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Top 10 Idiots

Top 10 Idiots's Journal
Top 10 Idiots's Journal
July 1, 2020

Top 10 Conservative Idiots #9-3: Nobody Expects The Democratic Inquisition Edition


Top 10 Conservative Idiots #9-3: Nobody Expects The Democratic Inquisition Edition

Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! How’s everybody doing? Are you guys doing fucking good? I know, right? We’re taking a break for the July 4th holiday next week but when we come back on the 15th I have a bit of a sneak preview for Top 10 #9-4: We’re going to deviate from our standard format a bit and just tear into the top 10 biggest douchebags, assholes, and psychopaths in the world of all time (or at least the last 4 years), and I can guarantee that you will like this edition. Much like a Time or People Hot 100, it’s going to get very real very fast! There will even be a special edition of Holy Shit that will tackle the biggest religious asshats of all, like Kenneth Copeland, Paula White, Rick Wiles, and Jerry Falwell Jr. So that’s what you can expect in the next two weeks. Now, do we have time for the thing? Of course we do. Look people, we are all bored and we hate not having the freedoms we used to have before COVID showed up. And I want to get to touring and getting the Top 10 back on the road as much as the next person. I’m tired of talking about the virus too. But don’t risk your life going to a concert right now, and who the fuck is Chase Rice? Seriously, there’s far more important things that you can do right now, but shot gunning beers and line dancing at a country music concert definitely isn’t one of them. Hey look, I love live music too, it’s one of my favorite things in life. But it can definitely wait, and if you do this now, the virus is going to have the last laugh. I need to get that off my chest. OK enough of the intro, we have a lot of idiocy to get to, but first John Oliver breaks down the forthcoming economic collapse caused by Coronavirus:



Where do we begin this week? Well this week, the top slot again goes to the guy who inexplicably is still our president, Donald J. Trump (1). So the word from intel is that Trump may have been involved in a deal with Russia that cost the lives of American soldiers in Afghanistan! Gee, Trump In the second slot this week, maybe there’s some aspects of humanity that just aren’t worth saving, like the White Male Groper’s Club (2) and there are a lot of these stories lately, and they range from completely disgusting to absolutely horrifying! At the third slot this week is right wing COVID deniers (3). If COVID is the Spanish Flu, version 2.0, then we have our own version of 1918’s anti-mask league, and their arguments are literally like something out of a deranged Youtube comments section. At the fourth slot this week, we’re going to play a game of “Is It Racist?” (4) featuring everyone’s favorite pancake syrup mascot, Aunt Jemima, and is it racist? You bet your ass it is! Taking the fifth slot this week is our weekly investigative piece, Top 10 Investigates (5) and is it really time for theme parks like Disneyland to reopen? This could possibly be a very bad and very dangerous idea given that coronavirus hasn’t really gone away yet. Taking the 6th slot this week is our weekly visit to the Holy Church Of The Top 10 in “Holy Shit”, and this week our resident pastor is going to follow the Dark One to the one time he actually goes to a church, and well, it’s anything but religious! In the 7th slot this week, is a new “Beating A Dead Horse”, and after a popular right wing meme maker gets the heave ho after a retweet from Trump, Trump fans are flocking to a new free-speech friendly social media site called “Parler” and we will tell you about it. In the 8th slot this week, in a world with no sports, people are starved for entertainment and flocking to extremely dangerous unregulated ones like cockfighting, and we’re going to ask: “Underground Cockfighting: How Is This Still A Thing?” (8). In the number 9 (NEIN!!!) slot this week we’re going to have another edition of our favorite segment, “People Are Dumb” (9) because even the deadliest pandemic in a century hasn’t stopped people from being stupid! Finally this week, is the Road To The White House (10) and this week we’re going to talk about a potentially untapped voter base – Joe Biden is actually winning with evangelicals and may flip congregations for the first time in almost 40 years! How does he do it? Enjoy! And as always don’t forget the key!

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[font size="8"]The GOP
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Since last year, even way before COVID-19 was discovered and the shit hit the fan, the Trump brand was already becoming toxic. Well, as we are putting this together, Kentucky and Colorado and Utah are finishing up their primaries, and it may be a while before we see the results. But it seems that while the Trump brand is becoming as toxic as your local sewage treatment plant in the middle of a hot summer day, it seems that Trump is losing on multiple levels. I don’t want to say that the GOP is done, finished because that would be getting too ahead, but it definitely feels like people have had enough of their bullshit. And it’s showing too! Nobody expects the Democratic Inquisition!

A 24-year-old political newcomer will defeat President Donald Trump's endorsed candidate in the North Carolina GOP congressional primary for the seat vacated by the President's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, CNN projects.

Madison Cawthorn will beat Lynda Bennett, a stunning upset in the race for the Republican nomination in the state's 11th Congressional District.

Cawthorn -- who was partially paralyzed in a 2014 car crash -- is a "constitutional conservative" who is "committed to defending the values of faith, family and the freedom that have made America great," according to his website.

He is the owner of a real estate investment company and a motivational speaker.

Cawthorn will turn 25 in August, the constitutionally required age to serve in the House. If elected in November, he would become the youngest member in Congress, a title currently held by Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who is 30.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/23/politics/north-carolina-primary-madison-cawthorn/index.html




Yeah how awesome is that? Oh and what’s even more awesome? It seems that people aren’t buying Trump’s hard-in stance on the 2nd amendment either! The 2nd amendment people have been turning up at protests and that’s been causing people to really see how toxic right wing politics can really get. So by now you’ve probably seen the husband and wife team that pointed guns at protestors? Well actions do have consequences!

A Democrat running for a state Senate seat said Monday his campaign won’t keep a contribution he received last year from a St. Louis attorney who confronted protesters with a firearm on Sunday.

Mark McCloskey, with his wife Patricia McCloskey, made national news when they pointed guns and shouted at protesters in their Central West End neighborhood over the weekend.

Mark McCloskey contributed $250 to the campaign of state Rep. Steven Roberts, D-St. Louis, on Oct. 17, according to Missouri Ethics Commission records.

Roberts told the Post-Dispatch Monday he would send the $250 to Moms Demand Action, an organization that describes itself as a “grassroots movement of Americans fighting for public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence.”
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/st-louis-state-senate-candidate-not-keeping-gun-toting-lawyer-s-campaign-contribution/article_d5646fbd-df82-5fd1-9683-0b90369825a6.html




Yes, totally rejected! So Trump is toxic, the 2nd amendment is toxic, is there anything associated with the GOP that is not toxic? Well, money maybe. But even that’s becoming toxic depending on what causes it’s being spent on. And if you’re expecting or dreading a Trump tweet, be aware that it can hurt or help both sides equally. If Trump supports you, you know that person is going to be one of the caliber of character that supports him, and that’s not good!

Like many Americans, President Donald Trump starts his day scrolling through Twitter and then tweeting and retweeting posts he finds interesting. Attacks against a political opponent, endorsements for a Republican politician and sharing the favorable opinions of a political pundit are all part of the norm.

But in the past two mornings, retweets by the president were seen by politicians and some in the news media as endorsing hate speech and gun violence. Were those conclusions fair and should retweets by the commander in chief be seen as an endorsement?

Early Monday the president retweeted a video of a white man and a woman pointing firearms at protesters who appear to peacefully pass what is reportedly the couple’s St. Louis mansion enroute to the mayor’s residence. The man, armed with military-style rifle, points the muzzle at protesters, while the woman directs a small, silver pistol at the marchers. At 4:55 a.m. Monday, without any additional comment, Trump shared the video with his more than 82 million followers.
https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2020/6/29/21307058/president-donald-trump-tweets-twitter-protests-white-supremacy-politics




Oh and by the way, if you think that Trump is done, in his mind, he is definitely not. But he thinks that he is. The coronavirus has put his sheer incompetence on display for the entire world to see. While other countries are starting to enjoy things like travel again, we’re only wishing what that was like. Instead, the real virus is sitting in the White House, and it’s going to take a lot to knock him out. His endorsements are being seen as a huge lie!

Three weeks ago today, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany started her briefing by bragging about the primary elections held the day before. "President Trump has now endorsed candidates and has a 64-to-0 record in congressional, special, and primary election races since the midterms," she said, "demonstrating the strength of and support for the president's agenda across the country as evidenced in the 64 consecutive congressional, special, and primary elections over the past 13 months."

A week later, in the wake of another round of GOP primaries, the Republican National Committee's Steve Guest went a little further, boasting on Twitter that Donald Trump has an "undefeated 73-0 record of candidate endorsements in congressional primary and special elections this cycle." Guest added that this record was "an emphatic reminder" of the "enthusiasm" surrounding the president.

As talking points go, this was a narrow one. Trump-backed candidates suffered plenty of defeats in 2018 and 2019, and his "undefeated 73-0 record" was built almost entirely on the results of primary elections.
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/president-loses-talking-point-trump-backed-republicans-lose-n1231976






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[font size="8"]The White Male Groper’s Club
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Story time, kids! Gather around! Not too close, we must adhere to the guidelines. Let me tell you a story. Wayyyyyyyyyy back in the year 2018 – which was a much simpler time before coronavirus, the big plague infecting the land was the White Male Groper’s Club. Yes, some huge names in show business – primarily white male celebrities like Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Piven, Bryan Singer, and Harvey Weinstein were caught sexually harassing young women (and also men) and engaging in some serious criminal activity. Now the White Male Groper’s Club is back and rebooted for version 2.0. This time it’s younger actors and stand up comedians who are being exposed for the criminal grab assers that they are! First up – the star of Baby Driver, one of my favorite movies of the last few years, Ansel Elgort!

On Friday, a Twitter user posted a note accusing Baby Driver star Ansel Elgort of sexually assaulting her right after she turned 17 (via ScreenRant). She says he was 20 at the time and they met after she reached out to him on social media just to say she was a fan (and not expecting a response, because she was “just a kid”). She says they eventually had sex, and even though she was “sobbing in pain,” she says he made her think “this is how sex was supposed to be.” She says she has since suffered panic attacks and PTSD from the alleged assault but wanted to tell her story because it’s time to “finally heal” an to “tell other girls who have been through the same shit as me, you’re not alone.”

The post has since been deleted, but Elgort has now released a statement of his own (via Variety) in which he denies the allegation of sexual assault and says that his relationship with the accuser was “brief, legal, and entirely consensual.” He adds that he “did not handle the breakup well” and just “stopped responding to her,” which he says was an “immature and cruel thing to do.” He says his post is a “belated apology” for that specifically (though a breakup was never mentioned in the accuser’s original post) and that he’s “disgusted and deeply ashamed” for the way he behaved when he “disappeared.”
https://news.avclub.com/ansel-elgort-responds-to-sexual-assault-allegations-1844110784




Seriously, Kevin Spacey *AND* Ansel Elgort? How the hell did they manage that one? But what is really becoming of the entertainment industry is the world of standup comedy. Yes, the world once made popular by the likes of Jerry Seinfeld and Rodney Dangerfield is currently populated with some real pieces of shit, like Chris D’elia and Jeffrey Ross, for instance. Let’s get into that. And Chris D’elia is a friend of Trump’s BFF Joe Rogan too.

On June 20, the LA Times reported that comedian Chris D'Elia allegedly sent sexually inappropriate messages and emails to teenagers, following a viral Twitter thread from SheRatesDogs compiling alleged conversations that D'Elia had with girls when they were underage. The thread started after a woman noted the irony of D'Elia playing a pedophile in the TV show You, because he'd messaged her when she was still in high school. In response, D'Elia's team disclosed emails to Page Six meant to "paint a fuller picture" of three of these incidents. In a comment to TMZ, D'Elia claimed he's "never knowingly pursued any underage women at any point."

Chris D'Elia was a regular at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles and regularly featured on the podcasts of other comedians who work out of the store, many of whom have made public statements about their colleague and friend. Callen and Brendan Schaub were two of the first to comment on D'Elia's accusations on their podcast The Fighter and The Kid on June 17. A tearful Schaub was unable to speak, and Callen said he "always knew Chris as a lady's man" but he'd never "heard or seen him do anything illegal," and explained how difficult it was to hear the news about their friend. Whitney Cummings issued a statement about Delia displaying "a pattern of predatory behavior" based on "the information I have learned about Chris." Theo Von said he hoped Chris would "get the help he needs." Andrew Santino called it "awful and shocking," and Bobby Lee said, "I feel like I lost a friend." But of all the comedy podcasts making statements about D'Elia, one large exception is the Joe Rogan Experience, one of the most popular podcasts in the world.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qj4jnm/joe-rogan-has-said-nothing-about-chris-delia-sexual-misconduct-allegations




I really hope cats aren’t involved! So we’re currently fighting two pandemics – COVID-19 and serial womanizing. How is it that these creeps are able to get away with the crap that they are able to get away with? Well they’re rich white males for one thing. And if you’re a rich white male in showbiz that happens to be in a popular TV show or movie, man, you got it made! Oh , and then there’s Danny Masterson. Yeah fuck that shit. And he’s got the Church Of Scientology on his side!

Danny Masterson, who made a wisecracking name for himself on “That ’70s Show,” was arrested and charged June 17 on multiple counts of rape against three women. But it’s not just the actor who is on trial.

The accusers are all former members of the Church of Scientology, to which the 44-year-old actor is said to be devoted. Previously, four women, including the three from the criminal charges, filed a civil suit against Danny and the church, accusing the church of harassing them for having reported the ­alleged assaults to authorities.

One of the attorneys for the civil suit, Stewart Ryan, said: “It is alleged [in the suit] that our clients reported the sexual assaults to Scientology at the times that they happened. It is alleged in the suit that Scientology attempted to cover up the sexual assaults.”

In a response to The Post, the church denied all claims against it from the civil suit.

The sole victim identified by name in the criminal filing, Chrissie Carnell Bixler, dated Danny from 1996 until 2001 and claims to have been drugged and raped, multiple times, in the actor’s Hollywood Hills home.
https://pagesix.com/2020/06/27/church-of-scientology-tried-to-silence-danny-mastersons-alleged-rape-victims-suit/




Seriously guys, send him to Sea Org, or that weird branch of Scientology that kidnaps and tortures people. Oh I’m sorry, they *ALLEGEDLY* kidnap and torture people. What? No, I am not apologizing to the Church Of Scientology. But it does seem that sexual harassers are a dime a dozen and it doesn’t matter what industry they are involved in. They’re everywhere. What about the owners? Oh yeah there’s that.

A short-lived Columbia blog that allowed anonymous accusations of sexual misconduct led to the departure of a co-owner from a West Columbia comedy club.

Comedy Closet partner John Gibson confirmed he resigned over unspecified accusations posted to True Colors Cola, according to a statement issued to Free Times through a lawyer.

“Though Mr. Gibson has no recollection of these incidents either generally or specifically and denies that they occurred, he also recognizes the effect of such allegations on the long term viability of The Comedy Closet,” the statement reads, “and he was more than willing to remove himself from the operation and ownership of the club without pause in order to allow for the continued success of a club that he worked passionately and tirelessly to build.”

Joe Coughlin, who has become the club’s primary investor and sole proprietor, says Gibson offered to leave the day after the allegations broke before they even had a discussion about his future.
https://www.postandcourier.com/free-times/arts/co-owner-of-west-columbia-s-comedy-closet-exits-after-allegations-posted-on-blog/article_520bbf7a-ba58-11ea-b891-57be3207f910.html





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[font size="8"]COVID Deniers
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Hey anti-maskers, there’s something that I’ve been meaning to get off my chest for the last two months so excuse the all caps. WE HATE WEARING MASKS TOO!!!! It’s not a political statement, though Trump and his goons would most certainly like to make it one. But as long as Coronavirus is still a thing, we either all have to abide by the rules, or we all don’t. And you know what? Just roll the fucking tape, this is beyond insane.



Seriously, that reminds me of the town hall meetings from Parks & Rec. Look, no one likes wearing masks, and we all want this fucking virus to go away. So the sooner we all do it, the sooner we can all get rid of this beast. Get how that works?

Steve Vernon needed a haircut and his barber required that he wear a mask, so he complied.

If businesses want to require customers to wear masks, that’s their right, Vernon said. People can choose to shop elsewhere if they disagree.

But if the government starts mandating masks, Vernon is prepared to engage in “civil disobedience.”

“I will not comply,” said Vernon, the president of the Lakewood Ranch Republican Club. “You can have your mask edict, resolution, whatever it is. I will not comply.”

Wearing masks to limit the spread of the coronavirus has become the latest hot button issue in the culture wars, and the debate is heating up in Florida as the state experiences a big spike in coronavirus cases.
https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/newswire/2020/06/29/mask-mandates-face-gop-resistance-across-florida/3277836001/




OK, dude. Don’t wear the mask. But when you get COVID, leave the ICU beds for the people who actually need it, OK? And Florida is not the only state in the country where this debate is heating up, my own county – Orange County, CA, is having this insanity. Really folks, don’t come here right now, we’re the Florida of California. And it pains me to say that. But really, shut the fuck up.

The battle over wearing a face mask is intensifying in Orange County, even after the state issued new guidelines last week mandating face coverings in high-risk settings.

Groups for and against the use of face masks have formed in the county.

Orange County Labor Federation held a news conference at 11 a.m. on Monday, calling on county supervisors to enforce Gov. Gavin Newsom's mask order.

Anti-mask protesters interrupted a planned press conference held by a pro-mask group last week.

At the news conference, union representatives called on local authorities to enforce the governor's mask order, pointing to recent increases in coronavirus infections in Orange County.

Orange County Labor Federation says many people are not complying with the order and it is not being enforced.
https://abc7.com/face-mask-covering-california-gavin-newsom/6259698/




Sigh……….. fucking idiots like this are why we can’t have nice things, like a world where Coronavirus doesn’t exist. Better get used to the virtual world everybody, you might not be seeing the real one for a very long time thanks to these morons. Where’s the Matrix simulator when you need it? But why is this even a debate? If you want things to go back to normal, you should get on this. If not, you’re part of the problem!

Forgive the American people if they're in a fog about face masks. President Donald Trump and the federal government have done a number on them.

First there was the don't-do-it phase. Then the nice-but-not-for-me dissonance. Followed by the local-rules-don't-apply exceptions. Topped off by Trump's stated suspicion that some people wear masks just to troll him.

It has all added up to a murky message about one of the critical tools in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. And the politicization of the to-wear-or-not-to-wear debate is clear in recent public polling.

To be clear: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people wear cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain. Some states and local communities require them.
https://fortune.com/2020/06/27/should-i-wear-face-mask-coronavirus-covid-19-cdc-guidance-republicans-us-outbreak/




Yeah probably. So mask, no mask, what’s the difference? it’s your own fucking health, and to stop a very easily transmittable virus from exploding exponentially! Doesn’t matter what state you live in, every single state has their fair share of these people, and we’d run out of time trying to list them all. You don’t have to like wearing a mask, just don’t act like a fucking idiot when you’re asked to have some common courtesy in public during this pandemic.

Masks or face coverings, and whether to wear them in public during the coronavirus pandemic, have become one of the biggest points of contention in the crisis.

Mask advocates believe the decision is a simple one. They help prevent the spread of the virus and everyone should be wearing them. But opponents say being forced to wear one is an infringement on their civil liberties.

"We get ourselves wrapped around what symbols mean," said Dr. Robin Henderson, chief executive of Behavioral Health at Providence Health & Services. "The masks have become a symbol. It's a symbol of care-taking our fellow neighbor and for some it's a symbol of freedom."

Health officials across the world have now advocated for the use of masks or face coverings. But a lack of consensus early on, and constantly changing advice, may have contributed to a distrust of masks, according to Dr. Henderson.

"The CDC puts out different guidance every day and that creates what we call change fatigue," said Dr. Henderson. "Change fatigue sets in when these habits can't get established and finally people just kind of throw their hands in the air and go, 'I don't care. I'm not doing any of it.'"
https://katu.com/news/local/psychologists-say-changing-rules-lack-of-control-and-politics-to-blame-for-mask-debate





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[font size="8"]Is It Racist?
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Hey everyone! It’s time to play the hot new game that’s sweeping the nation!



And the answer to that question? If you have to ask, it’s probably racist! Wait, no, you shouldn’t be cheering for that one. But there’s a been a lot of racism in the news this week with the fallout from the protests stemming from the death of George Floyd last month. One of the biggest changes in the world of racism is coming in your supermarket breakfast aisles. Yes, two of America’s most beloved products – Uncle Ben’s Rice, and Aunt Jemima syrup, are both products of the Davis Milling Company, originally from St. Joseph, Missouri. That product was then bought by the Quaker Oats Company, and the character remained. But guess what? That character might be a bit racist. But this might be an overtly stupid portrayal of the original character.

A speaker at President Donald Trump's Arizona event is being criticized over comments she made calling Aunt Jemima a "picture of the American Dream."

Reagan Escudé, a Turning Point USA ambassador who Trump invited to speak on stage Tuesday over her personal experience with "cancel culture," told the Students for Trump crowd in Phoenix how "Aunt Jemima was canceled," a reference to the syrup brand's decision to rebrand after admitting its more than 130-year logo was racially insensitive.

Escudé, who announced on Twitter earlier this month she had been fired from her job "for giving a Biblical response to social issues," said, "Nancy Green, the original, first Aunt Jemima, she was the picture of the American Dream."

"She was a freed slave who went on to be the face of the pancake syrup that we love and we have in our pantries today. She fought for equality, and now the leftist mob is trying to erase her legacy," Escudé added. "And might I mention how privileged we are as a nation if our biggest concern is a bottle of pancake syrup."

The remarks, specifically saying Green represented the American dream, were met with a swift backlash on social media Wednesday.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/24/us/aunt-jemima-trump-phoenix-trnd/index.html




Seriously, that happened! Miss, you might want to use that thing called “Google” or even that thing called “Wikipedia” before you say something that stupid again. Really, this is why we can’t have nice things people! And no, it’s not cancel culture that’s coming for your beloved advertising mascot, it’s common sense. But what about a complimentary product of Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben’s rice? Yup, that’s getting retired as well!

The parent company of Uncle Ben’s rice said Wednesday that "now was the right time to evolve" the brand, including visually, but did not release details of what exactly would change or when. The move follows a similar announcement earlier in the day by Quaker Oats, the company that owns Aunt Jemima’s syrup.

Mars Inc., the parent company, said in a release that as a global brand, "we know we have a responsibility to take a stand in helping to put an end to racial bias and injustices."

“Racism has no place in society. We stand in solidarity with the Black community, our Associates and our partners in the fight for social justice,” Mars said. “We know to make the systemic change needed, it’s going to take a collective effort from all of us — individuals, communities and organizations of all sizes around the world.”

Uncle Ben’s was founded as Converted Brand Rice by co-founders Erich Huzenlaub and Gordon Harwell, according to the brand’s website. The name “Uncle Ben’s” began being used in the 1940s after Harwell and his business partner discussed a famed Texas farmer, referred to as Uncle Ben, known for his rice.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/uncle-ben-s-change-its-branding-part-parent-company-s-n1231329




Gee, ya think? Although it’s great to see a company like ConAgra Brands take a stand against racism by retiring or changing the name of some of its’ most beloved advertising characters. Even Mrs. Butterworth is getting the axe. But not to be outdone, while we must present equal viewpoints here, the family of the woman who portrayed and was the basis for the Aunt Jemima character is speaking out, and they’re not happy!

Quaker Oats announced earlier this month it's rebranding Aunt Jemima pancake mix and syrup because of its racist history.

But descendants of Lillian Richard, who portrayed Aunt Jemima for years, say the company decided to rename the brand without consulting the families of the women who brought the character to life

While Vera Harris, Richard’s niece, supports the decision and the Black Lives Matter movement, Aunt Jemima represents a part of history for her family and the town of Hawkins, Texas.

“Erasing my Aunt Lillian Richard would erase a part of history,” says Harris, who serves as family historian for the Richard family of Hawkins. “All of the people in my family are happy and proud of Aunt Lillian and what she accomplished.”

Aunt Jemima portrays the white, romanticized notion of an Antebellum “mammy,” detached from the cruel reality of enslavement during the late 19th century. The inspiration for the character came from the song “Old Aunt Jemima.” Starting at the World's Fair in 1893, a formerly enslaved woman named Nancy Green was the first to travel around the country wearing an apron and bandana as Aunt Jemima.
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2020/06/29/aunt-jemima-quaker-oats-rebrand




Yeah probably! So don’t get too comfortable when questioning racism, because as I say if you have to ask, it’s probably racist. However, even some of your favorite bands might be getting in the mix – like the Dixie Chicks recently dropped the “Dixie” from their name, and now the country rock group Lady Antebellum appears that it will be changing its’ name. So is it racist? Yeah probably!

Seattle blues singer Lady A had just gotten off of work on Thursday when a bombardment of phone messages from friends, fans and producers came in all shouting the same thing: Her name had been stolen.

Earlier that day, Grammy-winning country trio Lady Antebellum — whose name had been criticized for its associations with romanticized ideas of the pre-war, slavery-ridden American South — announced they were changing their name to Lady A in light of a heightened national conversation about racism. Lady Antebellum made the changes swiftly on social media and distribution platforms including Spotify and Apple Music, and the group’s website also announced their rechristening as Lady A. But according to Seattle’s Lady A, neither the band nor any members of their team reached out to her before making the change.

This Lady A — a 61-year-old black woman whose real name is Anita White — has been playing the blues under the name for more than 20 years. She began singing as a gospel performer at church and started going by Lady A for karaoke nights in the Eighties. She’s released multiple albums with the name, and on top of her day job working with Seattle Public Utilities, she’s gearing up to release another album, Lady A: Live in New Orleans, on her birthday on July 18th.
https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/news/lady-antebellum-lady-a-country-blues-1013919/





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[font size="8"]Top 10 Investigates: Disneyland Reopening
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It’s time to investigate beyond the headlines! This is Top 10 Investigates!



There isn’t any aspect of life that hasn’t been changed by the Coronavirus pandemic. And if you’re like most of us, you’re most likely bored, angry, and pissed off. But where do you go to relieve those frustrations with the changing world around you and how do you get out to have fun in the day and age of the virus? How about going to the Happiest Place On Earth, Disneyland? Well, while Disneyland has reopened in Shanghai to a somewhat rousing success, getting the wheels turning on the Happiest Place On Earth back on track is proving to be way more difficult than it has been anticipated. So how is life going to operate at Disneyland in Florida and Anaheim as it starts getting back to where it was before the pandemic?

Disney is delaying the phased reopening of Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, the company's flagship theme parks in California, the company said on Wednesday.

The resort, located in Anaheim, California, was set to welcome back guests on July 17 after being closed for months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Disney (DIS) did not give a new reopening date for the Disneyland resort.

The company said that the State of California had indicated it would not issue theme park reopening guidelines "until sometime after July 4," according to a statement. "Given the time required for us to bring thousands of cast members back to work and restart our business, we have no choice but to delay the reopening of our theme parks and resort hotels until we receive approval from government officials."

The news of Disneyland's delayed reopening comes as coronavirus cases are spiking across the country, especially in California.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/24/media/disneyland-reopening-postponed/index.html




So Disneyland in California may not happen for at least the foreseeable future. What about Disneyland in Orlando? The home of Epcot Center could also be the home of Coronavirus as the cases in Northern Florida are starting to resurge and show no signs of slowing. But if you’re headed to the Happiest Place On Earth in 2020, then you should be prepared to face a reality check.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has no intention of interfering with Walt Disney World's July reopening, despite a petition from concerned employees and a surge in novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the state.

Last month, the Orlando theme park announced July 11 as the start of a phased reopening process after a months-long closure during the ongoing pandemic.

As the state began to lift its lockdown, however, Florida experienced a spike in coronavirus infections, including several days of record-breaking numbers of new cases recorded, reaching more than 9,500 in a day on June 27.

On Wednesday, Disneyland in California, another state seeing rising cases. announced that it had "no choice but to delay" its intended July 17 reopening date. The decision came as the state government did not grant approval and guidelines in time to arrange the opening.
https://people.com/travel/florida-governor-has-no-plan-to-halt-disney-world-reopening-despite-petition-from-concerned-employees/




Hey wait, we still have 7 more continents to get through! Although if you are on the fence about all the restrictions being put in place in Disneyland, maybe consider an alternative, like the State Fair. Yes, most state and county fairs have shut down because of the pandemic, but one is defying expectations and going on anyways! Just don’t be disappointed if you don’t get to go to the petting zoo this year.

The fifth annual Horry County Fair is set to open this weekend, in stark contrast to most other fairs around the country that have been canceled or postponed due to coronavirus. The 10-day fair, held at Myrtle Beach Speedway, was originally scheduled April 24-May 3, but organizers postponed it until July 3-12 after restrictions were put into place by S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Steve Zacharias, general manager of the 45-acre venue, said that organizers never considered canceling the fair. “They’ve been fearful,” Zacharias told the board, “and they’ve dragged their feet, didn’t want to pull the trigger because of (COVID-19) ...”. Special precautions will be in place, including intense cleaning of all rides after each use, hand sanitizer stations set up throughout the area and altering the layout to discourage large gatherings and allow for proper social distancing.

The Horry County Fair will be Strates Shows’ first event since at least mid-March, according to the company’s events calendar, which shows all its other fairs either canceled or postponed. Jim Strates, a co-owner and operations manager, said a lot of the fairs that were canceled are in states with more strict guidelines ...

Strates expressed concern about a lack of people wearing face masks in the Horry County area, but said all his employees will wear them, and they have the ability to isolate employees if any begin showing symptoms. “We’re going to take a crack at this thing,” he said. “I don’t think we have any other choice.”
https://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/article243871137.html




That’s it this week for Top 10 Investigates. Good day.




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[font size="8"]Holy Shit: The Dark One Goes To Church
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Gather around my fair brothers and sisters! It’s time to take a seat in the virtual pew make an online donation in the LAWRD’s virtual collection plate, for the Holy Church Of The Top 10 has convened and it’s time to remind you that the holiest among us are the most full of:



My fair online congregation! You know with churches going online and not congregating in public for the foreseeable future due to coronavirus, we’re kind of running low on material right now. But thankfully last week that SAYVED! For the unholy, ungodly Dark One whose name shall not be mentioned in my church – even if it is an online and virtual one, actually went to a church. He is a SINNER, who does some absolutely unspeakable things, yet he views himself as the godliest of the godly! And among that crowd, he can do no wrong! So why is he pandering to the holiest among us? Well, also why not? Because screw everyone that he doesn’t agree with, that’s why!

After a disappointing showing at his campaign rally over the weekend, President Donald Trump renewed his performance for a packed crowd of students on Tuesday, telling his Arizona audience that they were guardians in a cultural war over the heritage of the country.

“We’re here today to declare that we will never cave to the left wing and the left-wing intolerance,” the president said at a Students for Trump event in Phoenix.

The appearance, at the Dream City megachurch, was one of his first rallies since taking a three-month hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic. Images from the event showed a large crowd tightly packed together, with almost no one wearing protective masks. There were no temperature checks for the estimated 3,000 cheering attendees who, like many of Trump’s staunchest fans, ignored a new local ordinance requiring them to wear a mask, despite a public-health plea from the Democratic mayor on Monday.

The coronavirus is out of control in the Grand Canyon State after its governor lifted a stay-at-home order last month, and the president is polling relatively poorly here against his presumptive Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/23/trump-rally-arizona-336565




Yes let’s wait two weeks to see where this is heading and it cannot be good. For the commander in chief is doing an absolutely terrible job of setting such an example of what to do during these trying times, he is failing on every level! But how is his second in command doing? Well he’s not doing much better, and he was the guy who was picked to lead us in charge to tackle this forsaken virus!

A choir of about 100 performers sang at a megachurch campaign event featuring Vice President Pence on Sunday. They did not wear masks while they sang.

Many epidemiologists and singing experts currently fear that singers may be superspreaders of COVID-19, due to aerosolization of the virus. Singing involves much more forceful and deep breathing than simple talking.

The choir was performing at the Celebrate Freedom Rally, which took place at Dallas' First Baptist Church and was billed as an event "to celebrate our freedom as Americans and our freedom in Christ with you through worship." According to CNN, about 2,200 people attended the rally at the Texas megachurch, which can hold about 3,000 people. The singers reportedly wore face coverings between their selections.

Last Thursday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a "pause" on his state's reopening after saying that Texas is facing a "massive outbreak" of the coronavirus.
https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/06/29/884614249/cdc-says-singers-could-be-virus-super-spreaders-but-100-sang-unmasked-with-vp-pe




Seriously guys, this isn’t the 1980s, this is 2020 and there is a deadly virus roaming the landscape, and it is not stopping! It’s going to get worse. And you shouldn’t be going to church right now. But no one is canceling church, and I’m sure that the good LAWRD JAYSUS would back me up here! If you want to get back to your old life and I know we all do, real change starts at the top! Of course I still won’t mention his name in my church, even if it is virtual!

One month after President Donald Trump ordered the nation’s governors to immediately reopen churches, his administration is facing a difficult dilemma.

Clusters of Covid-19 cases are surfacing in counties across the U.S. where in-person religious services have resumed, triggering questions about whether his administration should reassess its campaign to treat houses of worship the same as other essential businesses, or leave them alone and risk additional transmission of the deadly coronavirus — including in communities that are largely supportive of the president.

An outbreak at a Pentecostal church in Oregon, where hundreds of worshipers resumed gathering over Memorial Day weekend, forced an entire county to return to phase one of its reopening after local officials traced 258 cases of Covid-19 back to the facility. In West Virginia, six health departments across the state have reported coronavirus outbreaks linked to churches. One of them, a Baptist church in Greenbrier County, had 34 congregants test positive for the virus. And in Texas, which hit an all-time high of new cases last week, health officials have received numerous reports of church-related exposures.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/28/trump-coronavirus-spread-churches-342296




Yes, churches are the biggest problem that the unholy, ungodly Dark One and his DAYMONS are facing at the moment. But he’s not going down without a fight. For his network is actively encouraging people to defy orders and defy the LAWRD, you’ve got another thing coming! And you are most definitely not welcome in my church – online or in person – until you get a grip on reality! But this is not the kind of thing you want to hear in a sermon, and you won’t hear it in my church! I won’t allow it!

Watching from home, at first it was hard to say which moment in Donald Trump’s rally at a Phoenix megachurch on Tuesday was the ugliest. Was it when the president of the United States repeated the racist joke he told last weekend in Tulsa, calling Covid-19, the viral disease that emerged in China last year, the “Kung Flu;” or was it a split second later, when thousands of his young supporters erupted in cheers?

Watching from home, at first it was hard to say which moment in Donald Trump’s rally at a Phoenix megachurch on Tuesday was the ugliest. Was it when the president of the United States repeated the racist joke he told last weekend in Tulsa, calling Covid-19, the viral disease that emerged in China last year, the “Kung Flu;” or was it a split second later, when thousands of his young supporters erupted in cheers?

Watching from home, at first it was hard to say which moment in Donald Trump’s rally at a Phoenix megachurch on Tuesday was the ugliest. Was it when the president of the United States repeated the racist joke he told last weekend in Tulsa, calling Covid-19, the viral disease that emerged in China last year, the “Kung Flu;” or was it a split second later, when thousands of his young supporters erupted in cheers?
https://theintercept.com/2020/06/24/trump-made-racist-joke-phoenix-megachurch-crowd-went-wild/




So do not take any medicine offered by the Dark One, for he is the virus! Mass has ended, may you go in peace! That’s it this week for:




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[font size="8"]Beating A Dead Horse: Safe Spaces
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We’ve been talking a lot of shit about right wingers needing safe spaces. So many editions that it would take me forever to list them all, so I am not even going to try to attempt to do that. And with high profile internet services like Reddit and Twitch and several other platforms banning far right personalities and chat rooms, it’s easy to see why the right has taken such a beating lately. You want to know why? It’s easy to see: NOBODY WANTS TO HEAR YOUR MESSAGE OF HATE, DOUCHEBAGS! OK, I needed to get that off my chest. But if you’re a far right personality that has fans and followers, where do you go when you get kicked off the major websites? Well, first they had Gab, now they have Parler. Want to know the kind of content that gets passed around on Parler? Well…

Jim Jordan, Elise Stefanik and Nikki Haley all have something in common, other than a strong affection towards President Trump.

The three Republican politicians joined social media app Parler this week, adding their profiles to a site that’s emerged as the new digital stomping ground for anti-Twitter conservatives. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas arrived earlier this month and Rep. Devin Nunes of California started in February, while Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has been a member since 2018, the year the app launched.

“It’s about time y’all joined me on @parler_app,” Paul tweeted on Wednesday. “What’s taking the rest of you so long?!”

To be fair, Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale has also been on Parler since 2018. Eric Trump, the president’s son, and his wife, Lara, joined on the same day last month. Like Twitter, the app lets users share comments, photos and news stories with their followers.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/27/parler-ceo-wants-liberal-to-join-the-pro-trump-crowd-on-the-app.html




Yeah blah blah blah. Let’s not underestimate the irony here – conservatives are using Twitter to promote a direct competitor to Twitter, to complain that their voices aren’t being heard! I don’t know about you but I have had enough of this bullshit! And I think the entire world has had enough of the far right, and it’s time to start flushing them out. In case you’re wondering the kind of lax content that Parler is known for, well, it has some people up in arms.

The most prominent difference between the social media sites, apart from their size, is their attitudes towards content on their platforms.

Parler is more tolerant of speech that other platforms would deem offensive.

In its guidelines, it references the FCC’s definition of obscene content which asks if the work is sexual in nature, if it “ is offensive,” and “Whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”

Parler advises users not to “use language/visuals which is sexual in nature” and not to “use language/visuals that are offensive and offer no literary, artistic, political, or scientific value”

Twitter, by comparison, has been repeatedly criticised for not doing enough to curb racism, sexism, homophobia, and other issues on its platform.
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/parler-app-mps-right-wing-twitter-katie-hopkins-a9579241.html




So racists, first off there’s something that I have been meaning to say for a long time. Hear me out here, because listen up. There are no safe spaces in the real world. You are all a bunch of pathetic snowflakes, so suck it up, buttercup! Yeah people don’t want to hear your racist bullshit. And if you think that doesn’t have consequences, well it can cost you sponsors. Just look at what’s happening to Facebook and their refusal to police bullshit.

The campaign against Facebook has metastasised, as big brands increasingly decide all social media is too toxic for them.

This is a period of unprecedented crisis for social media, which is saying something. What started as an apparently politically motivated attack on Facebook has snowballed, such that most major brands are now having a rethink about advertising on any social media, regardless of their censorship policies, due to the inherently uncontrollable nature of the content they host.

For some reason the corporate world seems to have suddenly realised that social media is different from traditional media and that the content you find on it is, by design, impossible to control. Social media companies increasingly try to censor their users in a futile bid to ensure only advertiser-friendly content appears, but it now appears their efforts have been in vain.

One after another major US advertisers are deciding that, in the current cultural environment, they’re not prepared to risk their brand being positioned next to contentious content. While Verizon singled out Facebook, massive consumer-facing companies such as Unilever, Diageo and Starbucks have announced a wholesale move of their advertising spend towards regular media, which they presumably find easier to control.
https://telecoms.com/505246/major-advertisers-flee-from-social-media-as-parler-use-goes-exponential/




Seriously, you’re just now figuring how toxic social media is? You guys really need to do some research here. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that we’re finally addressing the systematic, unfiltered racism in this country that’s been running rampant for decades since the Civil War, and the online racism that allowed Trump to become president. But would anyone want to debate these assholes? Conservatives don’t need equal footing, they have 3 24/7 cable news networks and nearly all AM radio stations at their disposal, they don’t need more platforms to fling their bullshit!

In a time when pundits and protesters can’t seem to go two minutes without getting into some form of heated debate, one social media platform is offering a cash prize to find the right opponent for some constructive civilc discourse.

The libertarian or conservative-leaning social media platform Parler is now offering $20,000 to any progressive pundit, commentator or writer willing to join Parler and engage in an open debate on the platform. The original amount for the challenge was $10,000 three weeks ago. When no one stepped forward to accept, Parler doubled down.

According to Parler’s statement, the challenge is to “produce a series of Parleys, constructive and thoughtful discussions to search for common ground on difficult issues.”

Parler Strategic Investor Jeffrey Wernick says it’s time for liberals and conservatives to have discourse on equal footing without censorship.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnscottlewinski/2020/06/20/conservative-social-media-network-parler-makes-20000-progressive-debate-challenge/#357a58404b14





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[font size="8"]How Is This Still A Thing: Underground Cockfighting
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It’s time once again to ask:



This week: Underground cockfighting, how is this still a thing? In a world run by COVID-19, where no sports, recreation, or fun of any kind is to be had until we deal with this virus, people have to make their own fun. And one sport that’s equal parts dangerous, illegal, and banned in over 50 countries is on its’ way to making a comeback. And it’s an unwanted comeback too, as it not only puts the lives of the competitors at stake, it puts the fans and spectators at stake too. That sport is cockfighting, the sport that pits dangerously large roosters against each other in a battle for supremacy. The sport is so controversial that it is not shown on TV and even Vegas won’t take bets on it. But now, thanks to COVID, and a world without real professional sports, it’s making a comeback.

178 people are facing charges after a cockfighting ring was busted in Emanuel County over the weekend.

According to the Southern District of Georgia, the raid happened Saturday at a property in Midville owned by 48 year-old William Shannon Scott. Scott has been charged with sponsoring or exhibiting an animal in an animal fighting venture.

The SDOG also says several other events had taken place at the property this year, which was equipped with a fighting ring, management office, concession stand and stadium bleachers.

The raid resulted in 178 people processed for charges related to animal fighting or gambling. Nearly 800 roosters were seized, tens of thousands of dollars in gambling proceeds were confiscated as well as firearms and illegal drugs.
https://www.cbs46.com/news/raid-at-cockfight-nets-178-people-nearly-800-roosters-seized/article_43f0a75c-b61b-11ea-9fdc-6b188f946173.html




Supposedly the sport of cockfighting was canceled in 2002 when Oklahoma officially outlawed it, but it’s not just rampant in Oklahoma and Alabama, cockfighting is everywhere. But it’s not necessarily the birds who are being abused, they’re also being exported. It turns out that the US territory of Guam is also a hot bed for illegal cockfighting. And how were these illegal breeders caught? Through a series of contact tracings.

According to an investigation by an animal welfare advocacy group, Alabamains are among the top traffickers of chickens to the tiny Pacific island of Guam, for the purposes of illegal cockfighting.

Animal Wellness Action (AWA) and the Animal Wellness Foundation (AWF) today asked U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town to investigate allegations of ongoing cockfighting activity in Alabama, including trafficking of game birds to Guam, a U.S. Territory.

The request for action follows an investigation that allegedly revealed that several Alabama farms are among the top shippers of fighting birds to Guam.

Nine breeders in central and north Alabama, whose names were turned over to authorities but are not being publicly released because they haven't been formally charged, allegedly breed and train birds and ship them around the world for the purpose of cockfighting.
https://abc3340.com/news/local/investigation-alabamians-among-top-traffickers-of-birds-to-guam-for-illegal-cockfighting




That’s definitely not the use of birds you want them for. What are the consequences of cockfighting if you are caught participating or breeding roosters for the illegal purposes? Well, the fines are pretty stiff and you can also face some serious jail time, and that’s something that you do not want to do in 2020. But with the illegal cockfighting ring comes another illegal component with it – gambling. Yes, not only can you bet on the outcome of the fights, that is also illegal!

Police have arrested three men for illegal cockfighting at an open space in Pulau Kerto near here on Friday (June 19).

Sibu Deputy OCPD Supt Collin Babat said a team from its Anti-Vice, Gambling and Gangsterism unit (D7) nabbed the suspects, aged between 32 and 34, during the 4.30pm incident.

"The team managed to arrest the three suspects while some others ran away," he said.

Supt Collin said the suspects were two construction workers and a jobless man.

He added that police also seized a live rooster, a dead rooster, RM60, a cockfighting spur and a notice board.
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/06/20/trio-detained-over-illegal-cockfighting-in-sibu




And guess what? Cockfighting isn’t just a uniquely American problem. It’s also an international one, and countries all around the globe are cracking down on cockfighting. And the people who engage in this sport are not exactly the kind of people who are looking to make a legitimate dollar. Instead they are teeming with all kinds of illegal activity, and it’s not exactly limited to what the roosters are doing in the fighting ring.

POLICE uncovered a clandestine cockfighting pit in a house in Almeria City during a raid in an illegal drug sales operation.

Investigations into the goings on at the two-storey property in the Chanca neighbourhood of the city began in December last year. Surveillance of the house showed there were an awful lot of comings and goings.

Further investigations revealed there was almost certainly an indoor marihuana plantation in a warehouse connected to the house by a covered yard.

Police carried out searches in both properties plus the home of one of the detainees. That was when they found the cockfighting pit between the warehouse and the house used as a drug sales point. Officers also discovered some 100 roosters in cages in what police said were highly unhealthy conditions.
https://www.euroweeklynews.com/2020/06/18/clandestine-cockfighting-pit-uncovered-on-spains-costa-almeria/




So illegal gambling, drugs, and guns – all around the sport of two roosters fighting. That’s enough to make you ask – underground cockfighting:




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



Of course you know by now that people are people, and people are dumb. So who is dumb this week? I want to start with this story out of Trump’s rally in Arizona. Yeah we usually don’t bring politics into People Are Dumb segments but this one is a fucking classic. So the virus isn’t going away any time soon, and it’s really making people crazy. But where this falls into the “stupid” category is that two guys claim that they have an air conditioner system that filters out pathogens, much like the one on the USS Enterprise on Star Trek. But in reality, something tells me that I wouldn’t trust these guys with a cheapo $99 air conditioner from Costco.

The pastors of an Arizona megachurch that is holding an event featuring President Trump on Tuesday is claiming the church's air filtration system can kill "99.9% of COVID within 10 minutes." Dream City Church Senior Pastor Luke Barnett and Chief Operations Officer Brendon Zastro make the erroneous claims in a promo video that has been circulating online this week. The video has been removed from the church's Facebook page.

"We have exciting information about what we're doing to fight COVID-19 here at Dream City Church," Barnett says in the video. Zastro then says the church has installed a system from Clean Air EXP, a Phoenix-based company that uses technology developed by members of the church.

"We've installed these units and it kills 99.9% of COVID within 10 minutes," Zastro says.

"When you come into our auditorium, 99% of COVID is gone, killed, if it was even there in the first place," Barnett says. "Thank God for good technology."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dream-city-church-arizona-megachurch-trump-rally-air-purifier-covid-19-coronavirus/




Yeah I think even God is sighing on this one. Next up – of course we have to go to our favorite state, the Sunshine State, America’s most penis-shaped state of Florida. Ah, Florida, can you ever go one day without doing something batshit crazy? Well there’s a lot of Florida this week so let’s go through some of the crazier ones. Here’s the thing – if you’re going to make a Godfather reference, at least get the reference correct!

Florida cops allege that James Ransom--carrying open containers of Natural Light beer and Captain Morgan rum--caused a disturbance Thursday night on the boardwalk at Indian Rocks Beach, just west of St. Petersburg.

Ransom, 54, was allegedly seen accosting and “yelling loudly at citizens,” according to a sheriff’s deputy.

After being detained, Ransom repeatedly told cops that his name was “Michael Corleone.” But when deputies did a computer check on the name, they came up empty. It was only after Ransom was “submitted to a fingerprint scan” that investigators confirmed he did not actually share a name with Al Pacino’s character in the “Godfather” movies.

In addition to being charged with providing a false name to law enforcement, Ransom was also cited for disorderly intoxication. Ransom yesterday pleaded no contest to both misdemeanor counts. After entering his plea, Ransom was released from the county jail after serving two days in custody.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/stupid/godfather-fan-jailed-583902




Yeah maybe don’t go against the Family there! Next up – we go to the Florida town of Cocoa Beach, and why does the weirdest shit in Florida always happen in beach communities? Well this is something that maybe you don’t want to see in a bakery right now, or maybe ever. Remember the emotional support animal craze of the last couple of years? When we lived in much simpler times. Well, I don’t remember you being allowed to bring one of these in an establishment!

COCOA BEACH, Florida – A Florida man was spotted picking up his pet alligator named “Sweetie” and bringing it into a Florida Key Lime Pie store in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

A video of the Florida man casually picking up the alligator near Ron Jon Surf Shop was posted online on June 8, 2020, and has since gone viral with over 6 million views.

“Sweetie sends her love and gratitude to all of her fans. Thank you!” the Florida Kely Lime Pie company wrote on its Facebook page.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, pet alligators are allowed in Florida if the person obtains a Class II Personal Pet License which requires not convictions of certain wildlife-related violations and the person must demonstrate 1 year and 1,000 hours of substantial practical experience in the handling, husbandry, and care of alligators or other crocodilian species. ............(more)

http://www.brevardtimes.com/2020/06/florida-man-takes-5-foot-alligator-into-florida-key-lime-pie-store/




Damn those gators! Next up – sticking with the Sunshine State, do you know that old expression “is there a bottle of wine from your pants or are you just happy to see me?”. Well, first the answer to that question is always yes. And second, yeah sometimes there might actually be a bottle of wine stuffed down your pants. And wine that is crazy expensive at that!

It was a vintage theft ... literally.

A man who visited the Total Wine & More outlet in Estero on Thursday allegedly took nearly $800 in wine, using multiple trips to spirit the spirits out in his pants.

In a request to try to identify the accused wine thief, the Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers provided a surveillance photograph of the man, who was wearing a mask.
A man who visited the Total Wine store in Estero store Thursday made off with nearly $800 in wine, using multiple trips to spirit the spirits out, smuggling the bottles out in his pants.

His triple-visit, seven-bottle theft took fewer than 15 minutes.

He first sauntered into the store at 2:43 p.m., allegedly hijacking two bottles of cabernet, the report suggests.
https://www.news-press.com/story/news/crime/2020/06/15/florida-man-accused-stuffing-wine-pants-total-wine-more-estero/3193402001/




That damn Merlot, it ruins everything doesn’t it? Next up – even the DEA is dumb. You know that whole good cop – bad cop routine? Well what if there was a bad cop – even worse cop? Well, the even worse cop got caught being, well, even worse than usual. And if it’s a fraud scheme that you got caught for, well, there’s no coming back from that. And this guy got caught in maybe the worst way possible.

A former Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman admitted in court on Thursday to creating an elaborate scheme where he posed as a covert CIA agent.

Garrison Kenneth Courtney, 44, pleaded guilty to a fraud charge in Eastern District of Virginia's federal court Thursday morning.

He admitted to duping public officials and companies into believing he worked with the CIA and ultimately defrauded a dozen companies of more than $4 million, according to his plea.

Courtney took extraordinary steps to convince public officials and companies he was working for the CIA undercover, including by implying to the companies he was a secret agent on a classified US defense and intelligence "task force" that had been established by top officials like the president or the attorney general, according to his statement of offense.
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/06/11/politics/dea-cia-fraud/index.html




Damn right!!! Man I miss that show. Finally this week – of course we end with Florida. But maybe this time don’t let your kid drive! Ever! There’s no excuse for that, and yeah I get that kids love cars, especially young boys. I know, I was one at one point. But there’s no excuse for this stupidity, but then again I am reminded of what state this is in.

A Florida man is facing felony charges after police said he let a 12-year-old girl drive his SUV and told her to speed because he wanted to be a “cool father” — even though he is not her dad.

Shaun Michaelsen, 41, told the arresting officer Monday he is friends with the girl's mother and that the girl and her friend were staying with him for a few days, according to court records.

He said the girl had asked earlier in the day if she could drive his Jeep, so he thought “it would be cool" and that he was trying to be a “cool father,” the police report said. Michaelsen also told officers he had been drinking.

Jupiter Officer Craig Yochum said in his arrest report that he spotted the Jeep make an illegal U-turn and then speed away at about 12:10 a.m. Monday. He followed and the Jeep reached speeds of 85 mph in a 45 mph zone before he was able to pull it over. He said that when he asked the 12-year-
https://www.kwqc.com/content/news/Police-Florida-man-lets-12-year-old-drive-Jeep-85-mph-571135401.html




That’s it this week for:




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[font size="8"]Road To The White House
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Welcome to our segment where we are documenting Joe Biden’s road to the White House! Yes, it’s been quite the tumultuous time here in the states because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But things are getting better and gradually progressing. Of course it happens to be an election year. Maybe god is trying to send us a message? Last week we talked about the rising blue tide in the Lone Star State of Texas, this week – we’re talking about Biden’s support among the holier-than-thou crowd. Yes, my people, the tide might finally be turning in America’s congregations. It seems 40 years of toxic conservatism is finally starting to grate on America’s evangelicals.

“Lord have mercy,” he replied with a chuckle when Clout asked why it was necessary to compile a collection of essays in a book titled The Spiritual Danger of Donald Trump: 30 Evangelicals on Justice, Truth and Moral Integrity.

Sider is an emeritus professor of theology, holistic ministry, and public policy at Palmer Theological Seminary in Montgomery County. He said white evangelical voters overwhelmingly supported President Donald Trump in 2016 even though he “is clearly racist, repeatedly says awful things about women, [and] has policies on questions of racial justice, economic justice, and environmental issues that fundamentally contradict biblical norms.”

The book Sider edited arrived this month, when racial strife has been thrust once again to the forefront of public life, following the deaths of African Americans at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Louisville, and Atlanta.

Sider calls on white evangelicals to confront racism.

"Donald Trump, instead of uniting the country, is stoking that racism,” he said. “They want Jesus to be lord of their politics. I don’t think they’ve thought very much about that.”
https://www.inquirer.com/politics/clout/donald-trump-racism-white-evangelicals-gop-spirituality-20200619.html




Yes, the Ned Flanders types are finally coming around to being liberal after nearly 40 years of supporting ultra-hard right policies and fantasies. Gee, you think that may be bad for business? Well while normally Democrats don’t touch the evangelical vote, Biden is embracing them with open arms. Well I hope they turn a blind eye to Trump because you know that some won’t change their opinions no matter how hard you try.

A Sunday report from Politico claimed that U.S. President Donald Trump’s allies are worried that Joe Biden’s rising evangelical support may pose a threat to the president’s reelection in November. According to the report, Biden is following in former President Barack Obama’s footsteps and reaching out to the evangelical community — a strategy that allegedly worked by doubling Democratic support among young white evangelicals and increasing support from the overall demographic by three points in the 2004 presidential election.

“Such an outcome could deal a fatal blow to the president’s reelection, which largely hinges on expanding his support with religious voters to compensate for enthusiasm gaps elsewhere,” the report reads.

According to David Brody, chief political analyst at the Christian Broadcasting Network, Trump needs 81 percent support or more from this demographic to win reelection.

As reported by The Washington Post, approximately one-third of Trump’s support in 2016 came from evangelicals. According to Pew Research Center data from last year, 77 percent of white evangelical Protestants identify as Republican or Republican-leaning. Despite this overlap between religion and party, Public Religion Research Institute data released earlier this month suggests that Trump has lost 20 points in support from evangelical voters since March, with a similar loss observed among white Catholics.
https://www.inquisitr.com/6123851/trump-biden-evangelical-support/




if you don’t want to feel bad about yourself, don’t vote for Donald J. Trump! See how simple that is? We need someone who is going to try to unite America, and man we need someone like this now more than ever especially in the face of the worst pandemic in over a century. Even Catholics – Catholics!!! Are starting to turn the tide towards Biden, and they’re the kind of people who won’t change their mind for anything!

White evangelicals and white Catholics still overwhelmingly support President Donald Trump over former Vice President Joe Biden, even though both groups have slightly pushed back from Trump in the past three months.

Trump holds a 12-point advantage over Biden among white Catholics, 50 percent versus 38 percent, despite the Democratic presidential candidate being a white Catholic himself, a new Data for Progress tracking poll finds. Several surveys of voters released during the coronavirus pandemic and the George Floyd protests revealed that white evangelical support for Trump dropped by about 10 points - but pollsters and political analysts say an overwhelming majority of the group will come out in support of the Republican Party candidate on November 3.

Eastern Illinois University associate professor and pastor Dr. Ryan Burge told Newsweek Tuesday he believes the double-digit decline in white evangelical support for Trump between May and June was a "blip." Trump will still win at least 75 percent of their vote this year, he maintains. Trump pulled in 75.8 percent of the white evangelical vote in 2016.

Despite another election cycle effort by the news media to portray white Christians as walking away from the Republican Party, Burge says, they aren't going anywhere.
https://www.newsweek.com/vast-majority-white-catholics-evangelicals-support-trump-over-biden-polls-1512840




But the biggest mystery of the 2020 election overall – while Christians are still overwhelmingly voting in favor of Trump, could this be enough to finally give him the heave ho? Even the once heavily GOP favored born again segment is finally starting to realize that supporting Trump and dangerous republican, white supremacist ideologies might finally be bad for business.

One in Four American adults identify as a born-again or evangelical Christian. At 22 per cent of the population, Roman Catholics are almost as numerous. An insidious US Christian nationalism is abroad. Religious influences amongst almost half the voting population in November 2020 will matter.

Exit polls at the 2016 Presidential election, commissioned by the respected Pew Foundation, showed 81 per cent of evangelical Christians voted for Donald Trump; disaggregated, 60 per cent were White Catholics and 21 per cent Hispanic Catholics. Compared with Obama in 2012, Hillary Clinton lost between 3-5 per cent of such voters. Overall, Trump’s White Christian vote was older, poorer and less educated. His support increased with reported frequency of church attendance.

How, you might ask, can this be? Does the Christianity of White America make no difference to the kind of person sought as President? Not entirely. Two thirds of White Catholics in a March 2020 Brookings survey thought that the statement Trump “fights for what I believe in” corresponded well, or fairly well, with their beliefs, notably about abortion and gay marriage. They also believed they were winning the “culture wars”, but unsurprisingly had mixed feelings about Trump’s personal conduct. But evangelicals tended to discount his conduct on grounds that God often chose flawed people for his purposes. Some, echoing Israel’s Netanyahu, compared Trump to Cyrus the Great, who liberated the Jews from their Babylonian captivity 2,500 years ago.
https://www.thearticle.com/will-americas-christians-give-trump-a-second-term




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

We’re taking a couple of weeks off but when we come back we’ll explore some states that are heavily pro Joe and heavily pro Trump.


We are taking a short break next week, we’ll be back on July 15th with our first ever Top 10 Hot 10 Edition! See you in two weeks!

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June 24, 2020

Top 10 Conservative Idiots #9-2: Kung Flu: Enter The Fist Edition


Top 10 Conservative Idiots #9-2: Kung Flu: Enter The Fist Edition

Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! How’s everybody doing? Are you guys doing fucking good? I know, right? Another week under the Coronavirus, another week of absolute insanity, and it’s not ending anytime soon. Man do I miss live audiences. But next week we might have to do a deep dive into the White Male Groper’s Club. They have added a lot of new members recently – there’s Chris D’Leia, there’s Danny Masterson, there’s Jeffrey Ross, there’s Ansel Elgort, the list just goes on and on and on. And speaking of Ansel Elgort, this really ruins one of my favorite flicks of the last few years, the movie Baby Driver. Which of course you know revolves around a getaway driver for a ruthless mob boss played by Kevin Spacey. So in one movie they have Kevin Spacey who’s a ruthless grab asser, and now they have Ansel Elgort, who’s also a ruthless grab asser. Like really, WTF is going on here? What were they thinking when they cast this movie? It’s still a great movie, but I can never view it in the same light now. But the irony that the two are trying to stay out of jail. And speaking of jail, OK that’s enough of the intro right now because we have a lot of idiocy to get to. But first John Oliver is back and the latest Last Week Tonight spells doom on America’s prisons, yet another industry surrounded by corruption and greed that is falling prey to the beast known as COVID-19:



Where do we begin this week? Well in the number one slot, we are finally beginning to recognize the end of slavery, known around the world as June 19th, or Juneteenth, for the day it is. But all attention is on the guy who we call president, Donald J. Trump (1) and his first MAGA rally since the Coronavirus outbreak began in Tulsa. And it was quite the shit show! Taking the second slot this week, is also Donald Trump (2) and this week the SCOTUS decisions that have been coming down the pike are really riling up everything that DJT stands for, and boy is he pissed! Triggered, perhaps? Taking the third slot this week is Florida Man Matt Gaetz (3). He stepped in it with a Twitter feud with Sons Of Anarchy actor Ron Pearlman, and it is escalating into a real life fight with Ted Cruz joining at the helm! Yeah that really happened! In the number 4 slot this week is also Donald Trump (4) and is he getting lazier, or is his health really deteriorating? Experts weigh in on his health after his absolutely disastrous speech at the West Point graduation ceremony. Taking the 5th slot this week is our weekly investigative piece, Top 10 Investigates (5) and this week, Americans are the unhappiest that we’ve been in almost 50 years, and we will get to the bottom of the news and it’s not good. At slot #6 this week is our weekly visit to the Holy Church Of The Top 10 in “Holy Shit” and this week, after Christian conservatives get their asses handed to them by SCOTUS, are they going to jump ship or stay the course? Our resident pastor will detail two plots they could undertake. Taking the 7th slot this week, instead of “How Is This StilL A Thing?”, we’re going to ask instead, “How Is This *NOT* A Thing?” and for our first segment we’re going to ask why isn’t the day marked as the end of slavery, Juneteenth, a national holiday? It really truly boggles the mind. In the 8th slot this week we have a new edition of Conspiracy Corner, were K-Pop fans and America’s teenagers responsible for the empty seats at Trump’s Tulsa rally? Yeah probably but they just didn’t show up! In the number 9 (NEIN!!!) slot this week we have an all new “I Need A Drink”, and we’re going to have some drinks and tell you what it’s going to be like as movie studios restart production. How do you film movies in the socially distant era? Well, we need some drinks! Finally this week in our ongoing coverage of the Road To The White House, is it possible that Joe Biden could actually flip the state of Texas? It’s possible and also not possible! Enjoy! And as always don’t forget the key!

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[font size="8"]Donald Trump
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Everyone knew that Trump holding an indoor event in the middle of the deadliest pandemic in 100 years was a colossally bad idea. And holding it in Tulsa, Oklahoma – the site of America’s worst race riot, on the day that slavery was ended – was also a bad idea. But allow me to engage in a bit of schadenfreude here. Because, nobody showed up! That’s right – absolutely nobody showed up to this rally. Don’t worry, we will get to that in a bit here. But he can make all the excuses all he wants, the fact of the matter is that COVID still reigns supreme, and until we start reeling in this monster, we can kiss large stadium gatherings like this goodbye. But that didn’t stop his most hardcore fans from showing up.

President Donald Trump is "furious" at the "underwhelming" crowd at his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday evening, a major disappointment for what had been expected to be a raucous return to the campaign trail after three months off because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to multiple people close to the White House.

The president was fuming at his top political aides Saturday even before the rally began after his campaign revealed that six members of the advance team on the ground in Tulsa had tested positive for COVID-19, including Secret Service personnel, a person familiar with the discussions said.

Trump asked those around him why the information was exposed and expressed annoyance that the coverage ahead of his mega-rally was dominated by the revelation.

While the Trump re-election effort boasted that it would fill BOK Center, which seats more than 19,000 people, only 6,200 supporters ultimately occupied the general admission sections, the Tulsa fire marshal told NBC News.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/trump-furious-underwhelming-crowd-tulsa-rally-n1231674




Ooh boy this one hit Trump where it hurts! Yes, he’s about as mad as an angry, animated Lewis Black with flames shooting out of his head. Of course, anger is the only emotion that Trump knows. Does he know fear? No. Does he know compassion? No. Does he know disgust? No. Does he know Joy? Hell freaking no! Trump wouldn’t know joy if it bit him in his ass! So he’s hopping mad about what happened in Tulsa, and it was glorious. This might be my favorite thing about this whole rally. Can we throw that image up there?



May that image be forever known as the downfall of the Trump administration! And I love all of the Spinal Tap comparisons – Trump might be at that stage.

Plus, the history of Trump campaign managers has an eerie similarity to the history of Spinal Tap drummers. In the 2016 campaign, Lewandowski gave way to Paul Manafort (remember him!) who gave way to Kellyanne Conway. And throughout it all, there were whispers that Kushner or Ivanka (or both) were the real brains behind the operation. Or that Trump himself was effectively managing his own campaign, making all the important calls about what do say and do.

Parscale is, without question then, the most likely target of Trump's anger. But go back to Kaitlan's tweet -- this part in particular: "Anyone, including WH aides, could be fired depending on coverage."

The key -- and revealing -- bit there is "depending on coverage." Trump is seething, yes. But he's also watching cable TV. And taking calls. And making calls. And trying to suss out -- from all of that -- who the collective "they" are blaming for the Tulsa rally debacle. That, as much as his own sense, will determine who gets fired.

Because, again, Trump is all about perception: It's not about whose fault it really is that the crowd over the weekend didn't live up to the hype. (In truth, there's no way it's one person's fault.) It's about who the media, his friends and major party donors blame. That's the person Trump will blame.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/22/politics/trump-rally-tulsa-2020/index.html




Oh god that movie is a classic. I could totally see Trump going down that road. Maybe next he will open up for petting zoos and puppet shows. Assuming we have such activities in the near future. But you can bet there will be some firings and when that happens, get ready for the return of the Trumper Games! I mean this whole year just can’t get any weirder. And Trump’s gone through as many cabinet members as Spinal Tap has drummers. At Trump got him some ratings! Oh, those sweet, sweet ratings!

Now it’s apparent where many of President Donald Trump’s supporters who stayed away from Saturday’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, were instead: they were home watching it on television.

Fox News Channel, which aired Trump’s speech live, had the biggest Saturday night audience in the network’s 24-year history, the Nielsen company said. During Trump’s address at 9 p.m. on Saturday, Fox had 8.2 million people watching.

CNN and MSNBC aired only clips of Trump talking, yet each news network had about twice as many viewers as they normally get on Saturday nights. Collectively, the three networks had nearly 12 million viewers for its Trump coverage, Nielsen said.

For those in Oklahoma, the night’s biggest story was the arena’s empty seats.

In the absence of sports or first-run scripted series, news continues to be the dominant force in television viewing. Fox News Channel’s prime-time average of 3.68 million viewers for the week topped all broadcast and cable networks.
https://apnews.com/c9e9a3808ea5ff2280944f5d57e53daa




Yeah so there’s no sports, or recreation, or entertainment of any kind during this nightmare known as COVID-19. So Trump is the only game in town! He’s literally the kind of guy who would find a way to broadcast from the Springfield badlands while the entire world was held hostage by a nuclear bomb, and I wouldn’t put that past him. But that’s not stopping him from taking his show on the road!

President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit the Arizona-Mexico border, then hold a rally in Phoenix on Tuesday.

His visit to Arizona comes as the state is experiencing large increases in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

The president recognized two of Arizona's most prominent Republican officials, Gov. Doug Ducey and U.S. Senator Martha McSally.

Ducey was greeted with some "boos" from the crowd.

But Trump complimented Ducey for the work he's done in Arizona and his win at the polls nearly two years ago.

The President said he asked Ducey how Trump was doing in the state, "He said you're doing really well and I said good because he knows better than anybody."

Trump asked the crowd to support McSally in November because she supports the border wall. Plus, Trump said, her opponent Mark Kelly "is very weak on China and other things."
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2020/06/23/updates-president-trump-rally-tuesday-arizona/3238171001/





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[font size="8"]2020 SCOTUS Session, Round 1
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The tide is most definitely turning folks, and boy does it need it more than ever. After Trump brought us to the brink of World War III, and he brought us to the brink of annihilation with COVID, it seems people are fighting back and hopping mad. Sit tight, it’s only June, but it is going to be an absolutely rocky ride until January. But some light at the end of the tunnel – Trump lost two major blows to his administration last week. The first was the decision to overturn DACA – one of his key talking points in the 2016 election, to overturn that referendum by the Obama administration. And guess what? He not only lost on that one, he lost big time!

In a major rebuke to President Trump, the U.S. Supreme Court has blocked the administration's plan to dismantle an Obama-era program that has protected 700,000 so-called DREAMers from deportation. The vote was 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing the opinion.

Under the Obama program, qualified individuals brought to the U.S. as children were given temporary legal status if they graduated from high school or were honorably discharged from the military, and if they passed a background check. Just months after taking office, Trump moved to revoke the program, only to be blocked by lower courts — and now the Supreme Court.

Roberts' opinion for the court was a narrow but powerful rejection of the way the Trump administration went about trying to abolish the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

"We do not decide whether DACA or its rescission are sound policies," Roberts wrote. "The wisdom of those decisions is none of our concern. Here we address only whether the Administration complied with the procedural requirements in the law that insist on 'a reasoned explanation for its action.' "
https://www.npr.org/2020/06/18/829858289/supreme-court-upholds-daca-in-blow-to-trump-administration




Yes, HA HA!!! That is a colossal blow to the Trump administration. But that wasn’t the only decision that I want to talk about. Another one of the biggest talking points of the Trump 2016 campaign was ending gay marriage and increasing discrimination. They have been trying to score points with their ultra far right religious base by pandering issues like this. And guess what? They’re on the losing side of history with this one! This is definitely some of the best news in a while, and boy did we need a day like that!

Federal civil rights law protects gay, lesbian and transgender workers, the Supreme Court ruled Monday.

The landmark ruling will extend protections to millions of workers nationwide and is a defeat for the Trump administration, which argued that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act that bars discrimination based on sex did not extend to claims of gender identity and sexual orientation.

The 6-3 opinion was written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump's first Supreme Court nominee, and joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and the court's four liberal justices.

"An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids," Gorsuch wrote. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/15/politics/supreme-court-lgbtq-employment-case/index.html




Yes, that is why you fail! So two huge blows to the Trump campaign. And if you fail that hard, you might as well fail in such a way that people scream “Wow, that guy failed!”. So while 2020 may be one of the most miserable failures of a year that we’ve seen in history, there are some bright spots. And what else does SCOTUS have on the horizon for this year? We’ll definitely cover these as they happen.

The Supreme Court delivered surprising wins to liberals this week in a pair of blockbuster decisions that forbade businesses from firing workers base on their sexual orientation or gender identity and halted the Trump administration’s efforts to end the Obama-era DACA program, which shields the young migrants known as “Dreamers.”

But those on the left still see potential danger ahead. In the coming days, the top court is expected to hand down a decision in a high-profile abortion dispute that could provide signals about how the panel, which counts two appointees of President Donald Trump in its conservative majority, will treat reproductive rights in the years to come.

“Kind of feels like we’re being softened up for the blow, huh?” Sasha Samberg-Champion, a liberal civil rights lawyer and former Justice Department attorney, wrote in a representative post on Twitter on Thursday, after the DACA decision was released.

“Progressives must keep their guard up,” Brian Fallon, the executive director of Demand Justice, a Supreme Court activist group, said in a statement.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/21/supreme-court-abortion-case-could-end-or-add-to-liberal-win-streak.html




Here’s the thing progressives, while we can’t go out and hold victory parades just yet, we can’t get too cocky or arrogant. We must savor each victory while it lasts, because who knows what tomorrow will hold? And please tell me because even I don’t know! But one that could potentially be as damaging as abortion is a 2nd amendment case - but thankfully SCOTUS is giving the gun rights advocates the heave ho for now!

The Supreme Court declined on Monday to take up several cases regarding the scope of the Second Amendment.

Despite a low hurdle for the right-leaning Supreme Court, the justices turned down petitions from 10 challenges to state laws established to limit the availability and accessibility of some firearms and when they can be carried in public.

It's been over a decade since 2008's landmark 5-4 ruling in District of Columbia v Heller that held the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms at home for self-defense. Except for a follow-up decision two years later, the court has not weighed in on Second Amendment rights significantly again.

In April, the court also declined to weigh in on the issue.

Five of the 10 cases the court declined to look at asked the justices to determine whether the Second Amendment allows the government to restrict the ability of citizens to carry a firearm outside the home to those with "good cause" or "justifiable need" to do so. Two of the cases were high-profile challenges to state laws involving bans on certain semiautomatic firearms and high capacity magazines, one from Illinois and one from Massachusetts. The remaining three cases had a narrower scope, but none of the 10 will be argued before the justices.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/15/politics/second-amendment-supreme-court/index.html





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[font size="8"]Matt Gaetz vs Ron Pearlman
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You know I love a good beef. Of course you know that Florida Man has representatives in Congress. And Matt Gaetz is that Florida Man. He’s had not one, not two, but 7 DUIs. You know, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 7 times, well, you must be Matt Gaetz! Now Matt, you shouldn’t have picked a fight with 73 year old Ron Pearlman, who was the star of the show Sons Of Anarchy, a show about murderous vigilante biker gangs who hawk dangerous weapons and drugs to unseen masses. What did you learn, Matt? Oh who am I kidding? The guy who has 7 DUIs apparently doesn’t learn anything! But this fight between a celebrity and a representative is the perfect reason why 2020 is a very strange and weird time to be alive.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and actor Ron Perlman spent part of Sunday feuding with each on Twitter after Perlman blasted the congressman for criticizing the U.S. Soccer board of directors' recent vote to repeal a policy that required players to stand for the national anthem.

The board voted earlier this week to repeal the policy, which the league enacted years back after U.S. women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe joined NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and other athletes in taking a knee during the national anthem before games in their respective sports to protest police brutality and racism.

The repeal follows weeks of protests against racial inequality and police treatment of people of color in the country prompted by the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other African Americans.

Gaetz was one of a number of Republican lawmakers, including President Trump, who knocked the soccer federation earlier this week after news broke of the vote to repeal the policy.
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/502692-ron-perlman-matt-gaetz-get-into-back-and-forth-on-twitter




Oh yes they are! Now here’s where it gets weird. As if things escalated quickly between Perlman and Gaetz, if you’re going to use a pop culture reference against someone, let alone someone who starred in the show itself, at least, I don’t know, maybe watch the show itself? Yeah because when you do and you fail to use the reference as it was intended, well, you are the one who is the loser.

The latest fight between a Hollywood star and a Republican came this weekend between Ron Perlman and Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, after the pro-Trump politician condemned the U.S. Soccer Federation for removing a requirement for players to stand during the national anthem.

But Gaetz’s attempt to clap back at the “Hellboy” star backfired after he attempted to suggest Perlman was a hypocrite for opposing racism even though he played a villainous motorcycle gang leader on FX’s “Sons of Anarchy.”

Gaetz said on Twitter this past week that he was planning to write a bill forcing athletes on USSF teams to stand during the anthem. Some U.S. Soccer players such as two-time World Cup champion Megan Rapinoe have made headlines in the past for kneeling during the traditional pre-match playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

“If our soccer team is going to disrespect our anthem and our flag, it is not essential for us to have,” Gaetz tweeted.
https://www.thewrap.com/matt-gaetzs-feud-with-ron-perlman-leads-to-a-backfired-insult/




Now that’s how you use a Sons Of Anarchy reference! As if this story couldn’t get any weirder, Matt Gaetz got some backing from another Trump backer – Ted Cruz. Yes, Mr. Machine Gun Bacon managed to insert himself in between the beef with Matt Gaetz and Ron Perlman, and offered to turn this free for all into an actual free for all! Because if there’s one social media faux pas you don’t commit, it’s that you don’t take sides in a beef!

What starts with soccer, ends with wrestling and lasts the better part of three days? That would be Ron Perlman’s recent Twitter feud with Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Matt Gaetz.

Among the edgy vocabulary in the poo-flinging contest: “racial justice warrior,” “wokeness,” “gerrymandered,” “triggered,” “dog whistles,” “white supremacy” and more, along with some really choice profanity. It hardly gets more Twitter-esque among the verified-account crowd.

“Sons of Anarchy” actor Perlman and Gaetz, a Florida Republican, clashed on Saturday after President Trump reweeted a Thursday tweet from Gaetz shading the U.S. Soccer Federation’s decision Wednesday to roll back a 2017 regulation requiring players to stand during the national anthem.

“I’d rather the US not have a soccer team than have a soccer team that won’t stand for the National Anthem,” Gaetz tweeted. “You shouldn’t get to play under our flag as our national team if you won’t stand when it is raised.”
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2020-06-15/ron-perlman-tangles-with-sen-ted-cruz-rep-matt-gaetz-on-twitter




First rule of Twitter beefs, you do not talk about Twitter beefs! Oh and by the way in case you think Matt Gaetz couldn’t possibly get any dumber, I love that he shared this photo of him with another guy and attempts to explain that the other guy is his adopted son. And no, I can guarantee no one was wondering if this guy was his adopted son.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) announced he has an adopted Cuban teenage son the day after a heated exchange with Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), in which the Democratic lawmaker invoked his experience raising a black son as a reason for pushing for strong police reform.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) announced he has an adopted Cuban teenage son the day after a heated exchange with Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), in which the Democratic lawmaker invoked his experience raising a black son as a reason for pushing for strong police reform.

The jousting took place during the House Judiciary Committee markup of police reform legislation offered by Democrats. The bill would ban chokeholds, mandate body cameras, make lynching a federal crime, prohibit no-knock warrants in drug cases and establish a federal registry of officers accused of misconduct. Gaetz opposes the bill.

Gaetz reacted at the Wednesday night hearing in anger after Richmond said “as a black male ... who was a victim of excessive force, who has a black son, who has worries that you all don’t, and to my colleagues, especially the ones that keep introducing amendments that are a tangent and a distraction from what we’re talking about, you all are white males.”

Gaetz initially sought to turn the discussion about law enforcement into a question of whether the two lawmakers could equally relate to the fear of police brutality happening to their children on a personal level.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/503608-gaetz-tweets-photo-of-teenage-adopted-son-after-hearing-battle





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[font size="8"]Donald Trump
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So Donald J. Trump is worried about his mental health? Well, it’s good that he’s finally addressing the real problem. Well, the DSM defines narcissism and egomaniacism as a “a grandiose sense of self-importance”. And no one feels the need to gratify himself with pictures of himself than our 45th president, Donald J. Trump. But before we get into the meat of this entry, let’s take a look at what happened after the Tulsa rally. This definitely fits that definition of having a need to constantly satisfy himself!

According to a report from Business Insider, when President Trump’s advisors looked out at the rows of empty seats before his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, this past weekend, they began “frantically texting friends and supporters who lived nearby in a late bid to fill the indoor arena’s 19,000 seats.”

According to one Trump staffer, they wished Air Force had turned around in mid-air in order to save Trump any embarrassment.

“Ultimately, Trump went through with his 2020 campaign’s big return rally in Oklahoma after months in a COVID-19 quarantine lockdown, empty seats and all,” Business Insider reports. “None of the eight Trump advisers interviewed by Insider had positive things to say about an event that has since sparked all manner of soul-searching and finger-pointing as the president’s campaign looks to find its footing against presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden with a little more than four months to go until Election Day.”

According to the report, a “big shakeup” in the Trump campaign is likely due to the debacle.
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/06/trumps-aides-wanted-air-force-one-turned-around-in-mid-air-to-spare-him-embarrassment-of-low-tulsa-turnout-report/




Turning around Air Force One so you can have an admiring crowd that was the size you were originally told it was, even though no one showed up? Oh you better believe that’s a paddlin! So in addition to narcissism, he also has an unprecedented rage disorder. Yes, he is one very angry mofo. And man is he pissed off at something. Though no one really knows what he is pissed off at! He’s so angry he doesn’t know what he is angry at!

At West Point, President Trump gave a commencement speech. During the speech, he attempted to drink a glass of water using his right hand, then appeared to need the support of his left hand to tip the glass to his mouth. This is not the first time Trump has been witnessed needing to use two hands to use a glass or bottle of water, as seen in November 2017. In February 2016, a right-handed grip was sufficient for Trump to drink a bottle of water. In that incident, he ridiculed Marco Rubio for using a water bottle during a speech. Trump flung a water bottle with his right hand, purposefully spilling water, and then drank from the bottle using only his right hand.

When exited the stage, he had a halting gait as he descended a ramp. For the last three steps, he increased his pace somewhat. The difficulty Trump is possibly having walking down a ramp caused much speculation in the press.

Trump tweeted, “The ramp I descended after my West Point Commencement [sic] speech was very long & steep, had no handrail, and most importantly, was very slippery. The last thing I was going to do is “fall” for the Fake News to have fun with. Final ten feet I ran down to level ground. Momentum!”

By tweeting about his gait, Trump drew even more attention to it. From the video footage, it appears that the point at which Trump “speeds up” is not ten feet. The motion does not qualify as “running.” Maggie Haberman of The New York Times wrote that Trump’s tweet “offered a description that did not match the visuals.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniesarkis/2020/06/15/questions-continue-about-president-trumps-health/#3c210a661468




So really Trump is a narcissist and a rage-a-holic. Does that sound like anyone? Well it could describe Homer Simpson, or it could describe one of my favorite TV characters of all time, George Costnaza. Yes, Trump is a real life George Costanza. He’s one of the most deceitful, depraved minds known to mankind, and that’s not a good thing! At least George Costanza was funny, Trump is serious.

President Donald Trump's ardent defense of his unsteady-appearing descent down a ramp this weekend at the US Military Academy thrust questions about his physical condition back to the fore.

In a tweet, Trump insisted the slope was "very long & steep, had no handrail and, most importantly, was very slippery," though it had not rained beforehand and others were seen walking normally down the decline.

During the same event, the awkward way Trump sipped water from a glass also raised questions. Trump appeared to have difficulty lifting his right arm to his mouth, so he used his left hand to push the bottom of the glass higher.

Trump did not address the water glass episode on Twitter, defending instead the way he cautiously took to the ramp alongside West Point superintendent Lt. Gen. Darryl Williams. He said that slipping down the ramp would have been disastrous.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/15/politics/donald-trump-health-ramp-water/index.html




Yes, come on down to the wacky shack, Trump! You think that’s bad, you should climb up Bart and Milhouse’s stairs! But just like Elon Musk’s tweets, a Trump rage can cause mass speculation around the world and tank some stocks! Be careful what you wish for, guys! Seriously, this guy is bonkers, and he’s definitely not well – physically or mentally.

The White House released the results of President Donald Trump's annual physical on Wednesday, largely to a ho-hum reception.

Yes, Trump gained a pound from last year and, yes, that gives him a Body Mass Index of 30.5, meaning he is technically "obese." On a more positive note, Trump's cholesterol dropped to 167 -- down from 196 in 2019 and an unhealthy 223 in 2018.

"There were no findings of significance or changes to report," White House physician Sean Conley wrote in a memo detailing the results of the physical.

What the coverage of this seemingly humdrum health report overlooks is this fundamental reality: We know less about Trump's medical history than almost any president (or even most presidential candidates) of the modern era. And that fact is made all the more remarkable by the fact that Trump is the oldest president ever elected to a first term.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/04/politics/donald-trump-physical-health/index.html





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[font size="8"]Top 10 Investigates: American Unhappiness Index

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It’s time to investigate beyond the headlines. This is Top 10 Investigates!



Are you happy? It’s nearly impossible to find happiness in the year 2020. Because while Americans strive for happiness, a lot of dreams and realities have been squashed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned world economies upside down and disrupted supply chains all over the globe. While the need for personal material possessions has diminished, that doesn’t necessarily make people happy. And in this year 2020, a year that has been met by Coronavirus turmoil and protests and looting following the death of George Floyd, people are finding that Americans are the unhappiest they’ve ever been in the last 50 years, and that is an easy prediction to make.

It’s been a rough year for the American psyche. Folks in the U.S. are more unhappy today than they’ve been in nearly 50 years.

This bold — yet unsurprising — conclusion comes from the COVID Response Tracking Study, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago. It finds that just 14% of American adults say they’re very happy, down from 31% who said the same in 2018. That year, 23% said they’d often or sometimes felt isolated in recent weeks. Now, 50% say that.

The survey, conducted in late May, draws on nearly a half-century of research from the General Social Survey, which has collected data on American attitudes and behaviors at least every other year since 1972. No less than 29% of Americans have ever called themselves very happy in that survey.

Most of the new survey’s interviews were completed before the death of George Floyd touched off nationwide protests and a global conversation about race and police brutality, adding to the feelings of stress and loneliness Americans were already facing from the coronavirus outbreak — especially for black Americans.
https://apnews.com/0f6b9be04fa0d3194401821a72665a50




Can the happiness index be improved? Well there’s many ways that this could happen, or it could not happen. But what about another factor of unhappiness – loneliness? The pandemic has also created an epidemic of loneliness, as more and more Americans experience being alone while unable to congregate in groups of any size because of the severity of the virus.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

Turns out people in the U.S. are unhappier today than they’ve been in nearly 50 years, and about twice as many Americans report being lonely today as in 2018.

So concludes a study conducted by NORC — the National Opinion Research Center — at the University of Chicago. It finds that just 14% of American adults say they’re very happy, down from 31% who said the same in 2018. No fewer than 29% of Americans have ever called themselves very happy in the survey before this year.

Fifty percent also say they’d often or sometimes felt isolated in recent weeks, up from 23% who said that in 2018. And 45% say they sometimes or often have felt a lack of companionship, as compared to 27% in 2018.

This lends credence to the notion discussed in mental health care circles about a “loneliness epidemic.”
https://www.greensboro.com/opinion/editorials/our-opinion-an-unhappy-nation/article_97301493-5847-5eba-81c3-93de677e5019.html




That’s about what it is like anymore in a world without sports, concerts, restaurants, or gatherings of any kind. But there is an underlying hidden danger of the pandemic that’s not being discussed, and that is a mental health crisis. The pandemic has created separation anxiety and depression, among other illnesses that can be caused mentally as well as physically. But it is getting harder to cope with the outside world.

Health care workers who we all appreciate very much are at risk for developing lingering effects, including post traumatic stress disorder. Many are very exhausted and struggling with the deaths of patients and colleagues.

USA Today said that studies were conducted to better understand how Americans are coping during this unprecedented time, with millions sickened and more than 120,000 dead in a pandemic.

And then add to that, anti-racism protests happening all over the country and an economy in shambles after its longest expansion in history.

More than 70% of Americans in the APA report said this is the lowest point in the nation's history they can remember.

One expert said that when people are overwhelmed and when stressors exceed your ability to handle them, it is much harder to cope and address the concerns in day to day living.

Read More: Mental Health Crisis in the United States | https://wbckfm.com/mental-health-crisis-in-the-united-states/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral




Yes, do the happy dance! Although be careful what you wish for, because even in the happiest country in the entire world – the Scandinavian country of Finland, even they have their issues. But don’t let this news get you down. Instead use it because while you might think things are bad now, they can almost always be worse.

Finland was No. 1 out of 156 countries on the 2019 “World Happiness Report,” followed by Denmark, Norway, Iceland, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The U.S. trailed at No. 19. The top countries ranked highly on all the main factors found to support happiness: caring, freedom, generosity, honesty, health, income and good governance.

“Governments set the institutional and policy framework in which individuals, businesses and governments themselves operate,” the authors wrote. “The links between the government and happiness operate in both directions: What governments do affects happiness and, in turn, the happiness of citizens in most countries determines what kind of governments they support.”

The “World Happiness Report” polled 1,000 residents per country by research organization Gallup. Where necessary, Gallup seeks the permissions of national, regional and local governments. “Happier people are not only more likely to engage in politics and vote, but are also more likely to vote for incumbent parties,” the report concluded. The report is produced by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network in partnership with the Ernesto Illy Foundation.

Finland also ranks at the top of the Organization for Economic Cooperation’s “Better Life Index” in education, skills, subjective well-being, and it ranks above average for income and wealth, jobs and earnings, health status, environmental quality, personal security, social connections, housing and work-life balance but below in civic engagement. They rate their general life satisfaction 7.6 out of 10, considerably higher than the OECD average of 6.5, the Paris-based research body said.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/people-reach-their-lowest-depth-of-misery-at-50-but-life-improves-after-that-heres-why-2020-01-13




That’s it for Top 10 Investigates. Good day.



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Gather around my fair brothers and sisters! It’s time to take a seat in the pew and pass the collection plate, for the Holy Church Of The Top 10 has convened and it’s time to remind you that the holiest among us are the most full of:



My fair congregation! You know when the actual, real-life churches aren’t congregating in public, I have to say we’re getting starved for material here. But you know my one rule here is that I never, under any circumstances mention the unholy, ungodly Dark One, by name! For he is the DEVIL himself, and he is out of control! While most of us were marveling at what was going on in Tulsa, here’s why people still showed up anyways! Because he is the preacher, and his sermons are a lot like church. But what really disturbs me is that my brothers and sisters on the right think of him like some sort of GAWD. Well there’s only one GAWD and I’m pretty sure that he wouldn’t like people praying in his name, and it says so right in our Good Book!

Yusif Jones, standing in front of a long row of porta-potties, slides his plastic Trump mask over his face. “I’m him!” he exclaims. He puffs up his chest in his homemade Trump shirt. It’s a short-sleeved American flag pullover, onto which he has ironed black felt letters across vertical red and white stripes: GOT TRUMP? Then he flashes the O.K. sign, a silver ring on his pinky. “I’m him, dude!”

For Trump supporters like Jones, the O.K. sign—thumb meeting index finger, three fingers splayed—is a kind of secret handshake. It began as a joke—a “hoax” meant to trick liberals into believing that the raised fingers actually represent the letters WP: white power. The joke worked so well that it became real. Now, in certain circles, O.K. does mean white power—unless you say it doesn’t. Jones, a big, vein-popping, occasionally church-going white man burdened with what he calls an “Islamic” name by his hippie mother, revels in this kind of coded message, a sense of possessing knowledge shared only by a select few. It’s Möbius strip politics, Trumpism’s defining oxymoron: a populist elite, a mass movement of “free thinkers” all thinking the same thing. They love Trump because he makes them feel like insiders even as they imagine him their outsider champion. That’s what’s drawn Jones here, to the CenturyLink Center in Bossier City, Louisiana, two weeks before Thanksgiving. Like many of the president’s 14,000 followers waiting for the rally to begin, Jones believes that Trump is on a mission from God to expose (and destroy) the hidden demons of the deep state.

To attend a Trump rally is to engage directly in the ecstasy of knowing what the great man knows, divinity disguised as earthly provocation. Jones tells me about Jesse Lee Peterson, a right-wing pastor and talk show host who calls Trump “the Great White Hope.” He doubles over and slaps his knee, signaling to me that it’s another joke. “He’s black!” says Jones, meaning Jesse Lee Peterson. “I love that dude,” he says. He considers Peterson, like the White Hope himself, awesomely witty. Jones straightens up. “But it’s true!” he adds. Which is how racism works at a Trump rally, just like the president’s own trolling—signal, disavowal, repeat; the ugly words followed by the claim that it was just a joke followed by a repetition of the ugly words. Joking! Not joking. Play it again, until the ironic becomes the real.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/06/inside-the-cult-of-trump-his-rallies-are-church-and-he-is-the-gospel




You know we here at the Holy Church Of The Top 10 tend to pick on Christianity a lot, mainly because of their absorbance of super far right talking points and ideals, but we welcome all ideals and faiths, even scary death cults! So just how much has the party of he who shall not be named become a death cult in the last few years? Way more than you will ever know! And I’m sure that it’s something that the good LAWRD JAYSUS would not approve of!

Has Trumpism become a cult?

The question almost feels like a provocation. And yet more and more people, like veteran Republican strategist John Weaver, are comfortable saying, “Yes.”

Famed CBS anchor Dan Rather made the case most recently on the CNN show Reliable Sources. Even former Trump White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci has likened Donald Trump supporters to a cult.

It’s a provocative claim that I’m not sure is entirely convincing. On one hand, there is something cult-like about the hold Trump has over his supporters and the Republican Party. At the same time, calling it a cult seems too easy, a way of avoiding a much scarier truth about our politics — namely, that Trump isn’t all that exceptional.

A new book by cult expert Steven Hassan, called The Cult of Trump, is the first serious attempt to argue that Trumpism is a cult. Hassan has studied cults for years and is himself a former member of the “Moonies” cult, an offshoot of the Unification Church of the United States led by Sun Myung Moon that made headlines in 1970s.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/12/13/20992370/trump-republican-party-cult-steven-hassan




The thing with cults is that you can’t question dear leader, and you almost certainly can’t go against their core line of thinking. And that’s kind of what we do here, especially when I used to do these things in front of live audiences. Yes, these people are cults and yes they are dangerous. And the idea of a death cult has taken on a whole new meaning. So should you join this church?

Under furious pressure, President Trump is now backing off his push to quickly reopen the U.S. economy, and has instead agreed to extend the federal government’s strict social-distancing guidelines through at least the end of April.

This is being widely portrayed as a surrender — to facts, data and scientific realities that Trump tried to make disappear, before finally accepting that his magical reality-bending powers only go so far.

Which provides an occasion to suggest a deep reset in the language we’re using to describe the extraordinary dereliction of leadership we’re seeing from Trump, and from those officials around the country who have followed his lead.

By now, you’ve probably heard media figures claim that the stark differences between public officials over the true nature and scale of the coronavirus threat are rooted in “tribalism” or “polarization.”

These differences represent a “deepening partisan divide,” a new Associated Press piece reports, adding: “The divergent approaches are evidence that not even a global pandemic can bridge the gaping political divisions of the Trump era.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/30/cult-trump-is-threat-untold-numbers-american-lives/




No you don’t want to do that sir, because cults are EVIL! And they are most certainly not something that the good LAWRD JAYSUS would approve of! Because in a cult, you cannot question Dear Leader, nor can you question his motives, or anything else he does. But this leader commands a cult that encompasses 45 million people and he is determined to get rid of them. Funny, I don’t remember JAYSUS being a genocidal maniac!

In a press conference earlier this week, President Donald Trump falsely claimed his authority as president is "total." A cult expert said the assertion could be taken right out of the "cult leader playbook."

"When somebody's the president of the United States, the authority is total," he said during Monday's press briefing about the novel coronavirus — specifically about lifting social distancing measures. "And that's the way it's got to be."

Both state governors and legal scholars were quick to point out that the US Constitution gives Trump no such powers. In fact, as Business Insider previously wrote, "The 10th Amendment delegates 'police powers' to the states to regulate behavior during public-health crises."

Steven Hassan, a licensed mental health counselor, cult expert, and author of a book called "The Cult of Trump," told Insider that what he heard in Trump's Monday rhetoric was reminiscent of a classic cult leader.
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-coronavirus-total-authority-like-cult-leader-expert-2020-4




Probably not, but if you find yourself praying for this madman, you might be in one! Mass has ended, may you go in peace! That’s it this week for:




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[font size="8"]How Is This NOT A Thing: Juneteenth Holiday
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It’s time once again to ask:



This week: Juneteenth as a national holiday. How is this *NOT* a thing? In a time when systematic racism is an endemic, it seems that people are finally waking up to the atrocities being committed by America’s law enforcement. This problem has been going on for well over 40 years and does not show any signs of ending any time soon. However, Americans now want to recognize one day that should be a national holiday – the day that most mark the official end of slavery, June 19th, 1865. Known as “Juneteenth”, this has been the day that slaves were freed and also in 1921, the day of a deadly massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma. But as the plight of African Americans in the 21st century continues – in an era dominated by abusive police forces, many are recognizing the importance of Juneteenth.

Just more than half of Americans said they knew about Juneteenth, a date commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S., and even more – two-thirds – support making it a holiday, according to The Harris Poll.

President Trump took credit Thursday for making Juneteenth "very famous" after postponing until Saturday a politically rally in Tulsa, Okla.

However, this new Harris Poll, out Friday, found that 22% of Americans said they were “very” aware of the date, while 30% said they were “somewhat” aware, according to the poll of a nationally representative survey of 1,963 U.S. adults was taken June 13-15.

One-third (33%) were "not at all aware," and 15% were “not very aware," according to the findings.

Juneteenth marks the date – June 19, 1865 – when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and declared "that all persons held as slaves" had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation issued in September of 1862 and effective Jan. 1, 1863. Some enslavers ignored the order until the Union troops arrived to enforce it, according to Juneteenth.com.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2020/06/19/juneteenth-official-holiday-americans-harris-poll/3221973001/




That is a good question sir because even we don’t know! Now the idea of making Juneteenth a national holiday is not a new idea. But it is the first time since the days of Martin Luther King Jr that this idea has been. But of course while Trump is president, we can’t have nice things. Because while we’re protesting and raging at the injustices being done, Trump is bragging about how he took credit for the idea of making it a national holiday.

After firing off a pair of racially insensitive tweets the night before, President Donald Trump on Friday marked Juneteenth, a holiday that celebrates the end of slavery, with a written statement calling on Americans to commit "to live true to our highest ideals."

He chose not to say anything in public on a day that had taken on new significance in a nation roiled by racial tension over police killings of African American men, even though just days earlier, he falsely took credit for making the holiday "very famous."

He made the claim after getting blowback for scheduling a campaign rally on Juneteenth following weeks of protests calling for racial justice after the death of George Floyd.

Then, on Friday morning, he tweeted a threat against any protesters who showed up at the rally, now scheduled for Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the site of one of nation's worse race massacres.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/racially-divisive-tweets-trump-quiet-juneteenth-holiday-claims/story?id=71345439




Actually yes that really was racist. But the biggest hurdle to Juneteenth becoming a national holiday isn’t your state or local government. The biggest hurdle? Your employer. Who might not like it if you take a non-sanctioned day off. Which of course spells out the underlying irony of making Juneteenth a national holiday. Just look at what Tesla wanted to do with its’ employees on making the day a national holiday – you won’t get the time off if you request it!

On Friday morning, Tesla’s US employees received an email from Valerie Workman, the company’s head of North American human resources. She wrote that “Tesla fully supports Juneteenth for any US employee that wants to take the day off to celebrate.”

That was followed by another clarifying email from Tesla’s HR: “This is an unpaid PTO and excused absence.”

Tesla workers were confused by the message. Some were already at work by the time they received the first email, and one, who spoke with BuzzFeed News, felt it was “pointless.” The company was recognizing Juneteenth, a holiday celebrating the liberation of slaves in the United States, while telling workers they either had to take a vacation day or take the day off and not be paid.

With a national awakening to the need for racial justice following the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black Americans, corporations have taken different approaches to voice their support. Some have declared “Black Lives Matter” and committed funds and resources, while others have moved to recognize Juneteenth as a holiday.

Tesla and SpaceX, both helmed by billionaire Elon Musk, have taken a different approach.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/tesla-musk-juneteenth-holiday-unpaid-spacex




That’s about the maximum amount of time that your employer will not allow you to take off. So how do you make Juneteenth a national holiday? There’s an easy way to get the public on board with this idea, and that’s advertising! Yes, some catchy, creative advertising with big billboards and some catchy TV jingles should do the trick! That’s exactly how you change minds in the 21st century!

Despite its immense historical significance, Juneteenth—the day Union soldiers arrived Galveston, Texas in 1865 and the nation’s last enslaved people were read the Emancipation Proclamation and learned of their freedom—is not a national holiday. A group of Bay Area creatives is working to change that.

Earlier this year, Miles Dotson, Quinnton Harris and Brian Watson came together to form HellaCreative as a way to foster and build community amid the coronavirus pandemic. Around two weeks ago, the group was reflecting on all the trauma in the wake of the racism-fueled killings of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others.

“We were unearthing these feelings and we thought, ‘Why don’t we try to reclaim some of our joy and why we got together in the first place?'” Harris said.

The started asking why Juneteenth wasn’t celebrated nationwide, which became the genesis for the HellaJuneteenth project. “We decided we were going to put a flag in the ground, take off that day and try to reclaim our Black joy,” Harris said, adding, “The #HellaJuneteenth project was about how do we move forward from the conversation of trauma and rediscover the joy that has always been with us in our culture.”
https://www.adweek.com/agencies/creative-collective-juneteenth-national-holiday/




So employer difficulty and not enough advertising. That’s enough to make you ask – the Juneteenth National Holiday:




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[font size="8"]Conspiracy Corner: You Dang K-Pop Fans!!
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Welcome back to the segment where we bring you the latest in batshit crazy, Conspiracy Corner! We are broadcasting live from the darkest regions of your innermost thoughts from an underground bunker in the remote badlands of Arizona! Because where else other than the middle of the desert that we can broadcast without the government interfering with our thoughts? Well true, an Iowa cornfield would be a somewhat nicer climate. But just let me adjust my tin foil hat for maximum government interference… ah there we go! So what’s the latest coming from the minds of America’s conspiracy theorists? Trump’s Tulsa rally. And the extremely poor attendance has the rumors and conspiracies flying!

They've helped South Korean stars dominate charts and break records on social media.

Now, some K-pop fans are claiming another victory: helping foil United States President Donald Trump's return to the campaign trail.

Ahead of his Saturday night rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Trump bragged that he had about 1 million RSVPs. But when the arena didn't even reach its 19,000-person capacity, many people online were quick to give K-pop fans and TikTok users at least partial credit for the low turnout.
Prior to the rally, people on social media platforms TikTok and Twitter encouraged people to register to attend Trump's event -- and not attend. One video, with more than 300,000 views, called on fans of South Korean mega group BTS in particular to join the trolling campaign.

Following the rally, Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted at Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale, telling him he had been "rocked" by teens on TikTok flooding the Trump campaign with fake ticket reservations. "Kpop allies, we see and appreciate your contributions in the fight for justice too," she added.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/22/asia/k-pop-fandom-activism-intl-hnk/index.html




That’s right – fans of the KPOP band BTS are the ones behind the sabotage! Or are they? Maybe they’re paid operatives by liberal billionaire George Soros! But even the Trump campaign itself is not buying into that conspiracy theory! Remember last week when Trump’s campaign manager Brad Pascale said that they had almost a million tickets reserved? Well, the opposite happened.

In public, the Trump campaign has adamantly denied reports that legions of TikTokers and K-pop fans helped tank President Donald Trump's big rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday.

"Leftists and online trolls doing a victory lap, thinking they somehow impacted rally attendance, don't know what they're talking about or how our rallies work," Brad Parscale, the Trump campaign manager, said in a statement on Sunday.

"Registering for a rally means you've RSVPed with a cell phone number and we constantly weed out bogus numbers, as we did with tens of thousands at the Tulsa rally, in calculating our possible attendee pool," he said.

But behind the scenes, campaign officials anonymously told The New York Times that many people who had signed up to attend the rally were not real Trump supporters but online tricksters, adding that they likely helped inflate expectations.
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tulsa-rally-campaign-officials-admit-tiktok-kpop-fans-2020-6




So once again, Trump proves he is the great flip flopper! But the question remains – did Trump’s rally intentionally tank or is he entering the Spinal Tap phase of his career? Well that remains to be seen. But this isn’t the first time KPOP fans have attempted to meddle in American politics. Their gods, the band BTS, have also taken sides with Black Lives Matter. Ooh, I can see conservatives burning BTS merchandise right now!

In addition to being quite possibly the most devoted fan base in the world, K-Pop lovers clearly have much better organisational skills than the rest of us. Since the Black Lives Matter movement experienced a resurgence following the death of George Floyd, K-Pop stans have flooded the #WhiteLivesMatter hashtag with images of their favourite musicians, blocking out racist posts in the process – while BTS’s followers have raised more than a million dollars for BLM after the band tweeted out its support for the movement (and made its own sizeable donation to boot).

The K-pop vigilantes latest effort? Derailing a Trump rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in defiance of white supremacy. President Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale had projected that the 19,000-seat BOK Center would be full (with overflowing crowds lining up outside) on 20 June, but in reality, less than 7,000 people turned up – forcing the President to cancel an additional planned speech. It appears K-Pop fans (and Alt TikTok users) had reserved tickets to the event with no intention of going, considerably skewing Parscale’s numbers. Notably, the rally had been widely criticised by supporters of BLM – who cited the historical significance of Juneteenth and the devastating Tulsa Race Massacre as reasons for it not to go ahead.

Taking to Twitter, Parscale claimed the low turnout was due to “radical protestors” who had “blocked access to metal detectors, preventing people from entering”, but the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were quick to contradict him. “Actually you just got ROCKED by teens on TikTok who flooded the Trump campaign w/ fake ticket reservations & tricked you into believing a million people wanted your white supremacist open mic enough to pack an arena during COVID,” the Democratic congresswoman replied. “KPop allies, we see and appreciate your contributions in the fight for justice too.”
https://www.vogue.co.uk/news/article/k-pop-fans-trump-rally




Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Put a warning label on that thing! Please!!! So how did they do this you might ask? Well, the Trump administration said that you could reserve as many tickets as you want, and they artificially inflated the numbers! DUN DUN DUN!!!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah and you can bet Trump himself is seething with anger, as this one hit him where it hurts! And they would have got away with it too if not for those meddling kids!

TikTok users and fans of Korean pop music took partial credit for inflating attendance expectations at a less-than-full arena at President Donald Trump's first political rally in months, held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday.

Social media users on platforms including the popular video-sharing app have said they completed the free online registration for the rally with no intention of going.

Prior to the event, Trump's campaign manager Brad Parscale said there had been more than one million requests to attend. However, the 19,000-seat BOK Centre arena had many empty seats on Saturday evening and Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence cancelled speeches to an expected "overflow" area outside.

The Tulsa Fire Department tallied the crowd at about 6200 people.

Trump's campaign advisers had seen the rally as a way to rejuvenate his base and demonstrate support when opinion polls have shown him trailing his Democratic rival, former vice-president Joe Biden.

Oklahoma has reported a surge in new coronavirus cases, and the state's Department of Health had warned those planning on attending the event that they faced an increased risk of catching the virus.
https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/how-tiktok-users-k-pop-fans-say-they-sabotaged-trump-s-rally-20200622-p554sc.html





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[font size="8"]I Need A Drink: Return To Filming
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Good freaking god everyone, time is slow, and I could really use a drink!



Of course you know the idea behind this is that we have some drinks and discuss literally anything in the news as long as it doesn’t relate to politics. Of course that’s hard because in a world where there’s nothing to talk about, you got to come up with something! And of course right now CDC guidelines prohibit me from having a bartender so I must discuss it with my virtual bartender. Tell me, virtual bartender, what goes well with a story about movies? Buzz Cola? No thanks, I need something much stronger than that, Jack Daniels mixed with Jack Daniels. So with movie production finally resuming after 4 months, how is that going to look? Well, it’s quite insane.

Film and television production may be able to resume in California on June 12, but major studios are still weeks — if not months — away from rolling cameras.

Before shooting can start or resume on movies and TV shows, the various labor unions that represent everyone from the grips to the actors to the directors, have to sign off on safety procedures for how sets should operate in the age of coronavirus. Nearly 200 people from across the entertainment industry were involved in drafting a white paper outlining new safety protocols that range from increasing testing and temperature tests to quarantining casts and crews. Insiders predict that the final sign-off on those plans is between four to six weeks away.

“For the major film productions and a handful of premium TV shows, this pandemic was like tranquilizing an elephant,” said one top film studio executive, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “We’re not going to be able to stand up right away.”

Even if the government declares that sets can re-open in Los Angeles, the movie and television business has become so global in scope that sources at the studios believe it will take time before most productions resume. In Los Angeles, Warner Bros. was half-way through shooting “King Richard,” the story of Richard Williams, father and coach of tennis players Venus and Serena Williams, which stars Will Smith. Some of the major tennis scenes still have to shoot.
https://variety.com/2020/film/news/hollywood-film-production-resumes-avatar-mission-impossible-king-richard-1234629324/




Yup, just like the ending of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, thanks to Coronavirus, America is experiencing threats which we have never seen before! Don’t applaud that. So what will be the first movie being produced under these super strict new guidelines? It’s the sequel to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Jurassic World: Dominion. Yeah I don’t need to see a movie about threats to humanity when I’m already living in one, thanks!

Producers at the film’s set in Pinewood Studios have constructed a smart drive-thru corona check, which will see top names including Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard and Jeff Goldblum given a once-over before being allowed to go face-to-face with prehistoric beasts.

A source tells me: “This is the future of movies and hopefully it can prove successful. We need to get these productions back on track and fast.“There are millions of pounds at stake, and it’s going to take months to catch up so this solution seems a good way to put minds at rest.

“Everyone on set, from the runners to the leading stars, will have to drive through the testing station — and only those who pass the checks will be allowed on set.

“One person showing symptoms somewhere like this could be totally catastrophic.”

Jurassic Park is one of the most successful film franchises of the last three decades and its sixth outing, titled Jurassic World: Dominion, was due to be released in June 2021. But production was stopped on March 13 in response to the pandemic.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/11927576/jurassic-world-bosses-coronavirus-test-centre-film-return/




Oh man do I miss being able to drink in a bar. But yeah just like Trump’s rally in Tulsa, this has the potential to be a really bad idea. How bad? Well if one person gets the infection the entire staff, crew, and actors could be affected as well. And that has the potential to be a colossal shit show! So where can we film? Well, since every superhero movie takes place at a carnival or a fair, how about an actual fair?

“Lights … camera … mask on … action!”

Directors might be using these words soon to begin production on movies, television, and music videos following a three-month shutdown of filming caused by the coronavirus pandemic. On Wednesday, June 10, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Department of Public Health announced that crews could resume filming on Friday, June 12.

But with that decision came a lengthy list of safety protocols that must be implemented, meaning it’s unlikely filming will ramp up right away. A more realistic start time for productions, according to industry watchers, is July, August or even early fall.

With filming allowed to resume, location scouts are now looking for filming places to shoot. One of the first available and best suited to operate under the county’s new safety regulations may be Fairplex in Pomona, which has been the setting for several movie, television and music productions.

At Fairplex, where the economic fallout of the coronavirus and related closures led to the cancellation of the Los Angeles County Fair and other events, the return of film crews is seen as an economic godsend.
https://www.dailybulletin.com/2020/06/17/fairplex-in-pomona-ready-to-take-center-stage-as-film-production-resumes/




Man I needed that! So what do actual movie stars think of this strict return-to-sort-of-normal? Well let’s ask the star of Jurassic World herself, Bryce Dallas Howard! Sure, Universal may be going “above and beyond” but one little slip up and bam! You’re fucked. Because right now the virus is in charge and until it goes away we’re all going to have to play by its’ rules for now.

Jurrassic World: Dominion star Bryce Dallas Howard has spoken about the film’s imminent return to production amid rigorous Covid security measures.

We revealed earlier this week that production is gearing back up on the Universal blockbuster with cameras set to roll in early July. The film is on course to be the first major movie to re-start filming in the UK – and among the first in the world – since the pandemic struck.

Universal has implemented rigorous safety protocols, which will cost in the region of $5M, we understand.

Howard told SiriusXM’s EW Live yesterday: “There has been a lot of communication. They are going above and beyond. We would never be going back to work if we didn’t feel safe. And, you know, we’re taking it one day at a time and I’m very grateful to have a job.”

She continued: “What feels really right about it is that there is this daily conversation, daily communication with all of the actors, all of the key crew members and just us consistently being like, ‘Ok how are we going to do this, how are we going to do this safely,’ and not making compromises that could undermine someone’s health.”
https://deadline.com/2020/06/jurassic-world-bryce-dallas-howard-covid-production-protocols-chris-pratt-universal-1202961413/





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[font size="8"]Road To The White House Ep. 2: Biden Wins Texas?
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Welcome back! This is the segment where we are chronicling the… cue reverb… ROAD TO THE WHITE HOUSE!!! Oh man that was some good reverb there. Yes, Joe Biden is the presumptive nominee for the Democratic ticket, and while we await his choice of VP and the eventual convention, which right now seems like an eternity away, we are putting together the pieces of what his nomination is going to look like. And man does it seem like the public is turning on Trump doesn’t it? But this week a lot of clout seems to be forming around how the impossible could happen in 2020 – Texas could finally, after 40 years, turn blue! It seems like wishful thinking but the virus has really turned people against Trump.

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Saturday renewed his vow to help flip Texas as the state gets increased attention heading into November.

“Texas is an important battleground state for our campaign in 2020,” he said on Facebook Live addressing the state Democratic Party's convention, which went online-only this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. “I think we have a real chance to turn the state blue because of the work all of you have done.

“We have to keep the House of Representatives. We have to win over the United States Senate. We have to flip the Texas House. We have to lead and deliver meaningful change for people who are hurting all across this nation.”

Biden spoke for roughly five minutes from his back porch in Delaware to close out the state party’s virtual convention. The weeklong event featured a slate of high-profile Democrats that also included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Democratic presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Beto O’Rourke and Julián Castro.
https://www.texastribune.org/2020/06/06/joe-biden-texas-democrats/




Yes, that’s what the average American thinks of people from Texas who are not from Texas. This could be a monumental shift if possible and it will change the politics of Texas forever. While Trump is loudly appearing in public, Biden is quietly flipping Texas due to people’s seething anger over the Coronavirus pandemic. The possibility of flipping Texas seems like a pipe dream, but is it reality?

Back in 2016, Katie Mellor faced a dilemma. A lifelong Republican but a “Never Trumper”, she was forced to hold her nose and vote for Hillary Clinton. It put the nurse from Houston firmly in the minority in the red state of Texas.

“I’d say 99 per cent of the people I know voted for Trump. I lost friends because of it,” said Ms Mellor.

This time round, she has noticed, those same people look to be having a change of heart. “I knew he was lying about what he would do for our country, and I think others have begun to realise that too,” the 39-year-old told The Telegraph.

The latest polling suggests that rather than being an anomaly it speaks to a broader pattern, as discontent grows among President Donald Trump’s once-faithful base in the South....

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/06/12/trumps-texas-faithful-lose-faith-could-lone-star-state-turn/




So now you might ask – what’s Joe Biden’s secret weapon in Texas? Is it people’s animosity toward Trump or is it something else? Well, a little from column A, a little from column B. But his real secret weapon might lie in one of his former competitors, and that’s Beto O’Rourke! Yes, O’Rourke has been a formidable weapon in the Democratic Party, and during this time of lockdown, he is doing his due diligence to get people registered!

Democrats have been working from the ground up to turn Texas blue, so if likely presidential nominee Joe Biden invests resources from his campaign to win the state, it would be the cherry on top of the overall Democratic Party effort.

“I’m going to continue to make the case to him, not that it would be nice, but that it’s necessary,” said former congressman and former 2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke.

“I know that Biden can win here,” O’Rourke continued. “I don’t know what kind of investment he’s going to make, but regardless of what he does, we’re going to put the state in play. The best way for us to make the case is to show what we in Texas are willing to do for ourselves.”

Biden has to determine what kind of resources to pour into Texas, a state that’s trending toward Democrats, but has been under Republican control for more than a generation.

The former vice president on Saturday will address the Texas Democratic Party’s virtual convention, where he’s expected to discuss the importance of the Lone Star State in November’s presidential election.
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2020/05/29/beto-orourke-local-democrats-urge-joe-biden-to-pour-resources-into-texas-to-knock-out-donald-trump/




Yes, they are definitely compensating for something! Even the Texas Republican party is worried about the possibility of losing Texas. Well guys, we hate to say it, but you did it to yourselves. They definitely aren’t taking November seriously – and I assume that’s because they have to change Trump’s dirty diapers and tell him that mommy loves him. But that would really be something, because if Texas goes, so goes the nation!

Some Texas Republicans are concerned that the Lone Star State could turn blue in November, The Hill reported on Saturday.

Recent polling suggests that President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are virtually tied in Texas, but the presidential race is not the only contest where that is the case. Republican Sen. John Cornyn is up for reelection this year and he has to fend off a formidable Democratic challenger.

According to veteran Republican Party operative Bill Miller, “it is a very serious moment for Republicans in Texas.

Thanks largely to demographic changes, the Texas Democratic Party has become one of the biggest in the nation. Biden’s campaign reportedly plans on investing significant money and resources in the state.

Republicans seem to have lost ground in suburbia, especially with women and independent voters.

Areas surrounding Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston now appear to lean Democrat. As longtime Republican strategist Corbin Casteel explained, “the suburbs are a concern because any time your stronghold is showing weakness, it needs to be shored up.”
https://www.inquisitr.com/6110011/republicans-warn-texas-blue/




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

What’s Joe Biden’s status among Evangelicals? Many leaders are urging America’s pulpits to change their affiliation!



See you next week!

Credits

Host: Initech
Top 10 Conservative Idiots Recorded At: Flappers Comedy Club, Burbank, CA
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Initech Productions: Yes, We Got The Memo

June 17, 2020

Top 10 Conservative Idiots #9-1: Hanging With Mr. Cooper Edition


Top 10 Conservative Idiots #9-1: Hanging With Mr. Cooper Edition

Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! How’s everybody doing? Are you guys doing fucking good? I know, right? It’s hard to stay optimistic right now. Seriously, what the fuck happened? Remind me not to take any days off anymore. Shit, I take a vacation March 11th what happens? We get in the worst pandemic in a century. I take time off at our usual end of May break and what happens? Riots and protests! Come on 2020, what else you got? Shit, I know. We all had plans before the pandemic. Hell, I had plans to take the Top 10 international! We had shows lined up in the UK, Germany, France, Mexico, and Canada, all got squashed because of this fucking virus. And who knows what else is going to happen before the end of 2020? We also have hurricane season! We’ve had the virus, cannibal rats, blood monkeys, murder hornets, riots, floods, fires, small earthquakes… what else could possibly go wrong? I mean besides another four years of Trump? Well anyway now that I got that off my chest I am pleased to debut the new set! Unfortunately thanks to COVID we’ve had to eliminate things like sets, props, food, key grips, cameramen, bartenders, waiters and waitresses, lighting, backdrops, and our Trumper Games hosts’ humble man servant. But those things will be back! We’re slowly returning to full strength unless Trump does something stupid. Which he almost certainly will. OK that’s enough of the intro, we have a lot of idiocy to get to. But first John Oliver explains police brutality in one of the most hard to watch Last Week Tonights of all time:



So where do we begin this week? Well normally we would catch up on stuff we missed, but since this is a year where nothing is normal, we are going to attempt to instead have a special two part edition of our series “So That Happened”. Where in the first slot we’re going to talk about the police-sanctioned murder of George Floyd, who died at the hands of abusive police over an alleged counterfeit $20 bill. In the second slot, we’re going to talk about the protests and riots (2) that are still going on. How long is it going to go on? We don’t know. It might still be going on. In the third slot this week is the guy who we still call president and that’s Donald J. Trump (3). He plans to restart his MAGA rallies next week, and he has picked a date that is sure to rile up both his white supremacist base and his detractors! At slot #4 we're going to introduce a brand new feature to the program, and we all know that there's a 50-50 shot that this will go well. And it's "Mutual Of Top 10's Wild Kingdom" (4) and the first part of our nature documentary series is going to be on the hunt for that most elusive genus of species of privileged white female known as the Karen! How do you spot a Karen in the wild and what can be done about it? In the fifth slot this week we have our weekly investigative piece Top 10 Investigates (5), and we’re still in the middle of a pandemic in case you haven’t forgotten, and we’re going to take a look at a claim by Italian doctors that COVID is getting weaker, and is it? There might be some truth to this claim, or there might not. In the sixth slot this week is our weekly visit to the Holy Church Of The Top 10 in “Holy Shit” (6) and this week, our resident pastor has to talk about the White House PR stunt involving St. George Church in Washington DC, and he might break his one rule to talk about that insane incident! Taking the seventh slot this week is a new “Beating A Dead Horse”, and NASCAR (7) finally banned use of the Confederate Flag at events, but that hasn’t stopped the protesting debate! Taking the 8th slot this week, is the TV show Cops (8), and after finally getting canceled after 30 seasons, we’re going to ask the question “The Show Cops: How Is This Still A Thing?”. In the number 9 (NEIN!!!) slot this week is a new People Are Dumb, because a pandemic and riots haven’t stopped the biggest plague infecting the land – stupidity! Finally this week we’re beginning our journey on the Road To The White House (10!)! And for our first entry, could the 2020 election again be stolen? Even Joe Biden is making this claim! No, there won’t be any live music for the foreseeable future. Enjoy! And as always don’t forget the key!

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[font size="8"]So That Happened: The Death Of George Floyd
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That is a good question sir! You know, normally when the Top 10 takes a couple of days off, we like to play catch up with things that we missed. But there was so much that happened that it was near impossible to think that we could squeeze everything into two short entries. Or would we even attempt to make fun of the situation. Yes, we have to talk about the death of George Floyd, a man who, overnight, became the face of American police brutality, and widespread systematic racism. And like I said we will not make fun of the situation as that’s beyond our usual tomfoolery. But here’s what happened.

George Floyd's brother, Philonise Floyd, said on "The View" Tuesday that he believes "everybody is getting closer to justice" for his brother "because everybody's feeling united" in protests.

The demonstrations demanding police reforms and in support of Black Lives Matter have drawn thousands of people around the world in the weeks following George Floyd's death while in Minneapolis police custody on May 25.

"I just would like to thank everyone for doing so much in this world today. They're just tired right now. Enough is enough," Philonise Floyd said on "The View." "It's gonna be a marathon. But right now, everybody is getting closer to justice because everybody's feeling united. We're coming together as one."

"I'm just so proud right now just to see change in this world happening," he added.

Philonise Floyd also told the co-hosts that Derek Chauvin, the ex-officer who prosecutors say held his knee on George Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes, and the three other officers involved in his brother's death “deserve life” in prison.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/george-floyds-brother-offers-message-protesters-gonna-marathon/story?id=71274972




That is a good point! We’ve been cooped up here at the Top 10 Home Offices for so long we’ve forgot what it would be like to be part of a functioning society again. And remember when society used to function before COVID? Yeah that was like unleashing Skynet or Thanos snapping. When things go back to “normal” we will see a lot of our favorite businesses and places go bankrupt. And we cannot sustain another round of this. Especially when this happened.

Steve Mylett, the police chief in Bellevue, Washington, couldn’t believe what he was seeing, even after intelligence officers warned of social media posts calling for an attack.

On the afternoon of Sunday, May 31, a handful of demonstrators carrying signs gathered at a major intersection in the Seattle suburb. The crowd quickly grew to 40. Then, after two men got on cellphones, 300 more showed up, then 1,000 white, Black and brown.

“It was a tsunami of people, and they just started running,” Mylett said. “I didn’t hear George Floyd’s name once. I didn’t hear, ‘Police reform!’ They just scattered throughout the city. … They used tactics we’ve never seen before.”

Mylett said faux protesters, many dressed in black with hoodies, gloves and COVID-19 masks, ransacked shops and caused millions of dollars in losses. Some ran from one business to the next, trailed by vehicles that stopped outside high-end stores, loaded up, and moved on.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2020/06/15/criminals-used-george-floyd-protests-cover-looting-police-say/5324881002/




They came at us with pitchforks and torches. Torches!!!! And really people don’t use this time to loot and pillage. Join the peaceful protests. Maybe we can save the pillaging and looting for a later date. It’s like we’re living the end of the movie Joker – and Thomas and Martha Wayne have just been murdered and the city is rioting. But really, just don’t do shit like this. really, don’t do it.

The death of George Floyd in the hands of a Minnesota police officer while pinned down violently has certainly sparked outrage in the United States, which resulted in civil unrest as of late. However, things seemed to get out of control recently when the protests turned violent.

Criminal elements have taken advantage of the situation and photos of riots, vandalism, and looting within the US are now circulating online. One of the establishments robbed included a Louis Vitton store, and if you cringed at the sight of that, check out the photos of the Mercedes-Benz dealership in Oakland, California as hooligans laid waste on the luxury cars displayed there.

As seen in the videos and photos, numerous rioters broke into the dealership. The thugs started spray painting, wrecking and burning cars during the onslaught. Some of the premium cars seen in the images include the C-Class, CLA, and GLE. The most painful thing to watch though was the Mercedes-AMG GT Coupe getting set on fire.

While we couldn’t blame the heightened emotions of the people because of the injustices that their own law enforcement officers have committed towards them, especially to the black community over the years, and they certainly have the right to have their voices heard in the streets, there is no justification for destroying establishments and trumping others’ properties or businesses. Such acts only show that the rioters are no better than the oppressors that they are against.

We hope that everyone will arrive at a peaceful resolution with regard to the matter soon and that justice will be served to Floyd as well as the other victims of police brutality. Our hearts go with their families and the people who are sincerely sympathizing with them, but such barbaric and uncivilized actions being shown here have to stop now.
https://www.benzinsider.com/2020/06/mercedes-benz-cars-wrecked-and-torched-by-protesters-in-oakland/





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[font size="8"]So That Happened: The Protests
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Much like Hector Salamanca from Breaking Bad, if you’re not marching in the streets protesting unprecedented police brutality and state-sanctioned murders all over the country, you’re probably sitting in front of your computer screen getting increasingly angry and clicking that bell, or your computer’s mouse. But the pandemic created a situation of some extremely bored people looking to gather to come together for a cause. And that cause was the death of George Floyd. We’re not even going to attempt to make fun of the situation here. So we won’t try. But instead we will talk about one group looking to start some shit – the Boogaloo Bois.

An Air Force sergeant who was arrested in the fatal ambush of a Santa Cruz County deputy was charged Tuesday in connection with the killing of a federal security officer during George Floyd protests in Oakland last month, authorities said.

Staff Sgt. Steven Carrillo, 32, was charged with murder and attempted murder in the killing of federal officer Dave Patrick Underwood, 53.

Underwood was one of two officers who were shot May 29 while guarding the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building. The other officer was critically wounded in the drive-by attack. Both were members of Homeland Security's Federal Protective Service.

Authorities said Carrillo and a second man traveled to Oakland with the intent to kill police and believed the large demonstrations spurred by the death of Floyd in Minneapolis — which they were not a part of — would help them get away it.

"They came to Oakland to kill cops," said John Bennett, special agent in charge of the San Francisco division of the FBI.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/airman-charged-killing-federal-officer-during-george-floyd-protests-california-n1231187




Yeah so like I said last week, if you see these guys at your neighborhood protest, they’re not here to join hands and sing Kumbaya. And just like people with COVID, they’re very easy to spot. But this is really going to screw some shit up. We’re still in the middle of the pandemic. One that has killed over 100,000 people, and sent millions of people into bankruptcy. Think we haven’t seen some serious shit yet? think again! It is about to hit the fan!

Minneapolis city leaders outlined the actions they are taking in terms of recovery efforts related to civil unrest, systematic racism and COVID-19.Director of Economic Policy and Development Erik Hansen said that unemployment is currently having a larger impact on people who are young, black and without a high school degree.

"The outcomes of our structural racism system is evident in every aspect of the economy in Minneapolis," Hansen said.

Hansen said there are resources available for those who are impacted by the loss of employment due to the pandemic or civil unrest. Minnesota Works is available for career help. Another resource is the city's Technical Assistance Program, with community-based organizations that are ready for businesses to call them for advice.

Director of Economic Policy and Development Erik Hansen said at a Tuesday press conference that he was tasked with evaluating the damage of structures in the city. Poor advised owners of structures that were damaged to contact their insurance for help with coverage. He also reminded owners to check on their electricity and gas services since they may have been cut to prevent any accidents There will be a line for the zoning office that will be dedicated to answering people's questions on rebuilding damaged property. The phone number will be available on the city's website starting Wednesday.
https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/george-floyd/mpls-leaders-address-recovery-related-to-covid-19-unrest-over-george-floyds-death/89-767634f1-37f2-4765-9ae2-5e8414736117




Clean that up!! But there is good news. With all the bad shit that’s happening in the world, and we are in for a lot of suffering down the road after a major pandemic, there is a silver lining in all of this. It’s awakened some long sleeping beasts! People are hopping mad, we’re fighting back, and even small towns are awakening to how badly they’re getting fucked! It’s about damn time we rise up!

Two hours east of the unrest in Denver following the death of George Floyd, a newspaper editor and police chief heard rumors of buses, full of protesters from as far as Chicago, heading toward their farming community of Yuma after the town's pastor planned a road-side vigil in early June. Local businesses, and even the hospital, closed their doors in response. Some residents threatened to arm themselves with shotguns to protect the town from potential rioters. The town of about 3,500 people is less than 1% black.

"You know public displays like this are going to bring the rioters here," Stephanie Generoux wrote on a Facebook post from the Yuma Pioneer.

"Just so you’re all aware a hitchhiker earlier today in the southern part of the County trying to get to Yuma. Hope you are all ready for what you’re bringing" commented Rich Schafer.

In reality, about sixty locals arrived and stood silently, spaced apart, holding signs. No buses. No violence. Tony Rayl, editor of the Yuma Pioneer, said he knew almost everyone there and called it the most bizarre day of his life. The pastor of a local church said just the existence of the event polarized her congregation.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/george-floyds-death-awakens-activism-rural-white-america/story?id=71262386




That said though in this weird new world that we’ve been navigating because of COVID and because of the social unrest going on, should we really call the protestors “rioters”? Well there’s a fine line between the two. Remember that if they’re there wearing Hawaiian shirts and looking to throw rocks at cops or fire their machine guns, they’re not there to join in arms against the oppressed.

As unrest has continued day after day and in town after town in the wake of George Floyd’s killing, a secondary skirmish has emerged: deciding how to describe what’s happening.

In speeches and newsrooms and social media posts, people have had to make choices about how to characterize widespread, evolving unrest. Are cities in the midst of uprisings? Rebellions? Riots?

“There’s kind of a war of words as to how we should understand what they’re doing,” says Heather Ann Thompson, a professor of history and Afro-American studies at the University of Michigan. Each term sends a vastly different message about precisely what is going on in America’s streets and why.

During his short speech in the Rose Garden on June 1, President Trump used some form of the word riot five times. And he’s not alone. At TIME’s request, the Oxford English Dictionary analyzed its corpus – including roughly 2,800 articles published between May 26 and June 2 – related to events that were spurred by the killing of George Floyd, to see how those events were being described in the media.
https://time.com/5849163/why-describing-george-floyd-protests-as-riots-is-loaded/





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[font size="8"]Trump Goes To Tulsa
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Pop quiz hot shot!! Say for a minute that you’re Donald Trump. There’s a killer virus that is invading and desecrating states that voted for you. Health advisory boards have shut down literally every large gathering in the country, and you want to hold a large gathering indoors! What do you do? And wrong answers only. Really? He picked the wrong answers? Of course he did, this is Donald J. Trump we are talking about here. He never errs on the right side of everything. Literally everything he does is the wrong answer to everything. And why not? What’s another 50,000 COVID cases and no hospital beds in case you do need them? Well, let’s take a look at what he wants to do. Hold your boos.

President Donald Trump this week pushed ahead with his plans to hold an indoor rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, even as public health officials there warned novel coronavirus cases in the area were on the rise.

As the president's reelection campaign came under fire for potentially putting thousands of people in danger during the Saturday event, Vice President Mike Pence attempted to paint a rosy picture of the pandemic in Oklahoma that contradicted data released by state and local public health departments there.

"Oklahoma has really been in the forefront of our efforts to slow the spread, and in a very real sense, they've flattened the curve," Pence told reporters at the White House Monday.

"Oklahoma is at a very low number," Trump said.

In fact, Tulsa had yet to shake the coronavirus pandemic, and the top public health official called an event like the rally "a huge risk factor."
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-pushes-ahead-tulsa-rally-pence-misleads-coronavirus/story?id=71275621




Yeah BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Really, Mike Pence is that guy. But my favorite part of this whole thing is that Trump’s campaign manager Brad Pascale, is making some absolutely batshit crazy claims about attendance numbers. You know, because Trump wants his audience and attendance numbers to be up.

https://twitter.com/parscale/status/1272191356845391875

So let me get this straight - 800,000 tickets for a 20,000 seat arena in a town with a population of 390,000? Is this some kind of new math that I'm not aware of? Is this Trump's idea of math? Or is this COVID's idea of math? Either way, Coronavirus likes this. But not everyone is on board with this idea, even the mayor of Tulsa.

For most mayors in deep-red states like Oklahoma, the prospect of hosting the first rally for President Donald Trump in months would be a delight. It would showcase the city on an international stage and draw revenue for local businesses that have been shuttered for months amid the coronavirus outbreak.

But G.T. Bynum, the first-term mayor of Tulsa, isn’t celebrating Trump’s planned rally Saturday at the city’s 19,000-seat downtown BOK Center arena. While other Oklahoma GOP officials are hailing the event, Bynum finds himself in a precarious position, balancing partisan politics, the city’s deep racial wounds and a COVID-19 infection rate that is suddenly spiking.

Trump announced the rally in Tulsa as the kick-off of a tour to rev up his political base and show the nation’s economy reopening after the long quarantine. Trump said in a tweet that almost 1 million people have requested tickets, although party officials haven’t announced the total. Oklahoma has followed a Trump-friendly aggressive schedule for its economic reopening, ticking through a series of phases that now have almost all businesses free to resume operations.
https://apnews.com/beb9cbc21a482721b62630577b475e34




Yeah so this is what one might call a “really bad idea”. And I don’t even have time to cover the Juneteenth debacle – yeah in Tulsa on the Juneteenth anniversary. That is batshit fucking insane. Oh and in case you didn’t know it’s on the anniversary of the worst race riot in United States history. In the middle of the current worst race riot in modern history. Yeah do the math!

Before George Floyd, and before there were nationwide protests across the country against police brutality and racism, there was Terence Crutcher.
In 2016, 40-year old Crutcher was killed by a Tulsa, Oklahoma, police officer on a roadway. Like many of those left behind by police killings, his twin sister Tiffany Crutcher's life changed forever.

"We're twins, yes, three minutes apart. He came out first and he calls me his little big sister," Crutcher said in an interview with CNN. "I never thought that I would be on the other side of this issue.

"I never thought that we would be in the middle of a fight for justice, a fight for equality, fight for police accountability," she said.

The officer who killed her brother, Betty Shelby, was charged with manslaughter, but she was later acquitted.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/16/politics/tulsa-oklahoma-history-race/index.html




Actually yeah that was pretty damn racist! So that was a good call on that one! So the question remains why not move Trump’s rally to an outdoor venue? Well that possibility is being talked about. The fact that Trump wants to hold these rallies in an indoor venue during a pandemic is alarming enough. But getting Trump to budge and move it outside? Well that’s something else entirely. Trump doesn’t budge for anything.

So many people have expressed an interest in attending President Donald Trump’s rally Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that the governor said he’s asked the campaign to consider a larger, outdoor venue to accommodate them.

Gov. Kevin Stitt said Monday after talking with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence that nearly one million people have requested tickets to the event. Some Trump supporters have already started waiting in line outside the 19,000-seat BOK Center in downtown Tulsa.

“We’re excited we’re being recognized as one of the first states to safely and measurably reopen,” Stitt told reporters Monday. “I’m looking for a potential other venue that maybe we could move it outside. It’s still kind of in the works.”

Stitt, who plans to introduce Trump at Saturday’s rally, said he also asked Trump and Pence to join him on a tour of the city’s Greenwood District, once home to a prosperous African American community dubbed Black Wall Street that was burned to the ground during a racially motivated massacre in 1921 that left as many as 300 people dead.

The Trump campaign initially planned to hold the rally on Friday, which is Juneteenth, a celebration of the end of slavery in the United States, but agreed to move the date to Saturday at the request of Stitt and others.
https://lancasteronline.com/news/politics/oklahoma-governor-seeks-larger-event-for-trumps-tulsa-rally/article_1e8964af-43e4-5758-8212-791e4f1341e5.html






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[font size="8"]Wild Kingdom: Spotting The Karen
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Welcome to the Mutual Top 10’s Wild Kingdom! This week we are attempting to spot a rather elusive creature – the Karen! Yes, the Karen is that most elusive of creatures to spot. And you won’t recognize a Karen until after you have encountered one in the wild! If you don’t know what a Karen is, she is the most elusive species of a middle aged, privileged white female, which goes by the Latin name of Libidinem Dominandi, and you can spot them but not until after they spot you! And where was the most recent sighting of a Karen you might ask? Well why in that most urban of jungles, the concrete oasis known as New York City, New York. And this Karen was probably the most Karen of them all!

Before the general public learned the name of a white woman who called the police on a black man in Central Park on May 25, she could easily be identified by a moniker. The internet agreed with certainty that Amy Cooper was a Karen.

Just days later, another Karen went viral for leaning on a car in a parking lot to prevent the driver from getting their desired parking spot.

The "Karen meme," which has become so ubiquitous it's been used as a Halloween costume, burst onto the scene in the last couple of years to depict white women — who stereotypically had "speak to the manager" haircuts — acting entitled in public. Now, it's used as an identifier for any white woman who acts inappropriately, rudely, or in an entitled fashion.

"It's usually used as a pejorative for middle-aged white women," said Matt Schimkowitz, a senior editor at Know Your Meme, the online meme encyclopedia. "It's almost like they have an entitlement, where they're kind of lording their privilege over another."
Before the Karen meme, there was the "speak to the manager haircut."
https://www.insider.com/karen-meme-origin-the-history-of-calling-women-karen-white-2020-5




No, that is not a Tiger, that is most definitely a Karen! And this is not so much Hanging With Mr. Cooper as it is hanging with privileged scumbags, and they are everywhere! But is the Karen meme sexist and why is the Karen so elusive to spot in the wild? In fact, the only way you can accurately spot a Karen is through the comfort of your iPhone. And you should try to catch the Karen before it is too late!

Lisa Alexander is “truly” and “deeply sorry.” Alexander, the CEO of a San Francisco skincare company, has become the latest white woman to be labeled a “Karen” and nationally vilified for engaging in behavior that’s widely viewed as entitled, racist and harmful.

But Alexander’s public apology Sunday might not stop the vilification. She issued her mea culpa after a video went viral showing her accusing a Pacific Heights neighbor, James Juanillo, of defacing his property because he used chalk to stencil a Black Lives Matters sign onto the property’s retaining wall.

As Juanillo’s video shows, Alexander and her husband, identified on Twitter as Robert Larkins, questioned whether he actually lived in Pacific Heights, one of San Francisco’s more exclusive neighborhoods. Juanillo, who is Filipino-American, said Alexander called police after he told her she should if she felt “unsafe.”

Over the weekend, Alexander went from enjoying a high-society life as an entrepreneur and celebrity style influencer to the latest example of a Karen. Like other recent Karens, Alexander has been extensively dragged on Twitter. After users quickly identified her and her company, the former model is dealing with serious, life-changing consequences in terms of her work and reputation.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/06/15/calling-out-karens-from-pacific-heights-to-amy-cooper-to-meghan-markles-best-friend/




First off, I would question why you have a live tiger in your life raft sir. But that said, when confronting a Karen in the wild, you must first take a step back and assess the situation, then make sure people around you are recording the incident with their cell phone device of choice. And then… when confronting the Karen, proceed with caution! Because it could lead to some untold nightmares that will last long after the incident is over!

A white woman was slapped in the face during a racist rant at a Phoenix gas station which included telling a Native American woman to “go back to Mexico.”

The woman was quickly dubbed “Arizona Karen,” a reference to a viral meme about racist white women.

According to the man who originally shot the video, the white woman stormed into the Shell station on Saturday to complain about her gas pump not working and almost immediately got into a shouting match with another woman, telling her "to go back to her country.”

“Native Americans are from this country,” the woman replies. “Don’t serve her racist a--,” she tells the cashier.

“Karen” then tells the man filming to stay out of the situation before turning back on the other woman.

“Where are you from? Where were you born?” she asks.
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-arizona-karen-slapped-face-racist-rant-gas-station-20200608-6lptnmu2a5h7vogx64paawez7a-story.html




Again that’s a Tiger, not a Karen! So how do you spot a Karen in the wild? And do you know any Karens in your life that would make you afraid to leave the house? Make no mistake that as things are getting uglier in society, the Karen will attack and confront you before you can attack and confront her! But that being said let’s ask some real researchers to get their take on the Karen. The Karen is elusive and swift and won’t think twice before double crossing you!

We all know Karen. She is the minority of 30 to 40-year-old white women whose voice is loud despite how misguided and misinformed she is. She exudes entitlement and a superior “Can I speak to the manager?” attitude. She is unafraid to use her privilege as a weapon. In today’s context, she is audibly doubtful of any new COVID-19 research and public-health protocols, especially when her long-overdue salon appointment is at stake. And according to Heather Suzanne Woods, a meme researcher and professor at Kansas State University, Karen “demands the world exist according to her standards with little regard for others, and she is willing to risk or demean others to achieve her ends.” This definition continues to evolve.

The controversial stereotype of a woman named Karen has roots in African American Vernacular English as well as a tirading subreddit, and it has taken over internet culture in the form of a meme. Karen's notorious behavior is best depicted in viral TikTok videos, acting as a social commentary towards absurd and indecent behavior rooted in white supremacy. However, the use of this meme was quick to receive criticism on accounts of sexism, racism, ageism and classism. While writer Julie Blindel went so far as to call the meme a “slur” that is “woman hating” in a tweet, others even likened it to “the n-word for white women.” In the name of reverse racism and other baseless accusations, the meme continues to be attacked. And once again, the perfectly legitimate message this politicized joke was meant to express was underwhelmed by another fruitless debate.

The meme is simple: Karen-like behavior is problematic. It is problematic because it is a direct result of white supremacist sentiments that have long been deeply embedded within the current system. It is problematic because when authority gets involved, Karen is initially never at fault and is never doubted. And it is problematic because Karen knows this when she picks up the phone to dial 911 at the slightest inconvenience. In fact, just this past Memorial day, a Twitter video went viral revealing a similar incident in Central Park regarding a white woman calling the police on an African-American man who simply asked her to put a leash on her dog, telling them he was threatening her life. These kinds of false accusations to the police against Black people are extremely dangerous and have dire consequences as history has revealed time and time again, like in the case of Emmett Till. But Karen won’t think twice before racial profiling.
https://www.michigandaily.com/section/opinion/easheta-shah-recognize-your-karen





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[font size="8"]Top 10 Investigates: Is COVID Getting Weaker?
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It’s time to investigate beyond the headlines! This is Top 10 Investigates!



Since the COVID-19 pandemic began this March, everyone is now asking the question – when will it end and when will life get back to some sort of normalcy that we have come to expect? Well the answer to the first question is that nobody knows. The answer to the second question is also: nobody knows. So there are two ways that this could pan out. The first is that we aggressively find a cure for this virus, and the second is that the virus could simply weaken over time. In fact there’s claims being made now that COVID could simply burn itself out and mutate into a much weaker form of the virus that has been infecting the landscape over the last six months. We go to Italy for this story.

In the past few weeks, several top doctors across the globe have come out to say that new data that indicates COVID-19 is becoming less potent, more diffused and less deadly.

"The Coronavirus currently infecting patients appears to have a gene sequence deleted that reduced the strength of the disease. That may sound crazy, but the SARS Coronavirus that caused a pandemic back in 2003 had a similar gene sequence deleted as it became weaker towards the end of it's outbreak," said Dr. David Geier. The health and wellness expert says if that's true, you may see an increase in cases as states reopen, but less hospitalizations and deaths. He also said there's still more research that needs to be done to really prove that this virus has actually weakened.

At least one infectious-disease expert at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine said the new virus does mutate slowly compared to flu, but when it comes to it's genetic changes, it appears to be mostly inconsequential.

Michael Ryan, a top official with the World Health organization stated, "We need to be exceptionally careful not to create a sense that all of a sudden the virus by its own volition has now decided to be less pathogenic. That is not the case at all."

Here's what I learned: The pandemic is evolving rapidly. Science shows some strains of the virus have become more dominant, but despite several experts who believe the virus has weakened, most say there's no solid evidence yet to prove it significantly changed since it was first reported in China.
https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/coronavirus-weakening-sars-covid19-less-hospitlizations/521-a4151470-bc01-40a5-9fd9-2aabb5ec0f20




That is not how you defeat coronavirus. Repeat, that is not how you defeat coronavirus. So there’s many claims to this theory. Two things that a pandemic needs to end are time and potency. And both of these things could determine how the latest pandemic plays out. How will the coronavirus pandemic play out as time goes on? That’s debatable, because, as has been stated, nobody knows because this is a new virus that nobody has seen before.

On May 31, the news agency Reuters published an article with an optimistic but incendiary headline: “New coronavirus losing potency, top Italian doctor says.”

The story included comments from hospital leaders in Milan and Genoa, cities in two regions of northern Italy that have been hit hard by Covid-19. The doctors’ comments were pulled from published news reports in the Italian media, and both suggested that the virus is growing weaker. Matteo Bassetti, MD, PhD, is head of the Infectious Diseases Clinic at the San Martino-IST University Hospital and a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Genoa. He is quoted in the Reuters piece as saying that, “The strength the virus had two months ago is not the same strength it has today.”

Reached for comment on Tuesday, Bassetti elaborated on his prior statement for Elemental. “What is happening in our hospitals — at least in the northern part of Italy — the clinical impression is that the disease is now different compared to the disease of three months ago,” he says. “The majority of patients who presented in our emergency rooms or wards during March and April were very sick with acute respiratory distress syndrome, shock, multiple organ failure, and the majority died in the first days after admission. Now in May, we no longer see these types of patients.”

Bassetti completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Yale University. He’s quick to say that he is not basing his views on lab-confirmed findings; his statements are based on his own interactions with patients and his conversations with other doctors. “The clinical impression here is that the virus is different,” he says. “Is this because the virus lost some viral potency? Or because the viral load or total count of the virus is lower? I don’t know.”
https://elemental.medium.com/could-the-coronavirus-be-weakening-as-it-spreads-928f2ad33f89




But the good news is that this claim is not just being made in Italy. Even countries like Egypt are reporting that the virus is getting weaker. Until that time happens, we will have to deal with the consequences of living with it. There is a theory that virus weaken as they spread far and wide because of their genetic makeup. But the thing is until next year we just won’t know how this pans out.

12 June 2020: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) started to become weaker worldwide, the Egyptian Cabinet’s spokesman said, adding that around 85 percent of the cases recover normally.

In an interview with dmc, spokesman Nader Saad said tourism is the sector affected the most with the coronavirus crisis in Egypt, noting that domestic tourism will be back starting July 1.

Restoring tourism worldwide will be a gradual and slow step, Saad said, adding that many people now fear traveling due to the novel virus. He said tourism companies aim at organizing trips to Egypt and Greece, in case flights are back.

The Egyptian state’s high commission to manage the coronavirus crisis said on Thursday the country will resume international flights to the coastal governorates impacted the least with the novel virus, starting July.

The decision includes the governorates of South Sinai, the Red Sea and Matrouh. South Sinai includes cities of Sharm El-Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba' and Taba, known to be among the most popular tourist attractions in the northeastern African country. Red Sea includes Hurghada.
https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/88525/Coronavirus-becoming-weaker-worldwide-Egyptian-Cabinet




That said though, we don’t want to read too much into things and we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves in fighting a virus that we’ve never seen before. The thing is this thing came in and wrecked our whole society and it is going to take a global effort to pick up the pieces and return to a functioning society again. But this is a good reason why it’s a good idea to read beyond the headlines. Wait a minute, that’s our job!

It's natural to want some good news in troubling times. There are potential dangers in reading too much into things. In Italy, there's an ongoing public debate about a possible encouraging shift toward a weaker version of Covid-19. A leading virologist and doctor have endorsed this idea as the number of deaths, cases, severely ill patients and viral load they’ve seen on swabs are declining or

In Italy, there's an ongoing public debate about a possible encouraging shift toward a weaker version of Covid-19. A leading virologist and doctor have endorsed this idea as the number of deaths, cases, severely ill patients and viral load they’ve seen on swabs are declining or holding steady even as the country reopens. The virologist, Arnaldo Caruso, suggested that the virus could vanish even wi

Caruso did acknowledge the possibility of other explanations and a future resurgence in an interview; even so, the notion of a weakening virus is understandably popular and may well emerge in the variety of other nations that are past the worst of their outbreaks. There's a high burden of proof for making such a claim, though, let alone using it as a basis for public health decisions. It most defi

Viruses change over time, sometimes in significant ways. These mutation-driven shifts are why we need new flu vaccines every year, and why seasonal outbreaks vary. There's also an evolutionary trade-off between deadliness and transmission — a virus that kills too many hosts can't spread — so some become milder.

Read more at: https://www.bloombergquint.com/gadfly/coronavirus-post-peak-lull-in-cases-doesn-t-mean-weaker-virus




That’s it for Top 10 Investigates. Good day!




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[font size="8"]Holy Shit

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Gather around my fair brothers and sisters of Tallahassee! It’s time to take a seat in the pew and pass the collection plate, for the Holy Church Of The Top 10 has convened and it’s time to remind you that the holiest among us are the most full of:



My fair virtual congregation! You know church is closed even though in this time of pandemic that we are considered an essential business. Well in some states anyway. But that said, we’ve finally moved out of the church basement and into our temporary new studio. Don’t worry, we will be back in our brand new church relatively soon (we hope). But this week I have to talk about the events of the last two weeks. I only have one rule in my church and that is that we should never mention the unholy, ungodly Dark One by his name! But since he committed the most ultimate of party fouls, we must. Yes, he went to St. John’s Church and held up the Holy Book in a badly timed and poorly planned PR stunt!

In extreme circumstances like the present, people go back to their deep beliefs and look into their souls. The Democratic Party, by way of the Joe Biden campaign, has announced that the upcoming Presidential election will be “a battle for the soul of America.” But, in religious terms, what kind of a soul will that be? America remains a Christian-majority nation, and evangelicals are an important and dependable part of President Trump’s base; part of his “Make America Great Again” theme has been his in-your-face cheerleading for Christianity. Although Trump has lived more or less the opposite of a Christian life, many evangelicals see him as their heaven-sent ally, an instance of God’s well-known habit of working in mysterious ways.

A faithful churchgoer he’s not. After he held up a Bible for his violence-enabled photo op in Lafayette Square, a reporter asked him, “Is that your Bible?” He replied, “It’s a Bible.” If, as he seemed to be saying (unsurprisingly), this particular Bible did not belong to him, its actual owner remained unknown. Ivanka Trump had carried it in a designer handbag during the walk from the White House to St. John’s Church and had given it to her father so that he could pose with it, but apparently it wasn’t hers, either. After the photo op, nobody stepped forward to claim this Bible as his or her own and take pride in its having participated in an important moment in history.

Of course, there are millions of Bibles out there that don’t technically belong to anyone. Maybe this was just a copy that the White House had on hand. In courtrooms, for the swearing-in of witnesses, there are Bibles that are the general property of the court. At a witness’s request, a court might provide a copy of the Torah instead; in places with more diversity, courts might also offer Qurans and Bhagavad Gitas. The option of not swearing on any text at all exists, too. Atheists, for example, don’t have to raise their right hands and swear on a hardback of Richard Dawkins’s “The God Delusion” but may simply affirm that what they say will be the truth. Some judges make a point of telling jurors to remember that a witness who chooses to affirm rather than swear is no less likely to be truthful.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/donald-trump-and-uses-and-misuses-of-the-bible




Yes, yes he does! And really can we say that the guy who spends the least amount of time in church is claiming to be the godliest among us? Well have you seen who he surrounds himself with? And this is not a well or sane man. This is a very evil, wicked man who has evil intentions and is consumed by his ego, and that is a recipe for SIN!!! He is a wicked SINNER!!!! He is currently ruling this country with the darkest of hearts!

Joe Biden on Tuesday blistered President Donald Trump a day after police drove back peaceful protesters near the White House so President Trump could pose with a Bible before a damaged church. Biden said President Trump’s “narcissism has become more important than the nation that he leads.”

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee delivered a speech at Philadelphia’s City Hall, addressing the civil unrest across America following the death of George Floyd. Biden said “the moment has come” to deal with systemic racism and deeply ingrained economic inequality — and insisted that the nation can’t wait until November’s election and its outcome.

“I call on the Congress to act this month,” Biden said, urging lawmakers to start “with real police reform” and citing proposed legislation outlawing choke holds.

But Biden stepped up his criticism of President Trump as he works to elevate his voice in the national debate — after more than two months of the campaign for the White House being frozen amid the outbreak of the coronavirus.
https://fox6now.com/2020/06/02/biden-president-trump-consumed-by-ego-not-leading-during-crisis/




Except that there is judgement here! Because we are in an election year and it’s turned into what might possibly be one of the biggest nightmares of all time. We have the darkest and most wickedly EVIL ruler of them all in the White House and it does look like it will take a miracle for him to stay in power. It is time to cast aside this wicked evil!

As America implodes, the president would like to have all Americans know of his two rules.

Rule one: Donald Trump is always a winner. Rule two: when Donald Trump is losing, refer back to rule one.

So as an increasing number of Republicans and conservatives abandon him; as former generals and government officials denounce a president who is losing the public trust, refer back to rule one.

As the economy dips and unemployment rises to an historic high, and Americans die in record numbers from the coronavirus, all under his watch: Ditto.

As an historic protest against racism and police brutality spreads nationwide and shakes the presidency. Ditto.
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/trump-almighty-miracle-200609140352324.html




But back to what I am saying, and for our church to take a hit discussing politics, and you know what? At this point who cares? Seriously talk to me again this time next year when we have a competent administration in charge and we can start nipping COVID in the bud. But until then we have an absolute clown who cares about his ratings, and his standing with the Christian right.

Donald Trump’s reelection chances are quite dim without the robust support of his white evangelical base. His electoral college win in 2016 was fueled by white evangelical turnout and the overwhelming number of white evangelicals — 81% — who pulled the lever for him. He cannot afford for the religious right, made up of white evangelicals along with conservative white mainline Protestants and Catholics, to let up on the rapt support they have shown throughout his presidency.

That helps explain why, in the midst of an unprecedented global pandemic and a historic uprising against racism, the president and his allied power brokers on the religious right are focused not on addressing either crisis, but rather on stagecraft that will reinforce the base’s belief that Trump is a divinely anointed president who is saving white Christian America from ruin.

Trump’s photo op last week in front of the historic St. John’s Church, which looked farcical, sacrilegious and even fascistic to many Americans, was spun — and received — as tough and heroic to his defenders. In the pro-Trump media bubble, America is under siege by leftist terrorists, and Trump is the valorous protector of a “Christian nation.” That the president and his attorney general, William Barr, had protesters tear gassed so Trump could walk to the church was a vibrant symbol of his willingness to fight for the soul of the nation.

“It was strong and powerful for the president to go there and say, we will not be cowed,” Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican, told Fox News. And Robert Jeffress, a mega-church pastor who is one of Trump’s closest evangelical advisors, told the network the purpose of the president’s visit was “demonstrating his intent to protect churches from those who would try to destroy them.”
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-06-14/donald-trump-st-johns-church-white-evangelicals-campaign-2020-pandemic-protest




OK I needed to get that off my chest. And hey I didn’t break my one rule everybody! Virtual mass has ended, may you go in peace! That’s it this week for:




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[font size="8"]Beating A Dead Horse: Kneeling Protesters
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We’re officially in the “beating a dead horse” phase of Beating A Dead Horse. That is right, we have officially gone meta! How do I know that? Well conservatives everywhere just will not let this kneeling thing go. We first covered conservatives railing against kneeling protestors in the first “Beating A Dead Horse” segment in Idiots #3-16. We then covered this again in Idiots #7-5. Now we’re covering this topic yet again. We might have officially beaten our own dead horse. Because, the favorite punching bag of the right, the former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, is back in the news and this time it’s guaranteed to make conservative heads explode!

With widespread protests and countless athletes getting involved across the country in recent weeks, it’s all but certain that players will start kneeling during the national anthem in protest this fall.

Houston Texans star J.J. Watt and Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield ensured that they’ll be supporting those protests on social media on Saturday, too.
J.J. Watt quickly corrects fan

Watt slammed a fan on Twitter on Saturday afternoon who, in a since-deleted tweet, said they were “pretty sure you won’t see J.J. Watt taking a knee” during the national anthem this season.

The defensive end didn’t specify whether he’d be taking a knee during the anthem himself, but he’s clearly in support of the protests.

He isn’t alone in Houston, either.
https://sports.yahoo.com/houston-texans-jj-watt-baker-mayfield-support-protesting-kneeling-national-anthem-social-media-223300524.html




Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! My ears!!! My ears!!! OK so kneeling during the National Anthem is a disgrace, but that hideous butchering isn’t? Come on! Well here’s the thing folks in case you haven’t forgotten we’re still in a pandemic, so there may or may not be football this year depending on what is happening with the virus. But it will be an interesting season if it actually goes through!

In the midst of violent protests across the country, something simple and symbolic is slowing people down: protesters and police are kneeling, together.

"It's extraordinarily powerful,” said Case Western Law Professor Bryan Adamson. "One of the ultimate forms of humility."

But kneeling wasn't always seen that way to everyone. Most notably, the uproar over Colin Kaepernick’s protest on the NFL sidelines in 2016.

Adamson says people lost sight of the original message.

"The kneeling did not mean, ‘I hate America’ or ‘I am anti-American’ or ‘I don't believe in the Pledge of Allegiance,” he said.

At the time, Kaepernick said he was kneeling in protest to “how we treat people and the oppression and the injustices that go on."

Now, four years later, police and protesters are kneeling together.
https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/america-in-crisis/kneeling-now-the-symbol-of-protest-for-this-generation-and-an-act-of-unity-between-protesters-police




Man remember the good old days when getting down on one knee meant that you were going to propose marriage to someone? Well the good news though is that this is backfiring big time on Trump and his goons. Yes, the more he speaks out on this issue, the fewer fans he has. It’s his version of kryptonite. And those two institutions? NASCAR and the NFL. Yes, those are two good ol’ American institutions that are havens for 90% of his fan base.

President Donald Trump has long had two cherished American institutions standing beside him as he railed against athletes taking a knee during the national anthem: NASCAR and the NFL.

This week, they both started to walk away.

Bending to the cultural moment, NASCAR and the NFL in recent days reversed course on their approach to athletes protesting racial injustice. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he had been wrong for not listening to protesting players earlier and encouraged “all to speak out and peacefully protest.” Meanwhile, NASCAR relaxed rules barring kneeling during the national anthem and banned Confederate flags from its events. Within days, a NASCAR driver was circling a track in a race car emblazoned with #BlackLivesMatter and a NASCAR official was taking a knee during prerace ceremonies.

The moves came in response to the protests that have erupted across the country in response to the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died at the hands of the Minneapolis police. And they reflected shifting cultural attitudes — polls show an increasing percentage of the population view racism as a big problem in the country and the protests as a justified response.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/14/trump-nfl-nascar-kneeling-crusade-316528




Yup, Trump got owned by two of the right wing’s favorite institutions – NASCAR and the NFL. Yes, the tides are turning and they’re definitely turning in favor of us! Does that mean that with Tom Brady finally leaving Boston for greener pastures in Florida mean that the NFL has a new superstar on their hands with Kaepernick? Well I wouldn’t bet on that just yet.

Dressed in a blue long-sleeve shirt and seated in the basement of his suburban home outside New York City, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke in a subdued voice on camera and admitted that the league had poorly mishandled player activism.

"We, the National Football League, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest," Goodell said in the video, which was posted June 5.

Goodell's video statements came on the heels of another viral video, posted the day before, which featured prominent Black NFL players, including Patrick Mahomes, quarterback for the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, condemning racism and advocating for the Black Lives Matter movement.

And while both videos referred to George Floyd, the Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25 — a disturbing incident caught on video in which an officer held his knee on Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes, prompting protests around the world — neither Goodell nor the NFL players made any mention of Colin Kaepernick.

It was Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who starred in the 2013 Super Bowl, who in 2016 began kneeling during the national anthem. Kaepernick said numerous times then that he was protesting "systematic oppression" and police brutality. His activism sparked other NFL players to follow his lead that season, while President Donald Trump lambasted NFL players who knelt, calling them "sons of bitches" and joking that owners should fire players who take a knee.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/after-nfl-admission-protests-does-colin-kaepernick-have-shot-playing-n1229121





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





This week: The long-running reality show COPS. How is this still a thing? The show COPS was created in response to a writer’s strike that crippled the television industry in the late 1980s. The idea was an unscripted TV show following the men and women of law enforcement around in their day to day life in the hopes that something exciting would come along. But lately with all the animosity toward police that started in 2015 and has recently escalated with the murder of George Floyd, we wonder how this show has survived as long as it has. And how did it command the audience that it did for nearly 32 years before it finally got the axe? Also, what took them so long?

Of all the charges you could level at Cops, it’s hard to accuse it of stinting on action. Until its cancellation this week, the 31-year-old reality series endured for so long because, despite the unvarnished nature of its presentation and concept (just regular cops filmed doing real police work!), it stuck rigidly to a fast-paced format. Each episode runs about 22 minutes long and has three acts, within which a suspect is located, investigated, and—mostly—arrested. The arrestees are often referred to as “bad guys,” and they get no backstory, no biography beyond what they volunteer to the officers in front of them. They’re human beings reduced to the sum of their rap sheets, or to their mental and emotional state on the particular day that the cameras are rolling.

The cops don’t get much more by way of characterization, although they occasionally throw out one-liners to the accompanying cameramen to acknowledge the viewers at home. I was reminded of this detail when Officer Tou Thao of the Minneapolis Police Department cracked, “This is why you don’t do drugs, kids,” to the assembled crowd watching the killing of George Floyd in real time. The line struck me as something someone might say if they had grown up watching Cops, and had absorbed the show’s motifs as emblems of police work. In Cops’ world, the police are by default the good guys, because theirs is the only point of view the camera follows. Fleeing suspects must be captured because—on Cops—they’re always guilty of something. And the structure of the show’s acts, punctuated by ad breaks, means that the good guys unfailingly capture and overpower the bad guys in a matter of minutes.
More Stories

Never have these qualities felt so out of touch. That Cops was still in production shocked some people this week, given how much it seemed like a relic of the late ’80s and ’90s, something unearthed from a time capsule alongside The Tracey Ullman Show and the “Just Say No” antidrug campaign. But that the series was finally canceled by the Paramount Network, where it had moved after 25 seasons on Fox, was less surprising. Cops has been drawing critiques for years, most recently in a 2018 Marshall Project feature and a 2019 podcast that both probe its simplistic, heavily one-sided portrayal of police work. In a moment that’s considerably less inclined to blindly accept valorizing shows about law enforcement, Cops isn’t the only casualty: A&E’s wildly successful weekend series Live PD was also canceled this week, with the network stating that it was rethinking storytelling about police at “a critical time in our nation’s history.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/06/cops-was-reality-show-cherry-picked-reality/613012/




Yup, shit just got real all right! So with all the attention on the police, for mostly negative and well deserved reasons why, why did the show Cops become as iconic as it was, and how did this play a role in how public opinions shaped views of how the police really operates? Also of course, leave it to the Fox Network to put such a polarizing and divisive show on the air. Really, we’re shocked that they would do such a thing!

When a writers’ strike paralyzed the television industry in the late 1980s, networks were forced to find new, alternative programs to fill its air.

That’s how “Cops” found a home on Fox Television. The low budget program, which had no union writers, was a welcome solution — and it ran for 32 seasons. That is until earlier this week.

Now owned by ViacomCBS, “Cops” was canceled in the wake of of protests against police brutality and the death of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer.

The show has long been criticized for its depiction of police interactions with criminal suspects, but high ratings kept the show running and even inspired other networks to create reality TV shows featuring cops. A&E’s “Live P.D.,” one of the highest-rated shows on cable, has also been canceled.

“As an early reality program, it came across to people as raw documentary,” said Jack Bratich, associate professor of journalism and media studies at Rutgers University. “Nowadays audiences are more savvy about how reality programming is produced, edited and staged. Viewers are aware of how programs present perspectives and invite audiences to identify with those perspectives.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/13/how-cops-shaped-public-opinion-about-police-and-people-of-color.html




OK so we’ve seen the protests for the bad cops, which are portrayed on TV shows such as COPS. But what about kids shows like Paw Patrol? Or even goofy comedies like Reno 911, Brooklyn 99 and Super Troopers? Or the Simpson’s loveable doofus character Chief Wiggum? Are those still cannon fodder for protestors? Or will this change the landscape of television and police characters for good?

Some people are calling online for Nickelodeon to cancel Paw Patrol, and take the show off the airwaves. Or if not that, they want the show’s main police dog character Chase to be removed.

This comes after Paramount’s Cops and A&E’s Live PD were canceled on Monday.

The call came as the animated show tweeted, “In solidarity of #amplifymelanatedvoices we will be muting our content until June 7th to give access for Black voices to be heard so we can continue to listen and further our learning. #amplifyblackvoices”

The animated children’s show features a squad of 6 dogs with a set of skills related to emergency services, and a boy named Ryder who all work to protect their city of Adventure Bay.

Shortly after the show’s tweet, commenters started to weigh in asking for Paw Patrol to be canceled.

In one tweet, a user posted a photoshopped picture that read, “All Dogs go to Heaven, except for those class traitors in the Paw Patrol.”
https://kslnewsradio.com/1927142/cancel-paw-patrol/




Yes, that escalated very quickly. Leave it to social media to turn an innocent children’s show very dark very quickly. But COPS isn’t just the epitome of police propaganda, and there’s lots of TV shows, movies, and TV and movie characters out there who portray good cops and bad cops. But will this change the way America views its’ police force forever? Well, after a series of horrifying murders, this might just be the icing on the cake.

In the aftermath of yet another viral video showing a Black man’s murder at the hands of a systemically racist, broken police force, America’s longest-running source of pro-police propaganda was unceremoniously yanked from scheduling. After 32 seasons — over a thousand syndicated episodes adding up to over three decades’ worth of nearly uninterrupted availability — Spike TV, current home of the landmark “reality” show “Cops,” announced the show’s hiatus would become permanent.

For decades, showrunners for "Cops" maintained that their goal was depicting the “real men and women of law enforcement,” while in actuality offering a carefully crafted, heavily edited dramatization of a mythic struggle against the urban anarchy threatening to storm suburbia’s gates. It will not be missed.

I came of age as part of the “Cops” generation. Fox’s revolutionary docu-drama debuted in 1989, one year before I was born, when America was dealing with a crack epidemic and widespread concern over rising crime rates and police corruption. The show’s pilot, very much a product of that time, has not aged well. It’s depiction of American policing is both tone-deaf and gaudy, while reveling in racial insensitivity.

One extended uncomfortable segment depicts police officers literally stopping cars with white drivers at the edge of a predominantly black neighborhood and telling them to turn around. Another follows a patrolman to his house to showcase his home life: a stereotypical portrait of a brusque, dismissive husband haunted by his day’s work sitting next to his long-suffering wife in front of the TV. It didn’t take long for “Cops” to refine its format, shifting the focus away from the police officers themselves and onto their suspects.
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/cops-tv-show-canceled-amid-george-floyd-defund-police-about-ncna1229316




So too much of the bad cops being shown on TV, and not enough of the good ones, so that’s enough to cancel all cop shows for the rest of eternity. That’s enough to make you ask: The show COPS:




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



Of course you know by now that people are people, and people are dumb. Who is dumb this week? Do I need to remind you that we’re still in a pandemic and that this thing isn’t going away any time soon. And there have been some dumb motherfuckers in this thing. Starting with sex. First off, if you are to engage in what one would call a “menage a tois”, it *NEVER* goes the way you think it’s going to go. We go to Myrtle Beach – god damn motherfucking Myrtle Beach – for this insane story. And if you are celebrating a birthday this is one of those things that you shouldn’t do under any circumstances.

A birthday weekend threesome came to an abrupt end Friday when the 19-year-old celebrant pulled a male acquaintance “off the other woman by his genitals and threw him to the floor” of a La Quinta Inn room, according to South Carolina police.

The woman, named Mary Jane, told police that her friend Jahiem had arrived in Myrtle Beach before her and “had been spending time with another woman before she got there.” And, a police incident report notes, “that’s what started the whole argument.”

Jahiem told Myrtle Beach Police Department officers that he and Mary Jane “agreed to have sexual relations with that other woman,” whose age is not revealed in the report. Mary Jane, however, did tell cops that the second woman had a pistol in her handbag.

“During the course of the relations,” Jahiem said, Mary Jane pulled him “off the other woman by his genitals and threw him to the floor.” During a physical confrontation that followed, Jahiem said he kicked Mary Jane, “causing her to fall.”
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/stupid/myrtle-beach-threesome-826014




Oh George, don’t you know going in that this is a bad idea? Next up – stupid has no boundaries, it has no race, no culture, nothing. And this was a sentence that was written. It was said. Someone had to write this article, and well, we feel bad for them. Let’s go to Spain for this one. And I really think this guy should be nominated for the new Most Interesting Man In The World. Stay thirsty my friends!

A Spanish porn star was arrested and charged with manslaughter late last week in connection with a mysterious death following a drug ritual involving toad venom.

Nacho Vidal, 46, was one of three people arrested in connection with the July 2019 death of Jose Luis Abad, a Spanish fashion photographer. Abad died after smoking dehydrated venom from an endangered toad, reportedly as part of a ritual over which Vidal was presiding as shaman.

The venom belonged to the Colorado River toad, which is found in the southwestern United States and Mexico. The toad secretes a toxin to ward off predators that, when dehydrated, contains the compound 5-MeO-DMT, a derivative DMT, which has powerful psychedelic properties.

5-MeO-DMT has been referred to as a “god molecule” due to reports of people feeling like they’d met a higher power while under the effects of the drug. Very limited research suggests it may have therapeutic uses, but it also has potentially dangerous side effects, including extreme nausea and confusion.
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/nacho-vidal-toad-venom-dmt-death-1010196/




There’s really a Simpsons GIF for everything! And speaking of the Simpsons, remember that episode where Homer and his drunken posse vandalized and destroyed Springfield Elementary and the kids of Springfield were subjected to an extremely harsh curfew? Well, this story is pretty similar to that episode, where this guy was channeling his inner Bart Simpson:

Security cameras caught Matthew Crandall on video trashing Miramar High School. He wore only a hat and headphones while smashing computers and televisions, Miramar police said in a tweet.

The video showed Crandall broke into the school around 7 a.m. Monday. He caused flooding in hallways and vandalized classrooms, walls and hallways throughout the school in Broward County, police said.

A school custodian discovered the damage, which was estimated at about $100,000, police said.

Crandall is from North Fort Myers. It was not known whether he had any ties to the school, police said.

Police said Crandall is charged with burglary and criminal mischief. A lawyer is not listed on jail records.
https://weartv.com/news/local/police-naked-florida-man-spent-24-hours-vandalizing-school




God I miss live music! Next up, speaking of idiocy not respecting boundaries – it’s a lot like coronavirus – it’s spreadable, highly communicable, very contagious, and it doesn’t care about your race, creed, social, or economic status. Let’s take a look at this story out of Sydney, and that’s all the way in Australia, don’t you know? Well, once again this involves a naked guy doing something shady. Because when you add naked to the equation well…

Man acquitted of entering a home with a weapon after successful sex fantasy defence

Two men hired to carry out a stranger’s sexual fantasy of being tied up while clad in his underpants went to the wrong rural NSW address with machetes, but politely left after realising their mistake.

One of the Sydney men, Terrence Leroy, has now been found not guilty in the NSW district court of entering the home in July 2019 intending to intimidate while armed with an offensive weapon.
...
They started to leave after he told them his name – which was not that of the intended client.

One man apologised, saying “Sorry mate”, and shook the resident’s hand, while the other said “Bye” before they drove off. The resident then contacted the police.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/may/28/man-acquitted-of-entering-a-home-with-a-weapon-after-successful-sex-fantasy-defence




Next up – young boys are dumb, and when in groups they tend to do some really dumb things. I know, I was one at one point. And young boys today should realize that comic books aren’t exactly what one would call real life. But even I, at a young age, was at least smart enough to know that the Black Widow spider was the deadliest. And it’s not going to turn you into Spiderman. And you’re definitely not Peter Parker.

Encountering a black widow spider would cause most of us to run in the opposite direction - but not three young Bolivian brothers who had high hopes of becoming a super-hero.

According to the New York Post, a Telemundo report said the incident was announced by a Ministry of Health official at a coronavirus briefing on Saturday.

The report said the boys - ages 12, 10 and 8 - found the spider while herding goats in Chayanta.

“Thinking it would give them superhero powers, they prodded it with a stick until it bit each of them in turn,” the official, Virgilio Pietro, said.

Read more: https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/05/three-young-brothers-let-black-widow-bite-them-in-hopes-of-turning-into-spider-man.html




Finally this week our old pal Florida Man just can’t help himself to doing something stupid. Yes, Florida, the Sunshine State, America’s most penis-shaped state, and the winner of our 2020 Stupidest State Contest, always brings out the big guns. But he’s just as dumb as ever. Once again, I say that young boys do stupid things, it’s a fact of nature. But made even worse when paired with your dad and a 4,000 pound SUV. File this one under “things that do not end well”.

A Florida man is facing felony charges after police said he let a 12-year-old girl drive his SUV and told her to speed because he wanted to be a “cool father” — even though he is not her dad.

Shaun Michaelsen, 41, told the arresting officer Monday he is friends with the girl's mother and that the girl and her friend were staying with him for a few days, according to court records.

He said the girl had asked earlier in the day if she could drive his Jeep, so he thought “it would be cool" and that he was trying to be a “cool father,” the police report said. Michaelsen also told officers he had been drinking.

Jupiter Officer Craig Yochum said in his arrest report that he spotted the Jeep make an illegal U-turn and then speed away at about 12:10 a.m. Monday. He followed and the Jeep reached speeds of 85 mph in a 45 mph zone before he was able to pull it over. He said that when he asked the 12-year-https://www.kwqc.com/content/news/Police-Florida-man-lets-12-year-old-drive-Jeep-85-mph-571135401.html




That’s it this week for:





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[font size="8"]Road To The White House Episode 1
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Yes it’s time for our new segment – cue the reverb – THE ROAD TO THE WHITE HOUSE! Oh that was some good reverb there. 2020 has been an absolutely batshit crazy year, we’ve had the impeachment, the virus, the lockdowns, riots, protests, mass unemployment, murder hornets, blood monkeys, and we’re only halfway done. But lost in all the headlines is that we’re in an election year! And the Democratic Party finally has a candidate! So in this segment we’re going to chronicle Joe Biden’s road ot the White House, and since this is a free-form segment then anything goes! Well to start with this week, Biden’s got a long road ahead of him. This week – is the election being stolen? Well let’s take a look at what’s going on.

Imagine that it’s November 3, 2020, and Joe Biden has just been declared the winner of the presidential election by all the major networks except for Fox News. It was a close, bitter race, but Biden appears to have won with just over 280 electoral votes.

Because Election Day took place in the middle of a second wave of coronavirus infections, turnout was historically low and a huge number of votes were cast via absentee ballot. While Biden is the presumptive winner, the electoral process was bumpy, with thousands of mail-in votes in closely fought states still waiting to be counted. Trump, naturally, refuses to concede and spends election night tweeting about how “fraudulent” the vote was.

We knew this would be coming; he’s been previewing this kind of response for a while now.

One day goes by, then a few more, and a month later Trump is still contesting the outcome, calling it “rigged” or a “Deep State plot” or whatever. Republicans, for the most part, are falling in line behind Trump. From that point forward, we’re officially in a constitutional crisis.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/6/3/21257133/trump-2020-election-meltdown-lawrence-douglas




Trump is the grandmaster! He is going to tell his followers to take to the streets and celebrate your president! And in what may be the ultimate circular firing squad argument, Trump and Biden both warn that the other will steal the other’s election victory. If you think that makes any sense whatsoever, well, just wait until you see the actual argument!

Five months before the election in November, the incumbent president and his Democratic challenger each tell Americans his opponent could "steal" the election, perhaps setting the stage for a contentious fight even after the voting is over.

The warnings from President Donald Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden are growing louder and earlier than in 2016, when Trump decried a "rigged" political system in the final weeks before his victory over Hillary Clinton.

The claims are more direct, reflecting the deeply divided nation that has defined the Trump era.

Both men's rhetoric is largely aimed at the same issue – vote-by-mail, which Biden and Democrats support to allow citizens to vote safely amid the coronavirus pandemic and which Trump strongly opposes. Trump has long stoked fears of election-stealing.Wednesday, Biden ramped up his attacks on the president over voter access.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/06/12/election-2020-biden-says-his-concern-trump-steal-election/5341340002/




That is a good question! Why do things have to be so hard? Well it’s safe to say that the fate of the country is at stake here. And in more ways than one. But this election could mark a turning point toward a much darker future or a much brighter one. Me personally? I’m choosing the brighter one. I do not want Trump and his goons in charge another 4 years. Think it’s bad now? You ain’t seen nothing yet!

As Election Day 2020 approaches, it would appear that presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his party have much to celebrate.

Biden leads Donald Trump by an average of eight percentage points in national polling, with some surveys showing Biden ahead of Trump by as many as 14 percentage points.

Biden also enjoys huge leads among the Democratic Party's key constituents, including black voters, Latinos and other nonwhites, college-educated white women and younger voters. Polls also show Joe Biden making gains among older white voters, a group that consistently supports Republicans and has been especially loyal to Trump. Biden also leads Trump in key battleground states such as Michigan and Wisconsin.

On closer inspection, however, matters are more complicated.

Election Day is still more than four months away, almost an eternity in electoral politics. Previous Democratic nominees such as Hillary Clinton and Michael Dukakis are object lessons in the cruel and mercurial ways of the political fates: Both appeared to hold big leads over their Republican opponents at this approximate point in the cycle, only to lose on Election Day.
https://www.salon.com/2020/06/15/investigative-journalist-greg-palast-heres-how-trump-will-steal-the-2020-election/




Yeah I can imagine the debates are going like that. And that’s if Trump decides to debate Biden, which we all know he won’t. In fact he’s trying to fan the flames for a possible Civil War. Oh yes my friends, don’t think for a minute that he won’t go there. But if Atlanta is any indication, there’s going to be a long, very long uphill fight ahead of us before we decide the 46th president of the United States. But at least Trump will go quietly… or won’t he?

First he lit into Michigan and Nevada, threatening to withhold federal funding because of his assertion that both states were preparing to commit voter fraud through mail-in ballot applications. Then President Donald Trump followed up Sunday with two more broadly worded warnings that November would be “the greatest Rigged Election in history.”

“The Democrats are trying to Rig the 2020 Election, plain and simple!” the president claimed.

Trump’s increasingly amped-up rhetoric surrounding the integrity of the November election is beginning to bring to center stage a previously muted conversation. With the president lagging behind Joe Biden in public opinion polls six months before the general election, his opponents are becoming increasingly anxious that Trump may attempt to undermine the results of the election if he loses — or worse, might attempt to cling to power regardless of the outcome.

"He is planting the seeds for delegitimizing the election if he loses," Vanita Gupta, a former head of the Department of Justice’s civil rights division under President Barack Obama and now president of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said on Twitter on Sunday in reaction to Trump's "rigged election" claim. "It’s from the playbook. It’ll get more intense as he gets more freaked out."
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/25/donald-trump-rigged-election-talk-fears-274477




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

Is there a possibility that Biden could win Texas for the first time in 40 years? It's entirely possible along with a lot of other 2020 probabbles!



See you next week!

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June 10, 2020

Top 10 Conservative Idiots Best Of #12: Season 8 Recap: Shit Really Hits The Fan Edition


Top 10 Conservative Idiots Best Of #12: Season 8 Recap: Shit Really Hits The Fan Edition

Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! Oh hello! I know right? Well we survived what will hopefully be the first half of the Coronavirus Apocalypse. But what else could 2020 bring us? We’ve already seen destructive fires, murder hornets, blood monkeys, fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, and we’re in the middle of a pandemic and race riots. What else could 2020 possibly throw at us? Well there is hurricane season coming up so there is that. Normally this is where I would announce the tour dates for the next season, but since we can’t tour right now and all venues are closed for the duration of the COVID pandemic, we’re still sadly stuck at home for the foreseeable future. Hopefully it’s not a long one my friends. Hopefully this is the end of the pandemic as the Coronavirus will hopefully mutate into a much weaker form of itself and eventually disappear. We still need a vaccine though because we never want this to happen again. But as venues across the country start reopening, I will be trying our hand at a couple of live Top 10s with a limited audience from our new home at the legendary Flappers Comedy Club in the heart of Burbank. Yes, we said goodbye to our longtime home at the UCB Theater in Hollywood, but we will be back. Anyway the next season is season number 9 (NEIN!!!) and we will also be documenting Joe Biden’s road to becoming our 46th president! OK that’s enough of the intro, we have a lot of idiocy to get to but first we’ll play John Oliver’s last show in front of a live audience where he talks about why you should pay attention to who your local sheriff is:

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So this is of course we’re between seasons and we usually do a Best Of. In the number one slot, from Idiots #8-2, after Trump nearly brings us to the brink of a World War, we open up the Top 10 History Vault and ask “just how close are we to World War III?” (1). Answer: A lot closer than you may think! For the second slot this week from Idiots #8-4, Trump is asking everyone to “read the transcript” in terms of his impeachment trial, but have they? Well, they have! Taking the third slot this week from Idiots #8-6, the GOP’s equivalent of Joseph Goebbles, Rush Limbaugh (3) announces he has stage 4 lung cancer, but should we feel sorry for the man who’s said some seriously evil shit about us over the last 30 years? Eh… probably. Taking the fourth slot this week, from Idiots #8-9, we ask “What’s Up With India” (4) as Trump heads to Delhi to party with Modi and his huge crowd at one of India’s largest stadiums doesn’t go exactly as planned. In the fifth slot for you, we have a bonus all new Top 10 Investigates (5) and this week as the race to find a vaccine for COVID-19 heats up, we take a look at the people who are responsible for launching a massive vaccine disinformation campaign, as tweeted by your racist uncle on his Facebook page! At slot #6, from Idiots #8-3, our weekly visit to the Holy Church Of The Top 10, Holy Shit (6), takes a look at the ongoing battle between former Pope Benedict and current Pope Francis over the future of the church and well it’s quite insane. In the 7th slot this week, in our pop culture segment “Beating A Dead Horse” (7), why are K-Pop fans plotting to take down your favorite celebrities? We will examine this strange phenomenon! In the #8 slot this week, we have another bonus segment for you, because we love our fans! Our segment on all things batshit crazy, Conspiracy Corner (8) takes a look at a group of protestors who wear Hawaiian shirts and carry AK-47s known as the “Boogaloo Movement” and if you see these guys, well, run. In the number 9 (NEIN!!) slot this week from Idiots #8-5, we have a People Are Dumb (9) segment from our trip to Miami where we do a special all Florida Man edition! Finally our segment about the primary election “Keeping Up With The Candidates” takes a look at the beef between the world’s biggest podcaster Joe Rogan and one of America’s favorite presidential candidates, Bernie Sanders. Really, what is going on between these two? And since we don’t have live music currently, we’ll fill that void with a performance from when Mike Portnoy’s heavy metal super group Sons Of Apollo stopped by! Enjoy! And as always don’t forget the key!


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[font size="8"]Donald Trump
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From: Idiots #8-2

Here’s the thing – you elect a republican, you’re going to go to war. That’s about as basic of a statement as you’re going to get. Trump and the military industrial complex want a war with Iran, and they’re going to give it to us whether we want it or not. Because why? There’s profit to be made in war, peace is boring and not profitable for weapons manufacturers. Where’s Tony Stark when you need him? He managed to privatize peace. But over New Year’s, Trump nearly brought us to the brink of not just a war with Iran, but with World War III. And it’s having some serious consequences. So just how bad was the killing of Soleimani and what are the consequences of it? Well…

Donald Trump on Saturday drew what may come to be seen as the most significant red line of his presidency in a three-part tweet, vowing specific military action against Iran if it "strikes any Americans, or American assets."

"We have ... targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture" and "if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets... Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD," Trump wrote in a series of tweets.

Trump reiterated his warning in a series of tweets early Sunday, saying the United States just spent $2 trillion on military equipment.
"We are the biggest and by far the BEST in the World! If Iran attacks an American Base, or any American, we will be sending some of that brand new beautiful equipment their way...and without hesitation!," he tweeted. "They attacked us, & we hit back. If they attack again, which I would strongly advise them not to do, we will hit them harder than they have ever been hit before!"
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/04/politics/trump-warning-iran-52-assets/index.html




Man remember the good old days when the mere idea of bombing Iran was just the musings of a creepy old guy singing a Beach Boys song parody?

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Yeah that happened! But now it is not just the musings of a creepy old guy in song format, but it could possibly be a reality, and a reality which we should all be fearful of! Because, that’s our media – fear fear fear fear fear!!! Be afraid!!!

BEIRUT—About two years ago, Qassem Soleimani delivered a speech at a ceremony in Tehran marking a decade since the death of Imad Mughniyeh, the senior Hezbollah commander killed in a car-bomb explosion in the heart of Damascus, an attack carried out by the CIA with support from Israel. Standing in front of a huge portrait of Mughniyeh superimposed against a panorama of Jerusalem, Soleimani addressed an audience of senior Iranian officials, as well as representatives of Iran’s proxy militias in Iraq, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Syria, and Yemen.

Soleimani hailed Mughniyeh as “the legend” responsible for practically all the achievements of Iran’s so-called axis of resistance, which according to the Iranian general included building Hezbollah and the Palestinian group Hamas into formidable threats to Israel and killing 241 American service members in the 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut. “The enemy knows that punishment for Imad’s blood is not firing a missile or a tit-for-tat assassination,” he told the crowd. “The punishment for Imad’s blood is the eradication of the Zionist entity.”

Following Soleimani’s killing in an American air strike this month, it is worth remembering the man’s own words. Soleimani, Mughniyeh, and the current Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, formed a trio of men who carried out Iran’s strategy across the Middle East under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. And so it is hard to overstate the magnitude of the blow that Soleimani’s death has delivered. The focus in the days since his killing has been on the perceived impulsiveness of Donald Trump’s decision, Iran’s retaliation—limited thus far to the firing of 22 missiles at two U.S. bases in Iraq, with no reported casualties—the public displays of grief for Soleimani in Iran, and the national- security implications. But as with Mughniyeh’s death, to paraphrase Soleimani himself, the response to the Iranian general’s killing will not be restricted to a lone missile attack or a tit-for-tat move—Iran is not yet done.
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/01/qassem-solemani-iran-response-hezbollah-hamas/604849/




Holy shit!! Yeah he’s going to get a whole bunch of people killed in the process. But remember the terror code list from the Bush era where things were red to green in terms of severity? Well, Trump downgraded the severity of Soleimani’s killing from “imminent threat” to “deterrence”. Despite that the government and citizens of Iran are saying literally the opposite.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Attorney General William Barr said Monday that killing Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani was part of a larger strategy of deterrence, a shift from the Trump administration's previous rationale that the strike was carried out to prevent an "imminent" attack.

Barr's comments were particularly noteworthy as he attempted to push back on criticism over the administration's claim that Soleimani was planning attacks that posed an imminent threat, calling the concept "something of a red herring."

"I believe there was intelligence of imminent attack, but I do believe that concept of imminence is something of a red herring," he said during a press conference on last month's deadly shooting at a Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida.

"I think when you're dealing with a situation where you already have attacks underway, you know there is a campaign that involves repeated attacks on American targets, I don't think there's a requirement frankly for, you know, knowing the exact time and place of the next attack. And that certainly was the position of the Obama when it droned leaders of terrorist organizations," Barr added.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/13/politics/pompeo-barr-soleimani-strike-iran-rationale/index.html




I don’t claim to know a lot, but I’m pretty sure that’s not how a red herring works. And now we play the blame game. Who is getting blamed for this? Well since no one reads past the headlines anymore, the US is blaming Iran, and Iran is blaming the US. But Iran doesn’t have a petulant man baby currently holding the highest office in the land. Apparently they haven’t joined the Putin Dictators’ Club yet .I hear there are a few memberships open for that position.

Iran said Tuesday that dozens of people had been arrested over the Islamic Republic's apparently unintentional shooting down of a Ukrainian jetliner last week. The arrests come amid Iranian vows to fully and openly investigate the firing of the surface-to-air missile that downed the plane, killing all 176 people on board.

But while Iran confessed to shooting the jet down — three days after the fact and under intense international pressure — its president asserted Tuesday that the "root causes" of the tragedy were U.S. actions.

"It was the U.S. that caused such an incident to take place," Iran's state-controlled news agency Tasnim quoted President Hassan Rouhani as saying. The Iranian regime has blamed the Trump administration for ratcheting up tensions with the controversial decision to kill senior Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in a January 2 drone strike in Baghdad.

Iranian forces shot the plane down hours after launching a barrage of ballistic missiles at military bases in Iraq housing hundreds of U.S. forces, in retaliation for the killing of Soleimani. Officials in Tehran have said their forces were on high-alert for any U.S. response to the missile attack, and the operator who fired on the plane believed it was an incoming American missile.
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/iran-news-rouhani-says-us-caused-plane-strike-today-over-donald-trump-killing-qassem-soleimani-2020-01-14/




Yeah that’s kind of what the international blame game is like. I would talk more about the horrible plane crash that happened in Baghdad as a result of this, but making fun of that would be beneath us. That said, we can talk about President Man Baby’s revealing of why he killed Soleimani. I mean really this begs the question – did Mar A Lago guests know about the killing before hand? And the other question - WAR! HUH! WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR? Absolutely nothing!!! Say it again!!

Presidential contender Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sent a letter to two financial regulators this week demanding a federal investigation into whether President Donald Trump provided advance notice of the Jan. 3 strike against Iranian General Qasem Soleimani to stock traders who may have profited illegally based on the tip.

The letter, dated Monday and sent to the chairmen of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, follows a Jan. 4 report in The Daily Beast, citing three unnamed sources, which said that Trump had told guests of his Florida resort Mar-a-Lago in the days before the strike to expect a "big" response to Iran that would happen "soon."

"If this report is true, it raises a number of troubling national security questions regarding President Trump's handling of classified and other sensitive national security information," Warren wrote in the letter, which was also signed by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., the ranking member of the Senate subcommittee that oversees securities and investments.

The senators wrote that the president's resort guests may have obtained "confidential market-moving information and had the opportunity to trade defense industry stocks or commodities or make other trades based on this information."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/elizabeth-warren-calls-for-investigation-into-whether-trump-mar-a-lago-guests-traded-on-advance-knowledge-of-soleimani-killing/ar-BBYWQM2





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[font size="8"]Impeachment Part 2
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From: Idiots #8-4

Yeah so there’s a lot of news and conflicting reports surrounding impeachment coming through the pike and you’re going to be hearing a lot of it. Unfortunately we won’t get to the Trump Barfs His Brain rally in New Jersey this week. Nor will we get to his interview before the Super Bowl. I mean who knew that he could land an interview with Sean Hannity? Really? You really need to know the answer to that question? Because if you have to answer why Sean Hannity is interviewing Trump, you are in the wrong place my friend. It’s been long established on this program that Hannity has his lips super glued to Trump’s ass and not even the strongest crowbar could pry them off.

Fox News host Sean Hannity is set to interview President Donald Trump during the Super Bowl pregame show, Mediaite has learned.

Trump will be sitting down at the White House for the interview with Hannity ahead of Super Bowl LIV on Feb. 2. The highly-rated event, broadcast this year by Fox, will see the Kansas City Chiefs face off against the San Francisco 49ers.

The pre-Super Bowl presidential interview started in 2004, when President George W. Bush chatted with his personal pal Jim Nantz. Barack Obama resumed the tradition in 2009 and it has endured since, with a notable exception: Trump blew off NBC in 2018. He participated again last year, sitting down with CBS anchor Margaret Brennan.

The interview generally takes place in the second half of the four-hour pregame show, and has taken on a newsier bent over time.

The last time Fox hosted the Super Bowl, in 2017, former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly conducted the interview. O’Reilly interviewed President Barack Obama and Bush as well.
https://www.mediaite.com/trump/exclusive-trump-to-sit-down-with-hannity-for-super-bowl-interview/




Hey man I thought the NFL had a policy against showing boobs on TV! Thank you I will take that one, audience! Back to impeachment. We talked about the witnesses in the first entry. For this entry I want to talk about the transcripts. You know Trump, like the broken record that he is, is insisting that we read the transcripts. Which we’re betting that he hasn’t. We’re also betting most of his supporters haven’t either.

The team of lawyers representing President Donald Trump in his Senate impeachment trial dove into their arguments in defense of the president on Monday, which they had previewed over the weekend.

Trump's lawyers condemned impeachment as partisan, and deployed some anticipated arguments to push against Democrats' allegations that Trump pressured Ukraine to open investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and 2016 election interference.

They went after the House impeachment process, pushed back against additional witnesses and honed in on Hunter Biden's role in Ukraine.

Their day in the Senate came after reports surfaced that Trump's former national security adviser, John Bolton, had firsthand knowledge of a linking of investigations to nearly $400 million in military aid that was temporarily withheld by the administration.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/01/27/impeachment-trial-takeaways-trump-defense-arguments-monday/4588758002/




Read the transcripts! Read the transcripts! Shut up! There’s no such thing as a “perfect” phone call, Trump. Only in your warped mind could that happen. But then again there’s a lot of things he says that don’t make sense. But come on, is there anything that Trump doesn’t lie about? Is there anything that his increasingly warped supporters won’t lie about?

President Donald Trump’s lawyers launched their defense Saturday morning with a blizzard of false claims.

It started with the president’s critical July 25th call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. White House Deputy Counsel Michael Purpura referred repeatedly to how what he called “the actual transcript” and “the real transcript” of this call led to an investigation that resulted in Trump’s impeachment. But the document Purpura quoted is not a transcript. It is a “memorandum of telephone conversation,” which means that it reflects the memories of aides who listened in, but may exclude significant parts of Trump and Zelensky’s conversation. Purpura should know the difference.

Trump and his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, are accused of withholding a White House meeting from Zelensky to try to force him to announce investigations into Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, as well as an investigation into a false conspiracy theory that a Democratic National Committee server is secretly stored in Ukraine When that didn’t work, Trump is accused of withholding nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine to increase his leverage in forcing Zelensky to announce the probes.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/01/trumps-legal-team-opened-their-impeachment-defense-with-a-blizzard-of-lies/




Damn straight he does! And when it comes to impeachment, it’s not the transcript we’re interested in, and there’s no way that Hunter Biden did what Trump said he did. And how can we read the transcript when it’s being read under lock and key? Yeah no, that transcript it’s already been said and done, it’s this transcript that I’m interested in! Really, shut up, Trump. You’re fired.

"Fortunately, I released the transcript of the call. The transcript was perfectly accurate. And now everybody agrees because it went through a lot and they said, 'Well, could you add one word here?' Our lieutenant colonel said, 'Well, I think they should add...' -- they added the word. Everything -- everyone agrees the transcript is perfecto, done by total professionals, right?" -- January 16 exchange with reporters after remarks on prayer in public schools

Vindman testified that he had wanted to change the words "the company" to "Burisma," the company name he said Zelensky had used on his call with Trump. And Vindman testified that he had wanted to add in Trump saying "there are recordings" related to former Vice President Joe Biden and a Ukrainian prosecutor Biden had pushed Ukrainian leaders to fire. (Trump was vague about what he meant; in public comments last fall, Trump brought up a video of Biden at a 2018 event telling the story of his effort to get the prosecutor ousted.)

Vindman testified that the transcript was "substantively correct" even without the changes he had proposed. "When I first saw the transcript without the two substantive items that I had attempted to include, I didn't see that as nefarious. I just saw it as, OK, no big deal. You know, these might be meaningful, but it's not that big a deal," he told the House Intelligence Committee in November.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/26/politics/fact-check-january-trump-49-false-claims/index.html





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[font size="8"]Rush Limbaugh
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From: Idiots #8-6

Let’s spin it to win it! And it lands on… come on no whammy no whammy no whammy no whammy… stop!!! Something random in the news!

The NY Post is reporting that an altercation occurred outside Brooklyn's popular Other Half Brewing Company late Friday night. And according to officials, it all had to do with a bunch of smack talk over craft beer.

Witnesses say they were in line overnight for a Saturday morning special release when a man and a woman began harassing them over their taste for pricy, hoppy beer. Several people in line told the NY Post that the couple were staying in a nearby Airbnb when they started mocking the beer lovers. This escalated back and forth to the point that some in line even threw folding chairs at the annoying twosome.

The Post says the the man and woman went back into the apartment for a while, only for the man to reemerge with a can of White Claw hard seltzer. Eager to show these beer snobs what a man's man drinks, the alleged intruder slammed back his drink and then allegedly threw it at those waiting in line. The taunts continued both ways until the Post says the man went back to the apartment and came back with a Glock 19.

Shocked witnesses in line say they called the police as they tried to deescalate the potentially dangerous situation. The man then put the gun away and went back inside. The NY Post says police quickly arrived, brought the man out in cuffs, confirmed his identity with witnesses, and then took him away.
https://wpdh.com/craft-beer-hater-pulls-gun-on-customers-at-new-york-brewery/




Come on, if you’re going to tell a bunch of beer drinkers their product is crap, at least come back with something better than White Claw. That shit is basically La Croix mixed with alcohol mixed with tap water. Why not just chug some pure grain alcohol like Always Sunny In Philadelphia? Seriously, was Florida Man visiting Brooklyn? Spin it again! Talk shows! Folks, last week it was reported that Rush Limbaugh has potentially terminal lung cancer. Which prompted an outpouring of support from conservatives everywhere while Democrats were asking the question “Should we feel remorse for someone we hate?”. Well the answer to that one is a very complex one. And there’s no easy answer.

The conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh said on his live show on Monday that he had advanced lung cancer.

He told listeners that he had noticed some shortness of breath but was not experiencing symptoms at the moment, and that he would continue working but would be absent from the show for a couple of days to undergo testing and determine a treatment plan.

“I can’t help but feel that I’m letting everybody down with this, but the upshot is that I have been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer,” Mr. Limbaugh, 69, said during his broadcast. He added that he first realized something was wrong on Jan. 12 and that the diagnosis had been confirmed by two medical institutions on Jan. 20.

“My heart’s in great shape, ticking away fine, squeezing and pumping great,” he said. “It was not that. It was a pulmonary problem involving malignancy. So I’m going to be gone the next couple days as we figure out the treatment course of action and have further testing done. But as I said, I’m going to be here as often as I can.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/03/business/media/rush-limbaugh-cancer.html




Now come on, who knew that Rush had a heart to begin with? Oh now we kid, that’s the kind of joke we actually can make. And here’s one that isn’t. OK so Rush Limbaugh has said an awful lot of shit in the last 30 years. Among his greatest hits, he’s gone on Carr mocked rape victims, trashed disabled war veterans and famously had that beef with Michael J. Fox after his Parkinsons diagnosis. But you know what we don’t do? We don’t wish death on people we don’t agree with, even if they are ugly people both on the outside and inside. Just wait for nature to take its’ course.

A Milwaukee Public Schools teacher was placed on leave Wednesday for tweeting that he hopes conservative talk show pundit Rush Limbaugh dies a painful death from cancer.

Travis Sarandos, who teaches English at Milwaukee High School of the Arts, has since deleted his Twitter account.

Replying to a different tweet expressing hope that Limbaugh would recover and begin advocating for affordable health care, Sarandos wrote: "limbaugh absolutely should have to suffer from cancer. it's awesome that he's dying, and hopefully it is as quick as it is painful."

It drew a small firestorm after conservative radio host Mark Belling blasted the tweet in his blog Tuesday.

Milwaukee Public Schools initially said in an email to the USA TODAY Network's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that it was aware of the tweet, but that Sarandos was not speaking on behalf of the district or students or other staff. Hours later it confirmed he had been placed on leave pending an investigation.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/02/06/rush-limbaugh-cancer-diagnosis-milwaukee-teacher-leave-after-tweet/4679253002/




Yeah no, we don’t encourage that kind of thing here. And if there’s one thing that you never, ever do, it’s piss off the cult. Because they will hold a grudge against you well into the next century. But here’s one thing that you should never, ever do – don’t ever, EVER celebrate that someone else has cancer, because it’s a shitty disease no matter who has it. And if you’re like the above teacher, really, there’s no time or place for that. Leave it to yourself.

Rush Limbaugh told his listeners on Monday that he has advanced lung cancer and, of course, social media lit up with partisan responses to the dire diagnosis revealed by America’s best known conservative radio talk show host.

This isn’t the first time Limbaugh has experienced hardship. It’s been reported that he was addicted to prescription drugs and he’s suffered a profound hearing loss, for example.

But cancer is something else altogether.

“This day has been one of the most difficult days in recent memory for me. I’ve known this moment is coming in the program,” Limbaugh said in comments quoted by national publications. “I’m sure that you all know by now that I really don’t like talking about myself and I don’t like making things about me. I like this program to be about you and the things that matter to all of us.”

We don’t know if Limbaugh’s diagnosis states that he has a short time left or if his situation is more hopeful than that. But we do know this, or at least we should: This news should not be met with celebration. It should not be met with laughter and high-fives. It should not be met with Twitter memes or wicked witch analogies.
https://www.mercedsunstar.com/opinion/article239926218.html





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[font size="8"]Public Enemy Vs Bernie Sanders
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From: Idiots #8-9

There’s no debating that Bernie Sanders is arguably the most polarizing candidate of this or any presidential election cycle. Those that love Bernie, reeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaly love Bernie (see: Top 10 #8-7 ) and those that hate Bernie, well, they really hate him. I actually had the privilege of attending the rally in Los Angeles this week where the shit show between Public Enemy and long time collaborator and founding member Flavor Flav (FLAVOR FLAAAAAAAAAAV!!!!) clashed for what may be the final time in their career. I mean really if Bernie can’t keep Public Enemy together, how is he going to unite the country? Seriously, I’m asking for a friend. Although when you look at it, one wonders how Chuck D and Flavor Flav did anything together, let alone for 37 fucking years. That is a long ass time to do anything! So here’s what went down.

Rapper Chuck D has fired comical hypeman Flavor Flav from the iconic Long Island hip-hop group Public Enemy following long-simmering tensions and a dispute over participation in a rally for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders.

"Public Enemy and Public Enemy Radio will be moving forward without Flavor Flav," a representative for the group and its spinoff said in a statement Sunday. "We thank him for his years of service and wish him well."

Flav, 59, born in Roosevelt and raised in Freeport, had sent a cease-and-desist letter to Sanders Friday objecting to "unauthorized use of his likeness, image and trademarked clock in promotional materials circulated by the campaign." Posted by the online music magazine Pitchfork, the letter from Flav's attorney Matthew Friedman goes on to say, "While Chuck is certainly free to express his political views as he sees fit — his voice alone does not speak for Public Enemy. … [T]here is no Public Enemy without Flavor Flav."

In a statement to HipHopDX, Chuck D's attorney said, "From a legal standpoint, Chuck could perform as Public Enemy if he ever wanted to; he is the sole owner of the Public Enemy trademark. He originally drew the logo himself in the mid-80's, is also the creative visionary and the group's primary songwriter, having written Flavor's most memorable lines."
https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/music/public-enemy-flavor-flav-chuck-d-bernie-sanders-1.42392260




FLAVOR FLAV!!! Holy shit, I think the craziest thing about this story is that Flavor Flav is 59 years old, damn! That means that Public Enemy has been a band as long as I have been alive! But here’s where this story escalated quickly. Public Enemy states that their dispute with Flavor Flav wasn’t about politics. Uh, what? I mean it’s Chuck D, pretty much everything he does is about politics. Shit, I remember when he hosted that Air America show way back when that was a thing.

Rap group Public Enemy split with founder member Flavor Flav but said on Monday that the move had been a long time coming and was not because of a dispute over its performance at a rally for U.S. presidential contender Bernie Sanders.

“Public Enemy did not part ways with Flavor Flav over his political views,” co-founder Chuck D and four other members of the hip-hop group said in a statement.

The band said Flav has been suspended from Public Enemy since 2016 when he failed to show up at a benefit in Georgia for singer Harry Belafonte.

“That was the last straw for the group. He had previously missed numerous live gigs from Glastonbury to Canada, album recording sessions and photo shoots. He always chose to party over work,” the statement added.

Flav and Chuck D were founder members in 1985 of New York-based rappers Public Enemy, known for making music with a strong political message. Their 1988 album “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back” is considered one of the genre’s most influential.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-music-public-enemy/public-enemy-splits-with-flavor-flav-over-bernie-sanders-rally-idUSKBN20P35X




And in case Flavor Flav didn’t already regret this decision, well, he’s got a much different story than what Chuck D was telling the press. Now at this point you might be asking “HEY! Isn’t this supposed to be Top 10 *CONSERVATIVE* Idiots?”. And I answer you – this is my show, I get to talk about whatever the hell I want, damn it, and I was at this rally. So that said, here’s what Flavor Flav had to say.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Flavor Flav isn’t taking his firing from Public Enemy lying down. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer took to social media Monday to respond to news that he had been dismissed from the group, as well as several social media posts from co-founder Chuck D.

Flavor Flav was booted from the legendary hip hop act after the two sides engaged in a beef over Chuck D and other members of PE performing at a Bernie Sanders rally in Los Angeles under the name Public Enemy Radio.

Flavor Flav had issued a cease and desist letter to Sanders’ campaign, saying they were engaging in the “the unauthorized use of [Flavor Flav’s] likeness, image and trademarked clock in promotional materials.”

This enraged Chuck D, who fired off several vicious posts on Twitter accusing Flavor Flav of being a drug addict who was desperate for money. Public Enemy then released an official statement saying, “Public Enemy and Public Enemy Radio will be moving forward without Flavor Flav,” the group said in a statement. “We thank him for his years of service and wish him well.”
https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2020/03/flavor-flav-tells-chuck-d-you-cant-fire-me-from-public-enemy.html




Dude, seriously, Chuck D, you should have just given him a severance package and a gold watch, he’s probably already eligible for retirement. Hey come on, I kid. I’m not age shaming. But the disputes going between the two should probably stop. And Flavor Flav don’t do free benefits, that’s just the way he rolls. So who approved of what and where is this going? Well the answer is very polarizing.

On Wednesday, it was announced that Public Enemy would be performing at a Bernie Sanders rally this Sunday in Los Angeles ahead of Super Tuesday. However, not everyone in the legendary group is on board.

In a cease and desist letter obtained by SPIN, Flavor Flav, through his attorney Matthew H. Friedman of the Las Vegas law firm Ford & Friedman, accused the Sanders campaign of using the Public Enemy name and “likeness, image and trademarked clock in promotional materials” without his permission.

He went on to say that the Sanders campaign created “a false narrative” that the legendary rap group is supporting him. Flav said it is just Chuck D. performing at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Sunday.

“Sanders has promised to ‘Fight the Power’ with hip hop icons Public Enemy – but this Rap Icon will not be performing at the Sanders Rally,” the letter read. “To be clear Flav and, by extension, the Hall of Fame hip hop act Public Enemy with which his likeness and name have become synonymous has not endorsed any political candidate in this election cycle and any suggestion to the contrary is plainly untrue. The continued publicizing of this grossly misleading narrative is, at a minimum, careless and irresponsible if not intentionally misleading.”
https://www.spin.com/2020/02/flavor-flav-rips-bernie-sanders-campaign-for-using-public-enemy-name-for-rally-does-not-approve-your-message/





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[font size="8"]Top 10 Investigates: Coronavirus Disinformation
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It’s time to investigate beyond the headlines. This is Top 10 Investigates!



The coronavirus has upended our way of life as we know it. As such, people are looking for any way we can return to some kind of normalcy before this virus ravaged civilization around the globe. The fact is that this is a pandemic the likes of which we have never seen. But before we can gain a sense of our normal life the way it was before the pandemic happened, we need a vaccine. And because we need a vaccine, and a good 65% of the entire world needs it before it can be considered eradicated, there’s obviously going to be some detractors. So where is the Coronavirus misinformation campaign coming from and why is it out to destroy us? It could be worse than the virus itself.

The crippling spread of COVID-19 across the globe has progressed in parallel with a flood of information online relating to the pandemic. The World Health Organization branded that spread as an "infodemic" earlier this year.

The "infodemic" has highlighted the importance of readers identifying false information about the coronavirus and those who might be spreading it.

Here's a look at potential sources of false information and a few quick embedded tips to deal with it.

If you have to remember one thing, always consider the source of the information. Ask yourself: Is the information from a trusted and authoritative entity? If not, then you should proceed with caution.

ABC News took a look at the different types of people spreading false coronavirus information and their motivations for doing so.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/spreading-covid-19-misinformation/story?id=70615995




Yes, we will probably all be acting like Mr. Burns for the foreseeable future. But like all bad things, the war on the truth about what coronavirus is really doing to us is coming from Facebook. Now Facebook like all social media sites, has an obligation to police the content on its’ site. But considering that conservatives are declaring war on sites like Facebook for “bias”, then this is what the sites are really doing.

In January 2020, Facebook executives began paying attention to a new coronavirus spreading across the globe. The virus was deadly and highly contagious, and when the World Health Organization shared guidance about it, the company’s leadership dropped their typically hands-off approach to misinformation.

“We decided we would remove content that directly contradicted [the WHO] and could contribute to risk of imminent physical harm,” Monika Bickert, Facebook’s head of global policy management, told BuzzFeed News.

Say “social distancing doesn’t work” or “wearing a mask can make you sick” on Facebook, and the company will direct its moderators to remove your post. A move of this scale is unprecedented for a company that has sought to keep itself out of battles over the truth, but Facebook has removed hundreds of thousands of posts violating this policy already, according to Bickert, and reduced distribution on tens of millions of others.

Though Facebook has removed some health-related misinformation in the past, the company’s decision, although enforced spottily, to side with science has thrust it into new ground. Removing coronavirus misinformation could make its largely hands-off approach to other harm-causing misinformation — such as on climate denialism and anti-vaccine advocacy — harder to defend. It will also place Facebook squarely in the middle of a political battle in the US, where the not widely shared opposition to social distancing and masks break along party lines.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/alexkantrowitz/facebook-coronavirus-misinformation-takedowns




But in fact the misinformation campaign surrounding coronavirus may be as bad and infectious as the virus itself. And that’s not a good thing because what we don’t know about this virus and how it behaves can be just as prevalent as what we do know. The thing is, this is a new virus the likes of which we have never seen and the fact that it can infect a good majority of the people on this earth is bad. The disinformation campaign will make it even worse than it already is.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been equally defined by how much we don’t know as how much we do. That vacuum has been quickly filled with bullshit. The United Nations secretary-general has warned we’re living through “a pandemic of misinformation,” and the head of the World Health Organization said it’s an “infodemic.” In the midst of battling a global health emergency, we find ourselves fending off another scourge of conspiracy theories and misinformation.

It certainly feels like there’s a lot of fake news swirling around about the coronavirus, but how does it compare to another major misinformation magnet: the 2016 election? Research on coronavirus misinformation is largely limited to public opinion surveys and preprint research that has yet to be peer-reviewed. But when we compare those preliminary findings to research on the 2016 election, they suggest that more people are seeing — and believing — misinformation now, and it may have something to do with the challenge of understanding a new disease.

Measuring exactly how much bunk is out there to begin with is a challenge, in part because so much misinformation is shared through social media, said Gordon Pennycook, a behavioral psychologist at Canada’s University of Regina who studies fake news. It’s possible to measure, for instance, the number of tweets linking to specific fake news websites, but no way to see every instance a particular false claim is made on Facebook, especially when those claims can take many forms, including memes, Pennycook said.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-bad-is-the-covid-19-misinformation-epidemic/




That’s about what the virus disinformation campaign is like. If you see it on social media, and you’re pretty sure that it’s bullshit, chances are good that it most likely is. Also, just like your neighbor’s frothing at the mouth pro-Trump rantings on his social media page, the worst of it is coming from bot accounts designed to spread misinformation. And as we’ve said, the misinformation campaign is probably as bad as the disease itself. Just don’t fall for it.

About half of the Twitter accounts pushing misinformation about COVID-19 and calling for "reopening America" may be bots, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University said Wednesday. The tweets appear to be aiming to sow division and increase polarization during the pandemic.

"Conspiracy theories increase polarization in groups. It's what many misinformation campaigns aim to do," Kahtleen Carley, a computer science professor, said in a statement about the ongoing research. "People have real concerns about health and the economy, and people are preying on that to create divides."

She warned that the misinformation "will have a variety of real-world consequences, and play out in things like voting behavior and hostility towards ethnic groups."

Since January, the researchers have collected more than 200 million tweets discussing COVID-19 and coronavirus. They found that 82% of the top 50 influential retweets are bots, and 62% of the top 1,000 retweeters are bots, too.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bots-account-for-nearly-half-of-twitter-accounts-spreading-coronavirus-misinformation-researchers-say/




That’s it this week for Top 10 Investigates. Good day.





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[font size="8"]Holy Shit
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From: Idiots #8-3

Gather around my fair brothers and sisters of Amherst! It’s time to take a seat in the pew and pass the collection plate, for the Holy Church Of The Top 10 has convened and it’s time to remind you that the holiest among us are the most full of:



My fair congregation! You know we talk a lot of crap about super right wing Christian fundamentalists but there’s people like this in every religion. And the war is the same – it’s traditional vs modern. And I say this because there’s a group of let’s say old men, in this country who do not embrace change. Take for instance our good friends in the Catholic Church. Now don’t boo. Don’t boo. The Catholic Church has long looked to overturn this barbaric practice of priests and celibacy. And it’s a fight that goes back centuries. But while they’ve made great strides with Pope Francis, a former pope, Pope Benedict, has stepped in and well, he’s got some thoughts.

Retired Pope Benedict XVI, who promised to remain silent when he resigned as head of the Roman Catholic Church seven years ago, has stepped back into the ongoing debate over priestly celibacy with a new book defending the traditionalist view.

The surprise move is seen as a rebuke to Pope Francis, who is weighing the possibility of a revolutionary move to relax the strict celibacy requirement for ordination in some South American countries where the shortage of priests is particularly acute.

In the as-yet-unpublished book, whose title translates as From the Depths of Our Hearts, Benedict and his co-author, Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, defend the "necessity" of celibacy in the priesthood. On Sunday, the French newspaper Le Figaro printed excerpts, which were also obtained by The Associated Press.

"The priesthood of Jesus Christ causes us to enter into a life that consists of becoming one with him and renouncing all that belongs only to us," the pope emeritus writes. "For priests, this is the foundation of the necessity of celibacy but also of liturgical prayer, meditation on the Word of God and the renunciation of material goods."
https://www.npr.org/2020/01/13/795826955/in-new-book-retired-pope-benedict-breaks-silence-to-speak-out-on-priestly-celiba




Yes, Pope Benedict, you might want to sit this one out. And I’ve seen Spotlight, I know what goes on behind closed confessional booths. So you’re booing me now. Ah, so now the tables have turned, haven’t they? But this war goes deep, my fair congregation. So deep that it could have some devastating long term effects on the Vatican itself.

At the beginning of the week, the insider Catholic universe imploded when news broke that retired Pope Benedict XVI and Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah had co-authored a new book defending priestly celibacy just as Pope Francis is considering an exception to the rule proposed during the Amazon synod.

In the fierce and polemical debate that ensued, the role of a pope emeritus was questioned while Catholicism’s conservative and progressive camps exchanged arguments over Benedict XVI’s intentions with the book, titled From the Depths of Our Hearts: Priesthood, Celibacy and the Crisis of the Catholic Church, which hit shelves Jan. 15 in France.

The saga culminated with Archbishop Georg Ganswein, personal secretary for Benedict XVI, saying the emeritus pope had asked that his name be withdrawn as a coauthor and removed from the book’s introduction and conclusion. Citing the Chicago Manual of Style, however, the English-language publisher, Ignatius Press, said it considers the publication “coauthored.”

Though unprecedented is perhaps the wrong word to describe the bizarre episode, it was certainly odd, as Sarah, an active sitting cardinal who heads the Vatican’s liturgy office, took to social media to defend his credibility, issuing several statements and publishing correspondence between himself and Benedict - things that heads of Vatican departments don’t typically do.
https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2020/01/sarahs-last-hurrah-2020-could-see-major-vatican-shakeups/




And by the way in case you’re wondering if the Catholic Church is in full “move along, nothing to see here” mode, whew, oh boy are they ever. But really Pope Benedict, you might want to sit this one out, especially after new allegations are surfacing against priests and abuse. The only real crisis here is that there’s a bunch of abusers and they are showing no remorse for the victims that they abused. Pope Francis is trying to steer the church in a much more modern tradition.

The Vatican on Monday sought to downplay the decision by retired Pope Benedict XVI to reaffirm the “necessity” of a celibate priesthood at the same time that Pope Francis is considering ordaining married men, calling his book a mere contribution that was written in full obedience to Francis.

The Vatican’s editorial director, Andrea Tornielli, penned an editorial that sought to put Benedict’s bombshell book in the context of a continuity between the two popes. He noted that Francis, too, has upheld the “gift” of priestly celibacy and refused to make it optional across the board.

The French daily Le Figaro late Sunday published excerpts of the book “From the Depths of Our Hearts: Priesthood, Celibacy and the Crisis of the Catholic Church," co-authored with conservative Cardinal Robert Sarah; The Associated Press obtained galleys of the English edition, which is being published Feb. 20 by Ignatius Press.

Benedict’s intervention was extraordinary, given he had promised to remain “hidden from the world” when he retired in 2013, and pledged his obedience to the new pope. He has largely held to that pledge, though he penned an odd essay last year that blamed the sexual abuse crisis on the sexual revolution of the 1960s.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/pope-benedict-xvi-breaks-silence-reaffirm-priest-celibacy-68234586




That is a good point Reverend, but we’ll save that for a different sermon. Because I’m sure that’s not what the good LAWRD JAYSUS would want! And really by the way, give it up for my choir, how great are they? So if the Catholic Church can’t get it together on priests and marriage, what can they get it together on? Well don’t expect them to come to a conclusion anytime soon.

Former pope Benedict XVI has publicly urged his successor Pope Francis not to open the Catholic priesthood up to married men, in a plea that Sunday stunned Vatican experts.

The ex-pontiff, who retired in 2013, issued the defence of clerical celibacy in a book written with arch-conservative Cardinal Robert Sarah, extracts of which were published in exclusive by France's Le Figaro.

"I cannot keep silent!" Benedict wrote in the book, which follows an extraordinary meeting of bishops from the Amazonian at the Vatican last year that recommended the ordination of married men in certain circumstances.

The pope emeritus, 92, and Sarah from Guinea weighed in on the controversial question of whether or not to allow "viri probati" -- married "men of proven virtue" -- to join the priesthood.

Francis is currently considering allowing it in remote locations, such as the Amazon, where communities seldom have Mass due to a lack of priests, and is expected to publish his decision in the coming weeks.
https://news.yahoo.com/ex-pope-benedict-rejects-opening-priesthood-married-men-202354226.html




Yes so if we learned anything during our sermon today, just about everything is a sin, and this might be one of the most egregious of all! Mass has ended, may you go in peace! That’s it this week for:




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[font size="8"]Beating A Dead Horse: Your Favorite Celebrity Is Over
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From: Idiots #8-15



Can you really be over your favorite celebrity? Well there’s plenty of reasons why you should, and also plenty of reasons why you shouldn’t. What makes this even weirder is that these celebrities who are “over” are being cherry picked and for ridiculously crazy reasons. But what you might not know is that the forces that are driving these social media trends aren’t. Like all bad things, this trend got hijacked by bots pushing Korean pop videos and trying to downplay American culture. But what you might not know is where this originated from. This entire thing started when Nicki Minaj decided to ditch her record label and hold an “Atlantic Records Is Over” party.

They really didn't have to snap this hard - or did they?

Fans of Nicki Minaj put Atlantic Records on blast over the weekend when they accused the music giant of misconduct against their artists - again. While the origins of Saturday's resurfaced shambles are still questionable, it was definitely the Barbz that made #AtlanticRecordsOverParty the number-one trending topic in the entertainment category.

Atlantic, a subsidiary of Warner, planted its deep roots in jazz almost over 70 years ago with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and Otis Redding - so, this might be THE longest trail we've ever been down, it's absolutely littered with similar allegations.

We can't find any other outlets covering Minaj's indirectly-direct relationship to this newest edition of #AtlanticRecordsIsOverParty (or even the topic in general). What we did find was a bit of the backstory.

It's still a little funny to see Minaj's name credited with that of Cardi B's in the same song title. After their 2017 collab with MotorSport, Cardi told a UK press outlet that Minaj's original verse was "not the verse that is out there right now." Hearing this, Minaj called Cardi out for not telling the whole story.
https://theblast.com/126308/nicki-minaj-fans-host-atlantic-records-is-over-party-as-allegati




God can you imagine what would happen if Nicki Minaj and Cardi B got together in the same room? I can imagine there will be lots of yelling and bling comparisons, followed by which tiny purse dog is better than the other one. Now you would think this hashtag would end there. But oh no, just like a certain virus, it spread. And it spread to a whole bunch of different celebrities. Like Demi Lovato for instance!

It seems like there have been multiple attempts to "cancel" Demi Lovato, and the latest "Demi Lovato is Over Party" broke out over recent comments the singer made regarding Selena Gomez on a private Instagram account.

Previously, Demi was "canceled" by everyone on the internet for orchestrating the sexual assault of one of her private bodyguards as a "joke" by sending an escort to his room to engage in some funny business.

People didn't find the humor in Demi's "gag" and began calling her out for not only mistreating an employee but "trivializing rape" by merely calling it the "meanest prank" she ever pulled.

There's tons of other instances where people were ready to "pull the plug" on supporting Demi forever. But you know how the world of Twitter outrage works, at the end of the day.

For the most part, people latch on to something they're pretending to be furious about for a few hours, get said topic trending, then once that fizzles out, they jump onto the next issue to be upset about. The satisfaction seems to come from tweeting about how upset you are, rather than, you know, actually doing anything about it in real life, for the most part.
https://www.distractify.com/p/demi-lovato-is-over-party




Yeah so chalk this up to a dose of fake outrage and people who clearly don’t get the idea of what they are talking about. Now that’s the female side of this equation. What about the male side of this equation – let’s look at Adam Driver, the star of the recent string of Star Wars films. Is he over? Oh you had better believe that he’s over!

While social media has mostly been smitten with Kylo Ren actor Adam Driver for his appearances in Star Wars, Marriage Story, and his stints on Saturday Night Live, some people turned against the Hollywood star because of his military service with the United States Marine Corps. A Twitter hashtag claimed #AdamDriverIsOver because some users disagreed with his reasons for serving in the military, but it didn't take long for fans to come to the actor's defense.

All of it stems from Driver's decision to join the Marines and people taking seemingly out of context quotes and reading way too deep into offhand information to distill a person's entire life story down to one decision, and of course fans getting entirely too worked up over what other people are saying about their favorite celebrity.

It all comes out because Drive ended up joining the United States Marine Corps shortly after the September 11th attacks in 2001, serving nearly three years in the Marines before being medically discharged due to a dislocated sternum. After his time in the Marines, Driver got into the Julliard School and...well, the rest is history. An iconic run on Star Wars later and now he's one of the most sought-after actors in all of Hollywood.
https://comicbook.com/starwars/news/star-wars-adam-driver-is-over-party-twitter-trending/#4




Really? You’re mad that Adam Driver joined the Marines in his early life? No wonder that guy looks like he could kill you more ways than John Wick. Or how about another unlikely celebrity to get tangled up in all of this mess – Brendan Urie? You know him as the lead singer and performer of Panic! At The Disco, but did you know that he made some transphobic remarks in the early days of PATD? Well, neither did we! And he’s famous for playing a drag performer in “Kinky Boots”!

In the thread, @dinasapphic posted a video from a past concert in which Brendon states: "I wish I was born black so I could wear the clothes I wear without getting made fun of." He then states that black people are able to wear whatever they want but white people aren't.

There is also a video in the thread in which Brendon says to a crowd that he wants to "fuck them whether they want him to or not", comments in which he compares Caitlyn Jenner coming out as trans to Rachel Dolezal claiming she's black and a snippet from an old interview in which he uses a transphobic slur.

Given that many of these comments were made years ago, Panic! fans have rushed to defend Brendon and argue that he's changed and these remarks no longer represent him. In the case of the transphobic slur, Brendon apologised for it in his Twitch livestream. He said: "I am so deeply sorry. I felt sick to my stomach when I realised how hurtful that word is."

A Panic! fan tweeted: "brendon urie is trending for shit he’s done years ago again. i’m not gonna get in on it much but it’s obvious he has changed and he has apologized for all the stuff he’s said in the past. ffs just fucking drop it and move on. focus on the present, not the past. #weloveyoubrendon" [sic].
https://www.popbuzz.com/music/artists/panic-at-the-disco/news/brendon-urie-is-over-party-transphobic-racist/





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[font size="8"]Conspiracy Corner
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Welcome back to our segment where we delve into the latest coming from the minds of the seriously depraved, it’s Conspiracy Corner! I am not at the Top 10 headquarters in Anaheim, California. Instead I am coming to you live from a doomsday prepper shelter in the middle of western Iowa. Why Iowa? Why not? There’s plenty of corn fields which makes the possibility of an underground bunker all the more conspicuous! Just let me adjust my trusty tin foil hat for maximum government interference… ah, there we go! Well this week, in the middle of all the insanity coming from the protests, a new movement has been birthed! And it’s not a movement any of us would want. Because it involves angry white guys with long beards, Hawaiian shirts, some giant machine guns, and a good healthy dose of MAGA pride! What do they call this movement? They call it “The Boogaloo Movement”. Yes, you read that right!

A new movement of armed, far-right adherents is gaining attention in the United States, not just for its seemingly strange name, but for its alleged links to the violence that has taken place across the country following largely peaceful protests over police brutality.

Adherents of the loosely organised "Boogaloo" movement appear to believe in armed, anti-government actions that could lead to a second US civil war.

While it is impossible, authorities say, to point to a singular group for the unrest that has come as part of protests against the police killing of George Floyd, officials claim that much of the violence can be pinned on "outside agitators" who are seeking to distract from the main message of the demonstrations.

One movement authorities have blamed is the Boogaloo movement. On June 4, three men who allegedly belong to the Boogaloo movement were arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada, on charges related to "terrorism" and involving plots to accelerate violence at protests.
What's in the name?

The "Boogaloo" movement, a newcomer grouping, is hard to label but exists largely on the far-right of the political spectrum, and has aims to accelerate the US towards a second civil war.

Its members, known as "Boogaloo Boys" or "Boogaloo Bois", are typically seen with assault rifles and tactical gear. Some adherents of the movement have also been spotted in Hawaiian shirts in recent days, according to reports, though not all wear them.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/06/boogaloo-movement-200604173050475.html




Yes, if you see these guys show up at your local protest, just be aware. They’re not there to dance and sing Kumbaya, they’re there to stir some shit up! So you might be asking yourself – what kind of weapons and artillery are these guys carrying? Well, just like their beers, the Boogaloo Bois… yes, I am being told by my producer that is how they spell their name… They like their guns as long as their beards.

In addition to attending recent marches against police brutality around the country, Boogaloo followers have made their presence known at rallies demanding the end to stay-at-home orders imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Adherents are relatively easy to spot. All carry long guns. Many wear Hawaiian shirts under body armor or black shirts with “Big Igloo” or “Big Luau” patches.

Hawaiian shirts have been worn by military Special Forces overseas as a symbol that they are American and will continue to do their military duty no matter where they are, according to Burghart.

“They have stolen that, as they have their whole regalia and their appearance,” he said. “They think that by putting on the costume, that makes them Special Forces. Perhaps they’ve spent too much time playing Call of Duty,” he said, referring to the militaristic video game.

The similar-sounding terms Big Igloo and Big Luau sprung up as a way to circumvent social media moderators trying to prevent incendiary posts that use “boogaloo,” according to researchers.
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2020/06/04/armed-white-men-milwaukee-protests-could-far-right-boogaloo/3147128001/




Man remember the good old days when luaus used to mean giant roasted pigs, bon fires, and Hawaiian ukulele music? Well, now the far right has ruined that image, just like everything else good that they’ve taken a colossal dump on. But just remember if they show up at your protests, they’re not there to do a hula dance. They’re there to fuck some serious shit up! Especially when their supposed enemy has been defined by the president, though it’s not even clear who that is!

President Donald Trump and his allies have sought to blame left-wing extremists for the violence and looting at U.S. protests over police brutality while local authorities and watchdog groups have pointed to the threat posed by right-wing movements.

A recent U.S. intelligence assessment reviewed by Reuters this week said most of the violence at protests appears to have been driven by opportunists. But the assessment also said there was some evidence that organized extremists were tied to violence or promoting it online.
WHICH GROUPS ARE BEING SINGLED OUT?

President Donald Trump and some fellow Republicans have sought to blame the left-wing anti-fascist Antifa movement but have presented little evidence.

Liberal watchdog groups and some local authorities have warned that members of the anti-government “boogaloo” movement or white supremacist groups could infiltrate protests.

Federal prosecutors filed charges this week against three alleged boogaloo members accused of plotting to cause violence and destruction at Las Vegas protest.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minneapolis-police-protests-extremist/explainer-who-are-antifa-the-boogaloo-movement-and-others-blamed-in-us-protest-violence-idUSKBN23C2R1




So it may not be Antifa at all who are the agitators of this thing. Yes, Antifa is a mysterious organization with no central leadership who generally shows up at protests to beat the shit out of groups like the Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer. But the real agitators are these big burly white manliest males who ever maled wearing Hawaiian shirts and carrying big machine guns. Those are the people who you need to watch out for! Until then I think I will stay here in my underground bunker until the dust settles!

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Richland County Sheriff's Department has made a fifth arrest of an alleged 'agitator' at a protest that turned violent in downtown Columbia Saturday.

Joshua Barnard, 24, faces charges of breaking into a car, looting, larceny, aggravated breach of peace and instigating a riot.

Authorities say Barnard is the man caught on camera Saturday stealing a police jacket while wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott says that attire could be associated with a violent anti-government resistance radical group that calls themselves the 'Boogaloo Bois'.

"The Washington Post had a big article yesterday about men in Hawaiian shirts showing up to these protests," said Lott in a press conference Thursday.

Lott believes Barnard, given his actions and attire at Saturday's protest, could be involved.

"There's a lot of information that he could be a part of the Boogaloo organization," said Lott. "It's a very radical group. Their mission is to create a new civil war."
https://www.wltx.com/article/news/local/a-closer-look-at-the-men-in-hawaiian-shirts-or-the-boogaloo-movement/101-bcc86bcd-54ca-4741-8d0a-81ac6dc19e4b





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[font size="8"]People Are Dumb
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From: Idiots #8-5

Hit it!



Of course you know by now that people are people and people are dumb. And as such whenever we visit the great state of Florida, we have to do a special all Florida man edition of People Are Dumb. Look, Florida, we kid. But you do bring the crazy extra hard. And before we get into this, I want to give a shout out to the @Floridaman_ Twitter feed that really just goes beyond to keep track of all the crazy happening in the Sunshine State. Let’s start with this story out of Miami. Sigh here’s the thing people, we may hate Trump here and everything that he stands for. But let’s condone any acts of violence against him or his properties or the people in them. That said, this story has some of everything that makes Florida insane and weird.

A Connecticut woman chastised for dancing on her car at a Palm Beach hotel late Friday morning ended up driving away and crashing her vehicle through two security barricades outside Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s private club and home, drawing gunfire from law enforcement officers, before leading a police helicopter on a chase that ended in her arrest.

Hannah Roemhild, 30, a trained opera singer, is now in the custody of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

“This is not a terrorist thing,” Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said at a Friday afternoon news conference. “This is somebody that obviously was impaired somehow.”

Roemhild could face charges for assault on both federal and county law enforcement officers, Bradshaw said. No one was injured, although the situation might have easily ended differently, officials indicated.

Trump was not at Mar-a-Lago at the time, but he was expected to arrive at the club Friday evening. The White House said the fracas would not disrupt the president’s travel plans.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article239840653.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter




That’s right, Dude! Next up, we go to the city of Orlando for this one. And here’s the thing, if you don’t have anything creative to write when you’re hammered and you’ve got a can of spray paint, maybe the best thing to do is just walk away. But not for this guy who painted – I shit you not – the word “slur” on the bathroom wall. This is a thing that happened!

A Florida man who spray painted the word "slur" in a bar bathroom was found with spray cans still in his backpack, according to the Melbourne Police Department.

Police said a witness saw Paul Scott, 24, walk into the men's restroom at Mugs Pub Sunday night with his backpack and when he left, there was wet pink paint on the wall that read, "slur."

When police approached Scott, they said he initially told them he had been in the bar for about 15 minutes and during that time, he had one beer before an employee asked him to leave.

According to authorities, they could hear the sound of aluminum cans coming from Scott's backpack and when they searched it, they found spray paint bottles, and an empty bottle that was still wet, in the same shade of pink as the graffiti inside the restroom.
https://www.clickorlando.com/strange-florida/2019/09/16/florida-man-spray-paints-the-word-slur-in-bar-bathroom-police-say/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter




Next up, we’re going to stay in the city of Orlando – what’s up with Orlando this week? They’re taking double doses of crazy pills! Anyway, I don’t know much about boating, nor will I claim to know anything about boating, but I’m pretty sure this is not how the gas tank on a boat is supposed to operate. But it’s also probably best not to get the fire department involved in your own stupidity as well.

Mistakenly inserting a fuel nozzle into a fishing pole slot, a Florida man pumped $60 worth of gasoline onto the deck of his boat and the ground of a gas station, fire rescue officials said.

The incident happened Monday in the Orlando area, Orange County Fire Rescue spokesman Mike Jachles said on Twitter.

The gas flowed from the fishing pole hole and onto the deck of the 24-foot (7.3 meters) boat. The 31-year-old man realized his mistake and quit pumping.

As he tried to clean up the mess, the gasoline began leaking from the boat onto the ground at the 7-Eleven store. He told personnel and then called the fire department's non-emergency number, Jachles said.

A technical rescue team siphoned the gas from the boat and cleaned up. The situation was described as a “level 3 hazmat,” meaning the potential of hazard was high, Jachles said.
https://abcnews.go.com/Weird/wireStory/florida-mistakenly-man-pumps-60-gas-deck-boat-68645430?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter




Unless of course you have it inserted in the wrong hole. Yes, thank you sir! That’s what she said! Finally – we go to South Florida and the city of Fort Lauderdale for this one. So we’ve all been the victims of credit and debit card fraud at some point. Because there’s a lot of sleazebags out there to get their hands on your data. But this next story asks a lot of questions, namely, how does one spend $68 at Little Caesars?

A Florida man has been accused of using a Marshfield woman's debit card to purchase $68 in Little Caesar's pizza.

According to to a Marshfield Police Department police report, Elle Wolf of Marshfield had a transaction on her bank statement from a Fort Lauderdale, Florida Little Caesar's location without her consent.

The report says the unidentified Florida man purchased one bacon wrapped deep dish pizza, three stuffed crust pizzas, and three orders of Caesar wings and had delivered to his address via Door Dash.

The charge of $68.80 currently has a process hold on the charge at Wolf's financial institution.
https://www.weau.com/content/news/Florida-man-uses-Wisconsin-womans-debit-card-information-to-buy-pizza-567499701.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter




That’s it this week for:




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[font size="8"]Keeping Up With The Candidates Ep.21: Joe & Bernie
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From: Idiots #8-4



Welcome back to our 2020 voters’ guide Keeping Up With The Candidates! Where we combine all the news, issues, polls, and candidates you care about! We are exactly one month down, we have 11 long, grueling, and fucking insane months to go before we elect the next president of the United States. And we had an entirely different entry planned this week. But over the weekend, Joe Rogan started trending and it was because of his “all-in” support for Vermont Senator and old man trying to send back soup in a deli, Bernie Sanders. Yes, thank George Costanza for that line. But do you welcome a guy into the party who some have called “The Gateway Drug To The Alt Right”? Yes, Joe Rogan commands one of the biggest troll armies in the world and he’s been known to cheat, harass, and slam people online who he doesn’t agree with, and is part of the reason why our culture has become so toxic. So, what’s up?

Bernie Sanders is facing a backlash from some Democrats after his campaign trumpeted an endorsement from comedian Joe Rogan, a popular podcast and YouTube talk show host with a history of making racist, homophobic and transphobic comments.

The Sanders campaign touted the endorsement in a tweet on Thursday afternoon, featuring a clip of Rogan's supportive remarks.

"I think I'll probably vote for Bernie. Him as a human being, when I was hanging out with him, I believe in him, I like him, I like him a lot," Rogan said on an earlier episode of his show.

"What Bernie stands for is a guy -- look, you could dig up dirt on every single human being that's ever existed if you catch them in their worst moment and you magnify those moments and you cut out everything else and you only display those worst moments. That said, you can't find very many with Bernie. He's been insanely consistent his entire life. He's basically been saying the same thing, been for the same thing his whole life. And that in and of itself is a very powerful structure to operate from."

Rogan, a libertarian-leaning broadcaster with a public persona in the mold of Howard Stern, is a divisive figure who has said the N-word on his show and in 2013 questioned -- using offensive language -- whether a transgender MMA fighter should be able to compete against other women.
https://www.wsmv.com/news/us_world_news/bernie-sanders-draws-criticism-for-touting-joe-rogan-endorsement/article_65e533d6-2126-5efd-8dfb-7e82b335424e.html




That is a good point Bernie! So is Joe Rogan a guy who you really want on your side? He’s a bit racist, extremely misogynistic, and commands a troll army that would dwarf the one that is owned by glorious dictator Vladimir Putin. And if you want to know some of Rogan’s greatest hits, well, let’s take this time to go down the wormhole, shall we?

Sanders has received scrutiny for the endorsement after his campaign circulated a video touting Rogan’s support.

“He’s basically been saying the same thing his whole life. And that in and of itself is very a powerful structure to operate from,” Rogan said in the clip.

The comedian has come under fire for past comments insulting a range of groups, including the transgender community and African Americans.

"We get out. We’re giggling, 'We’re going to go see "Planet of the Apes." We walk into 'Planet of the Apes.' We walked into Africa," Rogan said in a 2013 podcast clip that was resurfaced after his endorsement before clarifying that there were "no white people in the theater."

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) also called on Sanders to renounce Rogan’s endorsement, specifically citing Rogan’s past comments.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/479917-moveon-calls-on-sanders-to-renounce-joe-rogan-endorsement




So here’s the thing – do we include Joe Rogan’s die hard fans in the mix or do we not? I mean at one point the guy was called “the gateway drug to the Alt Right”. And that is a label that nobody under any circumstances should be strapped with. But his raunchy behavior and a tendency to ignore rules and all sense of common decency aside, do we include them in the party or not? He could be the key to defeating Trump and sending this administration packing, or not.

Survey data suggests that at least 25 percent of self-identified Democrats, and perhaps as much as 40 percent, hold explicitly racist views like “blacks are lazy.” Among independents—voters Democratic candidates repeatedly insist they must appeal to—those beliefs are even more common. Nearly half of Republicans are willing to tell pollsters that blacks are more violent than whites—and almost all of them voted for Donald Trump. No candidate has a base consisting entirely of people with enlightened, progressive views. Whether they realize it or not, all Democratic politicians count on people who hold both sympathetic and terrible views.

For the past year, Joe Biden has consistently done two things: led polling for the Democratic nomination and underwhelmed in campaigning for it. His appeal is based largely on “electability,” the pseudoscientific notion that he alone can win by appealing to Republicans, independents, and the all-important “white working class.”

The same Democratic and liberal voices that tout this as an asset in Biden (or, to a lesser extent, Pete Buttigieg, whose Indiana roots supposedly mean rural Midwesterners will like him) are apoplectic over the endorsement of Bernie Sanders by the meat-headed podcaster Joe Rogan. Rogan’s excruciating show, The Joe Rogan Experience, regularly features guests with awful beliefs, including white supremacists, and the host has a track record of racist, transphobic, homophobic, and misogynistic comments. As one prominent Sanders supporter, Princeton professor Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, noted, it is crucial not to condone, disregard, or make excuses for those bad politics.
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/bernie-sanders-joe-rogan/




Oh come on people stop rabbling! Yeah Joe Rogan has a track record and a history of being a boorish buffoon reminiscent of your average Trump supporter. But let’s face facts – beating Trump should be our number one priority and we can’t keep fighting with ourselves if we’re going to beat him. We must unite damn it! And if we have to include Rogan supporters in the mix, so be it!

Joe Rogan is one of the most popular podcasters in America. He interviews celebrities, politicians, intellectuals and other public figures on an eponymous show. (Years ago, he also hosted Fear Factor.)

Sen. Bernie Sanders is running for president and is one of the leading candidates to challenge President Donald Trump in November.

Last week, Rogan essentially endorsed Sanders. The Sanders campaign quickly turned that into a viral video, seeing it as a key boost with Rogan’s millions of listeners, some of whom do not fall into Sanders’ traditional base of progressive voters.

But this is where things get more complicated and more controversial.

Soon after Rogan voiced his support, some began calling on Sanders, 78, to refuse the endorsement and denounce Rogan. They expressed dismay over Sanders’ decision to use Rogan’s quotes in a piece of official social media marketing.
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/hugely-popular-podcast-host-joe-210626083.html




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

Why are people in Iowa protesting outside Joe Biden’s office? We will analyze this and much more coming out of Iowa.



See you next week!

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