boat. You know last week, we talked about how Christians think it is their GAWD given right to gather in large groups against what the CDC says. Well, here’s where we are in disagreement.
A spokeswoman for Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) said the mayor himself was on the scene with Police Commissioner Dermot Shea breaking up the crowd of mourners.
De Blasio spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein retweeted photos of Mertz's funeral on Tuesday night, writing, “I empathisize [sic] with the desire to mourn those we’ve lost, but this is absolutely unacceptable.”
The mayor tweeted that such gatherings "WILL NOT be tolerated so long as we are fighting the Coronavirus."
"My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed. I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period," he wrote.
"We have lost so many these last two months + I understand the instinct to gather to mourn. But large gatherings will only lead to more deaths + more families in mourning. We will not allow this. I have instructed the NYPD to have one standard for this whole city: zero tolerance," he added.
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/495178-scores-turn-out-for-funeral-of-rabbi-in-new-york
De Blasio spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein retweeted photos of Mertz's funeral on Tuesday night, writing, “I empathisize [sic] with the desire to mourn those we’ve lost, but this is absolutely unacceptable.”
The mayor tweeted that such gatherings "WILL NOT be tolerated so long as we are fighting the Coronavirus."
"My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed. I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period," he wrote.
"We have lost so many these last two months + I understand the instinct to gather to mourn. But large gatherings will only lead to more deaths + more families in mourning. We will not allow this. I have instructed the NYPD to have one standard for this whole city: zero tolerance," he added.
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/495178-scores-turn-out-for-funeral-of-rabbi-in-new-york
Yes, to life! Because we still want to be able to maintain ours! I’m sure that’s what the good LAWRD JAYSUS, er, ABRAHAM would want! And look the long we continue to go out in groups, the worse this thing gets. I want to get back to my congregation and I’m sure you all would too! But no one is singling out anybody. We’re all on the same page here. New York is the worst city in America for this thing and it’s pretty understandable why DeBlasio would want to break up any large gathering!
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is being accused of unfairly singling out the Hasidic Jewish community, in enforcing COVID-19 restrictions.
He personally called on police to disperse hundreds of mourners, who gathered for a rabbi's funeral, defying social distancing rules.
He was furious the gathering took place at all, and mentioned the Jewish community by name in a tweet, saying the time for warnings has passed and arrests would be made of those who gather in large groups.
Some called on the mayor to apologize, resign, or called him anti-Jewish. Saying it was unfair for him to single out all Jews when it was just some from the Hasidic Orthodox community who gathered for the funeral. But the issue divided New York: Others expressed support for the mayor, and defended him calling out the funeral gathering.
On Wednesday, the mayor said he was not trying to single out the Jewish community, but did not back down from his criticism.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/york-city-mayor-accused-singling-jewish-community-200430092936501.html
He personally called on police to disperse hundreds of mourners, who gathered for a rabbi's funeral, defying social distancing rules.
He was furious the gathering took place at all, and mentioned the Jewish community by name in a tweet, saying the time for warnings has passed and arrests would be made of those who gather in large groups.
Some called on the mayor to apologize, resign, or called him anti-Jewish. Saying it was unfair for him to single out all Jews when it was just some from the Hasidic Orthodox community who gathered for the funeral. But the issue divided New York: Others expressed support for the mayor, and defended him calling out the funeral gathering.
On Wednesday, the mayor said he was not trying to single out the Jewish community, but did not back down from his criticism.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/york-city-mayor-accused-singling-jewish-community-200430092936501.html
See? Even Walter agrees with me! You all should too. If Saturday is supposed to be the day of rest for my Hebrew brothers and sisters, then you should absolutely abide by it! Because what’s a religion without a day of rest? But no one is getting any rest in the day and age of the Great Pandemic, for this virus is the unholy DEVIL himself! But you just got to suck it up and roll with it. We all need you to!
It started with a funeral that got out of hand. It ended Wednesday with some of New York City’s Jews at odds with the mayor over his criticisms of the Orthodox community as it struggles to deal with the coronavirus.
The funeral was for Rabbi Chaim Mertz, a revered Hasidic Orthodox leader whose death was reportedly linked to the coronavirus. The congregation that was hosting the gathering said Wednesday a funeral appropriate to the times was planned, with mourners wearing masks and saying their farewells from a distance.
Instead, thousands gathered Tuesday night at the Kahal Tolath Yakov synagogue in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg area. De Blasio personally joined in the dispersal of the crowd, and then tweeted that “my message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed.”
He told reporters Wednesday that he was sorry “if in my passion and in my emotion” he had caused offense, but described “no regrets” about calling out the Hasidic funeral.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/orthodox-jews-beset-virus-grapple-nyc-mayors-rebuke-70416441
The funeral was for Rabbi Chaim Mertz, a revered Hasidic Orthodox leader whose death was reportedly linked to the coronavirus. The congregation that was hosting the gathering said Wednesday a funeral appropriate to the times was planned, with mourners wearing masks and saying their farewells from a distance.
Instead, thousands gathered Tuesday night at the Kahal Tolath Yakov synagogue in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg area. De Blasio personally joined in the dispersal of the crowd, and then tweeted that “my message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed.”
He told reporters Wednesday that he was sorry “if in my passion and in my emotion” he had caused offense, but described “no regrets” about calling out the Hasidic funeral.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/orthodox-jews-beset-virus-grapple-nyc-mayors-rebuke-70416441
So next time guys, just remember that next time, we’re all in the same boat no matter what religion you belong to. We should have a common goal of eliminating the enemy, and that enemy is a virus! Temple has ended, may you go in peace! That’s it this week for:
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[font size="8"]Beating A Dead Horse: The Land O Lakes Label Controversy
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Hey woke millennials, if you think that the Land O Lakes company removing the Native American woman from their label is racist, wait until you see what we actually did to Native Americans! So in non virus news we are arguing over this in 2020. It’s really the latest incarnation of the Simpsons debate surrounding Apu. The question remains – is it racism? Or is it just a gross stereotype? Or is it a combination of both? And really in this day and age, is arguing over packaging what we should be contemplating right now? I personally think I’d be more concerned about something like a butter shortage.
America’s best-selling butter trended on Twitter Sunday -- but not because of a shortage.
Land O’Lakes, the brand that’s dominated shelves since 1921, announced in February it has started removing the iconic Native American woman “Mia” from its products and adding the phrase “Farmer-Owned.”
The Minnesota-based dairy company drew praise from the state’s lieutenant governor earlier this month, echoing the American Psychological Association’s finding that such mascots appear to have “a negative impact on the self-esteem of American Indian children.”
News of the removal gained traction on the social media Sunday after CNN anchor Jake Tapper tweeted an April 17 story from his network. It also drew criticism, with some responses defending the icon as a “beautiful image,” and suggesting that Quaker Oats Co.’s “Aunt Jemima” could be next to be targeted.
Robert DesJarlait, the son of the artist who remade Mia in the mid-1950s, said while the image had turned into a stereotype for some, others saw it as a source of pride.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-26/land-o-lakes-trends-on-twitter-even-without-a-butter-shortage
Land O’Lakes, the brand that’s dominated shelves since 1921, announced in February it has started removing the iconic Native American woman “Mia” from its products and adding the phrase “Farmer-Owned.”
The Minnesota-based dairy company drew praise from the state’s lieutenant governor earlier this month, echoing the American Psychological Association’s finding that such mascots appear to have “a negative impact on the self-esteem of American Indian children.”
News of the removal gained traction on the social media Sunday after CNN anchor Jake Tapper tweeted an April 17 story from his network. It also drew criticism, with some responses defending the icon as a “beautiful image,” and suggesting that Quaker Oats Co.’s “Aunt Jemima” could be next to be targeted.
Robert DesJarlait, the son of the artist who remade Mia in the mid-1950s, said while the image had turned into a stereotype for some, others saw it as a source of pride.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-26/land-o-lakes-trends-on-twitter-even-without-a-butter-shortage
But is it really? Or is it just Apu 2.0? Yeah sure Native Americans have been through some of the worst that humanity has to offer, and they currently do not have the representation they deserve. Most of it is done through old fashioned stereotypes. However, on the list of things to worry about, the label on the Land O Lakes box currently ranks about a 1 out of 100. Even the descendant of the people who drew the label are like “WTF”.
She was never a stereotype.
That was my thought earlier this month when I heard that “Mia,” as the Land O’Lakes Native American maiden was known, had been taken off the butter box. She was gone, vanished, missing. I knew Mia had devolved into a stereotype in many people’s minds. But it was the stereotype some saw that bothered me.
North Dakota state Rep. Ruth Buffalo (D), for instance, told the Pioneer Press in St. Paul, Minn., that the Land O’Lakes image of Mia went “hand-in-hand with human and sex trafficking of our women and girls … by depicting Native women as sex objects.” Others similarly welcomed the company’s removal of the “butter maiden” as long overdue.
How did Mia go from being a demure Native American woman on a lakeshore to a sex object tied to the trafficking of native women?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/29/my-ojibwe-father-drew-land-olakes-maiden-she-was-never-stereotype/
That was my thought earlier this month when I heard that “Mia,” as the Land O’Lakes Native American maiden was known, had been taken off the butter box. She was gone, vanished, missing. I knew Mia had devolved into a stereotype in many people’s minds. But it was the stereotype some saw that bothered me.
North Dakota state Rep. Ruth Buffalo (D), for instance, told the Pioneer Press in St. Paul, Minn., that the Land O’Lakes image of Mia went “hand-in-hand with human and sex trafficking of our women and girls … by depicting Native women as sex objects.” Others similarly welcomed the company’s removal of the “butter maiden” as long overdue.
How did Mia go from being a demure Native American woman on a lakeshore to a sex object tied to the trafficking of native women?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/29/my-ojibwe-father-drew-land-olakes-maiden-she-was-never-stereotype/
Yeah probably. So what’s the meltdown really about? Is it being racist or is it showing pride for your heritage? There’s plenty of solid arguments for both the former and the latter. Here’s the thing – this logo has been around for 100 years. That’s an entire century. And why all of a sudden? Well people and things do change with the times.
Just ahead of its 100th anniversary, Land O’Lakes has retired Mia, the indigenous woman who once featured prominently in its iconic logo, from all packaging. Many of the dairy company’s popular butters, creams, cheeses and other products will now display a serene portrait of a tree-fringed lake under the Land O’Lakes name, which will appear adorned with the phrase “farmer-owned.” The company expects to complete the phaseout by the end of 2020.
In a company statement released earlier this year, Land O’Lakes president and CEO Beth Ford described the move as realigning company packaging to reflect “the foundation and heart of our company culture—and nothing does that better than our farmer-owners whose milk is used to produce Land O’Lakes’ dairy products.”
Company representatives have shared similar declarations since February, when the new logo was first unveiled, in an apparent effort to draw publicity to Land O’Lakes’ new farming-focused branding. But as Kayla Ruble reports for NBC News’ Today, Mia’s disappearance has continued to command most of the attention around the switch.
Arriving on the heels of universities, sports teams and other businesses making comparable moves to drop indigenous images, symbols and titles from their logos, the Land O’Lakes change has been noted by some as necessary and perhaps long overdue.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mia-land-olakes-iconic-indigenous-woman-departs-packaging-mixed-reactions-180974760/
In a company statement released earlier this year, Land O’Lakes president and CEO Beth Ford described the move as realigning company packaging to reflect “the foundation and heart of our company culture—and nothing does that better than our farmer-owners whose milk is used to produce Land O’Lakes’ dairy products.”
Company representatives have shared similar declarations since February, when the new logo was first unveiled, in an apparent effort to draw publicity to Land O’Lakes’ new farming-focused branding. But as Kayla Ruble reports for NBC News’ Today, Mia’s disappearance has continued to command most of the attention around the switch.
Arriving on the heels of universities, sports teams and other businesses making comparable moves to drop indigenous images, symbols and titles from their logos, the Land O’Lakes change has been noted by some as necessary and perhaps long overdue.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mia-land-olakes-iconic-indigenous-woman-departs-packaging-mixed-reactions-180974760/
Again I say - yeah probably. But that raises yet another question – why? Land O’ Lakes isn’t the only company who’s dropped a logo with a Native American character or foreign characters. There’s the Washington Redskins, who have had endless debates about their name. There’s the Cleveland Indians, also the subject of endless debate. There’s also the famous debate surrounding Apu from the Simpsons, but where does this end? Only one way to find out.
DesJarlait cited comments from North Dakota state Rep. Ruth Buffalo (D), who told the Pioneer Press that the image of Mia went “hand-in-hand with human and sex trafficking of our women and girls … by depicting Native women as sex objects.”
“Yes, it’s a good thing for the company to remove the image. … But we can’t stop there,” Buffalo — a registered member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation — continued. “We as a whole need to keep pushing forward to address the underlying issues that directly impact an entire population that survived genocide.”
DesJarlait added that others had also welcomed removing Mia, the “butter maiden,” from the company’s packaging.
But, he wondered, “How did Mia go from being a demur Native American woman on a lakeshore to a sex object tied to the trafficking of native women?”
According to the Pioneer Press, Land O’Lakes President and CEO Beth Ford said the purpose of the label change was to acknowledge the Minnesota-based company’s farmer-owners “whose milk is used to produce Land O’ Lakes products as it prepared to turn 100 years old.”
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2020/04/30/got-rid-of-the-indian-kept-the-land-son-of-native-american-land-o-lakes-artist-rips-move-to-banish-mia-915115
“Yes, it’s a good thing for the company to remove the image. … But we can’t stop there,” Buffalo — a registered member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation — continued. “We as a whole need to keep pushing forward to address the underlying issues that directly impact an entire population that survived genocide.”
DesJarlait added that others had also welcomed removing Mia, the “butter maiden,” from the company’s packaging.
But, he wondered, “How did Mia go from being a demur Native American woman on a lakeshore to a sex object tied to the trafficking of native women?”
According to the Pioneer Press, Land O’Lakes President and CEO Beth Ford said the purpose of the label change was to acknowledge the Minnesota-based company’s farmer-owners “whose milk is used to produce Land O’ Lakes products as it prepared to turn 100 years old.”
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2020/04/30/got-rid-of-the-indian-kept-the-land-son-of-native-american-land-o-lakes-artist-rips-move-to-banish-mia-915115
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[font size="8"]Third Party Candidates: How Is This Still A Thing
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It’s time once again to ask:
This week: Third Party Candidates: How Are They Still A Thing? There’s no mistake that Donald J. Trump is the most polarizing president in United States history. The people who love him, really, really love him. And the people who hate him, really, really hate him. But then again, there’s people who are searching for a third alternative to the leader of the free world. And watch for numerous attempts to unseat Trump in the fight for America in the middle of the worst pandemic not seen in an entire century. Which brings us to the Green Party. How is this still a thing? Well, the Green Party has certainly seen its’ share of detractors in previous elections, such as Ralph Nader and Jill Stein. The latest candidate to throw his hat in the ring is a guy who is very familiar with throwing hats into rings. Jesse Ventura, the former Minnesota governor and current conspiracy theorist is running to unseat Trump.
Just days after publicly musing about a presidential run, a former Minnesota governor has taken another step toward tossing his hat in the ring.
On Saturday, the Green Party of Minnesota announced its newest member: none other than Jesse Ventura.
The informal ceremony appears to have taken place in a pubic park in White Bear Lake.
It comes nearly a week after Ventura posted a tweet saying that if he were to run for president, "the GREEN party would be my first choice."
This weekend, Ventura retweeted a post that hinted at a coming White House run with the hashtag #Ventura2020.
https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/jesse-ventura-joins-green-party-of-mn-amid-talk-of-white-house-run
On Saturday, the Green Party of Minnesota announced its newest member: none other than Jesse Ventura.
The informal ceremony appears to have taken place in a pubic park in White Bear Lake.
It comes nearly a week after Ventura posted a tweet saying that if he were to run for president, "the GREEN party would be my first choice."
This weekend, Ventura retweeted a post that hinted at a coming White House run with the hashtag #Ventura2020.
https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/jesse-ventura-joins-green-party-of-mn-amid-talk-of-white-house-run
Third parties in America are the ultimate third wheel. People know they exist, but nobody wants them or cares about them to seek them out. And those that do seek them out almost always get into trouble as a result. If Jesse Ventura isn’t your thing, you might want to consider the libertarian alternative – Michigan lawyer Justin Amash. Yes, he is running too, possibly to do some damage to Trump but we all know it will come back to bite Biden.
When I got on the phone with Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI) the day after he announced the launch of an exploratory committee for a potential run for the White House, my first question was, “Why are you doing this?”
The question didn’t come as a surprise to Amash, who entered Congress in 2010 as a strident Tea Party fiscal conservative only to leave the GOP last year before becoming the lone House conservative lawmaker to vote to impeach President Donald Trump. Now, five months later — and staring down an increasingly impossible reelection bid — he’s considering a third-party presidential run as a libertarian.
Amash, 40, told me he’s running because he believes he’s the best person for the job. “I think it’s important that we have someone who’s honest, who’s practical, who will have humility about the entire legislative process and the entire process for government and will allow us to get back to a place where we have a government that actually represents the people.”
Amash’s decision didn’t come as a total surprise — after all, he tweeted on April 15 that he was considering a presidential run. But the reactions to his announcement came fast and furious, particularly from Never Trump conservatives concerned he could pull votes away from Joe Biden and help incumbent Donald Trump win reelection.
https://www.vox.com/2020/5/4/21241068/justin-amash-libertarian-party-presidential-run-2020
The question didn’t come as a surprise to Amash, who entered Congress in 2010 as a strident Tea Party fiscal conservative only to leave the GOP last year before becoming the lone House conservative lawmaker to vote to impeach President Donald Trump. Now, five months later — and staring down an increasingly impossible reelection bid — he’s considering a third-party presidential run as a libertarian.
Amash, 40, told me he’s running because he believes he’s the best person for the job. “I think it’s important that we have someone who’s honest, who’s practical, who will have humility about the entire legislative process and the entire process for government and will allow us to get back to a place where we have a government that actually represents the people.”
Amash’s decision didn’t come as a total surprise — after all, he tweeted on April 15 that he was considering a presidential run. But the reactions to his announcement came fast and furious, particularly from Never Trump conservatives concerned he could pull votes away from Joe Biden and help incumbent Donald Trump win reelection.
https://www.vox.com/2020/5/4/21241068/justin-amash-libertarian-party-presidential-run-2020
Yes, in addition to having a third wheel, we might possibly have a fourth. But while the Green Party has no credibility in America – they are often seen as a joke, there might actually be some clout to the Justin Amash candidacy. Unlike some candidates, Amash knows people in Washington and has seen the government in action. But ever since George Wallace way back when, 3rd party candidates have always been a bit of a mixed bag.
The 2020 presidential election just got its first notable third-party challenger. Last Tuesday, Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, who left the Republican Party nine months ago and became an independent, announced he would run for president as a Libertarian. And while we won’t know whether Amash wins his new party’s nomination until later this month, here’s what we do know about third-party candidacies more broadly and what that could mean for President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden in the general election.
First, it’s unlikely Amash wins much of the vote in November. Take what happened in 2016. Third-party candidates won 6 percent of the vote, which was the largest share of the vote since Ross Perot ran for a second time in 1996, but it was still just 6 percent. As you can see in the chart below, third-party candidates don’t tend to win that much support. Our system just isn’t set up for successful third-party presidential bids.
However, that doesn’t mean Amash (or other third-party contenders) won’t matter in November. In this era of close elections, small shifts in the margins can matter a great deal to the final result, and third-party contenders can play a part in that. Amash’s candidacy, in particular, could affect the margins in some key battleground states, including his home state of Michigan, which was pivotal to Trump’s victory four years ago. Consider what happened in 2016: In 11 states, Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson’s raw vote total exceeded the vote margin separating Trump and Hillary Clinton. Now, that doesn’t mean Johnson necessarily changed who won in each of those states, but he and other third-party contenders (like Jill Stein of the Green Party) may have helped shape the outcome, especially in the three states that proved decisive in the Electoral College: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/justin-amash-could-cause-some-trouble-in-november/
First, it’s unlikely Amash wins much of the vote in November. Take what happened in 2016. Third-party candidates won 6 percent of the vote, which was the largest share of the vote since Ross Perot ran for a second time in 1996, but it was still just 6 percent. As you can see in the chart below, third-party candidates don’t tend to win that much support. Our system just isn’t set up for successful third-party presidential bids.
However, that doesn’t mean Amash (or other third-party contenders) won’t matter in November. In this era of close elections, small shifts in the margins can matter a great deal to the final result, and third-party contenders can play a part in that. Amash’s candidacy, in particular, could affect the margins in some key battleground states, including his home state of Michigan, which was pivotal to Trump’s victory four years ago. Consider what happened in 2016: In 11 states, Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson’s raw vote total exceeded the vote margin separating Trump and Hillary Clinton. Now, that doesn’t mean Johnson necessarily changed who won in each of those states, but he and other third-party contenders (like Jill Stein of the Green Party) may have helped shape the outcome, especially in the three states that proved decisive in the Electoral College: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/justin-amash-could-cause-some-trouble-in-november/
That is a good point Homer. But if we want to make sure that Biden wins in November and defeats Trump, there’s one obstacle that’s blocking everyone’s way: the coronavirus. Ever since the virus came and turned life upside down as we know it, it has put a dent in everyone’s plans, and third party candidates are not immune from the effects of this.
The pandemic may have robbed Donald Trump of a growing economy. It may have trapped Joe Biden in his basement. But it may yet do something even worse to the Libertarian and Green party nominees: Keep them off the ballot in many of this year’s key states.
In 2016, the Libertarian Party was on the general election ballot in all 50 states; this year, it has secured ballot access in just 35. Similarly, the Green Party—which in 2016 had its best election ever by making the ballot in 44 states, with a further three states granting the party’s candidate official write-in status—has qualified for the November ballot in only 22 states.
Several of the elusive ballot lines are in states that in 2016 were either narrowly won or flipped from red-to-blue. At present, neither the Libertarian Party nor the Green Party has qualified for the ballot in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Iowa or Minnesota. Additionally, the Green Party has not secured a place on the ballot in Arizona, Georgia or Nevada, and the Libertarian Party is missing from Maine.
To get on the ballot in the remaining states, they need to collect and submit petition signatures. And in a normal year, they would be on track to do just that. But because of the deadly coronavirus—and the social distancing and stay-at-home orders to minimize its spread—after March 6, “petitioning was over in the United States,” as Libertarian Party executive director Daniel Fishman told me.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/04/19/coronavirus-election-2020-third-party-libertarian-green-trump-biden-193013
In 2016, the Libertarian Party was on the general election ballot in all 50 states; this year, it has secured ballot access in just 35. Similarly, the Green Party—which in 2016 had its best election ever by making the ballot in 44 states, with a further three states granting the party’s candidate official write-in status—has qualified for the November ballot in only 22 states.
Several of the elusive ballot lines are in states that in 2016 were either narrowly won or flipped from red-to-blue. At present, neither the Libertarian Party nor the Green Party has qualified for the ballot in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Iowa or Minnesota. Additionally, the Green Party has not secured a place on the ballot in Arizona, Georgia or Nevada, and the Libertarian Party is missing from Maine.
To get on the ballot in the remaining states, they need to collect and submit petition signatures. And in a normal year, they would be on track to do just that. But because of the deadly coronavirus—and the social distancing and stay-at-home orders to minimize its spread—after March 6, “petitioning was over in the United States,” as Libertarian Party executive director Daniel Fishman told me.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/04/19/coronavirus-election-2020-third-party-libertarian-green-trump-biden-193013
So even just making it to the ballot might be an impossibility for a lot of candidates considering taking a dent out of Biden or Trump, thanks to a certain virus. That is enough to make you ask – Third Party Candidates In The US:
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[font size="8"]I Need A Drink: The End Of Cinema?
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I don’t know about you guys but I could really use a drink!
Of course you guys know that when the news gets too dark, the only solution is to kick back with a glass of your favorite beverage and talk about anything that’s not politics. But this week, there’s a feud brewing and one of my favorite past times might be going away forever. So tell me virtual bartender, how might I celebrate the end of one of my favorite past times? With 2 buck chuck? No thanks, I will stick to my Jack Daniels mixed with Jack Daniels. Folks, I don’t need to tell you that we are bored, tired, and pissed off because of our freedoms being restricted thanks to coronavirus. And now there’s feud brewing over one of my favorite past times – going to the movies. In case you’ve been living under a rock, Universal decided to bypass the middle man and release Trolls: World Tour straight to video, and well, it did some gangbusters business.
“Trolls World Tour” nabbed nearly $100 million in on-demand sales for NBCUniversal (CMCSA) during its first three weeks, and the surprise digital success story is now sparking a feud between U.S. movie theater chain AMC (AMC) and the prominent Hollywood studio.
Universal, which originally marketed the “Trolls” sequel as a box office film, made the decision to bypass its theatrical release due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Hollywood giant opted to offer the film as a premium video-on-demand (PVOD) rental at $20 a pop. For comparison, the original “Trolls” brought in $116 million in its first three weeks at the 2016 box office.
The move served as the first true test of whether or not a movie needed the theater in order to be successful. And NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell told "The Wall Street Journal" that the entertainment giant now plans to release future films directly on-demand, in addition to theaters.
“The results for ‘Trolls World Tour’ have exceeded our expectations and demonstrated the viability of PVOD,” Shell said. “As soon as theaters reopen, we expect to release movies on both formats.”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-amc-might-not-have-the-right-cards-in-its-trolls-world-tour-battle-with-universal-120011795.html
Universal, which originally marketed the “Trolls” sequel as a box office film, made the decision to bypass its theatrical release due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Hollywood giant opted to offer the film as a premium video-on-demand (PVOD) rental at $20 a pop. For comparison, the original “Trolls” brought in $116 million in its first three weeks at the 2016 box office.
The move served as the first true test of whether or not a movie needed the theater in order to be successful. And NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell told "The Wall Street Journal" that the entertainment giant now plans to release future films directly on-demand, in addition to theaters.
“The results for ‘Trolls World Tour’ have exceeded our expectations and demonstrated the viability of PVOD,” Shell said. “As soon as theaters reopen, we expect to release movies on both formats.”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-amc-might-not-have-the-right-cards-in-its-trolls-world-tour-battle-with-universal-120011795.html
Remember movie theaters, boys and girls? Well they were these buildings where you would pay money and they would show you a movie on a really big screen with a really awesome sound system. And they often had things like bars and restaurants attached to them to enhance the experience. But now there’s possibility that they might go away. We hope not.
Godzilla vs. King Kong. Ali vs. Frazier. Bird vs. Magic. Belichick’s Patriots vs. everyone.
These legendary battles gained a new competitor as Universal Pictures and AMC Theaters went head-to-head over...Trolls World Tour?! Why in the world is the largest theater chain in the U.S. picking a fight with a global corporation over an animated musical film based on toys you had as a child? And what does it mean for the future of the theatrical movie-going experience? The answers to these questions are complicated, but essentially boil down to the tension around how we are used to seeing movies versus how we’ve grown accustomed to seeing them in the past decade. It’s a long-simmering cold war that finally exploded—quite publicly—this week.
The typical relationship between cinema chains and film distributors has worked as such: Film studios (like Universal) lease out a movie to a theater in exchange for a portion of its ticket sales. It’s a symbiotic relationship, as theaters need movies to show and studios need the massive distribution abilities of the screens to ensure its movies are seen by large portions of people. As part of this agreement, theater chains are typically granted an exclusive 90-day period—known as windowing—wherein they receive the exclusive rights to show a film. The two groups then split the money the movie makes during the course of its run. However, this model has been challenged in recent years by streaming services—most notably Netflix—as those platforms have proven a studio can release content to a hungry audience and have it seen by a large number of people immediately.
As the coronavirus has ravaged Hollywood, cinemas and studios alike are left in a compromising position. With theaters closed, there’s not a traditional option for studios to showcase their product. This tension is why we’ve seen a number of studios, looking to recoup however possible, embrace releasing movies on premium video-on-demand (PVOD) platforms like Apple, Amazon, and so forth. The initial wave of movies to hit PVOD—The Invisible Man, The Hunt, The Way Back, and Onward, among others — were all films already released to theaters prior to Rona shutting everything down. Crucially, these movies moving to PVOD after their release still provided an element of windowing, still adhering to the standard relationship between theaters and distributors.
https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/amc-theaters-universal-pictures-feud/
These legendary battles gained a new competitor as Universal Pictures and AMC Theaters went head-to-head over...Trolls World Tour?! Why in the world is the largest theater chain in the U.S. picking a fight with a global corporation over an animated musical film based on toys you had as a child? And what does it mean for the future of the theatrical movie-going experience? The answers to these questions are complicated, but essentially boil down to the tension around how we are used to seeing movies versus how we’ve grown accustomed to seeing them in the past decade. It’s a long-simmering cold war that finally exploded—quite publicly—this week.
The typical relationship between cinema chains and film distributors has worked as such: Film studios (like Universal) lease out a movie to a theater in exchange for a portion of its ticket sales. It’s a symbiotic relationship, as theaters need movies to show and studios need the massive distribution abilities of the screens to ensure its movies are seen by large portions of people. As part of this agreement, theater chains are typically granted an exclusive 90-day period—known as windowing—wherein they receive the exclusive rights to show a film. The two groups then split the money the movie makes during the course of its run. However, this model has been challenged in recent years by streaming services—most notably Netflix—as those platforms have proven a studio can release content to a hungry audience and have it seen by a large number of people immediately.
As the coronavirus has ravaged Hollywood, cinemas and studios alike are left in a compromising position. With theaters closed, there’s not a traditional option for studios to showcase their product. This tension is why we’ve seen a number of studios, looking to recoup however possible, embrace releasing movies on premium video-on-demand (PVOD) platforms like Apple, Amazon, and so forth. The initial wave of movies to hit PVOD—The Invisible Man, The Hunt, The Way Back, and Onward, among others — were all films already released to theaters prior to Rona shutting everything down. Crucially, these movies moving to PVOD after their release still provided an element of windowing, still adhering to the standard relationship between theaters and distributors.
https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/amc-theaters-universal-pictures-feud/
So Trolls trolled movie theaters. Just like the name implies. But does that mean that movie theaters are going away permanently? Well they are at least for the duration of this nightmare pandemic that we are in. We want to go out, we want movies back the way they were. I quite frankly can’t wait for phase 4 of the MCU to start. But will we watch it on our flat screens or will we watch it in the traditional formats?
“Trolls World Tour” nabbed nearly $100 million in on-demand sales for NBCUniversal (CMCSA) during its first three weeks, and the surprise digital success story is now sparking a feud between U.S. movie theater chain AMC (AMC) and the prominent Hollywood studio.
Universal, which originally marketed the “Trolls” sequel as a box office film, made the decision to bypass its theatrical release due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Hollywood giant opted to offer the film as a premium video-on-demand (PVOD) rental at $20 a pop. For comparison, the original “Trolls” brought in $116 million in its first three weeks at the 2016 box office.
The move served as the first true test of whether or not a movie needed the theater in order to be successful. And NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell told "The Wall Street Journal" that the entertainment giant now plans to release future films directly on-demand, in addition to theaters.
“The results for ‘Trolls World Tour’ have exceeded our expectations and demonstrated the viability of PVOD,” Shell said. “As soon as theaters reopen, we expect to release movies on both formats.”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-amc-might-not-have-the-right-cards-in-its-trolls-world-tour-battle-with-universal-120011795.html
Universal, which originally marketed the “Trolls” sequel as a box office film, made the decision to bypass its theatrical release due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Hollywood giant opted to offer the film as a premium video-on-demand (PVOD) rental at $20 a pop. For comparison, the original “Trolls” brought in $116 million in its first three weeks at the 2016 box office.
The move served as the first true test of whether or not a movie needed the theater in order to be successful. And NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell told "The Wall Street Journal" that the entertainment giant now plans to release future films directly on-demand, in addition to theaters.
“The results for ‘Trolls World Tour’ have exceeded our expectations and demonstrated the viability of PVOD,” Shell said. “As soon as theaters reopen, we expect to release movies on both formats.”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-amc-might-not-have-the-right-cards-in-its-trolls-world-tour-battle-with-universal-120011795.html
Well that’s reassuring. It’s good to know that there’s thin-skinned bullies in charge of every aspect of our lives. And when you employ a business of over 10,000 that is teetering on the edge of the cliff financially because you need physical people to show up at your complexes, you’re doing the best job you can to actually push it over the cliff. That’s what you need. That’s what is needed to save a business in these trying times.
Coronavirus cases are rising in about half of US states, and so naturally, some Republican governors are ready to declare victory. Georgia’s Brian Kemp is leading the charge, and this upcoming Monday the Peach State will reopen its gyms, bowling alleys, massage parlors, and movie theaters. But the fact that they can open doesn’t mean they will, and today AMC Theatres announced it won’t unshut any of its 6,300+ cinemas until Hollywood studios begin releasing new blockbuster movies.
Via The Hollywood Reporter, AMC released a statement detailing their plans for the next few months. After the usual caveats about “the health and safety of our guests,” the world’s largest movie theater chain suggested that simply lifting stay-at-home orders won’t be enough to put butts into seats. Instead, they need film titles “that get people truly excited.”
“To be able to open, we also need a line of sight into a regular schedule of new theatrical blockbusters that get people truly excited about returning to their favorite movie theaters. Those blockbusters are scheduled to return this summer, beginning with Warner Brothers’ Tenet and Disney’s Mulan, with many more major titles scheduled immediately thereafter.”
Christopher Nolan’s Tenet drops on July 17th, and Mulan rides into battle on July 24th.
https://consequenceofsound.net/2020/04/amc-theatres-wont-reopen-until-new-movies/
Via The Hollywood Reporter, AMC released a statement detailing their plans for the next few months. After the usual caveats about “the health and safety of our guests,” the world’s largest movie theater chain suggested that simply lifting stay-at-home orders won’t be enough to put butts into seats. Instead, they need film titles “that get people truly excited.”
“To be able to open, we also need a line of sight into a regular schedule of new theatrical blockbusters that get people truly excited about returning to their favorite movie theaters. Those blockbusters are scheduled to return this summer, beginning with Warner Brothers’ Tenet and Disney’s Mulan, with many more major titles scheduled immediately thereafter.”
Christopher Nolan’s Tenet drops on July 17th, and Mulan rides into battle on July 24th.
https://consequenceofsound.net/2020/04/amc-theatres-wont-reopen-until-new-movies/
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[font size="8"]Stupidest State Round 2 Week 3: Batshit Conference Championship
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Welcome back to Stupidest State 2020! Yes we’re all still reeling and feeling the pinch from the virus, but we are getting some sweet action as the Layover League finals are set! #2 Florida is still red hot as it looks to upend #1 Alabama and head to the championship this year! As we know, Alabama last year stunned Florida and went on to win the title. This year, Florida is out for revenge. But who will they be playing? This time we’re heading to the Flyover League as the Batshit Conference championship pits #1 Virginia against #3 Idaho! And what do these two states have in common? Well, they look to take away counties from their neighboring states because – crazy gun nuts don’t like being ruled by a democratic governor! We’re live in San Jose at the SAP Center, the home of the Sharks for more action action action!
[font size="4"]Batshit Conference Championship: Virginia Vs Idaho[/font]
[font size="4"]Virginia[/font]
Well last time Virginia hung on to defeat their neighboring rivals in Kentucky. And Virginia may be for lovers and they do have a democratic governor, but they are also home to some of the craziest gun nuts in the country and some good old fashioned white supremacy that dates back to the 1800s. But lately under the guise of Democratic governor Ralph Northram – a favorite punching bag of Trump and Fox News, gun nuts have been getting extremely restless. And thanks to help from a friend of Trump, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr, they might get their wish!
Thousands of Virginia residents have shown up at meetings across the state to try to block Democrats from enacting new gun laws, with some gun rights supporters openly discussing violent resistance and civil war.
The backlash to gun control in Virginia is being fueled by conspiracy theories and misinformation, and some observers worry that the escalating rhetoric may spark violence.
When Democrats won control of Virginia’s state government for the first time in 26 years in November 2019, they pledged to pass a series of standard gun control laws, including universal background checks and bans on military-style “assault weapons” and high-capacity ammunition magazines. The agenda was no surprise: state Democrats had run for office on a platform of gun violence prevention, backed by funding from national gun control groups.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/09/virginia-gun-control-second-amendment-civil-war
The backlash to gun control in Virginia is being fueled by conspiracy theories and misinformation, and some observers worry that the escalating rhetoric may spark violence.
When Democrats won control of Virginia’s state government for the first time in 26 years in November 2019, they pledged to pass a series of standard gun control laws, including universal background checks and bans on military-style “assault weapons” and high-capacity ammunition magazines. The agenda was no surprise: state Democrats had run for office on a platform of gun violence prevention, backed by funding from national gun control groups.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/09/virginia-gun-control-second-amendment-civil-war
Whew, that may be a bit extreme, sir. But no matter what state these counties may choose to call home, one thing is for certain – these people are the same group of assholes no matter what state you choose to belong to! And no matter what state you join, it doesn’t increase your representation in Congress and it just makes you look stupid. So what would make this second amendment heaven?
A loosely connected band of Western Virginians is urging their home localities to consider undertaking an unusual measure to buffer themselves from potential laws and policies they argue will further marginalize the Commonwealth’s conservative regions.
They say the localities should revisit an idea that several of them passed on more than 150 years ago: Join West Virginia, a state that itself was formed after a collective of Virginia counties during the Civil War realized that they didn’t exactly share the same values as the rest of the Old Dominion.
The move, dubbed Vexit by its supporters, appears to have some early support from some West Virginia lawmakers, who last month introduced a resolution that would invite certain Virginia counties and cities to be admitted to the Mountain State.
Joseph McClung, a more than 50-year resident of Giles County, is a proponent of the idea. This past week, the 70-year-old Norfolk Southern retiree went before Giles and Tazewell counties’ boards of supervisors to make the plea.
https://www.roanoke.com/news/local/vexit-almost-second-amendment-heaven-west-virginia/article_b784b2e9-2807-5651-83ec-cdc762a99acf.html
They say the localities should revisit an idea that several of them passed on more than 150 years ago: Join West Virginia, a state that itself was formed after a collective of Virginia counties during the Civil War realized that they didn’t exactly share the same values as the rest of the Old Dominion.
The move, dubbed Vexit by its supporters, appears to have some early support from some West Virginia lawmakers, who last month introduced a resolution that would invite certain Virginia counties and cities to be admitted to the Mountain State.
Joseph McClung, a more than 50-year resident of Giles County, is a proponent of the idea. This past week, the 70-year-old Norfolk Southern retiree went before Giles and Tazewell counties’ boards of supervisors to make the plea.
https://www.roanoke.com/news/local/vexit-almost-second-amendment-heaven-west-virginia/article_b784b2e9-2807-5651-83ec-cdc762a99acf.html
Yeah remember the Civil War? It was that thing that your great grandparents fought and died for over 150 years ago? Yeah that thing. But at least there’s slightly cooler heads in Virginia as they are rejecting their offers to join West Virginia and they’re perfectly fine under democratic rule. So yeah suck it gun nuts, but you’re definitely on the losing end of this battle.
Like many of his neighbors in this small, rural community in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Eston Foster believes in the right to bear arms. He grew up with guns, both for recreation and protection, and is a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment.
He wasn’t very happy, then, when Democrats won control of the Virginia House and Senate in November for the first time in more than 20 years. Especially since they promised to pass gun control measures that included a ban on assault weapons.
While he hesitates to call himself a Republican, the 23-year-old admits to being conservative. He supported his home county declaring itself a Second Amendment “sanctuary” with more than 100 other towns, cities and counties in Virginia. And he’s angry his state Senate recently passed a “red flag” law that would allow authorities to temporarily take away firearms from someone deemed dangerous to themselves or others.
Mr. Foster also took issue with Gov. Ralph Northam declaring a state of emergency ahead of a pro-gun rally in Richmond last month that proceeded without violence.
https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-nation/2020/02/24/west-virginia-annexation-gun-rights-secede/stories/202002170103
He wasn’t very happy, then, when Democrats won control of the Virginia House and Senate in November for the first time in more than 20 years. Especially since they promised to pass gun control measures that included a ban on assault weapons.
While he hesitates to call himself a Republican, the 23-year-old admits to being conservative. He supported his home county declaring itself a Second Amendment “sanctuary” with more than 100 other towns, cities and counties in Virginia. And he’s angry his state Senate recently passed a “red flag” law that would allow authorities to temporarily take away firearms from someone deemed dangerous to themselves or others.
Mr. Foster also took issue with Gov. Ralph Northam declaring a state of emergency ahead of a pro-gun rally in Richmond last month that proceeded without violence.
https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-nation/2020/02/24/west-virginia-annexation-gun-rights-secede/stories/202002170103
[font size="4"]Idaho [/font]
The Gem State is known for potatoes. It’s also known for that mesmerizing and certainly hypnotic blue field that is the center of every Idaho State game. But just like Virginia, Idaho is also at the center of a gun-fueled battle for control of the state. But unlike Virginia, there’s a much bigger slice of the pie that’s at stake if the gun nuts get their way. Of course the virus has put a slow down on this but don’t think that it couldn’t happen.
Frustrated by liberal policies, some Oregon residents petitioned to leave the state – by moving the border with Idaho westward.
The movement secured initial approval from two counties and aims to get enough signatures to put the proposal on ballots in November, according to the group called Greater Idaho.
If the group succeeds, voters in southeast Oregon may see a question on whether their county should become part of Idaho by redrawing the border.
“Rural counties have become increasingly outraged by laws coming out of the Oregon Legislature that threaten our livelihoods, our industries, our wallet, our gun rights, and our values,” Mike McCarter, one of the chief petitioners, said in a news release. “We tried voting those legislators out, but rural Oregon is outnumbered and our voices are now ignored. This is our last resort.”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/02/17/oregon-idaho-border-petition-secede/4789936002/
The movement secured initial approval from two counties and aims to get enough signatures to put the proposal on ballots in November, according to the group called Greater Idaho.
If the group succeeds, voters in southeast Oregon may see a question on whether their county should become part of Idaho by redrawing the border.
“Rural counties have become increasingly outraged by laws coming out of the Oregon Legislature that threaten our livelihoods, our industries, our wallet, our gun rights, and our values,” Mike McCarter, one of the chief petitioners, said in a news release. “We tried voting those legislators out, but rural Oregon is outnumbered and our voices are now ignored. This is our last resort.”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/02/17/oregon-idaho-border-petition-secede/4789936002/
That is a good point sir! Although unlike Virginia we actually have a chance that Idaho could join Oregon counties because – wait for it – Idaho has a conservative Trumpster governor! Yes, the governor of Idaho is actively supporting the gun nuts! This is a massive bombshell in this whole thing because it could really change up things if Oregon were to lose half the state.
On Tuesday, Umatilla County—located in northeastern Oregon—joined Southern Oregon counties Josephine and Douglas to become the third rural Oregon county to pass a petition asking voters if they would like to move their county to Idaho, according to the group Move Oregon’s Border for a Greater Idaho, a political nonprofit organization.
The petition will need to gather at least 1,477 valid signatures in order for it to appear as a measure on the November ballot for Umatilla County. If voters pass the measure, it would compel county commissioners to participate in future negotiations regarding Umatilla County’s admittance to Idaho, according to the East Oregonian.
However, the final decision to redraw state borders would have to be approved by both the Oregon and
“They’re looking at Idaho fondly because of our regulatory atmosphere, our values,” Little told Fox News. “What they’re interested [in] is they would like to have a little more autonomy, a little more control, a little more freedom and I can understand that.”
https://www.corvallisadvocate.com/2020/idaho-governor-digs-rural-oregon-secession-movement-another-county-joins/
The petition will need to gather at least 1,477 valid signatures in order for it to appear as a measure on the November ballot for Umatilla County. If voters pass the measure, it would compel county commissioners to participate in future negotiations regarding Umatilla County’s admittance to Idaho, according to the East Oregonian.
However, the final decision to redraw state borders would have to be approved by both the Oregon and
“They’re looking at Idaho fondly because of our regulatory atmosphere, our values,” Little told Fox News. “What they’re interested [in] is they would like to have a little more autonomy, a little more control, a little more freedom and I can understand that.”
https://www.corvallisadvocate.com/2020/idaho-governor-digs-rural-oregon-secession-movement-another-county-joins/
Yeah remember those idiots from the George Bush era? I certainly do! These morons are the same no matter where you go. They refuse to listen to anyone else’s opinions and are in it for themselves. It’s the “I’ve got mine, fuck you” crowd. But in fact the Idaho movement to get Oregon to join them actually might have more clout than the Virginia movement. But don’t usurp my state as part of it!
Some residents in Oregon are fed up with living under Democratic control of their state government and have launched a ballot initiative campaign to join Republican-led Idaho.
The movement, known as “Move Oregon’s Border for a Greater Idaho,” is hoping to expand the borders of the Gem State through the inclusion of more than a dozen bordering rural counties now in Oregon.
Mike McCarter, chief petitioner of the secession effort, has noted though that the movement is in its infancy and would take years to accomplish, even if successful. The process for counties to leave Oregon include passing a ballot initiative, getting approval from the state legislature — currently controlled by Democrats — and then also getting Idaho to pass legislation approving new counties into the state. McCarter said the movement ultimately is about signaling the unhappiness rural conservatives in Oregon have with the state legislature.
McCarter has gotten the “green light” in at least three Oregon counties — Josephine, Douglas and Umatilla — that would start the first step in the secession process, which would be collecting signatures to eventually end up on the November 2 ballot.
“Rural counties have become increasingly outraged by laws coming out of the Oregon Legislature that threaten our livelihoods, our industries, our wallet, our gun rights, and our values,” Mike McCarter, one of the chief petitioners of the movement, wrote on the website for the Greater Idaho movement.
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/rural-conservatives-in-oregon-look-to-join-idaho-with-eye-on-taking-over-part-of-california/
The movement, known as “Move Oregon’s Border for a Greater Idaho,” is hoping to expand the borders of the Gem State through the inclusion of more than a dozen bordering rural counties now in Oregon.
Mike McCarter, chief petitioner of the secession effort, has noted though that the movement is in its infancy and would take years to accomplish, even if successful. The process for counties to leave Oregon include passing a ballot initiative, getting approval from the state legislature — currently controlled by Democrats — and then also getting Idaho to pass legislation approving new counties into the state. McCarter said the movement ultimately is about signaling the unhappiness rural conservatives in Oregon have with the state legislature.
McCarter has gotten the “green light” in at least three Oregon counties — Josephine, Douglas and Umatilla — that would start the first step in the secession process, which would be collecting signatures to eventually end up on the November 2 ballot.
“Rural counties have become increasingly outraged by laws coming out of the Oregon Legislature that threaten our livelihoods, our industries, our wallet, our gun rights, and our values,” Mike McCarter, one of the chief petitioners of the movement, wrote on the website for the Greater Idaho movement.
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/rural-conservatives-in-oregon-look-to-join-idaho-with-eye-on-taking-over-part-of-california/
[font size="4"]And The Winner Is:[/font]
Oh my god ladies and gentlemen we have an upset brewing! Right now Idaho has the lead after 15 unanswered points… they have the ball, it’s over!! Idaho wins by 5! Final score – 79 – 74! Idaho sinks Virginia – once favored, now they will go home! They are celebrating and they move on to the Final Four! Cut the net guys you earned it!
[font size="4"]Next Week:[/font]
Next week it’s the final round of Week 2! It’s the last but certainly not last as the Fiscal Irresponsibility Conference championship puts #1 Michigan against underdog #4 Nebraska! We are in Las Vegas at the home of the UNLV Running Rebels, the Thomas & Mack Center! Getting exciting, folks!
See you next week!
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