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Initech

Initech's Journal
Initech's Journal
December 15, 2016

Nor Cal Embezzler Spends $1 Million On Cell Phone Game

WHEN a criminal managed to embezzle $6 million from his employer, he understandably went on a spending spree with his new fortune.

Kevin Lee Co admitted to purchasing luxury cars, a golf club membership and season tickets to the San Francisco 49ers and the Sacramento Kings with his small fortune.

While these items are what you would expect a multi-millionaire to spend his loot on, the $1.34 million he spent on in-app purchases for mobile game Game of War come as a surprise.

The 45-year-old California man pleaded guilty in federal court to embezzling $6 million from heavy-equipment company, Holt California, between May 2008 to March 2015.

As the manager of the company’s accounting department, Co was able to conduct hundreds of unauthorised credit card transactions.

While Co’s spending on Game of War is widely excessive, he is not the first person to become entangled in the game, which has a daily revenue of $961,000.
http://www.news.com.au/technology/gadgets/mobile-phones/thief-steals-6-million-from-employer-spends-134-million-on-inapp-purchases-for-mobile-game/news-story/abaa2ae0e877ba4927898ef6773b1eac




If I have a million bucks, the last thing I'm doing is spending it on a fucking cell phone game. These things are designed to pray on the easily addicted.
December 14, 2016

Top 10 Conservative Idiots #2-5: The Election From Hell:Treason Is The Reason For The Season Edition


Top 10 Conservative Idiots #2-5: The Election From Hell: Treason Is The Reason For The Season Edition

Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! Wooooooooooooooooo!!!! Wooooooo! Woooooo! Wooo! Woo. We have just one more Top 10 before the end of the year. You know it’s the Holiday season of 2016 and we’ve already made fun of the endless barrage of ads for insanely expensive gifts like luxury cars, diamond jewelry and electronics that seem to air every 30 seconds. But most of us are angry that Krampus is going to take over the White House in January (dear Krampus, I have moved to 715 N. 5th Avenue, New York City! ). And in New York City, the annual Santa Con is a thing that is happening. And like most things Santa Con usually ends in total disaster. There’s been Santas fighting, there’s been Santas packing heat, there’s been Santas passed out on the LIRR. There’s been Santas out in the street going crazy. So with all that going on, is anyone really that surprised that the NY Transit Authority banned booze for people going to Santa Con? I mean after all it’s not like anything that happened at previous Santa Cons means that the convention lives up to the hype. I mean did anyone see Bad Santa? You have to be completely wasted 24/7 to do that job. Which is why this happens:



Or this:



Or this:




Oh wait, that was from Bad Santa. I have no ending for this so I take a small bow. Enough of that intro. But first Jimmy Kimmel offers a great idea for a last minute Christmas gift:



Holy fuck, quite the bombshell that was dropped in the last 24 hours am I not right about that? So with that in mind Donald Trump takes up the top spot this week because as they say on Arrested Development, may have committed some um, light treason. We’ll explore some of that. Meanwhile, Donald Trump (2) is continuing to throw American intelligence under the bus. In more ways than one. In slots #3 – 5, we’re going to take a look at some of Trump’s cabinet offerings. Or as I'm calling this segment "Meet The Fuckers". In the third slot is our new Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson (3). You might remember Rex as a conservative idiot hall of famer, but wow, holy crap. In the fourth slot is his new labor secretary Andrew Pudzer. Hey Idiocracy was right – the Secretary of Labor really is brought to you by Carl’s Jr! And boy is this guy a gem! In the fifth slot is Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (5). Wait, I thought Hillary Clinton was in bed with Goldman Sachs! WRONG!!!!!! Donald Trump also occupies the 6th slot and we’re going to talk what is going on at the inauguration. Taking the seventh slot – is another Trump nominee – Linda McMahon, who is Trump’s pick for the SBA. Which, as the owner of a mega conglomerate, is something that she knows a lot about! In the number (8) slot we’ve got another installment of “How Is This Still A Thing”, and we’re going to ask: The Family Research Council (8) : How is this still a thing? In the number 9 (NEIN!!!) slot we’re one again going to be looking at the Trump Effect (9) which includes a lot of swastika graffitti, hate crimes and a professor in my own back yard getting harassed and threatened by Trump supporters (you really can’t make this shit up!), and Richard Spencer claims America belongs to white males. Finally this week we’re going to continue our lecture series from last week we’re going to tell you about how to talk to your conservative relatives about Trump in a fun and informative way! and go through the next few chapters in Trump For Dummies (10)! Plus since you’re nice for listening to my schtick, we’re going to get you in the mood for the holidays. So the Dropkick Murphys have a brand new album out on January 6th called “11 Short Stories of Pain And Glory”. But they’re not going to play anything from it. Instead they’re going to play their awesome holiday song “The Season’s Upon Us” from their current album “Signed And Sealed In Blood”. So don’t make me turn this show around! Enjoy! And as always don’t forget the key!


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




So in the words of the immortal George Bluth from Arrested Development, Donald Trump may have committed some, um, light treason. And treason is the reason for the season! Before we delve into why he may or may not have committed treason, let’s first take a look at how treason – the only crime mentioned in that document that Trump’s brown shirts suggest we take literally, the US Constition – is defined:

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.


So that’s how it is defined. But Russia isn’t technically considered an enemy of the US. And how does the possibility that Donald Trump may have committed election fraud with the help of Russia play out? Well before we get into that, let’s see how Trump plans to take intelligence briefings:

During a Fox News Sunday interview, President-elect Donald Trump acknowledged he’s not receiving daily intelligence briefings, but argued he doesn’t need them because he’s “a smart person.”

Trump said he gets briefings “when I need it” because “I don’t have to be told — you know, I’m, like, a smart person. I don’t have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years. Could be eight years — but eight years. I don’t need that.”

Trump’s comments came two days after the Washington Post reported the CIA informed informed U.S. senators last week it is “quite clear” from a “growing body of intelligence from multiple sources” that Russia used cyberattacks to meddle in the presidential election, specifically to help Trump defeat Hillary Clinton. In a statement released in the wake of that news, Trump slammed the intelligence community, describing them as “the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.”
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-intelligence-briefings-smart-person-82553641164c#.nnnz5tph4


Yeah great idea! You know what happened the last time an intelligence meeting was skipped? Oh that’s right it was on August 20th, 2001 when CIA analysts told George W Bush that “something big was being planned on American soil”. You know what happened 3 weeks later? 9/11! Yeah Trump, ignore those intelligence briefings! “I’m a smart guy, OK? I’m a very smart guy, and all terrorist groups are stupid losers! Intelligence, who needs it?” Oh by the way Obama put the kibosh on that line of thinking:

President Obama in an interview late Monday stressed the importance of daily intelligence briefings after President-elect Donald Trump pushed back against criticism that he receives the briefings only once a week.

"It doesn't matter how smart you are," Obama said on "The Daily Show" with Trevor Noah. "You have to have the best information possible to make the best decisions possible."

Obama acknowledged the country's intelligence agencies are "not perfect."

"But they are full of extraordinarily hardworking, patriotic and knowledgeable experts," he said.

"And if you're not getting their perspective, their detailed perspective, then you are flying blind."
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/310105-obama-hits-trump-on-intel-briefings-it-doesnt-matter-how-smart-you-are




So getting back to the subject of the Russian hacking scandal – let’s recap what is going on so far:

Influential senators from both parties amplified calls for an independent investigation of Russian meddling in the U.S. election, setting up a clash with President-elect Donald Trump over U.S. policy toward Russia and potentially his pick for secretary of state.

Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) issued a joint statement Sunday with the incoming Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, and top Armed Services Committee Democrat Jack Reed of Rhode Island that Russian interference in the election "should alarm every American." They said Congress must investigate further without allowing it to become a partisan issue. But in an interview on "Fox News Sunday," Trump again bluntly dismissed reports of Russian meddling, calling them "ridiculous" and an attempt to undermine his victory. At the same time, Trump's incoming chief of staff suggested the president-elect would not oppose congressional inquiries.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/democratic-gop-senators-russian-hacking-cannot-become-a-partisan-issue-232475




Ha that was us again! Fooled you! But Donald Trump is quite literally going mad with power. He continues to tell the intelligence community to go fuck itself on an almost daily basis:

Just 38 days before the inauguration, Donald Trump has given the intelligence community what amounts to a slap in the face, according to current and former intelligence officials.

From refusing briefings to publicly questioning CIA assessments of Russian election hacking, the president-elect has entered a spat with the intelligence agencies he will rely upon for critical information related to national security.

“It’s unprecedented that a president-elect should be denigrating the CIA, refusing to read their intelligence and disagreeing with them on a major substantive issue even before he is inaugurated,” said former White House cybersecurity official Richard Clarke, now an ABC News consultant.

At the heart of the matter is the issue of cybersecurity, with intelligence officials saying that hackers directed by Russia engaged in covert activities intended to interfere with the U.S. election.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/trumps-cia-rebukes-create-unprecedented-feud-intelligence-agencies/story?id=44154762




That was from the Simpsons Movie, even top conservatives are calling for an investigation like John McCain and Joe Walsh:

Donald Trump went out of his way during the campaign to antagonize and insult John McCain. The president-elect may soon come to regret that decision.

The fireworks over Russian interference in the presidential election made clear McCain will be the rare Republican politician willing to stand up to the soon-to-be Republican president. Having just secured his sixth and probably final term, the 80-year-old McCain has little to lose as he leads the charge for a wide-ranging investigation into Russian cyberattacks.

It’s not just their wildly divergent views on Russia that the two could clash over. As chairman of the Armed Services Committee, McCain will wield enormous sway over Trump’s Pentagon, with the ability to derail Defense Department nominees and an outsize voice in shaping the department’s annual budget.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/donald-trump-john-mccain-232340




"I went after this during the campaign, Stephanie," Walsh said. "But I mean, think about it. You are right. The Washington Post came out Friday night and said Russia attacked us. Now you knew, and a lot of us knew that this was probably going on. But it was confirmed with that Washington Post report. And they specifically said the CIA said they did it to help get Trump elected. You mess around with our democratic elections; that's an attack on our country. ... I mean, think about it Steph, the CIA said Russia is messing with our election. And Trump attacks the CIA instead of attacking Russia. He's got to man up and own this. ... Donald Trump has a little bit of time here Stephanie. He's got to adjust what he is saying and come out really strong against Russia. And most importantly, demand an investigation. And Stephanie, it's not just him. I am so disappointed in the reaction from my Republican Party in the last two days. We were attacked. And yet very few of them are calling for an investigation. ... For him to side with Russia and not our intelligence agencies, man that's almost an act of treason."

https://egbertowillies.com/2016/12/12/congressman-trump-act-treason/


And this is coming from the same guy, who a week before the election, said this:

Former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh tweeted Wednesday afternoon that he plans to take up arms if Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump loses on Election Day.

"On November 8th, I’m voting for Trump," Walsh tweeted. "On November 9th, if Trump loses, I’m grabbing my musket," asking his nearly 80,000 Twitter followers, "You in?"

When CNN's Jake Tapper replied, "what exactly does that mean?" Walsh responded, "It means protesting. Participating in acts of civil disobedience. Doing what it takes to get our country back."

Walsh, who hosts a syndicated radio show on AM-560, later told NBC5 that the tweet was tongue-in-cheek.

Read more: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/joe-walsh-if-trump-loses-im-grabbing-my-musket-398762101.html


Yeah… duh! Does anyone still have a musket besides history museums? Joe Walsh might be Mr. Bad Example in this one.




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


File this one under “things that wont end well”. So Donald Trump is treading into dangerously evil territory here. I mean seriously he’s gone mad with power. And from that Simpsons Movie clip earlier, have you ever tried going mad without power? It’s boring, no one listens to you! So Donald Trump may completely ignore daily intelligence briefings because – get this – he’s a smart guy!

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally, Friday, Oct. 14, 2016, in Charlotte, N.C. (Evan Vucci / AP)
Dana Priest, Tom HamburgerThe Washington Post

Former senior U.S. national security officials are dismayed at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's repeated refusal to accept the judgment of intelligence professionals that Russia stole files from the Democratic National Committee computers in an effort to influence the U.S. election.

The former officials, who have served presidents in both parties, say they were bewildered when Trump cast doubt on Russia's role after receiving a classified briefing on the subject and again after an unusually blunt statement from U.S. agencies saying they were "confident" that Moscow had orchestrated the attacks.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-trump-intelligence-briefing-russia-20161014-story.html




And this was back in October! So when confronted with evidence of Russian hacking, what was Trumpenfuror’s excuse? He’s a smart guy!

Fresh off reports that he's going to be spending his spare time executive producing the new season of Celebrity Apprentice and also hasn't been receiving daily presidential intelligence briefings, Donald Trump sat down for an interview with Fox News to explain why he doesn't need them. It's because he's smart, you see, and the briefings are kind of boring, and also Mike Pence can get them instead, it's not like he's doing anything.

Trump talked with Fox News' Chris Wallace for an interview that will air later this afternoon. During the interview, the subject of Trump's apparent lack of interest in daily presidential intelligence briefings came up, and the President-elect said that while he's definitely engaged and interested, the briefings are just such a yawnfest:
http://gothamist.com/2016/12/11/trump_says_he_doesnt_need_president.php


I can imagine him in the White House now – “I’m a smart guy, OK? Nobody is smarter than I am! I make the best decisions! What? Terrorists to launch attack on American soil? Get out of here! Intelligence briefings are for stupid losers! Now watch this clip from Celebrity Apprentice!”



And in case you were wondering why we *NEED* daily intelligence briefings, you know the last guy who skipped out on intelligence briefings? Was George W. Bush, and we all know how that turned out. So what happened next? Oh yeah that’s right! 9/11! But what are the ramifications of this? I mean shit just got real here:

Former CIA director and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said on Wednesday that if President-elect Donald Trump refuses to receive regular intelligence briefings, he risks being blamed in the wake of any potential attack on the United States.

Panetta told the Arab Strategy Forum that he has "never seen" a president with Trump's active aversion to intelligence briefings, according to Reuters.

"If we endure another attack and the intelligence officials had indications or information regarding that attack and the president did not want to listen to that, for whatever reason, the responsibility for that attack would fall on the president," he said.

Panetta reportedly told the forum that Trump's refusal of presidential intelligence briefings "can't last."

"I've seen presidents who have asked questions about whether that intelligence is verifiable, what are the sources for that intelligence, but I have never seen a president who said, 'I don't want that stuff,'" he said, as quoted by Reuters.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/leon-panetta-trump-risks-blame-for-attack-refusing-briefings


Yes Donald Trump would let his own ego get in the way of a terror attack on US soil. Shit just got real here.






[font size="8"]Rex Tillerson[/font]


Let’s get out our history books kids. Anyone remember something that happened in the 1930s called “The Business Plot”? It was when a group of extremely wealthy business owners attempted to stage a fascist coup against then-president Franklin D. Roosevelt. And you know what? They failed big time because a man named Smedley Butler knew of the intelligence ahead of time and stopped them from taking over the US government. Let’s review:

The plotters attempted to recruit General Smedley Butler to lead the coup. They selected him because he was a war hero who was popular with the troops. The plotters felt his good reputation was important to make the troops feel confident that they were doing the right thing by overthrowing a democratically elected president. However, this was a mistake: Butler was popular with the troops because he identified with them. That is, he was a man of the people, not the elite. When the plotters approached General Butler with their proposal to lead the coup, he pretended to go along with the plan at first, secretly deciding to betray it to Congress at the right moment.

What the businessmen proposed was dramatic: they wanted General Butler to deliver an ultimatum to Roosevelt. Roosevelt would pretend to become sick and incapacitated from his polio, and allow a newly created cabinet officer, a "Secretary of General Affairs," to run things in his stead. The secretary, of course, would be carrying out the orders of Wall Street. If Roosevelt refused, then General Butler would force him out with an army of 500,000 war veterans from the American Legion. But MacGuire assured Butler the cover story would work:

"You know the American people will swallow that. We have got the newspapers. We will start a campaign that the President's health is failing. Everyone can tell that by looking at him, and the dumb American people will fall for it in a second…"

The businessmen also promised that money was no object: Clark told Butler that he would spend half his $60 million fortune to save the other half.

And what type of government would replace Roosevelt's New Deal? MacGuire was perfectly candid to Paul French, a reporter friend of General Butler's:

"We need a fascist government in this country… to save the nation from the communists who want to tear it down and wreck all that we have built in America. The only men who have the patriotism to do it are the soldiers, and Smedley Butler is the ideal leader. He could organize a million men overnight."
http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/Coup.htm


And then remember what Paul LePage said just a few short weeks ago?

Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) praised Donald Trump as a leader who would "show some authoritarian power" on Tuesday, even as he slammed President Barack Obama as an "autocrat."

"We need a Donald Trump to show some authoritarian power in our country and bring back the rule of law," LePage said in an interview with Maine radio station WVOM. He went on to compare Trump to Obama, decrying the President as "an autocrat" who ignores Congress and "just does it on his own."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/lepage-trump-authoritarian-obama-autocrat




Yeah get this weak stuff out of here! Because fuck freedom! Fuck the very things this country was founded on and what made it great in the first place! So how do you overthrow a government that thrives on freedom? Easy! Give all the jobs to the people who are the least qualified!

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump on Tuesday officially selected Rex W. Tillerson, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, to be his secretary of state. In saying he will nominate Mr. Tillerson, the president-elect is dismissing bipartisan concerns that the globe-trotting leader of an energy giant has a too-cozy relationship with Vladimir V. Putin, the president of Russia.

A statement from Mr. Trump’s transition office early Tuesday brought to an end his public and chaotic deliberations over the nation’s top diplomat — a process that at times veered from rewarding Rudolph W. Giuliani, one of his most loyal supporters, to musing about whether Mitt Romney, one of his most outspoken critics, might be forgiven.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/12/us/politics/rex-tillerson-secretary-of-state-trump.html


Yes he has a way too cozy relationship with shirtless dressage champion Vladimir Putin.



You’re welcome for that image by the way. By the way, just how toxic is Mr. Tillerson’s relationship with Mr. Putin? Even Fox News thinks this guy would be a complete disaster. Fox News! Fox News!!!! Why is my voice getting so high??????????????????

On Tuesday morning, after a weekend of anonymously-sourced winks and nudges, President-elect Trump formally announced that he will nominate ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be the next Secretary of State.

Tillerson’s nomination would be a disaster.

He is a CEO, not an experienced diplomat. Moreover, he is simply too close to Russia and Vladimir Putin to be an effective or credible advocate for American interests around the world.

Tillerson has direct economic interests in Russia having cut multi-billion dollar deals with Putin himself as well as Kremlin confidant Igor Sechin, the head of Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft. When Sechin isn’t palling around with Tillerson, he keeps busy selling nuclear capabilities to Venezuela or negotiating oil deals with Cuba. Tillerson doesn’t seem to mind, and even appeared with Sechin after he had been formally sanctioned by the United States.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/12/13/why-rex-tillerson-would-be-disaster-as-secretary-state.html


Yes! He’s not an experienced diplomat and he has billions at stake by letting the Russian sanctions go that we imposed on them a long time ago! That is about as greedy as it gets folks!




[font size="8"]Andrew Puzder[/font]




That’s now a thing! Yes that is from one of our favorite movies here at the Top 10 Home Office in Anaheim, California, Idiocracy. Another company in California that has been threatening to move to Texas for years now because they don’t want to pay taxes is Carl’s Jr. And their CEO Andrew Pudzer has been making a lot of headlines lately. And whew, is this guy a gem. He’s perfect for Donald Trump’s cabinet – a millionaire donor who hates women, has been divorced multiple times, and is very, very anti labor. Just how anti labor is Andrew Puzder?

President-elect Donald J. Trump on Thursday chose Andrew F. Puzder, chief executive of the company that franchises the fast-food outlets Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. and an outspoken critic of the worker protections enacted by the Obama administration, to be secretary of labor.

“Andy Puzder has created and boosted the careers of thousands of Americans, and his extensive record fighting for workers makes him the ideal candidate to lead the Department of Labor,” Mr. Trump said in a statement.

Mr. Puzder, 66, fits the profile of some of Mr. Trump’s other domestic cabinet appointments. He is a wealthy businessman and political donor and has a long record of promoting a conservative agenda that takes aim at President Obama’s legacy. And more than the other appointments, he resembles Mr. Trump in style.

He seems to delight in bashing elites — he complained that “big corporate interests” and “globalist companies” were supporting Hillary Clinton in the presidential election — and is prone to the occasional streak of political incorrectness.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/08/us/politics/andrew-puzder-labor-secretary-trump.html




Holy fuck!!!! So he bashes elites but praises Donald Trump? I got news for ya, Mr. Puzder, you can’t get much more elite than Donald Trump. The hypocrisy on the right about what passes for elitism is astonishing! I mean seriously this is a guy who had a 24 course Thanksgiving dinner that featured two dishes named after him! This guy flies around in a giant 757 with his name on it! By the way you want to know what makes Pudzer qualified to be Labor Secretary in Trump’s cabinet? His company was fined multiple times for breaking safety violations and stealing wages:

In July 2013, a manager at a Carl’s Jr. restaurant in California told an employee to mop the floors using extremely hot water. The worker had to fill her bucket out of a special dispenser that was elevated on a counter and expelled water with a temperature between 180 and 212 degrees Fahrenheit. As the worker wrestled with the water bucket on her third day of mop duty, it dropped to the floor, splashing her with scalding water.

The worker ended up having to be hospitalized for her burns. The parent company of the Carl’s Jr. brand, CKE Restaurant Holdings, was cited for three safety violations as a result, including one investigators considered “serious,” according to Labor Department records. This June, three years after the incident, the company agreed to pay $23,420 in fines ― an unusually high penalty following a workplace safety inspection.

If President-elect Donald Trump has his way, Andy Puzder, the chief executive of CKE Restaurant Holdings, will be in charge of fining companies like his own for workplace hazards. Last week, Trump named Puzder to be his labor secretary. If confirmed, he would be the top watchdog responsible for protecting workers from dangerous working conditions and wage theft.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/andrew-puzder-workplace-safety_us_584f1709e4b04c8e2bb14947


?a392c2

And there’s also this:

Andrew F. Puzder, chief executive of CKE Restaurants Holdings -- that's the company that owns the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's restaurant chains -- has been taking a lot of heat for an interview he gave earlier this month to Business Insider, in which he was quoted singing the praises of restaurant automation.

According to the quote, Puzder feels that machines are much easier to deal with than humans. "They're always polite, they always upsell, they never take a vacation, they never show up late, there's never a slip-and-fall, or an age, sex, or race discrimination case." (Technical note: "upselling" means steering customers toward products with higher price tags.)
http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-puzder-20160322-snap-htmlstory.html





[font size="8"]Stephen Mnuchin[/font]


Hey remember during the campaign when Donald Trump supporters and conspiracy theorists alike were slamming Hillary Clinton for being “in bed with Goldman Sachs”? Well guess what? Karma is about to come full circle because Goldman Sachs is about to run the government you elected! Yes, Trump supporters the looting of what’s left of the treasury is about to begin! And you helped create this! The bankrupting of our country is on you! Let’s find out exactly who Mnuchin is.

Washington (CNN)The first thing you need to know about Steven Mnuchin is it is pronounced "mah nu chin."
Trump rode a wave of populist anger at Wall Street, political correctness and the establishment media into the White House, but he's picked a successful banker, who made billions off the housing bubble and now produces Hollywood movies to be his Treasury Secretary.
But it's a job Steven Mnuchin, who served as the finance chairman of Trump's presidential campaign, wanted badly.

He even recruited potential deputies before Trump tapped him.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/12/politics/who-is-steven-mnuchin-trumps-pick-for-treasury-secretary/




So *cue Seinfeld bass line* What’s the deal with Goldman Sachs? Who the hell is this guy and why should we care? Well here’s a bit more info:

What do Mnuchin's critics say about him? He made millions off the housing bubble
He has never held public office before, which would make this key economic position his first in the public sector.
During congressional hearings, he can expect tough questions about his actions during the Great Recession. Mnuchin led a group that bought failed subprime lender IndyMac for pennies on the dollar in 2009, about a year after the FDIC took over the California bank following a run on deposits by customers.


What exactly did IndyMac do that made them so bad? Why they were a member of the sub prime housing lenders that led to the crash of 2008. In fact if Mnuchin is expected to be confirmed as Treasury Secretary, expect things to get a hell of a lot worse than 2008.

IndyMac had become a poster child for the risky home loans that brought on the housing crisis and the meltdown in financial markets. The FDIC agreed to assume much of the losses as part of its sale to Mnuchin, who renamed it OneWest.
But regulators soon questioned OneWest's foreclosure practices, which included so-called robo-signings that pushed homeowners into foreclosure without proper review or due process.
The bank was one of many that agreed to pay millions in fines to compensate customers. Occupy Los Angeles protesters showed up at Mnuchin's Bel Air mansion in 2011. And this month, two fair housing groups in California filed a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, accusing the bank of discriminating against minority borrowers during his tenure there.




And by the way, anyone remember when republicans were accusing us of being paid by George Soros to protest Trump? Oh yeah they’re still doing that! And what the fuck do they think George Soros does? I think they need some reeducation because he is paying Steven Mnuchin:

What made Mnuchin who he is?
Mnuchin is a twice-married father of three who graduated from Yale. Like his father, he was a partner at Goldman Sachs. He worked for the firm for 17 years, joining at age 22 and leaving just before his 40th birthday, in 2002.
He later worked for George Soros, the billionaire financier who has bankrolled liberal candidates and causes -- and who was depicted as a villain in Trump's last campaign ad.
But Mnuchin only stayed with Soros a year, leaving in September 2004 to start his own hedge fund, Dune Capital Management.




Oh and by the way in case you were wondering how evil Steven Mnuchin really is, this is almost a cartoonish, C. Montgomery Burns level of evil:

In Florida, the company foreclosed on a 90-year-old woman after a 27-cent payment error. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo singled out the lender for squeezing Superstorm Sandy victims. Last month, the company’s successor, CIT Bank, was accused of discriminating against minority borrowers.

Two years ago, OneWest filed foreclosure papers on the Lakeland, Florida, home of Ossie Lofton, who had taken a reverse mortgage, a loan that supplies cash to elderly homeowners and doesn’t require monthly payments.

After confusion over insurance coverage, a OneWest subsidiary sent Lofton a bill for $423.30. She sent a check for $423. The bank sent another bill, for 30 cents. Lofton, 90, sent a check for 3 cents. In November 2014, the bank foreclosed.

In October, lawyers at the nonprofit Florida Rural Legal Services contested OneWest’s foreclosure and asked the Polk County Circuit Court for a jury trial.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/trump-treasury-foreclosed-homes-mnuchin-232038





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


A lot of people have speculated that Donald Trump doesn’t want to be president, he just wants the attention that comes with being president. That’s why he’s literally filled all his cabinet positions with CEOs so they can be the president of whatever they’re being the president of. So allow me to give you exhibit A:

For seven-figure contributions, Trump's richest supporters will get a slew of special perks during the inauguration weekend, including eight tickets to a candlelight dinner that will feature special appearances by Trump, his wife, Melania, Vice President-elect Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, according to a sheet detailing underwriter package benefits obtained by The Washington Post. The 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee confirmed the authenticity of the donor brochure, which was first reported by the Center for Public Integrity.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-inaugural-donors-candelit-dinner-access-a7446891.html




Yes! That’s right! For just the low low price of $1,000,000 *cue Dr Evil voice* ONE MILLION DOLLARS, you too can get a private dinner with the president! But even that kind of money can’t buy everything! I mean look at how few people they’re trying to get to play the inauguration:

Donald Trump's inaugural committee is scrambling to lock in A-list Hollywood performers for the parties celebrating him — and having a rough time booking big names, two insiders tell TheWrap.

Both said that Trump inaugural committee members have contacted them in recent days offering cash or even a government appointment if they could deliver marquee names.

"They are willing to pay anything," one of the insiders told TheWrap. "They told me, 'We'll pay their fees.' Most of these artists' fees are in the six to seven figures." The insider said the Trump negotiator also offered to pay him for delivering top talent, saying, "Name your price."
http://www.aol.com/article/2016/12/07/trump-team-scrambles-for-a-list-inaugural-performers-they-are/21622912/


Hey! You can get my Z-grade show for the low low price of $5.



Damn!!! I was so close! But check out how Trump is planning to enter his inauguration. Apparently he might be taking cues from Bruce Wayne in the Dark Knight:

President-elect Donald Trump reportedly met with the director of his old show, "The Apprentice" to discuss a reality-TV style inauguration, according to the New York Times.

The ideas include a parade up Fifth Avenue followed by a helicopter ride that would take Trump from New York to Washington, D.C.

Trump recalled the ideas he had discussed with Mark Burnett during a fundraiser in New York City on Wednesday, according to The New York Times.
www.whec.com/news/trump-inauguration-ideas-helicopter/4339179/


Who does he think he is? Bruce Wayne? But you know who might play Trump’s inaugural? Someone who has almost as big of an ego as he does. Someone who has hinted that he would run for president in 2020 or 2024. Someone who… is almost as addicted to wealth and status as Mr. Trump. Any guesses yet, anyone?

Washington (CNN)Kanye West met with President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday, after he was spotted arriving at Trump Tower in New York City, only days after the rapper first came back into the public eye following his hospitalization.
Trump spoke to reporters with West by his side, calling the rapper a "good man" and telling journalists that they have been "friends for a long time."

West would not discuss the details of the meeting ignored questions about whether he plans on performing at Trump's inauguration. He also ignored a question about whether he wishes he had voted for Trump.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/13/politics/kanye-west-donald-trump-trump-tower/index.html


YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I called it last week! Wooooooooooooo!!!!! They can both sing this song together:



God can you imagine a duet between Kanye and Trump on this song? By the way, Stephen Colbert had a great piece on Kanye and Trump meeting:




[font size="8"]Linda McMahon[/font]


Of all of Trump’s picks for the highest levels of government so far – nearly every single one of them is baffling. It’s almost as if he’s trying to form an anti-government. You know like this:

Good Lord. We are about to inaugurate as president a man whose election, according to the CIA, was aided by a Russian intelligence operation. Try as we might, we cannot pretend this didn’t happen.

We can’t ignore outrageous interference by an adversarial foreign power because President-elect Donald Trump’s actions question his own legitimacy, or at least his fitness to hold the nation’s highest office, virtually every day.

He jets around the country holding adulatory victory rallies in the manner of an authoritarian strongman, preening like some latter-day Juan Perón. Does this worry you? It worries me...
https://t.co/83KiZgXkk6




Yeah get this weak stuff out of here! I mean everyone thought it was batshit insane to appoint Ben Carson, a brain surgeon, as the head of the HUD, which gives new meaning to the phrase “It takes a brain surgeon to do this!”. Well apparently it does! But this might be the most batshit insane pick of all – his pick to head the Small Business Administration:

President-elect Donald Trump has picked yet another person with billionaire ties to join his administration.

On Wednesday, Trump announced that he has selected former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon to head his Small Business Administration. McMahon is the wife of billionaire WWE promoter, Vincent McMahon, whose net worth FORBES estimates at $1.16 billion.

The couple cofounded WWE, which now has a market capitalization of $1.5 billion, more than three decades ago. According to WWE's most recent annual report, Linda McMahon personally owns $84 million in WWE stock. She served as CEO from 1997 until 2009, when she stepped down to pursue public office. Her unsuccessful U.S. Senate runs as a Republican in Connecticut in 2010 and 2012 cost the couple an estimated $100 million.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/katevinton/2016/12/07/linda-mcmahon-wife-of-wwe-billionaire-vincent-mcmahon-is-trumps-pick-to-head-his-small-business-administration/#14c92fc24f32


Can you imagine the head of the giant corporation WWE going to small businesses around the country? Only meetings that would start with a body slam!



Oh and by the way this is a woman who, much like Carly Fiorina, attempted to purchase a Senate seat and lost big time:

Linda E. McMahon’s campaign for the United States Senate has been good for Bert Volpacchio, who received $494 for a meet-and-greet with about 40 local officials last May at his restaurant, the Hot Tamale, in Seymour, Conn.

It has been great for regular suppliers like Best Buy, Staples and BJ’s Wholesale Club; for restaurants that have provided meals for volunteers like No Anchovies in Cromwell and the Sushi Palace in North Haven; for specialty businesses like Bayview Balloons of Milford, which got $830 just before the Republican primary; and for political operatives large and small.

Ms. McMahon may or may not get to influence job creation as a senator. But she has already made an impact on the Connecticut economy by dishing out close to $100 million for two Senate races over the past three years, far more than anyone has ever spent of their own money to win any federal seat. She has long since blown by the $72 million Ross Perot spent of his own money on presidential bids in 1992 and 1996.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/03/nyregion/linda-e-mcmahon-has-spent-nearly-100-million-in-senate-races.html


http://t15.deviantart.net/9yXzBXs-KYK6S7NBPYmOKlOuuCs=/fit-in/700x350/filters:fixed_height(100,100) rigin()/pre06/9565/th/pre/f/2013/028/d/e/epic_fail_by_fredrickburn-d5t1zkm.jpg


[font size="8"]Family Research Council[/font]


Time once again to ask:



The Family Research Council: How Is This Still A Thing? You might remember the Family Research Council from the Bush Administration years. They were one of the biggest advocates of California’s controversial Proposition 8 which banned same sex marriage, but was eventually overturned by the Supreme Court. This dealt a huge blow in the FRC’s efforts to ruin families. Them and other organizations like One Million Moms do nothing but obstruct. Take a look at what they’re doing to the expensive jewelry chain Zales:

Protesters in Standing Rock are being brutalized, white supremacists are rallying in Washington, D.C., and we’re hurtling toward a climate disaster. But don’t worry, anti-gay group One Million Moms is tackling the real problems facing our nation. Namely, a jewelry commercial showing a nice lesbian couple getting married.

The moral panic-enthusiasts released a statement this week decrying Zales for the new ad that, in a montage of couples and families, includes two women in wedding dresses happily exchanging vows.

“Zales is using public airwaves to subject families to the decay of morals and values, and belittle the sanctity of marriage in an attempt to redefine marriage,” wrote One Million Moms, apparently unaware that the actual definition of marriage already includes same-sex unions.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/one-million-mom-zales-ad-lesbian-couple_us_5839fe77e4b09b605600b77f


In fact here is the ad in question:



Oh two nice looking women getting married and being in love! The horror! Well the Family Research Council, One Million Moms, and tons of other groups like it are frothing at the mouth over this ad to the point where innocent Zales managers and employees are getting harassed. So here’s how the SPLC defines the Family Research Council:

The FRC often makes false claims about the LGBT community based on discredited research and junk science. The intention is to denigrate LGBT people in its battles against same-sex marriage, hate crimes laws, anti-bullying programs and the repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

To make the case that the LGBT community is a threat to American society, the FRC employs a number of “policy experts” whose “research” has allowed the FRC to be extremely active politically in shaping public debate. Its research fellows and leaders often testify before Congress and appear in the mainstream media. It also works at the grassroots level, conducting outreach to pastors in an effort to “transform the culture.”
https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/family-research-council




And here’s some of their greatest hits. For instance just look at what got them in extremely hot water a few years ago:

The conservative Christian organization for which Josh Duggar was a lobbyist has released a statement following his confession Thursday that he cheated on his wife Anna and was addicted to pornography.

“Last night we learned from online reports about allegations concerning Josh Duggar and then read his confession today. We are grieved by Josh’s conduct and the devastating impact of his pornography addiction and marital unfaithfulness,” reads the statement from Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. “Our hearts hurt for his family, and all those affected by Josh’s actions. His deceitful behavior harms his family, his friends, his former coworkers, and the cause he has publicly espoused.”

“Those of us who advocate for family values in the public square are held to a higher standard, and Josh’s failures serve as a painful reminder of the destructive effects of not living with integrity,” Perkins continues. “We are praying for the family.”
http://people.com/tv/josh-duggar-family-research-council-slams-him-for-ashley-madison-scandal/





Yes, they actually had noted serial sex offender and *ALLEGED* child molester Josh Duggar on their board of directors. And he subsequently resigned after admitting his faults and the FRC denounced one of their own for it. But what were they up to this week? Well here’s what happened:

ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, who was officially announced on Tuesday morning as President-elect Donald Trump's choice for secretary of state, could be the Left's "greatest ally" in Trump's cabinet, leading social conservative activist Tony Perkins has warned.

There has been much anticipation over the last week that Trump would pick the 64-year-old oil mogul to be nominated to lead the critically important State Department.

But even before the selection was made official Tuesday morning, liberals and some conservatives have spent the last week chastising the potential selection of Tillerson by criticizing his business connections with Russia and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

While some conservatives like former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich have praised Trump's pick of Tillerson to run the State Department as an "excellent choice," Perkins, the president of the Washington-based Family Research Council, does not share their view.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/trump-secretary-state-rex-tillerson-led-charge-boy-scouts-gay-troop-leaders-tony-perkins-exxonmobil-172108/#iYsePZK4GufELlFr.99




Yes… WTF Lol. Did you not see any of the stuff we’ve already said about Tillerson? How could he possibly be the left’s biggest ally in Trump’s cabinet? He’s got hundreds of billions at stake in the Russian Arctic and has been repeatedly denying it, while at the same time denouncing climate change. I mean come on, Tony, what else don’t you like about Tillerson?

Right-wing Christians are opposing Donald Trump’s choice of Exxon Mobil’s CEO for secretary of state because they believe he turned the Boy Scouts gay.

Friends of Rex Tillerson, who was tapped by Trump to lead the State Department, say the oil executive would promote American values abroad because he’s a devoted Eagle Scout with a “sense of duty, loyalty, faithfulness, loyalty — he embraces all of that.”

But Tony Perkins, the head of the anti-LGBT Family Research Council, slammed his choice on ideological grounds, reported Politico.

“FRC knows Tillerson all too well, having worked for years to put the brakes on his reckless agenda for a scouting organization that was already dealing with staggering numbers of sexual abuse cases,” Perkins wrote.
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/12/right-wing-christian-furious-trumps-secretary-of-state-pick-destroyed-boy-scouts-by-allowing-gays/


Yes! That is the Tony Perkins we know! He claims that Rex Tillerson is responsible for turning the Boy Scouts and Eagle Scouts gay! Which has been proven to be, um, not true, since about 2001. That’s enough to make you ask: The Family Research Council:




[font size="8"]The Trump Effect[/font]


Ask the average Trump fan about what they thought about the protests post-election. They will make the claim that they’re not racist, but will immediately talk shit about the post-election protests with some racist remark about looting, harassment and threats, most of which were non existent. Now contradict that with things Donald Trump fans are saying. There’s been tons of looting, harassment, death threats and swastika graffiti in the name of Trump since it happened. But first Bernie Sanders offers some insight into how Donald Trump slipped through the cracks:

When asked to diagnose why Republican president-elect Donald Trump won the presidency, former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said the public was tired of constantly politically correct rhetoric.

Obviously, (Trump) said things that created tremendous controversy, offense, in some cases, real genuine pain for some folks, Muslim-Americans in particular. But theres a sense he was violating some set of manners that shouldnt exist. What do you make of that? MSNBCs Chris Hayes asked Sanders during .

I think he said he will not be politically correct, Sanders replied. I think he said some outrageous and painful things, but I think people are tired of the same old politically correct rhetoric, and they believe that he was speaking from his heart and willing to take on everybody.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/bernie-sanders-trump-won-because-people-are-tired-of-politically-correct-rhetoric/




And yes Bernie isn’t wrong. A lot of the exit polls confirmed Trump voters were turning against the PC crowd. But it’s not just the PC crowd. We’re tired of shit happening. Shit like this:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Swastikas were written in four different places of the Kansas City Public Library, on W. 10th Street on Sunday afternoon, and since then, the library has worked to remove the swastikas and the n-word written inside.

Libraries are often associated with peace and quiet, but the calm inside this building was shattered when the racist messages were found.

“We had some defacement of the Kansas City Public Library by someone who is a little troubled and probably a little racist,” said Crosby Kemper, Director of the Kansas City Public Library. “We have a picture of the person from our cameras and we hope the police catch him and he should go to jail for the defacement of public property.”
http://fox4kc.com/2016/12/12/vandal-spray-paints-swastikas-racist-word-and-hail-pres-trump-at-kansas-city-library/


And this:

William Tucker, 58, of Lawnside, was the subject of an anonymous tip that city police received on Nov. 11.

He was arrested on Nov. 22 and charged in connection with the graffiti some South Philadelphia residents awoke to the day after the General Election that saw the Republican candidate defeat Hillary Clinton.

Police say that their suspect was seen in surveillance video allegedly spray painting on the hood of a parked vehicle as well as other vehicles and homes along the 900 block of South 6th Street near the city's Queen Village section.

According to philly.com, the phrases spray painted on some of the vandalized vehicles and homes included "Trump Rules" and "Black B****."
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/12/man-charged-with-pro-trump-vandalism-in-philadelphia/


And this:

CONCORD (KPIX 5) – Post-election tension has led to a feud in a Concord neighborhood. One family said their home was vandalized because of their political views.

Denisen and Jay Hartlove pulled out 56 American flags from their front yard late Friday night. Some flags had pro-Donald Trump messages scrawled across, including “Build the Wall Now” and “I love The Donald.”

The family of four was inside when they heard the rustling outside.

“I went out. And I was amazed to see there were 56 American flags planted in my front lawn,” Jay Hartlove told KPIX 5.
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/11/28/concord-pro-donald-trump-vandalism-hillary-clinton-supporters/


And this:

In the wake of Donald J. Trump's Election Night victory, there was a rash of vandalism in public places, including especially in the Tampa Bay area; everywhere from the USF Tampa campus to the sidewalk outside of a diversity-embracing church in St. Petersburg's Kenwood area.

In many cases, the vandals drew swastikas accompanied by "MAGA," an acronym for Trump's slogan, "make America great again."

If a recent incident in Clearwater is any indication, the sentiment behind those messages is going strong.
http://www.cltampa.com/news-views/local-news/article/20845965/more-protrump-vandalism-this-time-outside-a-clearwater-church


And this – on my home turf no less:

COSTA MESA – An Orange Coast College teacher who told her students that Donald Trump’s election was an “act of terrorism” has received threats and has temporarily left the state.

News of the threats against Olga Perez Stable Cox came to light Monday, as hundreds of people turned out at the college to demonstrate in support of her and against her.

The professor, the union that represents her and the college have received more than 1,000 emails, calls and Facebook comments – most of them critical of Cox, who a week after the election was recorded on video telling students in her human sexuality class that “we’re really back to being (in) a civil war.”

“Someone emailed her a picture of her house, with her address,” said Rob Schneiderman, president of the Coast Federation of Educators/American Federation of Teachers Local 1911. The email called Cox a “libtard, Marxist, hatemonger, nutcase” and said “her home address is now going to be sent everywhere,” he added.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/cox-738156-students-class.html



So much better than rioting, they tell us! They didn’t destroy property, they tell us! They didn’t harass anybody or threaten to murder them, they tell us!




[font size="8"]Trump For Dummies Part II: Electric Boogaloo Die Harder[/font]


Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, LGBT and gender non conformers. When we left off last week we were talking about how to talk to your ultra conservative relatives about the worst election in American history. The one that gave rise to all the hate and white supremacism that you’re seeing today. And many of you will be going home for the holidays, wherever your home may be. So with that in mind we’re going to submit to you part II of our new text book – “How To Talk About Trump For Dummies”. I hope that everyone did their homework for the last part and used our advice from Chapters 1 – 4, right? Well this week, class, we’re going to discuss chapters 5 – 7 in our ongoing lecture series. So let’s get out our textbooks, shall we?



[font size="6"]Chapter 5: Safe Spaces[/font]

Conservatives love to make fun of liberals for needing “safe spaces”. They say we can’t handle the heat and need to get out of the kitchen. Well here’s how you can turn the tables on that line of thinking. See they elected a guy who whines and complains about anyone that he doesn’t agree with more than anyone else on the planet earth. Well there’s no one on the planet earth who needs safe spaces on the planet than Donald Trump supporters and white supremacists. The way to win arguments against Trump, since they point out that things like “facts”, and “logic”, and “reason” don’t matter anymore – they’re actually right about that one. So how do you win arguments when facts don’t matter? Here’s how you do that – by reversing the argument. So last week conservatives were complaining about a movie that I am very much looking forward to – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Since Donald Trump was elected President, the alt-right — better known as the “We Need No Safe Spaces” Party, but who will, from now on, be referred to by me as the white nationalist racists that they are — has waged war on a play (Hamilton), a cereal company (Kellogg’s), and now, a bound-to-be-classic hit movie (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story). With the Dump Star Wars hashtag (#DumpStarWars) currently trending on Twitter, the question we must ask is why a party that has bragged about being so much tougher than the opposing side (because having compassion and empathy for your fellow human beings, regardless of their race, while also demanding that they be treated with equality, is a bad thing in their eyes) gets so worked up over a film, a play, and a box of cereal.

According to The Independent‘s report about the Dump Star Wars trend, this all started when members of the white nationalist group started taking Chris Weitz — Rogue One‘s scriptwriter — to task for his purported “anti-white agenda.” Apparently, Chris Weitz — like many millions of others — have taken shots at the rising incidents of Islamophobia, homophobia, racism, and misogyny by putting up a safety pin in support of LGBTQ men and women.

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/3782200/dump-star-wars-white-nationalists-should-find-their-safe-space-in-a-galaxy-far-far-away-from-here-opinion/#xvJ8Gfr0HZtl3jhZ.99


You can counter with an argument from a well researched article like this:

Did a group of Trump supporters slime “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” without the facts?

The hashtag #DumpStarWars began Thursday morning with a group of conservative “Star Wars” fans declaring their intent to boycott the release of “Rogue One,” the upcoming standalone film that hits theaters Dec. 16.

Twitter user Jack Posobiac, who is listed as the special projects director for a group called Citizens for Trump, claimed that “‘Star Wars’ writers rewrote and reshot ‘Rogue One’ to add in Anti Trump scenes calling him a racist.”
http://www.thewrap.com/dumpstarwars-rogue-one-writers-did-not-change-ending-trump/


And by the way that didn’t happen. But the guy who led the Twitter barrage of hate last week resulting in that being a thing, was completely untrue. Much like Pizzagate:

A Disney representative has told TheWrap that allegations that the plot of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” was changed in post-production reshoots are completely untrue.


Pro Tip: In a world where facts and logic don’t matter, maybe a good song to help ease tension works when arguing with Trump supporters. You can counter with a personal favorite of mine – Pink Floyd’s Another Brick In The Wall Pt.2:




Pro Tip: Conservatives hate safe spaces and accuse us liberals of needing too many when in reality it’s actually quite the opposite. All you have to do is point out that since Donald Trump got elected, they’re protesting Starbucks by buying Starbucks ( Idiots #2-1 ), boycotting a musical that’s sold out for two years ( See Idiots #2-2 ), and now they’re boycotting a movie that’s going to easily make $200 million in two weeks. Who needs safe spaces again? I believe that is what we call “hypocrisy”, kids!



[font size="6"]Chapter 6: The Bubble[/font]

There’s been a lot of talk about bubbles since the last two presidential administrations. Here’s how How To Talk About Trump For Dummies defines The Bubble. It’s when you constantly need your hand held to talk about certain issues. Which conservatives, who don’t read actual news sites and resort to conspiracy theories, resort to. That’s when they need things explained to them about how the real world works. That’s called living in a bubble. Conservatives say we liberals live in a bubble, us liberals say conservatives live in a bubble where facts don’t matter. So it’s been the subject of countless sketch comedy bits and talk show segments.


&t=4s


So how do you “define” the bubble? For conservatives that bubble consists of fake news sites like Infowars, Prison Planet, Breitbart, the 700 Club, anything Milo Yiannopolous does, and just about every single far right conservative news site out there, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Medved, Larry Elder, Fox News, I could go on and on. We liberals have uh… the Daily Show, the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and uh… that’s about it. If we liberals really want to take back the government we really need to change the narrative, because it’s been hijacked. So with that in mind let’s dissect a popular talking point with Trump supporters and the Fox News crowd - the unemployment rate:



Holy fuck!!!! 74% of Trump voters think that unemployment decreased under Obama. Well…. The actual news paints a much different theory:

President Obama is now taking credit for creating 15 million jobs.

That's how many new jobs have been created since the dark days of the Great Recession. Another solid month of hiring in September has brought the tally to over 15 million non-farm jobs.

"Anyone claiming that America's economy is in decline is peddling fiction," President Obama said in his State of the Union address earlier this year. His critics counter that this is the slowest recovery since WW II.

This week Obama fought back at his detractors. He said his team has created a "more durable, growing economy" with "15 million new private-sector jobs since early 2010" in an essay in The Economist. Democrat Tim Kaine also used the 15 million jobs talking point in the vice presidential debate.
http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/07/news/economy/obama-15-million-jobs/




[font size="6"]Chapter 7: The Punching Bags[/font]

Donald Trump is a very short tempered individual. If someone doesn’t agree with him, he retreats to the one place where he can get his frustrations out: Twitter. And boy does he Tweet very angrily. In fact he takes potshots repeatedly at various people and organizations. These are what we define as the Punching bags. One of Donald Trump’s favorite punching bags is the New York Times. Remember that giant wall of Tweets that the New York Times constructed a few weeks ago? You can find it here. He called the New York Times failing on multiple occasions. But what happens when the New York Times calls Trump out for his bullshit? Let's take a look at what they say about Trump's business conflict of interest - of which he has many:

For those waiting to see Mr. Trump hold a news conference to discuss the ethical concerns about conflicts with his business, you’ll have to wait a little longer.
Continue reading the main story

Transition officials said on Monday evening that they were postponing a news conference scheduled for Thursday at which Mr. Trump had said he would reveal his plans to avoid conflicts of interest with his sprawling real estate business.

The president-elect instead will make that announcement in January — likely before his inauguration and after an extended vacation at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida — officials said, confirming a report in Bloomberg News.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/12/us/politics/donald-trump-transition.html


Wait – this raises many questions here. I thought Trump was the hardest working guy on the planet! I mean he even worked on Thanksgiving, does anyone not remember that? "Yes, I am the hardest working American! I saved jobs on Thanksgiving by not shipping them to Mexico and paying a giant conglomerate that I have stock in some major tax breaks to keep jobs in America." And who vacations at their own resort? If I am going on vacation, the last place I’m going is the place where I work! And let’s juxtapose that with how many times the republicans claim that President Obama took vacation:

When President Barack Obama was vacationing on Martha's Vineyard and his critics were chastising him for not visiting flood victims in Louisiana, the liberal group Occupy Democrats created a message on their Facebook page trying to contrast Obama's work record against the Republican Congress.

Below a photograph of Obama are the words, "Has taken less vacation days than any other president in a generation." Below an image of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan are the words, "Have taken more vacation days than any other Congress in history."
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/sep/09/occupy-democrats/facts-take-vacation-occupy-democrats-claim-about-p/


Pro Tip: A fact like this is useless to the deplorables. It’s best to convey it in a Fake Trump Tweet:



Pro Tip: Another way of handling the subject of Trump is to use Trump’s own Twitter feed against him. You know this time next year Donald Trump will have to give his first State Of The Union address next year. Judging from his Twitter feed, what does Trump think about that?




Those are real Trump Tweets by the way! Another way you can get back at your conservative relatives is to roll the tape.

That’s it for this week class! Be sure to brush up on your reading and homework for when we meet to discuss in the next class chapters 8 – 10 on 1/4/17!

[font size="8"]And now this:[/font]
[font size="8"]Dropkick Murphys[/font]

Ladies and gentlemen, playing their song “The Season’s Upon Us” from their album “Signed And Sealed In Blood”, the Dropkick Murphys!





Yeah how about that?

See you next week for our final Top 10 of 2016!
December 14, 2016

Trump Effect: OC Professor Gets Death Threats After Calling Trump's Election "Terrorism"

COSTA MESA – An Orange Coast College teacher who told her students that Donald Trump’s election was an “act of terrorism” has received threats and has temporarily left the state.

News of the threats against Olga Perez Stable Cox came to light Monday, as hundreds of people turned out at the college to demonstrate in support of her and against her.

The professor, the union that represents her and the college have received more than 1,000 emails, calls and Facebook comments – most of them critical of Cox, who a week after the election was recorded on video telling students in her human sexuality class that “we’re really back to being (in) a civil war.”

“Someone emailed her a picture of her house, with her address,” said Rob Schneiderman, president of the Coast Federation of Educators/American Federation of Teachers Local 1911. The email called Cox a “libtard, Marxist, hatemonger, nutcase” and said “her home address is now going to be sent everywhere,” he added.

Others threatened her livelihood, some her life.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/cox-738156-students-class.html


Yeah death threats! So much classier than rioting they tell us!

Although anyone who uses the phrase "libtard" in a college setting should be kicked out of school.
December 10, 2016

Colbert asks: Norm Or Law?



December 8, 2016

O'Reilly: I'm Never Going On The View Again After Disrespect Of Trump

Bill O”Reilly tonight declared, “I’m never going on The View again.”

Why? Because of Joy Behar.

Earlier this week, Behar questioned Trump’s mental stability, saying he’s “not right in the head” and he’s never “appeared stable” to her.

O’Reilly was absolutely disgusted by this, calling it a “disgrace” that ABC News would be okay with that airing on their network

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/oreilly-im-never-going-on-the-view-again-after-joy-behars-disrespectful-attack-on-trump/


And it's because of this:

On The View today, Joy Behar questioned Donald Trump‘s mental stability as he continues his transition into the presidency.

Whoopi Goldberg said that Team Trump is “bringing in something we haven’t seen in a long time,” and Behar immediately quipped, “Mental illness.”

Goldberg went on to talk about the public displays of hate that have arisen in the wake of Trump’s presidency, while Jedediah Bila said that we have to hope for the best with Trump.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/joy-behar-trumps-not-right-in-the-head-and-very-unstable/


I side with Behar on this one. After Trump supporters are now threatening children and harassing innocent pizza joints because of alleged child molestation, all I have to say is "who is disrespecting the president elect again?"
December 8, 2016

Colbert Takes On Pizzagate



December 7, 2016

Top 10 Conservative Idiots #2-4: The Election From Hell: The Art Of The No Deal Edition


Top 10 Conservative Idiots #2-4: The Election From Hell: The Art Of The No Deal Edition

Hey everyone! This is officially the one year anniversary of the Top 10! We made it one year!!! Yes an entire year of following Donald Trump around documenting every failure and lie he's told! And I didn't want to throw my computer out the window! Woooooooooooooooooooo!!!!

Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! Are you a conservative white male over 50 years old with lots of disposable income who wants to hide the fact that they’re aging very poorly? Or maybe you’re the CEO of a large corporation, speaker of the house, or you’re the future president elect of the United States. Well have no fear, the Bronzer Club for Men is here! For just four payments of $200, you too can look just like former speaker of the House, John Boehner, or the 45th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump. Just slather this giant tub of goo that you will receive weekly with your membership to your face and voila! Youth restored! Just imagine the beautiful young ladies that you will pick up to accelerate the process of divorcing from your third trophy wife! Just a quick phone call will make you look 10, 20, or 30 years younger! It will give you the perfect excuse to use those Viagra single packs that you got from your sketchy online pharmacy in Tijuana that you can use on the cruise to Puerto Vallarta that you just booked, am I right guys? Just call our hotline today at 1-800-FUT-RUMP. That’s 1-800-FUT-RUMP. Remember – Donald Trump isn’t just the founder of the club, he’s also a member! Don’t delay, order today! Ah, that’s enough of that nonsense. Let’s get to it shall we? First though our amazing current VP stopped by Colbert and said he wouldn’t rule out running against Trump in 2020:


Do it Mr. Biden!!!

So where do we begin this week? The top slot this week is not going to go to returning champion Donald J. Trump, but to Alex Jones (1). Yes, Alex Jones knocks Donald Trump out fo the top spot this week. Turns out his fearmongering of the Pizzagate scandal – which has been proven to be fake news – has led to real violence! Holy shit! Of course slots 2 – 4 are going to our returning champion Donald J. Trump. In the second slot we’re going to discuss how he plans to start WWIII by throwing 40 years of diplomatic relations between Taiwan and China down the toilet. In the third slot we’re going to discuss the “deal” reached with Carrier and how he plans to save jobs – by shipping them to Mexico and giving the boss a bribe! In the fourth slot, we’re going to discuss SNL taking their Twitter war with Donald Trump meta. Taking the fifth slot is Breitbart. Last week we talked about how Breitbart lost one of their biggest sponsors – Kelloggs, well cue the world’s tiniest violin because they are hopping mad, and it’s only causing more sponsors to pull out. In the number 6 spot, is the NRA (6). Should we change Black Friday to Red Friday? Because Black Friday sales were lackluster in most areas (partly because people are sick of it), but the one thing people bought more of than any other thing? Guns! In the number 7 seed is Sears. Sears is in deep shit financially thanks to their CEO’s Ayn Randian policies that have tanked the once mighty chain. Yay! At number 8, we are going to talk about the War On Drugs – and the GOP and especially Donald Trump – definitely aren’t helping things. In the number 9 (NEIN!!!!) slot, is the Trump Effect. This time, Trump’s Brown Shirts are taking on the Mall Of America in Minneapolis – for – gasp – a black Santa! The horror! Finally this week we’re going to do something radically different from anything we’ve ever done. You know the holidays are a thing that is happening right now as we speak. What, the non stop barrage of Lexus, Mercedes, Best Buy, and Zales ads haven’t beat you over the head with it already? Well many of you are going to be traveling for the holidays and are probably going to be visiting your ultra conservative relatives. So we’re going to be channeling the “For Dummies” series of books and giving you advice on how to talk to your relatives, in a new segment we are calling “Trump For Dummies!”. Plus since you’re nice for listening to my schtick, we have some live music again for you – and this time how about some live music from Puscifer? They have a great new album out called “Money Shot” that you really should listen to if you get a chance. It’s the stuff of pure genius. And their video for the song they’re going to play – “The Remedy” – has won awards! How about that? And they will be stopping by later! Enjoy! And as always don’t forget the key!


[font size="8"]Alex Jones[/font]


Ugh… do I really have to talk about Infowars? Shit. No I don’t want to! Make me. I know you are but what am I? Takes one to know one! OK fine. Fuck it. So one of the things that came out of the worst election ever was the fact that more people paid attention to fake news than real news. Like there’s this guy.

Social media played a huge role in this year's election. Our president-elect Donald Trump is notorious for his use of Twitter, and some of his biggest supporters are now being suspended from the social media platform because of hate speech. Facebook also had a big impact on the election: in the last three months of the election, fake news had more engagement on Facebook than real news. Trump benefited from many of those fake news stories, like one claiming Pope Francis endorsed Trump. (Here's a list of sources that you should be skeptical of.) Now, even the people who write the fake news admit, "I think Donald Trump is in the White House because of me."
http://www.complex.com/life/2016/11/fake-news-writer-says-he-helped-trump-win-election


Great! I have just one thing to say to you, if WWIII is the work of Donald Trump, and judging from his misadventures in diplomacy this week, it sounds like it’s inevitable at this point. So that’s on you. And I have one thing to say:



You know who else isn’t helping? Alex Jones. You may have heard about a “scandal” brewing called Pizzagate. Now the jist of it is that allegedly Hillary Clinton and her campaign manager John Podesta allowed a pizza restaurant in Washington DC called Comet Ping Pong to run a child sex ring underneath the restaurant. Except that it has been proven to be not true. And these poor people have been subjected to endless harassment from alt reichers. And Alex Jones wont shut up about it.



And yesterday the second shooting happened under Alex Jones’ name (the first was the Las Vegas cop shooting back in 2015 started by Infowars fans). This guy is going to start a fucking war if we’re not careful.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A man fired a rifle on Sunday inside a Washington pizza restaurant that has been subjected to harassment based on false stories tying it to child abuse, the police said. No one was hurt, and the man was arrested.

The man, Edgar M. Welch, 28, of Salisbury, N.C., told the police that he had come to the restaurant, Comet Ping Pong, in northwest Washington, to “self-investigate” what is being called Pizzagate, an online conspiracy theory asserting, with no evidence, that the restaurant is somehow tied to a child abuse ring. He entered the restaurant shortly before 3 p.m. with a rifle and fired it at least once inside, the police said.
...
The misinformation campaign about Comet began when the email account of John D. Podesta, an aide to Hillary Clinton, was hacked and his emails were published by WikiLeaks during the presidential campaign. Days before the election, users on the online message board 4chan noticed that one of Mr. Podesta’s leaked emails contained communications with James Alefantis, Comet’s owner, discussing a fund-raiser for Mrs. Clinton.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/us/pizzagate-comet-ping-pong-edgar-maddison-welch.html




So to extrapolate the “logic” of Infowars fans, because Hillary Clinton had planned a fundraiser at this pizza place, it’s all of a sudden the center of a child molestation investigation confrontation? Well it isn’t true. There’s nothing funny about that, and there’s nothing funny about the endless harassment going to the owner and employees of Comet Ping Pong coming from Infowars fans. And of course since the actual violence happened, Alex Jones isn’t helping things. Here’s what the bloviating asshole had to say before the shooting happened.

At midnight last night, Alex Jones posted a special message on his Facebook page about “Pizzagate,” the bizarre conspiracy theory popularized by fake news websites and right-wing conspiracy outlets—including Jones’s InfoWars—that a Washington, D.C., pizzeria houses a secret pedophile ring led by Hillary Clinton and her closest advisers.

While Jones did not mention it in his video, an armed man was arrested yesterday after entering and firing shots inside the restaurant, claiming he was there to “self-investigate” the Pizzagate claims. The restaurant and nearby businesses have faced harassment and threats for weeks as false claims have spread through the far-right news swamp that the restaurant hosts an underground tunnel network where the rich and powerful abuse and traffic children.

During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump surrogate Michael Flynn—now the president-elect’s pick to be national security adviser—shared a fake news website’s sorry that claimed that Clinton was part of a pedophile network. Flynn’s son, who is involved with Trump’s transition team, continued to promote Pizzagate claims on the day of the incident.

In the video he posted last night, Jones, standing next to a Christmas tree, criticized CNN and other major news outlets, insisting that they are the real purveyors of fake news while InfoWars and other Pizzagate investigators are merely trying to uncover the truth.

Jones claimed that a number of political figures, including President Obama and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta, participate in child sex acts, a conclusion that Jones arrived at after he uncovered supposed pedophile code words in emails from Podesta that were released by WikiLeaks. He claimed that elites have parties “where they’re drinking blood and they bring little kids to the party—I don’t know if it’s human sacrifice but they have little kids at these parties.”
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/alex-jones-defends-pizzagate-truthers-after-conspiracy-theory-leads-to-armed-attack/


Yes there is video of this. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a link it’s probably been taken down from Youtube (seriously fuck Alex Jones). But it definitely isn’t helping that the son of the guy who Trump picked to be National Security Adviser fucked up and passed this crap around Twitter:

The son of retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for national security adviser, on Sunday appeared to spread a conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton and her campaign chief ran a child-sex ring in a back room of a D.C. pizza shop.

Michael Flynn Jr. on Sunday tweeted about the false story after an armed man entered Comet Ping Pong in Northwest D.C. and claimed to be investigating the story.

Until #Pizzagate proven to be false, it'll remain a story," Flynn Jr. tweeted on Sunday.

"The left seems to forget #PodestaEmails and the many coincidences tied to it, he added.

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/308723-flynns-son-spreads-conspiracy-theory-about-dc-pizza-shop




You know what’s underneath the Comet Ping Pong restaurant? A fucking sewer! And the alt reich is in it!!!!! Really how fucking stupid are you? Oh yeah they think “ice cream” is code for “male prostitute”!!!!! Ah, the stupid it burns!!!

The Internet Idiot ConspiracySphere and real life collided Sunday, this time resulting in actual gunfire, but happily no injuries or loss of life. Seems a heavily armed North Carolina gentleman, Edgar Maddison Welch, just had to find out for himself whether there was any truth to fake internet stories about a child sex ring being run by Hillary Clinton, John Podesta, and several thousand others, all operating out of a Washington DC pizza place, Comet Ping Pong. So he did the logically natural thing: He drove to DC, went into the restaurant with two guns, pointed a gun at an employee, fired at least one shot into the floor, and after employees and customers fled, commenced to “investigate” whether there was any pedophile slave ring evidence to be found in the restaurant. You know, like the network of tunnels and sex dungeons under the restaurant that a bunch of Trumpers, with an assist from Wikileaks, said was definitely there. You really can’t blame the guy. He read it on the internet, after all.

Welch was arrested without further incident after scaring the shit out of several blocks of northwest DC, after police had surrounded the restaurant for about 45 minutes. According to police reports, Welch was armed with an AR-15 variant semiautomatic rifle, and police also seized a shotgun and a .38 caliber handgun; one of those other weapons was found in Welch’s car, although it’s not clear which. Welch told police he’d gone to Comet Ping Pong to “self-investigate” the online fake news stories about the incredibly stupid conspiracy theory known as “#pizzagate,” the basics of which are summarized with remarkable patience by the BBC here. Despite the lack of any police investigation, identifiable victims, or physical evidence, a whole swath of the internet is absolutely certain there’s irrefutable proof that a pedophile ring run by Hillary Clinton and John Podesta has been running out of the popular family pizza restaurant. Why? Because Wikileaks published some emails by Podesta mentioning pizza, the restaurant, and its owner, James Alefantis. Obviously, a high-powered Democratic operative like Podesta would never simply hold fundraisers at a pizza restaurant or be in contact with its owner, who’s a big supporter of the Democratic party, so it all added up to one completely obvious conclusion: every mention of “pizza” in the Podesta emails was code for child molestation and trafficking. There’s even this irrefutable proof: some idiot posted a list of “well-known pedophile code words” on Twitter:

http://wonkette.com/609076/citizen-shoots-up-dc-pizza-place-to-investigate-hillary-clintons-child-sex-ring-as-one-does#PQi2PBSQT8QM1ykk.99


Yeah so the Pizzagate gunman was a fan of Infowars and Alex Jones:

The real-life consequences of a made-up conspiracy theory swirling around a popular D.C. pizzeria became all too real when a gunman walked into the venue Sunday afternoon.

During the presidential campaign, some elements of the alt-right began fueling the conspiracy that Comet Ping Pong was in fact the site of a pedophilia ring used by high-ranking members of the Democratic Party, dubbing that supposed conspiracy “Pizzagate.”

The D.C. Police Department arrested 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch of Salisbury, North Carolina, outside the kid-friendly pizza and music venue. Witnesses say that Welch went through the restaurant carrying an AR-15 and tried to enter a staff area in the back of the building. He reportedly fired multiple shots inside, though no one was injured. He reportedly told the police that he’d come to “self-investigate ‘Pizza Gate,” which the department noted is “a fictitious online conspiracy theory.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/12/04/fake-news-delivers-real-gunman-to-pizzeria-caught-up-in-alt-right-fake-news.html





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


If you haven’t seen the current season of South Park, you must. It takes on Twitter trolling and Donald Trump:



Let’s lighten things up and talk about WWIII, shall we? Do I dare ask for some appropriate music?



Thank you!!!!!

Well it’s the end of the world as we know it folks, and I feel fine. Well REM’s song was only 25 years too early. Because the man who will most likely be responsible for the end of the world is none other than our actual future president Donald J. Trump. So before we dive into this head first, you are aware that Taiwan has been in a diplomatic feud with China over its’ independence and control of the South China Sea, right? Plus we have some long standing diplomatic ties to China. So here’s how Donald J. Trump is involved in this whole thing.

When President-elect Donald J. Trump spoke on the phone with Taiwan’s president on Friday, he was wading into one of Asia’s longest-running and sensitive issues: the dispute between Taiwan and mainland China.

Though the call alarmed experts, who say it risks upending decades of American efforts to manage the dispute, nonexperts could be forgiven for scratching their heads about the uproar. What follows, then, is a guide to the China-Taiwan issue: why it is so delicate, what role the United States has in the matter and why the phone call is significant.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/03/world/asia/trump-taiwan-and-china-the-controversy-explained.html?_r=0




Whoa let’s stop there. Yeah you are wrong there, Donald. So what is the whole controversy between Taiwan and China?

What is the China-Taiwan issue?

Both players claimed, at least formally, to represent all of China — which they considered to include each other’s territory. That created problems, including periodic risks of war, for decades.

The disagreement dates to 1927, when civil war broke out in the Republic of China. The war culminated in Communist revolutionaries, led by Mao Zedong, mostly defeating China’s Nationalist government in 1949.

But the Nationalist leaders fled to Taiwan, which their forces still controlled. Though fighting eventually stopped, both sides continued to claim all of China. The Taiwan-based government considered mainland China to be controlled by illegitimate Communist rebels. The Beijing-based government considered Taiwan a breakaway province.

In this sense, the civil war was never fully resolved. Thus, Taiwan’s formal name is still the Republic of China. Mainland China — controlled by the Communist government in Beijing — is called the People’s Republic of China.




That’s not wrong Donald, that’s exactly what happened. So why does this phone call matter?

Why does the phone call matter?

The call does not in itself change policy, but it implies the possibility of a shift, forcing both China and Taiwan to guess at Mr. Trump’s intentions.

Mr. Trump’s transition team, by categorizing his call with Ms. Tsai of Taiwan alongside calls with other heads of state, implied that Mr. Trump recognized her as the leader of a sovereign state. Mr. Trump also wrote on Twitter that he had spoken to the “President of Taiwan.”

Recognizing Ms. Tsai as a sovereign leader would communicate that the United States considered Taiwan an independent nation.

Such a position would force both Taiwan and Beijing into a difficult choice. Either ignore American policy on the issue — perhaps ending the decades-long American role in balancing cross-strait relations — or confront Taiwanese independence, which Beijing has said would provoke war.




Holy fucking shit! So with one phone call, Donald Trump may have escalated 40 years of diplomatic tensions! By the way, does it seem odd to anyone else that all the world’s problems seem to have started around oh 1980? Maybe Reagan’s election was the nexus of the universe! Of course I’m surprised we didn’t see time travelers on election night. But there’s more!

BEIJING — China warned President-elect Donald J. Trump on Monday that he was risking a confrontation over Taiwan, even as Mr. Trump broadened the dispute with new messages on Twitter challenging Beijing’s trade policies and military activities in the South China Sea.

A front-page editorial in the overseas edition of People’s Daily, the official organ of the Communist Party of China, denounced Mr. Trump for speaking Friday with Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, warning that “creating troubles for the China-U.S. relationship is creating troubles for the U.S. itself.” The rebuke was much tougher than the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s initial response to the phone call, which broke with decades of American diplomatic practice.
www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/world/asia/china-donald-trump-taiwan-twitter.html




So Beijing has told Donald Trump that he’s treading on extremely thin ice here! So he might be the catalyst for World War III after all! He’s already nominated the other three horsemen – Bannon, Sessions, and DeVos to his cabinet! So what else is coming because of this?

Either Donald Trump misled all of us about his conversation with Taiwan's leader, or his team is trying to rewrite history so the whole thing doesn't come off as a giant diplomatic blunder.

In today's Washington Post, Anne Gearan, Philip Rucker and Simon Denyer cite inside sources who say the call was months in the making and intentionally provocative in regard to China.

That was apparently news to Trump, who on Friday night, as the controversy erupted, dismissively tweeted as if it were a small matter in which Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen phoned him to offer her congratulations, and he took the call as a courtesy.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/12/05/trumps-team-is-trying-to-have-it-both-ways-on-its-taiwan-controversy/?utm_term=.16a1fca74708


So of course Trump retreats to his old friend Twitter for some angry 3:00 AM toilet Tweets. Like these:




Those are the actual Tweets. Of course making ones up is my job, damn it!



And apparently this whole thing has been planned for a long time:

Donald Trump’s protocol-breaking telephone call with Taiwan’s leader was an intentionally provocative move that establishes the incoming president as a break with the past, according to interviews with people involved in the planning.

The historic communication — the first between leaders of the United States and Taiwan since 1979 — was the product of months of quiet preparations and deliberations among Trump’s advisers about a new strategy for engagement with Taiwan that began even before he became the Republican presidential nominee, according to people involved in or briefed on the talks.

The call also reflects the views of hard-line advisers urging Trump to take a tough opening line with China, said others familiar with the months of discussion about Taiwan and China.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-taiwan-phone-call-was-weeks-in-the-planning-say-people-who-were-involved/2016/12/04/f8be4b0c-ba4e-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html?utm_term=.d3e27a9e9699


Which prompted the White House to do some major damage control:

White House officials say they have spoken with Chinese leadership following President-elect Donald Trump's call with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen.

Federal officials called to reassure the country that the US still adheres to the "One China" policy, which does not recognise Taiwan as its own sovereign nation.

White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said officials "do not understand why" Mr Trump's conversation with Taiwanese leader took place, but assured reporters that there would be no change in the official US position on the policy.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-china-relations-taiwan-donald-trump-call-white-house-statement-a7457481.html





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




That was so brilliant. So the art of the deal… or in this case the Art Of The No Deal. As in what Donald Trump did to the Carrier Air Conditioning manufacturing company based in Indiana. So here’s what happened:

About 1,400 Indianapolis workers who've spent months grieving the impending loss of of their high-wage manufacturing jobs received a shocking dose of hope Tuesday as the incoming Trump administration scored its first major victory.

Their jobs might be saved.

Carrier Corp. has reached an agreement with President-elect Donald Trump to keep "close to 1,000 jobs" in the city, scrapping a plan to shift all of its Indianapolis operations to Mexico. The heating and air conditioning giant confirmed the agreement on Twitter, but did not provide details
http://www.indystar.com/story/money/2016/11/29/reports-trump-announce-deal-keep-carrier-jobs--state/94637112/


Except it didn’t.



Today, about 1,000 Carrier workers and their families should be rejoicing. But the rest of our nation’s workers should be very nervous.

President-elect Donald Trump will reportedly announce a deal with United Technologies, the corporation that owns Carrier, that keeps less than 1,000 of the 2,100 jobs in America that were previously scheduled to be transferred to Mexico. Let’s be clear: It is not good enough to save some of these jobs. Trump made a promise that he would save all of these jobs, and we cannot rest until an ironclad contract is signed to ensure that all of these workers are able to continue working in Indiana without having their pay or benefits slashed.

In exchange for allowing United Technologies to continue to offshore more than 1,000 jobs, Trump will reportedly give the company tax and regulatory favors that the corporation has sought. Just a short few months ago, Trump was pledging to force United Technologies to “pay a damn tax.” He was insisting on very steep tariffs for companies like Carrier that left the United States and wanted to sell their foreign-made products back in the United States. Instead of a damn tax, the company will be rewarded with a damn tax cut. Wow! How’s that for standing up to corporate greed? How’s that for punishing corporations that shut down in the United States and move abroad?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/12/01/bernie-sanders-carrier-just-showed-corporations-how-to-beat-donald-trump/?utm_term=.e65ef7907e73




I like that one! Yes so if we extrapolate Donald Trump’s logic, he saved 1400 jobs that United Technologies, a company he personally owns stock in, from going to Mexico – a country that he plans to build a wall around, by negotiating the number down to 1200. Those jobs are still gone. And Carrier gets some nice tax breaks out of it.

Donald Trump just got his first presidential P.R. coup, and he hasn’t even taken office yet. The question is what did he have to offer. More importantly: Was it worth it?

The President-elect announced via Twitter that he and Vice-president elect, and current Indiana Governor, Mike Pence, had reached a deal with air-condition and heating systems manufacturer Carrier to keep roughly 1,000 high-paying manufacturing jobs plus office workers and executive jobs in the state. “Big day on Thursday for Indiana and the great workers of that wonderful state,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “We will keep our companies and jobs in the U.S. Thanks Carrier.”
http://fortune.com/2016/11/30/trump-carrier/




And here’s where things get really scary – this was no victory. Instead I believe the technical term that we’re looking for is “clusterfuck”.

President-elect Donald Trump's speech about his deal to keep Carrier jobs in the United States was "absolutely the worst speech," economic policy analyst Jimmy Pethokoukis told CNBC on Thursday.

Trump boasted about his deal to keep about 1,100 Carrier jobs in Indiana, and also took aim at other companies who may be thinking about moving jobs out of the country.

"Companies are not going to leave the United States anymore without consequences. Not going to happen. It's not going to happen, I'll tell you right now," Trump said on Thursday.

Pethokoukis, a scholar with the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute, called it the worst economic speech since Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale promised to reverse Reaganomics in 1984.
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/01/trumps-carrier-speech-absolutely-chilling-economic-analyst-says.html





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


So what does Donald Trump do at 11:30 on a Saturday night? I’m guessing he is not attending the Green Day concert and going on an all night bender followed by a 3:00 AM quickie in an alley way by the concert venue. And no that’s not how I spent my night at that show! No, he’s a family man, and is probably watching TV on the couch. And if he hates the show that much, you know Donald, there’s a whole world of TV out there! Oh wait, he must have a DVR alert for shows about him, which might explain why he hates Alec Baldwin so much. Let’s roll tape first.



So what did Trump himself have to say about this?

The feud between Donald J. Trump and “Saturday Night Live” reached a new metalevel when the president-elect responded on Twitter to the show’s mockery of his reckless tweeting.

The show’s cold open on Saturday depicted Mr. Trump (portrayed by Alec Baldwin, as usual) retweeting various people while in a security briefing. As Mr. Trump fawns over the Twitter bio of a 16-year-old named Seth and retweets him, Kate McKinnon (playing Kellyanne Conway) breaks the fourth wall to look directly into the camera and address the audience: “He really did do this.”

Ms. McKinnon’s Conway tries to explain Mr. Trump’s penchant for tweeting: “He does it to distract the media from his business conflicts and all of the very scary people in his cabinet.” But Mr. Baldwin’s Trump has another reason: “I do it because my brain is bad.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/04/arts/television/saturday-night-live-and-trump-spar-once-again.html


Let’s throw that Tweet up there shall we?



Yes that’s the actual Tweet. Now let’s throw up Mr. Baldwin’s response, shall we?




JUST IN: Baldwin offers to stop 'SNL' impersonation if Trump releases taxes http://hill.cm/sre5WED

Alec Baldwin is offering to end his impersonation of Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live” if the president-elect releases his tax returns.

The actor’s tweet came early Sunday in response to one from Trump, who said Baldwin’s impersonation “just can’t get any worse




No it’s not wrong. That’s exactly what happened. And in fact Trump got even further beat down by another activist on Twitter:

When, in fact, it was actually very funny – and got a lot of fanfare for making fun of Donald Trump’s tweets, no less! Pretty ironic that he angrily tweeted about a show making fun of his tweets!

Well – with that said – one woman by the name of Danielle Muscato ended up going off on Donald Trump in his twitter feed in response to this latest outburst of his.

It was such a glorious beat down – that we had to write about it and share with you.

Her message was instantly received by thousands and rose to the top of the Twitter feed for all to see. No doubt, by the time this article is received – hundreds of thousands of people will be receiving her message – and they should. It’s worth every bit of your time to read.

Danielle Muscato just said what half of America has been thinking for months now.
http://news.groopspeak.com/a-woman-just-stood-up-to-trumps-latest-outburst-on-twitter-and-america-is-cheering-her-on/




And in case you were wondering what the official position from Team Trump is, look no further than his campaign manager:

Former Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway recently declared on CNN that Donald Trump’s election win meant that his behavior on Twitter was automatically “presidential.”

During a forum at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics last week, a student questioned Trump’s use of Twitter as a communications strategy. In recent tweets, Trump made false claims about election fraud, attacked reporters and complained about his portrayal on Saturday Night Live.

“I will tell you that the president-elect looks at his social media accounts — combined 25 million, probably more at this point, users on Twitter and Facebook — as a very good platform which to convey his messages,” Conway explained. “He’s a unique person who’s been following his instincts and his judgement from the beginning.”
https://www.rawstory.com/2016/12/audience-gasps-at-kellyanne-conways-absurd-claim-trump-won-ergo-his-tweets-are-presidential/





[font size="8"]Breitbart[/font]


So if you’ve been paying attention, you know last week we talked about how Kellogg’s and other advertisers are pulling their sponsorship of Breitbart. You know Breitbart – that internet site that is the internet site of racist uncles everywhere. So Kellogg’s, as they say drew first blood. And now Breitbart is going off the rails at Kellogg’s.

Breitbart News is going to war with Kellogg's after the cereal maker decided to pull its advertisements from the far-right news site in protest of its political views.

Describing Kellogg's decision as an insult to what it claims are 45 million monthly readers, Breitbart launched a petition Wednesday afternoon aimed at encouraging readers to stop buying all Kellogg products, including Frosted Flakes, Pringles and Eggo waffles.

"For Kellogg's, an American brand, to blacklist Breitbart News in order to placate left-wing totalitarians is a disgraceful act of cowardice," Alex Marlow, the site's editor-in-chief, wrote. "Boycotting Breitbart News for presenting mainstream American ideas is an act of discrimination and intense prejudice. If you serve Kellogg's products to your family, you are serving up bigotry at your breakfast table."
http://money.cnn.com/2016/11/30/media/breitbart-kellogg-war/


Who does Brietbart think they are? Rambo? THEY DREW FIRST BLOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Actually, they’re just a bunch of losers. 85 million losers, as their site claims their readership is. Might want to get out the Sad Hulk Music. And the world’s tiniest violin.




Breitbart News, an ultraconservative website that has served as a platform for the white nationalist “alt-right” movement, is touting its growing readership and “main street American values” as a reason advertisers should stick with it.

Some marketers, however, are heading for the exits, directing their advertising dollars away from Breitbart amid the publication’s call for a boycott against Kellogg’s (K), which has pulled its ads from the site. That prompted Breitbart to declare “war” on Kellogg’s: Editor-in-Chief Alexander Marlow said on the site that “to blacklist Breitbart News in order to placate left-wing totalitarians is a disgraceful act of cowardice.”

Breitbart’s campaign against Kellogg’s is unusual on a number of fronts, not in the least because news organizations traditionally maintain a separation between their business operations and their editors and reporters so that journalists can operate independently from business interests.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/as-breitbart-wages-war-on-kelloggs-advertisers-flee/





I like that one! But in case you’re wondering where this is going, what the possible legal ramifications of this are, well here’s what an actual 1st Amendment lawyer says regarding this issue:

A boycott may have a negligible impact on Kellogg’s sales, but some legal experts say Breitbart’s actions put it on sketchy legal ground.

There have been other boycotts called for by both pro- and anti-Trump supporters. But Ted Boutrous, a First Amendment lawyer at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Los Angeles, said Breitbart’s actions could violate laws barring unfair business practices because it’s calling for a massive group boycott of an advertiser to further its competitive position.

He said a possible precedent is a case where a group of attorneys representing poor defendants boycotted for higher pay, and the Supreme Court held their action to be price fixing.

“It’s clearly intended to deter other advertisers from withdrawing their business and to ensure costs and prices don’t go down for Breitbart,” Boutrous said of the boycott. “It’s a serious issue to boycott in the commercial sphere.” Neither Breitbart nor Kellogg’s have replied to requests for comment.
http://digiday.com/brands/breitbarts-war-kelloggs-raises-legal-questions/


You know Breitbart, when you’re in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging!!!!



Ooh, I like that one!


[font size="8"]The NRA[/font]


So going back to the first entry this week, never mind that a gun nut shot up the Comet Ping Pong pizza parlor in Washington DC based on a bullshit, non existent conspiracy theory that has no basis in reality and has been proven false by Snopes:

magery widely believed to be code for pedophiles to signal one another was a common theme in the myriad Pizzagate theories. Purported symbols such as butterflies and spirals were increasingly spotted in unrelated places, creating the impression that conspiracy was as vast as it was nebulous.
(As we have noted in the past, fear of "pedophile code" imagery is occasionally the basis for panic, but law enforcement officials believed that the symbols themselves are used among adults to signal preferences, not as labels for children, not as markers placing them in any danger.)
On 6 November 2016, Washington City Paper summarized the claims, noting that the rumors originated with long-circulating claims about Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein, and confirming Alefantis' link to Brock:
http://www.snopes.com/pizzagate-conspiracy/




Finally! That one is wrong! And you know how the fuck do the people “investigating” Pizzagate know these things? Who the fuck knows what code words pedophiles use? I don’t! And if you know and you continue to post these things out in the open, you probably should be investigated by the FBI! Thank you very much! But I’m getting carried away here. You know Black Friday is a thing that happened this year and you know what happened? This:

At least six people were shot across the country during Black Friday sales, including a Walmart customer who died in a fight over a parking space.

Four separate shootings — at a New Jersey Macy’s, two Tennessee malls and a Nevada Walmart — killed two people and wounded four more. All the attacks happened outside of the stores as holiday shoppers inside loaded up on door busters and deals.

Demond Cottman, 20, was shot and killed around 1 a.m. in front of a mall in Mays Landing, CBS Philadelphia reported.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/shoppers-nevada-new-jersey-killed-black-friday-article-1.2887072




Maybe we should start calling it “Red Friday”. It seems no one wants to go to the malls or camp out at Wal-Mart despite that they air ads like this:



But you know what people bought more of anything on Black Friday? Be afraid, be very afraid, folks!

Black Friday, a day of commercial consumerism. The lines are wrapped around the buildings waiting for the deals of a lifetime. While you might think most consumers are out there waiting for the latest new toy or the biggest TV, many buyers on Black Friday are buying something totally different.

Black Friday is apparently the day to buy guns. Lots of guns!

According to the FBI spokesman Stephen Fischer, Black Friday shattered the single-day record for gun sales – with 185,713 background checks processed in a 24 hour period. Fischer told Business Insider that nearly 400 more transactions were processed on Black Friday than in 2015.

Black Friday has predominately been the biggest day of the year for gun sales. Buyers can’t resist the temptation of the deep discounts. Gun ownership still remains a hot topic politically. While many breathed a sigh of relief that a Democrat will not be in the White House, many remain concerned about the potential loss of their Second Amendment rights.

As expected, gun sales skyrocket whenever Washington takes an anti-gun approach or states propose a law to make it harder for gun owners to purchase.
http://tribunist.com/news/americans-bought-enough-guns-on-black-friday-to-arm-the-marine-corps/





[font size="8"]Sears[/font]




John Oliver does it much better than we do! But seriously – Ayn Rand – how is this still a thing in 2016?? Well we know Paul Ryan is a huge Ayn Rand fan – and that should be pretty obvious! But also how is this still a thing – Sears? I thought they went out of business a long time ago. But they’re still around and very slowly tanking. Here’s what happened:

The company is shutting down dozens of Kmart stores this month and two of its highest-ranking executives left this week in the midst of the key holiday shopping season.

This comes following speculation among Sears and Kmart employees, suppliers, and several banks that the retailer will soon go bankrupt — something Sears has repeatedly dismissed.

Jeff Balagna, formerly Sears' executive vice president, left the company Wednesday, "in order to focus on his other business interests and pursue other career opportunities," Sears said in an SEC filing dated November 23.

Balagna did not respond to a request for comment. Sears declined to comment beyond what was stated in the filing.

Sears President and Chief Member Officer Joelle Maher also left the company this week, Sears confirmed to Business Insider. The company declined to give a reason for her departure.

The timing of the departures — so close to Sears' upcoming third-quarter earnings report and in the middle of the holiday season — is "highly unusual," according to Mark Cohen, director of retail studies at Columbia Business School and the former CEO of Sears Canada.

http://www.businessinsider.com/sears-problems-loom-large-2016-12


This sounds like another classic Borders or Tower Records – take the money and run!




And here’s where Ayn Rand comes into play. If you guessed that this backfired on Sears’ CEO, you are correct sir / madam! You get points!

In July 2016 he held 28% of shares in Sears Holdings Corp worth of approximately $408 million.

...

Lampert is an avid follower of Ayn Rand and has used elements of Rand's philosophy to guide his business decisions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Lampert


Which really sucks. You know Sears has always been dedicated to American manufacturing which is why their Craftsman line was always popular with machinests and construction workers and home improvement enthusiasts (hear that, Trump?), and it does kind of suck that they’re going under at the hands of an asshole.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/08/25/sears-puts-kenmore-craftsman-up-for-grabs.html

Matthew Rocco Published August 25, 2016 Retail FOXBusiness

Sears Holdings (SHLD), which booked another loss in the second quarter, has received interest from a variety of companies eyeing the floundering retailer’s familiar appliance, tool and auto brands.

The Illinois-based company has grappled with challenges at Sears and Kmart, two chains that struggling to turn things around in a tough environment for retailers. Target (TGT), Kohl’s (KSS) and others have recently reported weaker sales as shoppers spend more online. Sears is facing some broader issues. The company has posted red ink for the last six fiscal years, and 78 additional Sears and Kmart stores will be closed by the end of the summer.

In May, Sears announced plans to seek out buyers or partners for its Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard brands, hoping to unlock the value of three brands that are well-known in their respective categories. The company provided an update on Thursday, saying it continues to explore strategic alternatives for the brands—housed under a division known as KCD—and Sears Home Services. Sears is considering “potential partnerships or other transactions that could expand distribution of our brands and service offerings to realize significant growth,” the company said in a statement.

So far, Sears has heard from domestic and international retailers, original equipment manufacturers, investors and other firms. Sears expects to continue its assessment over the next few months.





[font size="8"]The War On Drugs[/font]


Marijuana. That thing that keeps Cypress Hill employed.









I kid, I kid. But just when you think we’re making strides toward legalization with nearly 8 states approving the use of legalized weed, along comes Donald Trump and appoints this guy as his new Attorney General, who promises to roll back decades of marijuana progress.

Jeff Sessions’ Coming War on Legal Marijuana
There’s little to stop the attorney general nominee from ignoring the will of millions of pro-pot voters.
By JAMES HIGDON December 05, 2016

By nominating Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III for attorney general, President-elect Donald J. Trump is about to put into the nation’s top law enforcement job a man with a long and antagonistic attitude toward marijuana. As a U.S. Attorney in Alabama in the 1980s, Sessions said he thought the KKK "were OK until I found out they smoked pot.”

In April, he said, “Good people don't smoke marijuana,” and that it was a "very real danger" that is “not the kind of thing that ought to be legalized.” Sessions, who turns 70 on Christmas Eve, has called marijuana reform a "tragic mistake" and criticized FBI Director James Comey and Attorneys General Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch for not vigorously enforcing a the federal prohibition that President Obama has called “untenable over the long term.”

In a floor speech earlier this year, Senator Sessions said: "You can’t have the President of the United States of America talking about marijuana like it is no different than taking a drink… It is different….It is already causing a disturbance in the states that have made it legal.”
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/12/jeff-sessions-coming-war-on-legal-marijuana-214501




Holy fucking shit! Wait let’s extrapolate this for a minute. So Jeff Sessions is against marijuana because he found out that the KKK smokes pot. Maybe you’re unaware of this, Jeff, but your new boss got elected with overwhelming support from white supremacists, hardcore racists, the KKK, neo Nazis, and racist uncles everywhere. I mean even the next entry we are going to get into discusses this. But here’s where Donald Trump isn’t helping things:

(CNN)President-elect Donald Trump told Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte that he is going about his controversial fight against drugs "the right way," Duterte said.
Duterte says he was greatly pleased with the "rapport" he had with the newly elected U.S. president..

Duterte made the comments to reporters in Davao City on Saturday after a brief phone call last night with President-elect Donald Trump. Government officials earlier passed along snippets of their conversation.
"He was quite sensitive to our war on drugs and he wishes me well in my campaign and said that we are doing, as he so put it, 'the right way,' " the President said.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/03/politics/trump-duterte-phone-call/index.html




So how did the Philippenes deal with this? Yeah they pretty much murder anyone who they suspect might be a drug dealer:

When I visited Chief Inspector Paulito Sabulao in September, he was getting heat from his boss — who was getting heat from his bosses — about why Sabulao's men hadn't killed any drug suspects in the two months since the drug war began.

Sabulao is not in trouble anymore.

"We've recorded 12 dead," he says, with dozens more arrested. In one of the most recent encounters, Sabulao had a close call when a suspect fired at him with a .38 caliber revolver.

His vest saved him, Sabulao says, unbuttoning his shirt to show me the bruise. One of his men was wounded in the shoulder.

"Did you shoot the guy who shot you?" I ask.

"Twice," Sabulao says with a laugh. "I shot him until he was down."
http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/11/28/503579840/in-philippines-drug-war-death-toll-rises-and-so-do-concerns-about-tactics


Nothing funny about that. But there is some breaking news that I can make fun of!



There's a shake-up at Gurney Productions, the company behind A&E's Duck Dynasty.

Scott and Deirdre Gurney — the founders of the reality TV production company which in 2012 was purchased by ITV for $40 million — have been temporarily suspended amid an internal fraud investigation, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Staff at Gurney Productions were told Monday afternoon that the Gurneys have been placed on a short-term leave of absence amid the internal probe. No charges have been filed. Sources tell THR the investigation concerns potential billing irregularities associated with Gurney programs.

In the interim, ITV has tapped 5x5 Media co-founder Craig Armstrong to serve as interim CEO of Gurney Productions. ITV America COO Chris Valentini also will help oversee Gurney Productions alongside Armstrong. Armstrong will continue to oversee unscripted producers 5x5, where it remains business as usual.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/duck-dynasty-producers-leave-at-itv-fraud-investigation-953092


http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/duck-dynasty-producers-leave-at-itv-fraud-investigation-953092




[font size="8"]The Trump Effect[/font]


So we here at the Top 10 are going to say goodbye. Hey, wait, you didn’t let me finish. We’re going to say goodbye to a long standing policy on this show of using the number 9 (NEIN!!!!!) slot to call out white supremacists and white supremacy. Because the election of Donald Trump, white supremacists are coming out of the woodwork. They’re everywhere, folks! White supremacy is now mainstream! Emperor Palpatine won, and Americans are starting to embrace the Dark Side! Yes I realize I am using way too many Star Wars references this week. Especially because we’re a week away from a movie that I am very much looking forward to. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Instead from here on out, the number 9 (NEIN!!!) slot is going to be used for what I call “The Trump Effect”. Because of this:

BERLIN -- The German government expressed revulsion Wednesday at Nazi-style salutes such as those performed at a recent far-right event in Washington, but said it was confident the United States can tackle the issue. Video published by The Atlantic showed participants at the event Saturday raising their arms in salute during a speech by Richard Spencer, head of the white-nationalist National Policy Institute.

"Speaking generally, whenever we see videos from anywhere showing people raising their hand to do Hitler salutes we are repulsed," German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said Wednesday after being asked about the clip .

White-nationalist groups have existed in the United States for decades but drew increased attention last summer when activists showed up at the Republican National Convention to celebrate Donald Trump's nomination as the party's presidential candidate.

Spencer, who is credited with coining the term "alt-right," was filmed Saturday saying "Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!" to cheers from the audience.

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/germany-repulsed-by-hitler-salutes-at-u-s-far-right-event-1.3173306




Because you know when the Germans are alarmed at our white supremacy, and use of Nazi imagery, you know it’s becoming a problem. It’s like that mole on your back. It was fine when you checked it a year ago, but now it’s becoming a problem that we can no longer ignore. Which is why I’m changing the name to “The Trump Effect” because he created this problem. And here’s a perfect example of what I am talking about.

Police in Roxboro, North Carolina, will hold a press conference Monday to address community concerns after a band of KKK members drove through the small town Saturday celebrating President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the recent election.

The parade was originally going to take place in Pelham, 40 minutes away from Roxboro. But organizers moved the event after protesters gathered in Pelham Saturday morning to confront the Klansmen, according to the Charlotte News Observer.

Two men were also arrested on Friday night after a stabbing at a KKK meeting in Caswell County, where Pelham is located.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-kkk-parade-north-carolina_us_5844eb97e4b017f37fe5591c?


Can we show that photo?



Worst ticker tape parade ever, by the way!



But this is why I wanted to do this entry this week. We head to the great city of Minneapolis for this one. So it starts out innocent enough:

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - For the first time ever, the nation's largest mall is featuring a black Santa Claus.

Kids visiting the Mall of America this weekend will have the chance to bring their wish lists to Larry Jefferson, who has been hired as Kris Kringle from Thursday to Sunday, as part of the mall's Santa Experience.

"All of the kids I have looked at and reviewed on my Santa list are all on the nice list," Jefferson said Friday. "They're doing great. Minnesota has a lot of great children."
http://www.kare11.com/news/mall-of-america-welcomes-1st-black-santa/362159027


Sigh. And here’s where the internet comes in. See the alt right thinks of diversity the same way that Ron Burgundy does.



Which if you can guessed what happens next, you get points good sir / madam!

Larry Jefferson — an army veteran from Texas and the Mall of America's 24th St. Nick — would seem to be an eminently talented, qualified and dedicated Santa. He attended a "premiere Santa school," according to the Star Tribune, and is a member of the Lone Star Santas, an all-volunteer organization that brings toys to children whose families have been affected by natural disasters. Also, his beard is real, which is important — but most important of all are his deeply held, Santa-ly convictions:

"It's a positive experience," Jefferson explained in a video accompanying the Star Tribune's article. "I want to help inspire them to think good things about Santa, about the world in general: hope, love, peace, caring. It's about meeting the people and listening to them and making them smile and laugh."

In hiring Jefferson, Landon Luther — co-owner of the mall's Santa Experience — had hoped to give families a more representative Kris Kringle. "We want Santa to be for everyone, period," he told the Star Tribune. Jefferson signed on for a four-day stretch and was completely booked Saturday and Sunday.
https://mic.com/articles/161140/mall-of-america-hires-its-first-black-santa-racists-of-the-internet-lose-it#.QzdrVDzhd


Good god these people fucking suck. And these people are the people who really hate America if they’re attacking vets. If you do that, fuck you, OK? And they’re going to be running the country for the next four years. Excuse me a minute…




[font size="8"]Trump For Dummies[/font]


Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, LGBT and gender non conformers. Gather around. So we have come to the end of one of the most volatile, hostile, and batshit insane election cycles in history. And our new president is a guy who might just be the biggest asshole on the planet. Now many of you are planning on traveling for the holidays, and going back home, wherever your home may be. And that means that you have to deal with your conservative relatives. So we here at Trump For Dummies are going to teach you about how do you deal with that? This is going to be the first part of an ongoing series in how to talk to Donald Trump fans. Let’s get out our texts shall we?



[font size="6"]Chapter 1: Perception Vs. Reality[/font]

Donald Trump and his most hardcore followers live in fantasy world. A world where facts are meaningless. In fact his most hardcore fans even said so themselves:

"And so Mr. Trump's tweet, amongst a certain crowd—a large part of the population—are truth. When he says that millions of people illegally voted, he has some—amongst him and his supporters, and people believe they have facts to back that up. Those that do not like Mr. Trump, they say that those are lies and that there are no facts to back it up."
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/videos/a51152/trump-surrogate-no-such-thing-as-facts/


Yes there you have it. Straight from the mouths of his most hardcore fans. Drop the mic.



So I don’t need to tell you already that Donald Trump won the coveted title of Time Magazine’s Man Of The Year. Which means that he joins the ranks of other famous dictators including Hitler and Stalin that have graced the cover of the annual magazine. But once again, Donald Trump wins the election but loses the popular vote. Hey o!!!! Who did win the popular vote? It’s India’s prime minister Narendra Modi!

New York: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won the online reader's poll for TIME Person of the Year 2016, beating out other world leaders like US President-elect Donald Trump, incumbent US leader Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Modi won with 18 per cent of the vote when the poll closed last night, getting significantly more votes than his closest contenders, including Obama, Trump and Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange, who all received 7 per cent of the 'yes' vote.

Modi was also placed far ahead of other prominent figures of this year, like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (2 per cent) and US Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (4 per cent), Time said.

Time's editors will decide the final Person of the Year later this week, but the online poll results provide a look at how the world sees these figures and Modi emerged as the most influential figure in 2016, according to the online poll.
http://www.news18.com/news/india/trouncing-trump-obama-putin-pm-modi-tops-time-person-of-the-year-poll-1319411.html




Well… since Donald Trump tends to speak like he Tweets, and that is in short sentences with lots of hyperbolic language, and your racist uncle may not know or care who the prime minister of India is, you can explain it like this:

Modi was appointed chief minister of Gujarat in 2001, due to Keshubhai Patel's failing health and poor public image following the earthquake in Bhuj. Modi was elected to the legislative assembly soon after. His administration has been seen as complicit in the 2002 Gujarat riots,[1][2][3][4][5] or otherwise criticized for its handling of it, although a court found no evidence to prosecute Modi. His policies as chief minister, credited with encouraging economic growth, have received praise,[6] and several industrial projects were begun during his tenure. His administration has been criticised for failing to significantly improve health, poverty, and education indices in the state.[4][5]

Modi led the BJP in the 2014 general election, which gave the party a majority in the Lok Sabha, the first time a single party had achieved this since 1984. Modi himself was elected to parliament from Varanasi. Since taking office, Modi's administration has encouraged foreign direct investment in the Indian economy, increased spending on infrastructure, and reduced spending on health and social welfare programs. Modi has encourages efficiency in the bureaucracy, and centralized power through the abolition of the planning commission. Modi has begun a high-profile sanitation campaign, and loosened environmental and labor laws. A Hindu nationalist and member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Modi remains a controversial figure domestically and internationally.[4][7][8][9][10][11][12]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narendra_Modi




[font size="6"]Chapter 2: Twitter[/font]

As we pointed out in Chapter 1 – most of Donald Trump’s insanity comes from his racism, sexism, and xenophobia. And as we also said Donald Trump tends to speak like he Tweets – very loud, very angry and with lots of hyperbole. Even Donald Trump’s favorite punching bag the New York Times isn’t above this. Just look at what happened during Donald Trump’s victory tour:

CINCINNATI — He boasted about himself in the third person. He sneered at the opponents he had vanquished. He disparaged journalists and invited angry chants from the crowd, grinning broadly at calls of “lock her up” and “build the wall.” He ridiculed the government’s leaders as stupid and dishonest failures.

In his first major address since winning the presidency three weeks ago, Donald J. Trump soaked up the adulation of thousands of his supporters at a campaign-style rally here, unabashedly gloating about the “great” victory he had secured. If there were any question about whether his evolution to president-in-waiting would temper his presentation or moderate his tone, the rally offered a forceful answer: Not a chance.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/01/us/politics/trump-kicks-off-thank-you-tour-reveling-in-crowd-and-campaign-themes.html


And here’s what actually happened:

It’s not entirely clear what Donald Trump thought he was going to accomplish by continuing to hold campaign rallies three weeks after the election, but it is fairly clear that he’s not getting the results he was hoping for. Trump held a kickoff event in Cincinnati, Ohio on Thursday evening at the kind of arena he used to have no trouble filling during the campaign. But now that he’s shockingly been named the “winner” and the reality has perhaps set in that an unstable sociopath may be about to take the White House, it appears even his fans have begun abandoning him.

http://www.palmerreport.com/news/donald-trump-victory-tour-empty/315/




Pro tip: Donald Trump supporters don’t like being talked down to, especially when you quote things like facts, or his Twitter feed. When talking to a Trump supporter, it’s best if you speak in their language. A fake Trump Tweet might get their attention like this:



Which you can use to literally say anything. You can even make him sound liberal!



Who are we kidding? Has Trump ever apologized for anything? Hell no! And he’s about to ignite World War III. Now your racist uncle may read Breitbart and listen to Infowars on the claim that it speaks to them. Well if you explain to them that shit rots your brain, you are correct sir / madam. So Donald Trump might be the most embarrassing thing to happen to the White House.



OK second most. Yes that’s former president Lyndon Johnson telling a pants manufacturer about his bunghole and the area where your nuts hang. I’m getting off topic here. But I’d much rather hear LBJ talk about his bunghole than I would hear Donald Trump talk about well, anything.

[font size="6"]Chapter 3: Fake News[/font]

There’s a lot that came out of the worst election in American history. And one of the biggest is that more Americans paid more attention to fake news than they did to real actual news. Sites like Infowars, Prison Planet, and Breitbart won. So Trump fans do not like logic, facts or reason. In fact they won’t have any of it, and instead will resort to quoting Infowars, Prison Planet, and Breitbart. So when you bring up this:

On Monday morning, a man shoved a New York City Transit worker down a staircase at Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan, screaming that she was a terrorist. Two days earlier, in Brooklyn, another man threatened an off-duty police officer with his pit bull, telling her and her son to “go back to your country.” Both women were wearing hijabs.

Hate crimes in New York City have risen in the weeks since Donald J. Trump won the presidential election, a noticeable spike that encompasses ethnic minorities, Jews, whites and people for their sexual orientation. In New York City, 43 episodes have been deemed possible hate crimes by the Police Department’s Hate Crime Task Force since Election Day, more than double the number reported for the same period last year.

To date, there has been a 35 percent increase over last year. The incidents range from vicious graffiti to physical violence.

Much of the hatred has shown in graffiti. Several swastikas were discovered Saturday on a No. 1 train. The scrawls followed the appearance of two swastikas, graffitied with the words “Go Trump,” in a Brooklyn Heights playground last month, prompting a communitywide demonstration.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/nyregion/hate-crimes-are-on-the-rise-in-new-york-city.html


They’ll counter with this:



And then you can counter with images like this:



Or:



And they will still counter with:



[font size="6"]Chapter 4: When Trump Talks About Himself[/font]

Donald Trump loves to talk about himself. And man does he love to talk about himself. And he talks in short sentences. And they are the best sentences. Nobody uses better words than he does. He uses the best words! And the best hyperbole!

Pro Tip: Having an article that is well researched with facts to back up the argument helps, especially when we live in a world where “there’s no such thing as facts anymore”. So you can counter with an argument like this:

It strikes me as vaguely ironic that Trump supporters, who so badly want to want to Make America Great Again, are relying on the old standbys of this country’s recipe for success: racism and violence. Genocide, slavery, Jim Crow and state-sanctioned terrorism against black folks are all a part of what Trump’s base considers the best of times—before subtle, sophisticated racism and political correctness came along and ruined white people's good times. And so Trump, a man who fully embraces violence in his personal life, publicly embraces violence for America as well, more outspokenly than any candidate in recent history. His supporters, a fervent bunch, follow suit.

Membership in white supremacist and anti-government groups has steadily climbed. A study by the SPLC found that Trump’s rhetoric is creating an “alarming level of fear and anxiety among children of color” while emboldening some white students, and is directly tied to “an increase in bullying, harassment and intimidation of students whose races, religions or nationalities have been... verbal targets.” Just days ago, a Trump fan posted a video urging compatriots to shoot black women and children. Trump supporters have sent death threats to Jewish reporters on social media. Hate crimes against Muslims are rising precipitously, and now stand at levels higher than just after 9/11.

There is plenty of violence at Trump rallies against people of color, but that violence spills beyond the rooms where Trump riles his crowds and bleeds into Muslim, African-American and Hispanic lives. This list is a roundup of 10 examples. But please know that not every perpetrator speaks Trump’s name aloud, not every hate crime is reported and not every report makes the news. So this is likely just a small fraction of what’s happening.
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/10-hate-crimes-inspired-donald-trumps-hateful-rhetoric


Pro Tip: When Donald Trump says something, you can take one of two different articles. The one that quotes his Twitter feed directly:

The government has contracted with Boeing to build two or more new planes, which would go into service around 2024. That means Trump wouldn't fly on the new planes, which carry U.S. presidents around the globe, unless he pursued and won a second term. But the Air Force has pressed for a faster schedule, saying the current planes are becoming too expensive to repair and keep in good flying shape.

The contract for the planes was to be about $3 billion, but costs have been reported to be rising. Trump tweeted early Tuesday, "Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!"

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/95684ac1d4a84415ad8b0dd89d01587c/trump-heads-back-out-road-thank-you-tour




Pro Tip: The Fake Trump Tweet Generator allows you to convey facts in a way your Trump voting relatives will understand. Like this!



Or one that quotes you know, actual facts:

“Trump’s tweet was completely nonsensical and based on exactly nothing,” Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst, told The Washington Post. “But it’s very difficult to adjudicate on complicated program management and military requirements questions with Twitter as your medium.”
http://gizmodo.com/trump-bitches-about-air-force-one-upgrade-he-wont-get-t-1789726467




Pro Tip: It helps if you speak in their language. If they counter with “wrong”, counter with:



Pro Tip: Having an emergency supply of Jack Daniels or your adult beverage of choice helps to make the holidays go much faster! Just take a page from John D. Blutarsky of Delta Tau Kai:



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

Ladies and gentlemen, playing their song “The Remedy” from their album “Money Shot”, available everywhere music is sold, please welcome Puscifer!





Yeah how about that?

We've got just two Top 10s left in 2016. See you next week!

Ed. Note: BTW, this is the last edition where Forbes will be used as a source. Their site has made it difficult to navigate and to be able to find articles. If anyone has any suggestions for sources let me know.
December 7, 2016

Trump's Victory Tour Barely Fills First Arena



It’s not entirely clear what Donald Trump thought he was going to accomplish by continuing to hold campaign rallies three weeks after the election, but it is fairly clear that he’s not getting the results he was hoping for. Trump held a kickoff event in Cincinnati, Ohio on Thursday evening at the kind of arena he used to have no trouble filling during the campaign. But now that he’s shockingly been named the “winner” and the reality has perhaps set in that an unstable sociopath may be about to take the White House, it appears even his fans have begun abandoning him.

Based on the photos posted by various credentialed reporters who were in the building at the time Donald Trump was speaking, it appears that he was unable to attract enough people to even so much as fill half the arena. For instance Ben Jacobs from The Guardian posted a picture to his Twitter account, taken before Trump began speaking, which revealed a startling number of empty seats:
http://www.palmerreport.com/news/donald-trump-victory-tour-empty/315/


Might want to get the Sad Hulk Music!



December 5, 2016

Breitbart's war on Kellogg's raises legal questions

A boycott may have a negligible impact on Kellogg’s sales, but some legal experts say Breitbart’s actions put it on sketchy legal ground.

There have been other boycotts called for by both pro- and anti-Trump supporters. But Ted Boutrous, a First Amendment lawyer at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Los Angeles, said Breitbart’s actions could violate laws barring unfair business practices because it’s calling for a massive group boycott of an advertiser to further its competitive position.

He said a possible precedent is a case where a group of attorneys representing poor defendants boycotted for higher pay, and the Supreme Court held their action to be price fixing.

“It’s clearly intended to deter other advertisers from withdrawing their business and to ensure costs and prices don’t go down for Breitbart,” Boutrous said of the boycott. “It’s a serious issue to boycott in the commercial sphere.” Neither Breitbart nor Kellogg’s have replied to requests for comment.

http://digiday.com/brands/breitbarts-war-kelloggs-raises-legal-questions/


Keep digging that hole, Breitbart!
December 2, 2016

To quote Bill Maher:



"Actually, now I do!"

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