Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Top 10 Conservative Idiots #6-16: The Gathering Of The Deplorables Edition
Top 10 Conservative Idiots #6-16: The Gathering Of The Deplorables Edition
Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! What’s up San Diego? You guys doing fucking good? I hope everyone is doing well. I do love San Diego and every time I am here. Maybe the Padres, not so much. Although I’m from just up north on the I-5 and we have the Angels, who I think seem to be fine being in last place. And that’s after we spent $430 million on Mike Trout. Hey if you’re going to go for broke, go for broke! Do we have time for the thing? Good. So did everyone see Avengers: Endgame over the weekend? I unfortunately did not but I definitely plan to. I mean come on it’s the grand finale, and I have invested so much into these characters. So no spoilers please! Although if you’re a certain running back for the Buffalo Bills, you might want to take a break on Twitter for a few days. And I would certainly expect this coming from a guy who calls himself “Lil’ Shady”. But this comes literally the day *AFTER* the Russo Brothers called for people not to spoil Endgame, guess what he does? He goes and spoils Endgame, and well, he wasn’t having any of it. But my favorite part was where he said “I’m done with the Avengers”. Well no fucking duh!!! It’s the finale, everyone is! And of course he was feeling the heat from Bills fans who also happen to be Marvel fans. So yeah Lil’ Shady, you might want to get away for a while. OK that’s enough of the intro, we have a lot of idiocy to get to, but first Bill Maher is back and he talks about how the bad guys get away with it all. Much like in that movie LA Confidential:
Well where do we begin this week? In the number one slot this week is the NRA (1) – they had their annual convention in which point Trump spoke in brain fart language to the cult and told him that he was the world’s greatest hostage negotiator. In the second slot this week, is Twitter (2). So @realDonaldTrump met with @Jack and had to be told how many bot accounts follow him, but a Twitter employee has dropped a massive bombshell that destroys the GOP and their “shadow banning” theory! In the third slot this week, is the guy who we currently call president,
Donald Trump (3) and while there was a lot to unpack from his MAGA rally in Wisconsin, his batshit crazy theory about infanticide is what we really need to discuss. Taking the fourth slot this week, we have a new game of "Is It Racist?". So the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Yankees are in hot water for choosing not to use Kate Smith's rendition of God Bless America, because some songs have surfaced with racist undertones, so is it racist? Probably. In the fifth slot this week is our weekly investigative piece, Top 10 Investigates (5), and we’re going to find out what exactly happened when Otto Warmbier’s body left North Korea and arrived in the United States. Both glorious dictator Kim Jong Un and @realDonaldTrump have very differing opinions on this one! At slot number 6 this week is our weekly visit to the Holy Church Of The Top 10 in “Holy Shit”, and one of the hottest presidential candidates in 2020 is the openly gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, but the Christian right isn’t having any of it! Gee, our resident pastor wonders why! In the seventh slot this week, we have a new “Beating A Dead Horse” (7) and last week was the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian genocide, and in the wake of the protests last week, really, US government, what’s the fucking holdup? And in the 8th slot this week, is our segment "NO!!”. Operation Varsity Blues won’t seem to go away, and we’re going to show you how you get into America’s higher learning institutions without paying hundreds of thousands of dollars! (Hint: It’s called studying!!). In the number 9 (NEIN!!!!) slot this week we have an all new “People Are Dumb”, because of course they are! And finally this week our quest to find the Stupidest State 2019 continues! This week it’s the Batshit Conference Championship! Kentucky will take on the champions Texas to advance to the Final Four! It’s getting very exciting! Plus we have some live music for the metal heads here from Maryland’s Periphery! Really, buy their new album “Hail Stan” or you are no friend of this show! Enjoy! And as always don’t forget the key!
[div style="padding: 20px; background-color: #ffffff; border-radius: 10px; box-shadow: 0px 2px 4px 1px #aaa;"][div style="font-family: arial, helvetica; font-weight: bold; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999; padding-bottom: 8px;"]
[font size="8"]The NRA
[br] [/font] [br]
Here’s a question for you – the NRA. Are they just a gun lobby or are they a hostile intelligence agency bent on upending democracy so they can keep their precious guns? Well considering that they’ve got the 2nd amendment crowd in their hand, I’m assuming the latter. Well before we get into the most alarming news coming out of their annual convention in Indianapolis, we have to talk about some extremely alarming news that may make you think that they are indeed a hostile intelligence agency bent on upending democracy.
The gun safety nonprofit Giffords Law Center filed a lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday for not acting on its multiple complaints that the National Rifle Association made illegal campaign contributions to President Donald Trump and six other Republican candidates.
“Over the past nine months, Plaintiff Giffords filed four separate administrate complaints with the Federal Election Commission,” said the lawsuit, noting that the FEC has missed the deadline to respond to them.
The suit was filed by the Campaign Legal Center and the Giffords Law Center, which was created by former Arizona congresswoman and gun violence survivor Gabrielle Giffords. It accuses the NRA of using “a complex network of shell corporations to unlawfully coordinate expenditures with the campaigns of at least seven candidates for federal office, thereby making millions of dollars of illegal, unreported, and excessive in-kind contributions, including up to $25 million in illegal contributions to now President Donald J. Trump.”
The six other candidates the suit mentions are Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Montana’s Republican state auditor, Matt Rosendale.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/giffords-lawsuit-fec-campaign-finance-violations-nra_n_5cc0f159e4b0764d31dc70df
“Over the past nine months, Plaintiff Giffords filed four separate administrate complaints with the Federal Election Commission,” said the lawsuit, noting that the FEC has missed the deadline to respond to them.
The suit was filed by the Campaign Legal Center and the Giffords Law Center, which was created by former Arizona congresswoman and gun violence survivor Gabrielle Giffords. It accuses the NRA of using “a complex network of shell corporations to unlawfully coordinate expenditures with the campaigns of at least seven candidates for federal office, thereby making millions of dollars of illegal, unreported, and excessive in-kind contributions, including up to $25 million in illegal contributions to now President Donald J. Trump.”
The six other candidates the suit mentions are Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Montana’s Republican state auditor, Matt Rosendale.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/giffords-lawsuit-fec-campaign-finance-violations-nra_n_5cc0f159e4b0764d31dc70df
Gee for a party that harps on the other side for campaign contributions sure loves them some campaign contributions don’t they? It’s only political if it happens to the other side. Now we got to talk about their annual convention, or you could just call it “The Gathering Of The Deplorables”. It’s kind of like the Gathering Of The Juggalos and both groups involved are just as terrifying! So what went down in Indianapolis exactly?
Turmoil racking the National Rifle Association is threatening to turn the group’s annual convention into outright civil war, as insurgents maneuver to oust Wayne LaPierre, the foremost voice of the American gun rights movement.
The confrontation pits Mr. LaPierre, the organization’s longtime chief executive, against its recently installed president, Oliver L. North, the central figure in the Reagan-era Iran-contra affair, who remains a hero to many on the right.
Behind it is a widening crisis involving a legal battle between the N.R.A. and its most influential contractor, Ackerman McQueen, amid renewed threats from regulators in New York, where the N.R.A. is chartered, to investigate the group’s tax-exempt status. With contributions lagging, the N.R.A. is also facing an increasingly well-financed gun control movement, motivated by a string of mass shootings.
Mr. North asked Mr. LaPierre to resign on Wednesday, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times. He said he had also created a committee to review allegations of financial improprieties that threaten the N.R.A.’s status as a nonprofit organization.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/26/business/nra-wayne-lapierre-oliver-north.html
The confrontation pits Mr. LaPierre, the organization’s longtime chief executive, against its recently installed president, Oliver L. North, the central figure in the Reagan-era Iran-contra affair, who remains a hero to many on the right.
Behind it is a widening crisis involving a legal battle between the N.R.A. and its most influential contractor, Ackerman McQueen, amid renewed threats from regulators in New York, where the N.R.A. is chartered, to investigate the group’s tax-exempt status. With contributions lagging, the N.R.A. is also facing an increasingly well-financed gun control movement, motivated by a string of mass shootings.
Mr. North asked Mr. LaPierre to resign on Wednesday, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times. He said he had also created a committee to review allegations of financial improprieties that threaten the N.R.A.’s status as a nonprofit organization.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/26/business/nra-wayne-lapierre-oliver-north.html
Because if there's one thing Oliver North knows a thing or two about, it's a failed coup against a hostile insurgency! Yeah so the NRA is infighting amongst themselves. It’s exactly the recipe for a complete and total disaster. And then of course he showed up. It’s literally like everything Trump touches turns to complete shit. So what did he do at the NRA convention? Well he basically said that he’ll pull the US out of the international arms treaty, which means that more weapons will get in the hands of terrorists, because, fuck globalism.
President Trump effectively "unsigned" an international arms sales agreement Friday, moving to withdraw the U.S. from the United Nations' Arms Trade Treaty. The agreement sets global standards for regulating transfers of conventional arms, from rifles to tanks and airplanes.
The treaty, known as the ATT, has been in effect since late 2014. The U.S. signed on to the agreement in 2013 but has not ratified the treaty.
The U.S. withdrawal had been expected. Trump made it official at the National Rifle Association's annual convention in Indianapolis, pulling out a pen onstage and signing a paper that he said would take back the Obama administration's signature on behalf of the U.S.
The ATT has long been a target of the NRA, which claimed it would harm U.S. gun owners. Trump echoed that criticism on Friday, calling the ATT a threat to Second Amendment rights. "We will never surrender America's sovereignty to an unelected, unaccountable, global bureaucracy," Trump was quoted as saying, in a White House statement announcing the change.
https://www.npr.org/2019/04/26/717547741/trump-moves-to-withdraw-u-s-from-u-n-arms-trade-treaty
The treaty, known as the ATT, has been in effect since late 2014. The U.S. signed on to the agreement in 2013 but has not ratified the treaty.
The U.S. withdrawal had been expected. Trump made it official at the National Rifle Association's annual convention in Indianapolis, pulling out a pen onstage and signing a paper that he said would take back the Obama administration's signature on behalf of the U.S.
The ATT has long been a target of the NRA, which claimed it would harm U.S. gun owners. Trump echoed that criticism on Friday, calling the ATT a threat to Second Amendment rights. "We will never surrender America's sovereignty to an unelected, unaccountable, global bureaucracy," Trump was quoted as saying, in a White House statement announcing the change.
https://www.npr.org/2019/04/26/717547741/trump-moves-to-withdraw-u-s-from-u-n-arms-trade-treaty
Yeah BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Bye everyone, it was nice knowing you! And you know the scary thing? The deplorables cheerleaded this! Just his logic… AHHHHHHHHH!!!!! So when terrorists start killing people and setting off explosives outside the Louvre or Big Ben, because they were able to get American made weapons, well, don’t say we didn’t warn you. I mean it is your funeral after all.
US president Donald Trump told the National Rifle Association he was pulling the United States out of an international arms treaty signed in 2013.
Mr Trump said he intends to revoke the status of the United States as a signatory to the Arms Trade Treaty, which was never ratified by the US Senate.
“We’re taking our signature back,” Mr Trump said to thousands of cheering attendees at a convention on Friday.
In reversing the US position on the pact, he wrote on Twitter, “We will never allow foreign bureaucrats to trample on your Second Amendment freedoms.”
The NRA has long opposed the treaty, which regulates the $70 billion business in conventional arms and seeks to keep weapons out of the hands of human rights abusers. The lobbying group argues it would undermine domestic gun rights, a view the Obama administration rejected.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/trump-withdraws-from-un-arms-treaty-as-nra-crowd-cheers-1.3873972
Mr Trump said he intends to revoke the status of the United States as a signatory to the Arms Trade Treaty, which was never ratified by the US Senate.
“We’re taking our signature back,” Mr Trump said to thousands of cheering attendees at a convention on Friday.
In reversing the US position on the pact, he wrote on Twitter, “We will never allow foreign bureaucrats to trample on your Second Amendment freedoms.”
The NRA has long opposed the treaty, which regulates the $70 billion business in conventional arms and seeks to keep weapons out of the hands of human rights abusers. The lobbying group argues it would undermine domestic gun rights, a view the Obama administration rejected.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/trump-withdraws-from-un-arms-treaty-as-nra-crowd-cheers-1.3873972
?itemid=8939670
[div style="padding: 20px; background-color: #ffffff; border-radius: 10px; box-shadow: 0px 2px 4px 1px #aaa;"][div style="font-family: arial, helvetica; font-weight: bold; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999; padding-bottom: 8px;"]
[font size="8"]Twitter
[br] [/font] [br]
It’s no secret that hardcore racists are using social media to spread their violence and hatred towards anyone who they don’t like. And not only that, they’re using it to actively recruit new members like the group Identity Europa for instance. But before we get into why Twitter won’t ban Nazis (and for not at all shocking reasons), Trump met with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey last week. And you want to know the reason why? Well you just had to ask! Trump wanted him to explain why he lost a ton of followers, and the reason is not all shocking either. Yes, they are still harping on Twitter for the ridiculous concept of “shadow banning”.
President Trump met with Twitter founder and CEO Jack Dorsey on Tuesday as the president continues to criticize the social media company on its own platform.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders did not say what the two discussed. "Lots of subjects discussed regarding their platform, and the world of social media in general. Look forward to keeping an open dialogue!" Mr. Trump tweeted after the meeting.
Dorsey, meanwhile, thanked the president for hosting the meeting in the Oval Office. "Twitter is here to serve the entire public conversation, and we intend to make it healthier and more civil. Thanks for the discussion about that," Dorsey wrote on Twitter.
Mr. Trump, along with other prominent Republicans, has claimed in recent months that Twitter censors conservatives, and the president has indicated his openness to further regulation of the website. The president most recently used Twitter to attack the company Tuesday morning, hours before his meeting with Dorsey.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-twitters-most-famous-user-and-critic-meets-with-ceo-jack-dorsey/
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders did not say what the two discussed. "Lots of subjects discussed regarding their platform, and the world of social media in general. Look forward to keeping an open dialogue!" Mr. Trump tweeted after the meeting.
Dorsey, meanwhile, thanked the president for hosting the meeting in the Oval Office. "Twitter is here to serve the entire public conversation, and we intend to make it healthier and more civil. Thanks for the discussion about that," Dorsey wrote on Twitter.
Mr. Trump, along with other prominent Republicans, has claimed in recent months that Twitter censors conservatives, and the president has indicated his openness to further regulation of the website. The president most recently used Twitter to attack the company Tuesday morning, hours before his meeting with Dorsey.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-twitters-most-famous-user-and-critic-meets-with-ceo-jack-dorsey/
Well, maybe you should hold off on fixing it there, because last week a Twitter employee admitted what we’re all thinking. So why won’t Twitter hold Nazis in the same regard as ISIS? Easy answer: a lot of them vote conservative! So, @realDonaldTrump, it’s not just you, it’s your base! You wonder why conservatives are getting “shadow banned”? It’s because they’re fucking Nazis!
At a Twitter all-hands meeting on March 22, an employee asked a blunt question: Twitter has largely eradicated Islamic State propaganda off its platform. Why can’t it do the same for white supremacist content?
An executive responded by explaining that Twitter follows the law, and a technical employee who works on machine learning and artificial intelligence issues went up to the mic to add some context. (As Motherboard has previously reported, algorithms are the next great hope for platforms trying to moderate the posts of their hundreds of millions, or billions, of users.)
With every sort of content filter, there is a tradeoff, he explained. When a platform aggressively enforces against ISIS content, for instance, it can also flag innocent accounts as well, such as Arabic language broadcasters. Society, in general, accepts the benefit of banning ISIS for inconveniencing some others, he said.
In separate discussions verified by Motherboard, that employee said Twitter hasn’t taken the same aggressive approach to white supremacist content because the collateral accounts that are impacted can, in some instances, be Republican politicians.
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/a3xgq5/why-wont-twitter-treat-white-supremacy-like-isis-because-it-would-mean-banning-some-republican-politicians-too
An executive responded by explaining that Twitter follows the law, and a technical employee who works on machine learning and artificial intelligence issues went up to the mic to add some context. (As Motherboard has previously reported, algorithms are the next great hope for platforms trying to moderate the posts of their hundreds of millions, or billions, of users.)
With every sort of content filter, there is a tradeoff, he explained. When a platform aggressively enforces against ISIS content, for instance, it can also flag innocent accounts as well, such as Arabic language broadcasters. Society, in general, accepts the benefit of banning ISIS for inconveniencing some others, he said.
In separate discussions verified by Motherboard, that employee said Twitter hasn’t taken the same aggressive approach to white supremacist content because the collateral accounts that are impacted can, in some instances, be Republican politicians.
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/a3xgq5/why-wont-twitter-treat-white-supremacy-like-isis-because-it-would-mean-banning-some-republican-politicians-too
So that’s how people turn to the Dark Side so quickly! I mean shit even Emperor Palpatine couldn’t recruit numbers this quickly. Thank god social media didn’t exist in 1942 am I right? But the scary thing is that they can’t ban Nazis because it would mean banning GOP politicians. Wow, this is completely and in no way shape or form shocking.
Twitter is holding back from implementing a possible algorithm that could allow Twitter to more effectively crack down on neo-Nazi and white-supremacist content over concerns it could report accounts of Republican politicians, according to a report from Vice News' tech site, Motherboard.
A Twitter employee told Motherboard that at a recent company-wide meeting, an employee asked why Twitter — which has successfully used a sophisticated algorithm to identify and almost entirely eliminate ISIS-linked content — couldn't do the same for white-supremacist tweets.
According to the employee, another employee that works on artificial-intelligence (AI) issues said that such a sweeping and wide-ranging algorithm could result in some innocent accounts being flagged by accident, which may not be an acceptable trade-off.
In a separate conversation, Motherboard reported, the AI-focused employee said one concern with a white-supremacist algorithm was that it would inadvertently flag the accounts of some Republican politicians, potentially causing a backlash.
"The information cited from the 'sources' in this story has absolutely no basis in fact," a Twitter representative told INSIDER by email in response to Motherboard's reporting.
https://www.mysanantonio.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Twitter-reportedly-won-t-use-an-algorithm-to-13795891.php
A Twitter employee told Motherboard that at a recent company-wide meeting, an employee asked why Twitter — which has successfully used a sophisticated algorithm to identify and almost entirely eliminate ISIS-linked content — couldn't do the same for white-supremacist tweets.
According to the employee, another employee that works on artificial-intelligence (AI) issues said that such a sweeping and wide-ranging algorithm could result in some innocent accounts being flagged by accident, which may not be an acceptable trade-off.
In a separate conversation, Motherboard reported, the AI-focused employee said one concern with a white-supremacist algorithm was that it would inadvertently flag the accounts of some Republican politicians, potentially causing a backlash.
"The information cited from the 'sources' in this story has absolutely no basis in fact," a Twitter representative told INSIDER by email in response to Motherboard's reporting.
https://www.mysanantonio.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Twitter-reportedly-won-t-use-an-algorithm-to-13795891.php
I think even Adolf would roll his eyes at this. But if you want to know where white supremacist online hatred is heading, just ask Rep. Ilhan Omar. Last week, we were all horrified when Trump trolled her directly by posting a video linking her to 9/11. Well guess what? @Jack personally called her to tell her there was nothing wrong with @realDonaldTrump’s tweet. Well, if they can’t get that right, how are they expected to combat white supremacy and neo-Nazism?
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey called Rep. Ilhan Omar on Tuesday to discuss the social network's decision to allow a tweet by President Donald Trump that led to a flood of tweets threatening the life of the Muslim congresswoman.
The call focused on a tweet Trump shared earlier this month that included a video that purported to show Omar being dismissive of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The video coupled out-of-context comments she made during a recent speech in which she said "some people did something" with images of the hijacked airplanes striking the World Trade Center.
When Omar asked Dorsey during the call why Twitter didn't remove Trump's tweet, Dorsey told her Trump's tweet didn't violate the company's rules, sources told The Washington Post, which previously reported the conversation. Dorsey also pointed out that the tweet had been shared beyond the site but conceded that Twitter needed to do a better job of removing hate and harassing content from the site, the Post reported.
https://www.cnet.com/news/twitter-ceo-jack-dorsey-called-rep-omar-over-trump-tweet/
The call focused on a tweet Trump shared earlier this month that included a video that purported to show Omar being dismissive of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The video coupled out-of-context comments she made during a recent speech in which she said "some people did something" with images of the hijacked airplanes striking the World Trade Center.
When Omar asked Dorsey during the call why Twitter didn't remove Trump's tweet, Dorsey told her Trump's tweet didn't violate the company's rules, sources told The Washington Post, which previously reported the conversation. Dorsey also pointed out that the tweet had been shared beyond the site but conceded that Twitter needed to do a better job of removing hate and harassing content from the site, the Post reported.
https://www.cnet.com/news/twitter-ceo-jack-dorsey-called-rep-omar-over-trump-tweet/
[div style="padding: 20px; background-color: #ffffff; border-radius: 10px; box-shadow: 0px 2px 4px 1px #aaa;"][div style="font-family: arial, helvetica; font-weight: bold; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999; padding-bottom: 8px;"]
[font size="8"]Donald Trump
[br] [/font] [br]
Whew. There was so much to unpack at his insane campaign rally last week that I’m going to need a breather after this one. Or at least a nice tall glass of Jack Daniels. You know that abortion is one of the trickiest subjects to navigate in this country, at least since about 1973. But this week things have taken a hard turn in the abortion debate, and not in a good way. Yeah we got to unpack what Trump said in Wisconsin last week, because that was whew, my god. I literally have no words to accurately describe how or what to feel after seeing this. You know what? Fuck it, let’s roll the clip first.
That escalated quickly! Seriously, that never happens, fucking anywhere!!! So why is this so alarming? Well…
President Donald Trump made an incendiary remark at a rally Saturday night, veering from criticism of Wisconsin's Democratic governor to a false claim that mothers and doctors have the option to "execute" babies.
Speaking at a rally he hosted in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Saturday, Trump pointed to former Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who was in attendance, and said Walker's successor, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers "shockingly stated that he will veto legislation that protects Wisconsin babies born alive."
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Evers planned to veto a GOP-backed state bill that could have meant life sentences in prison for doctors who intentionally did not provide medical care to babies born alive after a failed abortion.
Trump continued on the theme after his initial comment to claim that mothers and doctors are given the choice to "execute" a baby.
"The baby is born," Trump said. "The mother meets with the doctor. They take care of the baby. They wrap the baby beautifully, and then the doctor and the mother determine whether or not they will execute the baby. I don't think so."
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/28/politics/trump-rally-wisconsin-abortion/index.html
Speaking at a rally he hosted in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Saturday, Trump pointed to former Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who was in attendance, and said Walker's successor, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers "shockingly stated that he will veto legislation that protects Wisconsin babies born alive."
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Evers planned to veto a GOP-backed state bill that could have meant life sentences in prison for doctors who intentionally did not provide medical care to babies born alive after a failed abortion.
Trump continued on the theme after his initial comment to claim that mothers and doctors are given the choice to "execute" a baby.
"The baby is born," Trump said. "The mother meets with the doctor. They take care of the baby. They wrap the baby beautifully, and then the doctor and the mother determine whether or not they will execute the baby. I don't think so."
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/28/politics/trump-rally-wisconsin-abortion/index.html
Wow, that escalated quickly! We wen t from abortion straight to infanticide. Holy shit. Way to play to extremes there, Trump! Oh wait, except that doesn’t happen anywhere, ever. I mean they didn’t even practice this in Darfur! Jesus, he is certifiably insane. And he’s probably going to get someone killed over this, if he hasn’t already.
In full campaign mode, President Trump urged loyal supporters in Wisconsin -- a key battleground state which Democrats hope to win back in 2020 -- to help him secure a second term and repeat his surprise electoral triumph in 2016.
"You took back your country," he told thousands of boisterous supporters at a campaign rally in Green Bay Saturday night, suggesting that his election three years ago signaled a tectonic shift in American politics.
"You have always been loyal to your nation. Now you finally have a president who is loyal to you," he reassured the crowd, which erupted in chants of "four more years!"
In his third "Make America Great Again" rally of the year, which he held on the same night as the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner, Mr. Trump stuck to his signature campaign rallying cries, denouncing the now-complete Russia investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller and bragging about devising the highly controversial proposal of sending migrants apprehended near the southern border to so-called "sanctuary cities," which limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
"That was actually my sick idea," the president said.
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/donald-trump-green-bay-rally-watch-live-stream-today-2019-04-27-live-updates/
"You took back your country," he told thousands of boisterous supporters at a campaign rally in Green Bay Saturday night, suggesting that his election three years ago signaled a tectonic shift in American politics.
"You have always been loyal to your nation. Now you finally have a president who is loyal to you," he reassured the crowd, which erupted in chants of "four more years!"
In his third "Make America Great Again" rally of the year, which he held on the same night as the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner, Mr. Trump stuck to his signature campaign rallying cries, denouncing the now-complete Russia investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller and bragging about devising the highly controversial proposal of sending migrants apprehended near the southern border to so-called "sanctuary cities," which limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
"That was actually my sick idea," the president said.
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/donald-trump-green-bay-rally-watch-live-stream-today-2019-04-27-live-updates/
At least Trump admits that his ideas are sick. And certainly not in a cool way. His ideas are quite literally sick in every way. That brings up one of my favorite GOP talking points “We’re going to take our country back!!!”. What are you taking it back from? Where are you taking it back to? We may never know the answer to these questions. By the way, if you want to know what actual doctors think of this, you would be (well, not) at all surprised at how wrong Trump is on this subject:
Dr. Kristyn Brandi, an obstetrician-gynecologist and a board member from Physicians for Reproductive Health, said that Trump is not describing a situation in which a licensed doctor would ever participate.
“To be clear, there is never a scenario where a baby is delivered and we decide to execute the baby. That is grossly inflammatory and really insulting to doctors, nurses and everyone else that takes care of people that go through this stuff,” she told TIME.
Trump was referencing Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ opposition to a Republican-backed bill that could put doctors in prison for life if they don’t do everything in their power to save infants born alive after failed abortion attempts.
But Evers has previously explained that he won’t back the bill because he thinks it’s unnecessary. Doctors who don’t help ailing infants clearly in need of medical help would face repercussions for that choice whether or not the bill was passed. “I think those protections already exist,” he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
http://time.com/5579685/trump-late-term-abortion-false-claims/
“To be clear, there is never a scenario where a baby is delivered and we decide to execute the baby. That is grossly inflammatory and really insulting to doctors, nurses and everyone else that takes care of people that go through this stuff,” she told TIME.
Trump was referencing Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ opposition to a Republican-backed bill that could put doctors in prison for life if they don’t do everything in their power to save infants born alive after failed abortion attempts.
But Evers has previously explained that he won’t back the bill because he thinks it’s unnecessary. Doctors who don’t help ailing infants clearly in need of medical help would face repercussions for that choice whether or not the bill was passed. “I think those protections already exist,” he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
http://time.com/5579685/trump-late-term-abortion-false-claims/
[div style="padding: 20px; background-color: #ffffff; border-radius: 10px; box-shadow: 0px 2px 4px 1px #aaa;"][div style="font-family: arial, helvetica; font-weight: bold; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999; padding-bottom: 8px;"]
[font size="8"]Is It Racist
[br] [/font] [br]
Hey everyone it’s the hot new game that’s sweeping the nation!
Spoiler alert! Probably! The NHL playoffs are in full swing right now, how is your team doing? Mine not only didn’t make it but was at or near the bottom most of the season. Well one team that’s not in it and has been in the news for a very controversial reason. Racism. Well, not so much in the proverbial sense of racism, but really more like they had a past history of racism. You know like when you discover that you made racist jokes 10 years ago and now you go “it’s not me!!!”. Thanks Twitter search! But the Flyers are in the news because they removed a statue of Kate Smith after some old lyrics surfaced. If you don’t know who that is, Kate Smith is the America flag-waving songwriter who sang such classic songs like “God Bless America” that are still in use today. Why is this controversial? Well…
Since the late 1960s, a rendition of “God Bless America” by Kate Smith, one of the most prolific and popular American singers of the 20th century, has been a good luck charm for the Philadelphia Flyers. “The team began to win on nights the song was played,” the New York Times wrote in Smith’s 1986 obituary. Smith sang the tune live during game six of the 1974 Stanley Cup finals, which the Flyers went on to win against the Boston Bruins, taking home the coveted trophy. But as Anastasia Tsioulcas reports for NPR, the Flyers recently announced that they will no longer play Smith’s recording of “God Bless America” at games. A statue of the singer that stood outside the team’s arena has been removed.
The sudden change of heart was prompted by revelations that Smith had recorded at least two songs with racist lyrics in the 1930s. Last week, the New York Yankees, which had been regularly playing Smith’s recording during the seventh-inning stretch since 9/11, decided to switch to a keyboard version of “God Bless America” after the songs were brought to their attention. “The Yankees have been made aware of a recording that had been previously unknown to us and decided to immediately and carefully review this new information,” a spokesperson told Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. “And while no final conclusions have been made, we are erring on the side of sensitivity.”
Quickly following suit, the Flyers said in a statement on Sunday that while the team has “enjoyed a long and popular relationship with ‘God Bless America,’ as performed by the late Kate Smith,” it had recently learned that several of her songs “include lyrics and sentiments that are incompatible with the values of our organization, and evoke painful and unacceptable themes.” The statue of Smith that had been erected outside the Flyers’ Spectrum arena in 1987—and, when that venue was demolished, had been moved to the parking lot of Xfinity Live!—was cloaked in black and subsequently taken down.
Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/philadelphia-flyers-remove-statue-singer-kate-smith-amid-allegations-racism-180972026/#kXS01kgxthFi8aoz.99
The sudden change of heart was prompted by revelations that Smith had recorded at least two songs with racist lyrics in the 1930s. Last week, the New York Yankees, which had been regularly playing Smith’s recording during the seventh-inning stretch since 9/11, decided to switch to a keyboard version of “God Bless America” after the songs were brought to their attention. “The Yankees have been made aware of a recording that had been previously unknown to us and decided to immediately and carefully review this new information,” a spokesperson told Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. “And while no final conclusions have been made, we are erring on the side of sensitivity.”
Quickly following suit, the Flyers said in a statement on Sunday that while the team has “enjoyed a long and popular relationship with ‘God Bless America,’ as performed by the late Kate Smith,” it had recently learned that several of her songs “include lyrics and sentiments that are incompatible with the values of our organization, and evoke painful and unacceptable themes.” The statue of Smith that had been erected outside the Flyers’ Spectrum arena in 1987—and, when that venue was demolished, had been moved to the parking lot of Xfinity Live!—was cloaked in black and subsequently taken down.
Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/philadelphia-flyers-remove-statue-singer-kate-smith-amid-allegations-racism-180972026/#kXS01kgxthFi8aoz.99
Well that is a good question! And I think this outrage concerning Kate Smith is walking a fine line between “is it racist” and it is not racist. So let’s expand on this further – it’s not just the Flyers – the Yankees also jumped ship on Kate Smith. But are they overreacting? Yeah probably. So why now – some nearly 33 years after Kate Smith died? Well there’s lots of reasons.
The Yankees used Smith’s “God Bless America” early in the season but stopped after an email from a fan alerted them to Smith’s racially insensitive work.
“The Yankees have been made aware of a recording that had been previously unknown to us and decided to immediately and carefully review this new information,” a team spokesman said. “The Yankees take social, racial and cultural insensitivities very seriously. And while no final conclusions have been made, we are erring on the side of sensitivity.”
The Flyers said in a statement: “We have recently become aware that several songs performed by Kate Smith contain offensive lyrics that do not reflect our values as an organization. As we continue to look into this serious matter, we are removing Kate Smith’s recording of ‘God Bless America’ from our library and covering up the statue that stands outside of our arena.”
The Flyers have a tradition of playing Smith’s version of “God Bless America” as a replacement for the national anthem at big games. The song has been said to bring the team good luck. Smith performed it live before Game 6 of the 1974 Stanley Cup final, the game in which the Flyers won their first Cup.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/19/sports/kate-smith-new-york-yankees-philadelphia-flyers.html
“The Yankees have been made aware of a recording that had been previously unknown to us and decided to immediately and carefully review this new information,” a team spokesman said. “The Yankees take social, racial and cultural insensitivities very seriously. And while no final conclusions have been made, we are erring on the side of sensitivity.”
The Flyers said in a statement: “We have recently become aware that several songs performed by Kate Smith contain offensive lyrics that do not reflect our values as an organization. As we continue to look into this serious matter, we are removing Kate Smith’s recording of ‘God Bless America’ from our library and covering up the statue that stands outside of our arena.”
The Flyers have a tradition of playing Smith’s version of “God Bless America” as a replacement for the national anthem at big games. The song has been said to bring the team good luck. Smith performed it live before Game 6 of the 1974 Stanley Cup final, the game in which the Flyers won their first Cup.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/19/sports/kate-smith-new-york-yankees-philadelphia-flyers.html
So what were their values then before they decided to do this? And if they’re not going to use Kate Smith’s rendition of “God Bless America” then whose are they going to use? If the Flyers and Yankees both support American values, they should take a good look at who’s currently serving in the White House before they practice what they preach.
Under the cover of darkness, a statue of Kate Smith was removed from the South Philadelphia Sports Complex before dawn Sunday.
The move came less than 48 hours after it was announced that some of the late singer’s racially insensitive songs had resurfaced. The New York Yankees were quick to pull the plug on Smith’s rendition of “God Bless America" while an “investigation” unfolded, and the Philadelphia Flyers followed their lead by covering Smith’s statue in a black shroud on Friday.
By Sunday morning, all that remained outside the Philly sports complex was an empty concrete base where the statue once stood.
Flyers remove Kate Smith statue, cite ‘unacceptable themes’ »
The Flyers released a statement Sunday afternoon that said the songs Smith performed in the 1930s “include lyrics and sentiments that are incompatible with the values of our organization, and evoke painful and unacceptable themes.”
https://www.mcall.com/sports/phantoms-flyers/mc-spt-kate-smith-statue-removal-reaction-20190422-v5v5p7mmsjgxbea4nniosm6y44-story.html
The move came less than 48 hours after it was announced that some of the late singer’s racially insensitive songs had resurfaced. The New York Yankees were quick to pull the plug on Smith’s rendition of “God Bless America" while an “investigation” unfolded, and the Philadelphia Flyers followed their lead by covering Smith’s statue in a black shroud on Friday.
By Sunday morning, all that remained outside the Philly sports complex was an empty concrete base where the statue once stood.
Flyers remove Kate Smith statue, cite ‘unacceptable themes’ »
The Flyers released a statement Sunday afternoon that said the songs Smith performed in the 1930s “include lyrics and sentiments that are incompatible with the values of our organization, and evoke painful and unacceptable themes.”
https://www.mcall.com/sports/phantoms-flyers/mc-spt-kate-smith-statue-removal-reaction-20190422-v5v5p7mmsjgxbea4nniosm6y44-story.html
So maybe just… maybe this is one of those things that might not actually be racist. Maybe the Flyers and the Yankees both jumped the gun here. What do Kate Smith’s actual relatives and Flyers fans think of this removal? Well they might be on that side. That answers the question “is it racist?” the answer might be probably / probably not.
Under the cover of darkness, a statue of Kate Smith was removed from the South Philadelphia Sports Complex before dawn Sunday.
The move came less than 48 hours after it was announced that some of the late singer’s racially insensitive songs had resurfaced. The New York Yankees were quick to pull the plug on Smith’s rendition of “God Bless America" while an “investigation” unfolded, and the Philadelphia Flyers followed their lead by covering Smith’s statue in a black shroud on Friday.
By Sunday morning, all that remained outside the Philly sports complex was an empty concrete base where the statue once stood.
The Flyers released a statement Sunday afternoon that said the songs Smith performed in the 1930s “include lyrics and sentiments that are incompatible with the values of our organization, and evoke painful and unacceptable themes.”
https://www.mcall.com/sports/phantoms-flyers/mc-spt-kate-smith-statue-removal-reaction-20190422-v5v5p7mmsjgxbea4nniosm6y44-story.html
The move came less than 48 hours after it was announced that some of the late singer’s racially insensitive songs had resurfaced. The New York Yankees were quick to pull the plug on Smith’s rendition of “God Bless America" while an “investigation” unfolded, and the Philadelphia Flyers followed their lead by covering Smith’s statue in a black shroud on Friday.
By Sunday morning, all that remained outside the Philly sports complex was an empty concrete base where the statue once stood.
The Flyers released a statement Sunday afternoon that said the songs Smith performed in the 1930s “include lyrics and sentiments that are incompatible with the values of our organization, and evoke painful and unacceptable themes.”
https://www.mcall.com/sports/phantoms-flyers/mc-spt-kate-smith-statue-removal-reaction-20190422-v5v5p7mmsjgxbea4nniosm6y44-story.html
[div style="padding: 20px; background-color: #ffffff; border-radius: 10px; box-shadow: 0px 2px 4px 1px #aaa;"][div style="font-family: arial, helvetica; font-weight: bold; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999; padding-bottom: 8px;"]
[font size="8"]Top 10 Investigates
[br] [/font] [br]
It’s time to investigate beyond the headlines. This is Top 10 Investigates.
Is President Trump lying? Is water wet? OK that’s the end of the investigation piece, good night everybody! But in all seriousness, last year the entire world was shocked at the death of Otto Warmbier, who was visiting North Korea and arrested and tortured by North Korea’s glorious dictator Kim Jong Un, and died in a North Korean prison. Then there was a gigantic battle to get his body released and returned to the United States. Now, one year later, President Trump claims that he’s the world’s greatest hostage negotiator. Because of course he is. So last year, Kim Jong Un presented the US government with a bill for Warmbier’s hospital care. Seems like a dictator thing to do.
The North Korean government presented the United States with a bill for $2 million for the hospital care of Otto Warmbier, the American college student who was held as a prisoner by Pyongyang, and insisted the US sign a pledge to pay the bill before releasing him from their custody in 2017, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
A third source familiar with the matter, as well as President Donald Trump, said the US didn't pay.
The bill was handed to Joseph Yun, the former State Department Special Representative for North Korea who traveled to Pyongyang in June 2017 to bring Warmbier home, the sources told CNN.
Warmbier was in a comatose state at the time of his release from North Korean custody and died a few days after returning to the United States.
The Trump administration has not paid this bill, the third source told CNN Thursday, adding that North Korea did not raise the issue as it sought to begin easing the tensions with the US in 2018 nor when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo negotiated the release of three Americans that same year, the source said.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/25/politics/otto-warmbier-north-korea-comatose-bill/index.html
A third source familiar with the matter, as well as President Donald Trump, said the US didn't pay.
The bill was handed to Joseph Yun, the former State Department Special Representative for North Korea who traveled to Pyongyang in June 2017 to bring Warmbier home, the sources told CNN.
Warmbier was in a comatose state at the time of his release from North Korean custody and died a few days after returning to the United States.
The Trump administration has not paid this bill, the third source told CNN Thursday, adding that North Korea did not raise the issue as it sought to begin easing the tensions with the US in 2018 nor when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo negotiated the release of three Americans that same year, the source said.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/25/politics/otto-warmbier-north-korea-comatose-bill/index.html
That is a very good point. Seems like a very dictatorial thing to do doesn’t it? He dies in your care and then you stick the other guy with the bill? What a very noble and Christian thing to do! Except for the fact that Kim Jong Un bows to no god but himself. So who should pay for Otto Warmbier’s $2 million hospital tab? Well, did Trump approve? Or did he not? That’s where the conflict arises.
The former State Department Special Representative for North Korea said Monday that he believes President Donald Trump signed off on an agreement to pay North Korea for the 'care' and release of Otto Warmbier.
Joseph Yun told CNN on Monday that he signed the $2 million agreement in 2017 with the approval of then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to get the American student back to the U.S. from North Korean custody.
'As soon as North Korea side told me that this bill for $2 million would have to be paid ... I contacted my boss then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson,' Yun said, noting that Tillerson 'got back to me very quickly thereafter to say yes, go ahead and sign.'
Warmier became ill while in North Korean custody and was returned to the U.S. in a comatose state – he died a few days later.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6973691/Envoy-North-Korea-says-Trump-DID-sign-agreement-pay-2-million-Otto-Warmbier.html
Joseph Yun told CNN on Monday that he signed the $2 million agreement in 2017 with the approval of then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to get the American student back to the U.S. from North Korean custody.
'As soon as North Korea side told me that this bill for $2 million would have to be paid ... I contacted my boss then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson,' Yun said, noting that Tillerson 'got back to me very quickly thereafter to say yes, go ahead and sign.'
Warmier became ill while in North Korean custody and was returned to the U.S. in a comatose state – he died a few days later.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6973691/Envoy-North-Korea-says-Trump-DID-sign-agreement-pay-2-million-Otto-Warmbier.html
So that’s where President Fake News comes in. North Korea sent him the bill and supposedly says he paid it but then again he says he doesn’t. And if anything happens between the US and North Korea in the next two years, consider it the fault of an unpaid tab. Note to European countries: this is the kind of thing that happens when people are forced to pay for their medical care.
President Donald Trump on Friday denied sending money to North Korea to pay for Otto Warmbier's care while he was in the country's custody.
The Washington Post reported Thursday that North Korea issued a bill to the U.S. of $2 million for medical care before it would allow the comatose University of Virginia student to fly home from Pyongyang in 2017.
The president also tweeted that the "cheif hostage negotiator" in the U.S. said Trump "is the greatest hostage negotiator" and that "no money was paid" for the American.
People familiar with the situation told the Post that Trump instructed the U.S. envoy that brought Warmbier back to sign a pledge stating the U.S. would pay the bill. It is not clear whether it was paid or not.
Warmbier was arrested in North Korea and sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor in March 2016. He fell into a coma shortly after his sentencing and died after arriving in America.
https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2019-04-26/trump-says-us-did-not-pay-north-korea-for-otto-warmbier
The Washington Post reported Thursday that North Korea issued a bill to the U.S. of $2 million for medical care before it would allow the comatose University of Virginia student to fly home from Pyongyang in 2017.
The president also tweeted that the "cheif hostage negotiator" in the U.S. said Trump "is the greatest hostage negotiator" and that "no money was paid" for the American.
People familiar with the situation told the Post that Trump instructed the U.S. envoy that brought Warmbier back to sign a pledge stating the U.S. would pay the bill. It is not clear whether it was paid or not.
Warmbier was arrested in North Korea and sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor in March 2016. He fell into a coma shortly after his sentencing and died after arriving in America.
https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2019-04-26/trump-says-us-did-not-pay-north-korea-for-otto-warmbier
That’s the question as old as time – who gets stuck with the check? Is it North Korea or is it the United States? Either way there’s a rather gigantic tab to settle and so far there are no takers. In fact probably no one wants to pay this bill. But it exists, and it must be paid no matter who it is stuck with. But… that begs even further question as to whether or not President Trump is the world’s greatest hostage negotiator like he claims. Easy answer: he’s not. Especially if he’s stuck with that tab.
On Thursday afternoon, The Washington Post reported the bizarre news that North Korea issued a $2 million bill for the “care” of comatose American student Otto Warmbier, insisting a U.S. envoy sign a pledge that America would pay before being granted permission to fly Warmbier home in 2017, after he’d been held prisoner by the hermit kingdom for removing a propaganda sign. According to the Post, the official reportedly signed the agreement on orders passed down from Donald Trump, despite the request being wildly shameless, even for Kim Jong Un. At some point, Trump . . . well, we’re not going to say he read the Post story, but he heard about it somehow, and decided to set the record straight in his characteristically calm, reasonable way.
“No money was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, not two Million Dollars, not anything else. This is not the Obama Administration that paid 1.8 Billion Dollars for four hostages, or gave five terroist [sic] hostages plus, who soon went back to battle, for traitor Sgt. Bergdahl!” the president informed his followers Friday morning, before quoting an unknown official who would like the world to know that Trump is the best hostage negotiator in U.S. history. “‘President Donald J. Trump is the greatest hostage negotiator that I know of in the history of the United States. 20 hostages, many in impossible circumstances, have been released in last two years. No money was paid.’ Cheif [sic] Hostage Negotiator, USA!”
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/04/donald-trump-otto-warmbier
“No money was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, not two Million Dollars, not anything else. This is not the Obama Administration that paid 1.8 Billion Dollars for four hostages, or gave five terroist [sic] hostages plus, who soon went back to battle, for traitor Sgt. Bergdahl!” the president informed his followers Friday morning, before quoting an unknown official who would like the world to know that Trump is the best hostage negotiator in U.S. history. “‘President Donald J. Trump is the greatest hostage negotiator that I know of in the history of the United States. 20 hostages, many in impossible circumstances, have been released in last two years. No money was paid.’ Cheif [sic] Hostage Negotiator, USA!”
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/04/donald-trump-otto-warmbier
That’s it for Top 10 Investigates. Good day.
[div style="padding: 20px; background-color: #ffffff; border-radius: 10px; box-shadow: 0px 2px 4px 1px #aaa;"][div style="font-family: arial, helvetica; font-weight: bold; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999; padding-bottom: 8px;"]
[font size="8"]Holy Shit
[br] [/font] [br]
Gather around, my fair brothers and sisters of San Diego, 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 our weekly duty to remind you why the holiest among us are also the most full of:
My fair congregation! You know we’ve been speaking out against the unholy, ungodly Dark One since we began this church. Now next year is an election year. And there are a billion candidates running to unseat the Dark One. Well, maybe not a billion. At least 21 that we know of. But there’s one candidate above all the others who is getting a lot of attention from my fellow zealots, and not exactly what one would call a flattering way. I’m of course talking about the mayor of South Bend, Indiana and one of the current front runners, a man by the name of Pete Buttigieg. But what is it about this particular individual that has my fellow zealots on the right up in arms? Well…
The only Democrat talking at length about his faith in the 2020 primary also happens to be the only gay candidate in the race. And he's one of the few from a red state.
South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg is an Episcopalian who can freely quote Bible verses. He's also a presidential candidate who embraces his husband on stage at campaign rallies.
Combining homosexuality and Christianity might be the most natural thing in the world for Buttigieg and millions of gay Americans, but it is an iconoclastic development in American politics, where generalizations about religious freedom have in recent years been used specifically to fight advances in LGBTQ rights.
For some on the religious right, like Franklin Graham, Buttigieg's identity, while it's shared by many gay Americans of faith, does not compute.
Graham, in a series of critical tweets, said that being a gay Christian "is something to be repentant of, not to be flaunted, praised or politicized."
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/25/politics/religion-and-hypocrisy-are-clashing-with-sexuality-in-2020/index.html
South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg is an Episcopalian who can freely quote Bible verses. He's also a presidential candidate who embraces his husband on stage at campaign rallies.
Combining homosexuality and Christianity might be the most natural thing in the world for Buttigieg and millions of gay Americans, but it is an iconoclastic development in American politics, where generalizations about religious freedom have in recent years been used specifically to fight advances in LGBTQ rights.
For some on the religious right, like Franklin Graham, Buttigieg's identity, while it's shared by many gay Americans of faith, does not compute.
Graham, in a series of critical tweets, said that being a gay Christian "is something to be repentant of, not to be flaunted, praised or politicized."
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/25/politics/religion-and-hypocrisy-are-clashing-with-sexuality-in-2020/index.html
That is most certainly a good question oh LAWRD!!! Every election cycle, the Christian right always point out how we should “hate the sin, not the sinner” and that it’s “GAWD’s judgement”. Well, that doesn’t fly in my church!! We don’t play by that rule here. We support Mayor Pete! Now it of course brings me great joy to see our religious breathen have their talking points thrown back at them. Since of course that’s what we do here. But the feud between Rev Graham and Mayor Pete has escalated. Quickly.
U.S. electoral politics have traditionally been somewhat bland, with candidates from both major parties representing a safe and always unrepresentative proportion of the country’s actually diverse population.
That’s changing just a little, and especially so with 2020 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, who proudly describes himself as a “gay Christian.” He is far from perfect on many policies, but this multilingual graduate of Harvard and Oxford, who served in Afghanistan as a naval intelligence officer, and as mayor of South Bend, Ind., is deeply impressive and refreshing.
But not to Franklin Graham, son of the famous and far less extreme Billy. Franklin is president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the charity Samaritan’s Purse. For the latter position he is paid $1 million a year. He enjoys enormous support in the conservative Christian world, with more than 5 million Facebook followers, and has many supporters in Canada.
He has tweeted in response to Buttigieg’s declaration of his Christianity that, “God does have commandments, laws and standards He gives us to live by. God doesn’t change. His Word is the same yesterday, today & forever … As a Christian I believe the Bible which defines homosexuality as sin, something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized.”
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2019/04/28/evangelist-franklin-graham-distorts-the-bibles-message-on-homosexuality.html
That’s changing just a little, and especially so with 2020 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, who proudly describes himself as a “gay Christian.” He is far from perfect on many policies, but this multilingual graduate of Harvard and Oxford, who served in Afghanistan as a naval intelligence officer, and as mayor of South Bend, Ind., is deeply impressive and refreshing.
But not to Franklin Graham, son of the famous and far less extreme Billy. Franklin is president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the charity Samaritan’s Purse. For the latter position he is paid $1 million a year. He enjoys enormous support in the conservative Christian world, with more than 5 million Facebook followers, and has many supporters in Canada.
He has tweeted in response to Buttigieg’s declaration of his Christianity that, “God does have commandments, laws and standards He gives us to live by. God doesn’t change. His Word is the same yesterday, today & forever … As a Christian I believe the Bible which defines homosexuality as sin, something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized.”
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2019/04/28/evangelist-franklin-graham-distorts-the-bibles-message-on-homosexuality.html
And yes he is oh LAWRD! And if there’s one thing we don’t want to see, it’s that the GOP is flaunting their sexuality! I don’t want to see that, do you? But here’s the thing that I want to know – they call themselves “the Christian right” but they are wrong all the time! They’re even wrong on the good LAWRD JAYSUS! And if they’re wrong on JAYSUS what else can they be wrong on? Well, everything!
At least Judas got 30 pieces of silver. Franklin Graham got a tax cut and the promise of a border wall.
Some may consider it unfair, likening the tragic villain of the Bible to Billy Graham’s controversial son. And no, their sins are not alike. Judas handed Jesus over to his enemies, then killed himself in anguished repentance. Graham is just a fervent supporter of Donald Trump.
But for all the surface dissimilarity of their deeds, the two men are ultimately guilty of the same transgression. Meaning betrayal. And here it must be said in the spirit of Christian humility that Graham is hardly the only one. As flawed and fallible human beings, every Christian at some point betrays Jesus. That’s what forgiveness is for.
But here it also must be said in the spirit of simple truth-telling that white evangelicals like Graham have been particularly prolific – and shameless – in that regard where Trump is concerned. He’s a racist, misogynistic braggart and bully who gloated about sexual assault, apparently cheated on his wife with a porn star, could not name a favorite Bible verse nor correctly pronounce the name of one of the best known books in The Book.
https://www.stwnewspress.com/opinion/leonard-pitts-do-evangelicals-ever-get-tired-of-being-wrong/article_2f8f34ca-6ae7-11e9-a007-870e70f1ef8a.html
Some may consider it unfair, likening the tragic villain of the Bible to Billy Graham’s controversial son. And no, their sins are not alike. Judas handed Jesus over to his enemies, then killed himself in anguished repentance. Graham is just a fervent supporter of Donald Trump.
But for all the surface dissimilarity of their deeds, the two men are ultimately guilty of the same transgression. Meaning betrayal. And here it must be said in the spirit of Christian humility that Graham is hardly the only one. As flawed and fallible human beings, every Christian at some point betrays Jesus. That’s what forgiveness is for.
But here it also must be said in the spirit of simple truth-telling that white evangelicals like Graham have been particularly prolific – and shameless – in that regard where Trump is concerned. He’s a racist, misogynistic braggart and bully who gloated about sexual assault, apparently cheated on his wife with a porn star, could not name a favorite Bible verse nor correctly pronounce the name of one of the best known books in The Book.
https://www.stwnewspress.com/opinion/leonard-pitts-do-evangelicals-ever-get-tired-of-being-wrong/article_2f8f34ca-6ae7-11e9-a007-870e70f1ef8a.html
Well actually you are wrong, very wrong! Can I get an amen??? And by the way how great is our gospel choir? Let’s hear it for them! But the Christian right is losing this battle, as they are losing every battle they attempt to fight. So why fight this one? The more they harp on Pete Buttigeig for being gay, the more they make him stronger! Really, they should just call this one a day and retreat with their tail between their legs.
Graham shared a CNN story about the town hall on Twitter, and said, “Presidential candidate & South Bend Mayor @PeteButtigieg is right—God doesn’t have a political party. But God does have commandments, laws & standards He gives us to live by.”
“Mayor Buttigieg says he’s a gay Christian. As a Christian I believe the Bible which defines homosexuality as sin, something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized. The Bible says marriage is between a man & a woman—not two men, not two women,” Graham, the president of the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, tweeted.
“It can be challenging to be a person of faith who’s also part of the LGBTQ community and yet, to me, the core of faith is regard for one another,” Buttigieg said during Tuesday’s CNN town hall in New Hampshire. “And part of God’s love is experienced, according to my faith tradition, is in the way that we support one another and, in particular, support the least among us.”
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article229629454.html
“Mayor Buttigieg says he’s a gay Christian. As a Christian I believe the Bible which defines homosexuality as sin, something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized. The Bible says marriage is between a man & a woman—not two men, not two women,” Graham, the president of the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, tweeted.
“It can be challenging to be a person of faith who’s also part of the LGBTQ community and yet, to me, the core of faith is regard for one another,” Buttigieg said during Tuesday’s CNN town hall in New Hampshire. “And part of God’s love is experienced, according to my faith tradition, is in the way that we support one another and, in particular, support the least among us.”
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article229629454.html
Yes, don’t you dare put that evil on us, Franklin Graham! That should be the takeaway you get from today’s sermon! Mass has ended, may you go in peace! That’s it this week for:
[div style="padding: 20px; background-color: #ffffff; border-radius: 10px; box-shadow: 0px 2px 4px 1px #aaa;"][div style="font-family: arial, helvetica; font-weight: bold; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999; padding-bottom: 8px;"]
[font size="8"]Beating A Dead Horse: Armenian Genocide Recognition
[br] [/font] [br]
Let’s liven things up and talk about genocide. You know, nothing gets a good gut laugh like state sanctioned torture and mass murder. But first we need some music.
Ah love some System Of A Down! So why won’t we have them on our show? Well they’re not exactly what one would call “easy to get a hold of”. But I am playing this to bring a point. HEY! US Government!!! Recognize the Armenian Genocide already!!! This is something that’s not easy for a government to do because it would definitely mean that they would have to admit their own faults as a society. Why is it so hard to do? Well there’s plenty of reasons why it should be recognized, but also plenty of reasons why they shouldn’t. What’s one reason why they shouldn’t? Well it would cause the US to answer for their past crimes in this subject area. And by the way instead of playing our usual humorous memes and clips, we’re instead going to replace them all with System Of A Down songs, because you can’t joke about this tragedy, and there’s no one understands this subject better than they do! So what’s to stop them from doing this?
Armenians across Los Angeles marked the 104th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide with marches and vigils.
Hundreds gathered for a prayer service in Montebello at the Armenian Genocide Martyrs Memorial Monument.
"This commemoration is vital for us all," said Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, head of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church. "Because first, we bring our respect to the memory of the martyrs, but through this respect, we also want to make sure that there’s a message sent to the world that genocide will never ever repeat."
Church leaders said the day isn’t just about remembering history but also education and public service.
https://www.scpr.org/news/2019/04/25/89225/armenian-church-leaders-play-key-role-in-genocide/
Hundreds gathered for a prayer service in Montebello at the Armenian Genocide Martyrs Memorial Monument.
"This commemoration is vital for us all," said Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, head of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church. "Because first, we bring our respect to the memory of the martyrs, but through this respect, we also want to make sure that there’s a message sent to the world that genocide will never ever repeat."
Church leaders said the day isn’t just about remembering history but also education and public service.
https://www.scpr.org/news/2019/04/25/89225/armenian-church-leaders-play-key-role-in-genocide/
Ah, I love that band so much. So why talk about this now? Well, we recently remembered the 100th anniversary of this horrifying chapter in modern history, and since history seems to be repeating itself with the rise of white supremacism and neo nationalism, this cannot be fucking forgotten! Thank you audience! So if you research this tragedy who’s really to blame? And why has it taken so long to hold them accountable? The entire thing is a clusterfuck. And especially since Turkey – a country that is led by Putin stooge Erdogan, is well, on the side of genocide.
Turkey’s foreign minister has criticized a French decision to mark April 24 as a day of commemoration of the Armenian genocide, saying France should “look at its own dark history.”
Mevlut Cavusoglu made the comments Friday during a tense exchange of words with a French parliamentarian at a NATO meeting in Turkey, a day after French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision was inscribed in France’s official journal.
Many historians regard the mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire a century ago the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey rejects the term genocide, contending that those who died were victims of civil war.
Cavusoglu said: “France is the last country to teach Turkey a lesson on genocide and history. We haven’t forgotten what happened in Rwanda and Algeria.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/turkey-slams-french-decision-to-mark-armenian-genocide/2019/04/12/7268f5c8-5d05-11e9-98d4-844088d135f2_story.html?utm_term=.e5ce42319a86
Mevlut Cavusoglu made the comments Friday during a tense exchange of words with a French parliamentarian at a NATO meeting in Turkey, a day after French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision was inscribed in France’s official journal.
Many historians regard the mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire a century ago the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey rejects the term genocide, contending that those who died were victims of civil war.
Cavusoglu said: “France is the last country to teach Turkey a lesson on genocide and history. We haven’t forgotten what happened in Rwanda and Algeria.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/turkey-slams-french-decision-to-mark-armenian-genocide/2019/04/12/7268f5c8-5d05-11e9-98d4-844088d135f2_story.html?utm_term=.e5ce42319a86
Yeah BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! So that’s about where we are at as a society – if you stand with Vladimir Putin, well, you support genocide. At least France, with all the shit that’s currently going on in this country, is one of the more progressive ones in this regard. They are one of the western countries that is currently recognizing this atrocity. But let’s at least delve into some of the history on this subject if we are to properly understand it.
History, be it familial, national, or ethnic, defines who one is as a person. Throughout human history, eras have been defined by periods of peace and times of conflict. As time has passed, the manner in which conflicts are carried out has evolved; therefore, history has innumerable variations of combat and harm. One of the most devastating types of conflict and assault upon a culture is genocide. According to Merriam-Webster, a genocide is “the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group.” According to the United Nations, a genocide is “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; [and]forcibly transferring children of the group to another group” (framework). While each attempted human extermination has had its own unique and tragic backstory, there are some commonalities among them. Common factors seen in most genocides include racial and religious tensions, as well as desperation on the part of the “attacking” party. One of the most tragic and under-researched mass killings was the Armenian Genocide. The objective of this investigation is to explore the causes of this assault upon humanity and to examine its ramifications.
Before proceeding further, it is important to note that for the purpose of this investigation the assaults upon the Armenians will be referred to as a genocide, according to the Merriam-Webster definition. However, much of the international community, including the United States, does not recognize the “incident” as a genocide. Despite this, the term will be used throughout the remainder of this report.
https://armenianweekly.com/2018/04/24/what-were-the-main-causes-of-the-armenian-genocide/
Before proceeding further, it is important to note that for the purpose of this investigation the assaults upon the Armenians will be referred to as a genocide, according to the Merriam-Webster definition. However, much of the international community, including the United States, does not recognize the “incident” as a genocide. Despite this, the term will be used throughout the remainder of this report.
https://armenianweekly.com/2018/04/24/what-were-the-main-causes-of-the-armenian-genocide/
And by the way, don’t count on this guy to show his sensitive side regarding this dark chapter of humanity any time soon. I’m of course talking about Trump. Last week, he praised General Lee (yes, the real General Lee and not the Dukes of Hazard car), backed out of the UN Arms Treaty (fucking really?) and backed up his comments about how there’s “really fine people on both sides”. So if you’re holding your breath on whether or not he’ll recognize the tragedy any time soon, you may exhale now.
President Trump on Tuesday commemorated the 1915 mass slaughter of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Turks, but again kept with past precedent in declining to call it genocide.
Trump issued a statement for Armenian Remembrance Day, which marks the anniversary of Meds Yeghern, when 1.5 million Armenians were deported, massacred or marched to their deaths by Ottoman forces.
“As we honor the memory of those who suffered, we also reflect on our commitment to ensure that such atrocities are not repeated,” Trump said in a statement. “We underscore the importance of acknowledging and reckoning with painful elements of the past as a necessary step towards creating a more tolerant future.”
Trump acknowledged the efforts of former U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau, in attempting to aid the Armenian people.
The use of the term "genocide" as it relates to the Armenian killings has long been a hot-button issue.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/384644-trump-again-declines-to-describe-mass-killings-of-armenians-as
Trump issued a statement for Armenian Remembrance Day, which marks the anniversary of Meds Yeghern, when 1.5 million Armenians were deported, massacred or marched to their deaths by Ottoman forces.
“As we honor the memory of those who suffered, we also reflect on our commitment to ensure that such atrocities are not repeated,” Trump said in a statement. “We underscore the importance of acknowledging and reckoning with painful elements of the past as a necessary step towards creating a more tolerant future.”
Trump acknowledged the efforts of former U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau, in attempting to aid the Armenian people.
The use of the term "genocide" as it relates to the Armenian killings has long been a hot-button issue.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/384644-trump-again-declines-to-describe-mass-killings-of-armenians-as
[div style="padding: 20px; background-color: #ffffff; border-radius: 10px; box-shadow: 0px 2px 4px 1px #aaa;"][div style="font-family: arial, helvetica; font-weight: bold; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999; padding-bottom: 8px;"]
[font size="8"]No!: Operation Varsity Blues
[br] [/font] [br]
When you give stupid people a lot of money, don’t be surprised when they do something stupid with it, and of course you probably know where I’m going with this – Operation Varsity Blues. Which is shaping up to be one of the dumbest scandals involving rich idiots since the Fyre Festival. I will admit it – I am obsessed with this story and I cannot get enough of it, because it’s really a testament to how much people hate the uber-rich. Because they’re just like us, only they have money. And when they’re just like us, with money, they tend to spend it very foolishly. As demonstrated by Lori Laughlin.
Actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, designer Mossimo Giannulli, pleaded not guilty on Monday relating to fraud and conspiracy charges brought against them by federal prosecutors in the Operation Varsity Blues investigation. Loughlin and Giannulli were two of 33 parents charged in the largest college admissions scandal in American history.
According to documents obtained by CBS News, Loughlin and Giannulli each waived their right to appear in court for an arraignment and pleaded not guilty to each of the charges brought against them.
Loughlin and Giannull allegedly paid $500,000 to have their two daughters categorized as recruits to the USC crew team even though neither participated in the sport. Their 19-year-old daughter, Olivia Jade, is a social media influencer, who apparently capitalized on her experience at USC with sponsored posts.
Loughlin and Giannulli were arrested last month on a single charge of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. An indictment brought last week added a charge of money laundering conspiracy against the couple and 14 other parents. Loughlin posted a $1 million bond last month..
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lori-loughlin-enters-not-guilty-plea-husband-mossimo-giannulli-college-admissions-scandal-operation-varsity-blues/
Yeah except Loughlin probably won’t be getting a bad court thingy any time soon. So the question is who else is involved? How deep does this go? Deep enough, thank you sir! Always a smart ass in the audience isn’t there? But this might be my favorite part of the scandal – they are trying to say that they did nothing wrong! Oh go cue the world’s tiniest violin.
Actress Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli did not mean to break the law when they allegedly paid a bribe to get their kids admitted to an elite college, according to a new report.
People Magazine spoke to a source who said the pair didn't realize their actions were illegal.
"When they fight this, they're going to give a lot more nuance and mitigating circumstances that will help put their alleged actions into context," the source told the magazine. "The bottom line is that they just didn't realize that what they were doing was illegal."
The source said that the parents thought they were hiring a consultant to do what was needed and that it was similar to other parents "calling in favors, donating money to the alumni association, hiring consultants."
"When it all fell apart, nobody was as surprised as they were that they were in trouble," the source said.
https://abc7news.com/lori-loughlin-didnt-realize-actions-were-illegal-report/5270238/
People Magazine spoke to a source who said the pair didn't realize their actions were illegal.
"When they fight this, they're going to give a lot more nuance and mitigating circumstances that will help put their alleged actions into context," the source told the magazine. "The bottom line is that they just didn't realize that what they were doing was illegal."
The source said that the parents thought they were hiring a consultant to do what was needed and that it was similar to other parents "calling in favors, donating money to the alumni association, hiring consultants."
"When it all fell apart, nobody was as surprised as they were that they were in trouble," the source said.
https://abc7news.com/lori-loughlin-didnt-realize-actions-were-illegal-report/5270238/
NO!!! !We don’t need dim-witted celebrities and their equally dim-witted kids taking admissions away from people who worked their ass off to get into college and land their dream jobs! And not only are they competing who can spend the most money to get their kids in, they’re getting international help as well! I mean what, does USC need its’ own international airport? I mean they *COULD* use an international airport!
Families from China are alleged to have been the most lucrative clients of William ‘Rick’ Singer’s growing college admissions scandal, in which he has admitted to taking tens of millions in parental payoffs to get wealthy children into some of the top colleges in the U.S, according to a source familiar with the ongoing probe.
One Chinese family allegedly paid Singer $6.5 million to get their child into a leading school, the source told ABC News, confirming an earlier report in the Wall Street Journal.
The scandal was exposed on March 12 when U.S. Attorney for District of Massachusetts Andrew Lelling announced charges against over 50 people, including many notable CEOs and actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman. Singer, who ran a college counseling service called Key Worldwide Foundation, pleaded guilty to helping students get into their chosen colleges either by cheating on the SATs or ACTs or by falsely claiming some of the applicants were student-athletes.
The alleged $6.5 million payoff to Singer is by far the largest known to date among dozens of parents currently facing criminal charges as part of the investigation, dubbed "Operation Varsity Blues."
Singer accepted $25 million in bribes to carry out the cheating schemes, according to the indictment.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/lucrative-clients-operation-varsity-blues-college-admissions-scandal/story?id=62661180
One Chinese family allegedly paid Singer $6.5 million to get their child into a leading school, the source told ABC News, confirming an earlier report in the Wall Street Journal.
The scandal was exposed on March 12 when U.S. Attorney for District of Massachusetts Andrew Lelling announced charges against over 50 people, including many notable CEOs and actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman. Singer, who ran a college counseling service called Key Worldwide Foundation, pleaded guilty to helping students get into their chosen colleges either by cheating on the SATs or ACTs or by falsely claiming some of the applicants were student-athletes.
The alleged $6.5 million payoff to Singer is by far the largest known to date among dozens of parents currently facing criminal charges as part of the investigation, dubbed "Operation Varsity Blues."
Singer accepted $25 million in bribes to carry out the cheating schemes, according to the indictment.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/lucrative-clients-operation-varsity-blues-college-admissions-scandal/story?id=62661180
Holy shit!!! $25 million? Damn, here I am in the wrong business! I am entertaining you people, at the Wednesday at 2:00 PM slot, instead I should be hustling celebrities and universities! But here’s a thing – what does China want with America’s higher institutions of learning? Well this is shocking, but not really all that shocking.
One of the mysteries of the sweeping college admissions fraud case has been over the families that prosecutors say paid the biggest sums to a college consultant at the center of the schemes but that have not been charged.
The 33 parents charged in the scandal are mostly accused of paying the consultant, William Singer, either tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to facilitate cheating on admissions tests or to bribe coaches or other officials so that their children could be admitted to schools as recruited athletes.
But the prosecutors leading the largest-ever college admissions prosecution have also alluded to other families, not named and not charged, who paid far more. One family paid Mr. Singer $6.5 million to get their child into college through the recruitment scheme, the prosecutors have said. Another was described in court documents as having paid Mr. Singer $1.2 million in connection with their daughter’s application to Yale.
Prosecutors said that the daughter, whom they called Yale Applicant 1 in court documents, was admitted to Yale as a recruit for the women’s soccer team, despite not being a competitive soccer player. According to documents charging Rudolph Meredith, the former women’s soccer coach at Yale, Mr. Singer had paid Mr. Meredith a bribe to designate the young woman as a recruit for the team. Mr. Singer has pleaded guilty to racketeering and other charges, and Mr. Meredith has pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/26/us/college-admissions-scandal.html
The 33 parents charged in the scandal are mostly accused of paying the consultant, William Singer, either tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to facilitate cheating on admissions tests or to bribe coaches or other officials so that their children could be admitted to schools as recruited athletes.
But the prosecutors leading the largest-ever college admissions prosecution have also alluded to other families, not named and not charged, who paid far more. One family paid Mr. Singer $6.5 million to get their child into college through the recruitment scheme, the prosecutors have said. Another was described in court documents as having paid Mr. Singer $1.2 million in connection with their daughter’s application to Yale.
Prosecutors said that the daughter, whom they called Yale Applicant 1 in court documents, was admitted to Yale as a recruit for the women’s soccer team, despite not being a competitive soccer player. According to documents charging Rudolph Meredith, the former women’s soccer coach at Yale, Mr. Singer had paid Mr. Meredith a bribe to designate the young woman as a recruit for the team. Mr. Singer has pleaded guilty to racketeering and other charges, and Mr. Meredith has pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/26/us/college-admissions-scandal.html
[div style="padding: 20px; background-color: #ffffff; border-radius: 10px; box-shadow: 0px 2px 4px 1px #aaa;"][div style="font-family: arial, helvetica; font-weight: bold; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999; padding-bottom: 8px;"]
[font size="8"]People Are Dumb
[br] [/font] [br]
Hit it!
Of course you know by now that people are people and people are dumb. And I love these stories because they never disappoint. So who is stupid this week? I want to start with this story out of Michigan. Here’s the thing – would you tell your parents about your spank bank? And more importantly, would you have a spank bank that costs as much as a new Honda Accord? Well, there was this guy who not only did both, he is actually suing his parents for destruction of property to the tune of almost $100K. Ha ha ha, yes, thank you Marge, does anybody need that much porno? Well this guy does. Really, dude, just chalk this one up as a loss and move on.
A Michigan man is seeking to squeeze out over $86,000 from his parents in civil court for allegedly throwing out his large pornography collection.
The names of the son and his parents were withheld by WXMI, who obtained the federal civil court documents on Friday.
The rift between the family started back in October 2016 when the man moved back into his parents' Grand Haven, Michigan, home after a divorce. Among his possessions was a smut collection, he said in court documents, is worth $29,000, ABC affiliate ABC13 reported.
Less than a year later, the man moved out to Indiana. When his parents allegedly delivered his property to his new home, the son noticed that his massive collection was missing.
According to the documents, his parents allegedly told him they destroyed his porn.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/michigan-man-sues-parents-86000-tossing-porn-collection/story?id=62385198
The names of the son and his parents were withheld by WXMI, who obtained the federal civil court documents on Friday.
The rift between the family started back in October 2016 when the man moved back into his parents' Grand Haven, Michigan, home after a divorce. Among his possessions was a smut collection, he said in court documents, is worth $29,000, ABC affiliate ABC13 reported.
Less than a year later, the man moved out to Indiana. When his parents allegedly delivered his property to his new home, the son noticed that his massive collection was missing.
According to the documents, his parents allegedly told him they destroyed his porn.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/michigan-man-sues-parents-86000-tossing-porn-collection/story?id=62385198
Yeah even Loki won’t touch that one! And he’s the god of mischief, don’t you know? Next up, we got a lot of stories from the Sunshine State! Yes, our good friend Florida Man has been quite busy lately! Remember that movie Mallrats by Kevin Smith? It features a hilarious scene where Jay & Silent Bob go after the Easter Bunny only to get mauled by a group of freaked out kids waiting in line. Well, think of this as the Easter Bunny’s revenge.
In what is probably downtown Orlando's weirdest fight yet, someone dressed as the Easter Bunny ran into an ongoing brawl and beat up a man on Orange Avenue Sunday.
An Orlando promoter who goes by Workkk caught the whole thing on video and says the fight started when a man bumped into a woman with dreads.
The two were already punching each other when the fluffy vigilante suddenly jumped in and started swinging. Meanwhile, onlookers yelled, "Beat his ass! Beat his ass!"
A second video with a different angle shows the bunny going ham from across the street.
"As you can see the Easter rabbit been taking boxing classes," the promoter says. "Shit was hilarious."
Video and more at https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2019/04/22/the-easter-bunny-literally-beat-someone-up-in-downtown-orlando-last-night .
An Orlando promoter who goes by Workkk caught the whole thing on video and says the fight started when a man bumped into a woman with dreads.
The two were already punching each other when the fluffy vigilante suddenly jumped in and started swinging. Meanwhile, onlookers yelled, "Beat his ass! Beat his ass!"
A second video with a different angle shows the bunny going ham from across the street.
"As you can see the Easter rabbit been taking boxing classes," the promoter says. "Shit was hilarious."
Video and more at https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2019/04/22/the-easter-bunny-literally-beat-someone-up-in-downtown-orlando-last-night .
Ha ha, I love that movie!! Next up – turtles!!! And not just Florida, what’s up with Orlando this week? It seems that there’s a lot of crazy stories coming out of Orlando lately. Well, when you’re at a Starbucks after a bender, what does one do to pass the time? I know! Let’s threaten people with an army of turtles, and I for one welcome our new turtle overlords. We already have one serving as Senate Majority Leader. Hey o!!!! Thank you I’m here all week, don’t forget to tip your waitress!
A Florida man is behind bars after threatening to destroy everyone with an army of turtles, according to a report by WKMG.
Thomas Devaney Lane, 61, is in Brevard County Jail and faces multiple charges of breaching the peace, misusing 911 and resisting an officer without violence, according to Brevard County Jail records.
Indialantic Police received seven calls about a man disturbing the peace Sunday at a Starbucks Coffee, Surfanista Cafe and Sassy Granny’s Smoothies along North Miramar Avenue.
Lane was taken to the police department where he threatened dispatch and then left the building, WKMG reported.
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-ne-lane-army-turtles-brevard-20190410-story.html
Thomas Devaney Lane, 61, is in Brevard County Jail and faces multiple charges of breaching the peace, misusing 911 and resisting an officer without violence, according to Brevard County Jail records.
Indialantic Police received seven calls about a man disturbing the peace Sunday at a Starbucks Coffee, Surfanista Cafe and Sassy Granny’s Smoothies along North Miramar Avenue.
Lane was taken to the police department where he threatened dispatch and then left the building, WKMG reported.
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-ne-lane-army-turtles-brevard-20190410-story.html
Next up – we go to the land down under, Australia. Yes, there are stupid people in Australia, there’s stupid people everywhere! And I don’t remember ever getting this in a Happy Meal when I was a kid, this might be the worst Happy Meal toy ever!
McDonald's has apologised after a two-year-old child found a used condom in the main dining area of one of its franchises south of Perth and "sucked on it".
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told 10daily's Antoinette Lattouf she visited the fast-food outlet in Warnbro with her husband and daughter around 6pm on Friday night.
She told the outlet she was ordering their food at the counter when her daughter found the condom and put it in her mouth.
The mother said the black condom looked used, but she said they couldn't find the packaging anywhere.
She said she believed her daughter would have found it on a chair.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/mcdonald-s-apologises-after-toddler-found-sucking-on-condom-in-perth-restaurant-20190420-p51ft7.html
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told 10daily's Antoinette Lattouf she visited the fast-food outlet in Warnbro with her husband and daughter around 6pm on Friday night.
She told the outlet she was ordering their food at the counter when her daughter found the condom and put it in her mouth.
The mother said the black condom looked used, but she said they couldn't find the packaging anywhere.
She said she believed her daughter would have found it on a chair.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/mcdonald-s-apologises-after-toddler-found-sucking-on-condom-in-perth-restaurant-20190420-p51ft7.html
Another awesome movie. Finally this week for People Are Dumb – we go to Wisconsin for this one, and we might have to give Wisconsin the title of “Florida Of The North”. And this is exactly what happens when you live in a rural town where there’s nothing to do. There’s plenty of ways that you could wreck some serious havoc in a Wal-Mart, but really, don’t do this.
A 46-year-old woman and her 25-year-old son were arrested after a series of incidents at a Wisconsin Walmart.
According to the Eau Claire Police Department, Lisa Smith and her son, Benny Vann, entered their local Walmart on Wednesday night along with Smith's dog, Bo. Bo, who was not on a leash, ran away from his owner and rather than chase after him, Smith proceeded to dismantling store displays and putting them in her shopping cart.
When Walmart employees asked Smith to leave the store, she complied and police officers later found her standing in the store entrance calling for her dog.
However, between being asked to leave and the arrival of the police, Smith allegedly went into the parking lot to perform karate moves. Those moves were later put on display as Smith resisted arrested. The Eau Claire police said she also "attempted to kick out a window on the squad car" as officers took her into custody. Smith was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and misdemeanor bail jumping.
https://www.newsweek.com/karate-stripping-and-theft-leads-arrest-woman-and-her-son-wisconsin-walmart-1395293
According to the Eau Claire Police Department, Lisa Smith and her son, Benny Vann, entered their local Walmart on Wednesday night along with Smith's dog, Bo. Bo, who was not on a leash, ran away from his owner and rather than chase after him, Smith proceeded to dismantling store displays and putting them in her shopping cart.
When Walmart employees asked Smith to leave the store, she complied and police officers later found her standing in the store entrance calling for her dog.
However, between being asked to leave and the arrival of the police, Smith allegedly went into the parking lot to perform karate moves. Those moves were later put on display as Smith resisted arrested. The Eau Claire police said she also "attempted to kick out a window on the squad car" as officers took her into custody. Smith was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and misdemeanor bail jumping.
https://www.newsweek.com/karate-stripping-and-theft-leads-arrest-woman-and-her-son-wisconsin-walmart-1395293
That’s it this week for:
[div style="padding: 20px; background-color: #ffffff; border-radius: 10px; box-shadow: 0px 2px 4px 1px #aaa;"][div style="font-family: arial, helvetica; font-weight: bold; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999; padding-bottom: 8px;"]
[font size="8"]Stupidest State Contest: Selection Sunday
[br] [/font] [br]
16 states will enter and only one state will be crowned the new Top 10 Conservative Idiots Stupidest State!
We are in the home stretch here, people! Last week, Alabama showed Mississippi who’s boss in the Family Values Conference by absolutely putting on an epic show and routing them by a whopping 24 points to win the Family Values Conference and set the tone for the Flyover League championship. Now we go to the Layover League as the Batshit Conference Championship commences! It’s Kentucky vs red hot newcomer Georgia in a winner take all contest! We’re live in Ontario, California at the home of the Ontario Reign and UC Riverside, the Citizens Business Bank Arena, for all the action! Who will become the new kings of guano? We will find out! Let’s break out the brackets so you can follow along!
[font size="4"]Kentucky Vs Georgia[/font]
[font size="4"]Kentucky[/font]
So we’re back in the Bluegrass State everybody! Since Florida left the conference, Kentucky frequently owns this conference as they’re home to the nation’s two worst senators – senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul. Yes, that Rand Paul, the guy who didn’t know that monkey pancakes weren’t a thing. They’re also home to the worst governor in the country – Matt Bevin, a hardcore Christian fundamentalist who blames everything for bad things that happen but, say guns.
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin on Thursday blamed teacher protests at the state Capitol earlier this year for the shooting of a 7-year-old girl, The (Louisville) Courier Journal reported. That newspaper said Bevin, who was speaking to the Louisville Rotary Club, appeared to be referring to a shooting on March 12 in Shively. The girl was shot when she and her 11-year-old brother were inside a house alone and their uncle, who was their guardian, was outside, according to the newspaper. The Courier-Journal said that on March 27, police said the boy accidentally shot his sister and she underwent surgery. The girl was “listed in good condition, being transferred to begin rehabilitation, eating solid food,” the newspaper reported. Jefferson County Schools closed that day because of teacher “sickouts.” Read more: https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/education/article229676804.html
Oh come on, even Shaq is giving you the facepalm. I mean really… teacher sickouts are the reason why shootings happen? You should join those morons in Texas who blame school shootings on schools having too many exits. And I mean Kentucky is so hardcore Trump that you can’t even get food at a food truck without being lectured about the Trump lifestyle brand. Really, these fucking people.
A Northern Kentucky BBQ food truck caused an uproar with a T-shirt it’s selling with the LGBTQ acronym.
But it’s not ‘lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning or queer’ Belle’s Smokin’ BBQ was advocating. The shirts the food truck sold and later apologized for said: “I support LGBTQ: Liberty, Guns, Bible, Trump, BBQ.”
According to the Courier-Journal, the Williamstown food truck workers have been wearing the shirts for more than a year. But outrage grew Thursday.
Owner Jamie Smith began advertising the shirts Thursday in a since-deleted Facebook post, according to FOX 19. He sold around 100 but removed the post amidst the negative reaction, FOX 19 reported.
Read more: https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article229463304.html
But it’s not ‘lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning or queer’ Belle’s Smokin’ BBQ was advocating. The shirts the food truck sold and later apologized for said: “I support LGBTQ: Liberty, Guns, Bible, Trump, BBQ.”
According to the Courier-Journal, the Williamstown food truck workers have been wearing the shirts for more than a year. But outrage grew Thursday.
Owner Jamie Smith began advertising the shirts Thursday in a since-deleted Facebook post, according to FOX 19. He sold around 100 but removed the post amidst the negative reaction, FOX 19 reported.
Read more: https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article229463304.html
And by the way here’s one of the craziest things ever. Not only does Kentucky have two of the worst national level senators, they also elect local reps as batshit crazy as the people who live in this state. It’s really a second Florida if you think about it. One of the GOP’s current favorite punching bags is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the fact that she simply exists is enough to drive the most hardcore Trump humper crazy.
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is welcome to come to Kentucky and tour a coal mine, but first she needs to apologize, says Rep. Andy Barr.
Barr, a Kentucky Republican, wants Ocasio-Cortez to offer a mea culpa to “our colleague and patriot to our country” Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican, before she accepts Barr’s invitation to tour a Kentucky coal mine.
In a letter Friday to the New York Democrat, Barr said her recent comments about Crenshaw “demonstrate a lack of civility that is becoming far too common in the U.S. House of Representatives.”
An apology won’t be forthcoming, a spokesman for the congresswoman said Friday.
Read more: https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/congress/article229191679.html
Barr, a Kentucky Republican, wants Ocasio-Cortez to offer a mea culpa to “our colleague and patriot to our country” Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican, before she accepts Barr’s invitation to tour a Kentucky coal mine.
In a letter Friday to the New York Democrat, Barr said her recent comments about Crenshaw “demonstrate a lack of civility that is becoming far too common in the U.S. House of Representatives.”
An apology won’t be forthcoming, a spokesman for the congresswoman said Friday.
Read more: https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/congress/article229191679.html
[font size="4"]Georgia[/font]
Last time we checked in with Georgia, they were still reeling from that insane election that saw Stacy Abrhams ousted as governor in what appeared to be an attempted coup engineered by crazy people with a white supremacist agenda. And white supremacy still thrives in Georgia, which explains why they’re so batshit crazy. I mean look just because you’re next to Florida doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to smell Florida’s stink! But they do. and they get people like this who claim that their free speech is being persecuted. How dare you be intolerant of my intolerance!!
A University of Georgia PhD student who is facing a disciplinary hearing related to information omitted from his admission application says the investigation is retaliation for his controversial race-related statements.
In January, the right-wing website Campus Reform published a story about Irami Osei-Frimpong, a doctoral student in philosophy and teaching assistant at UGA. It quoted statements Osei-Frimpong had made on social media, such as, “Some white people may have to die for black communities to be whole in this struggle to advance freedom.”
UGA initially issued a statement condemning racism and violence while standing up for Osei-Frimpong’s First Amendment rights. The Equal Opportunity Office, which investigates discrimination complaints, quickly cleared him. But when the article’s author, recent UGA graduate Andrew Lawrence, claimed that a donor had threatened to withhold $2.5 million as a result of Osei-Frimpong’s comments, UGA’s stance shifted. The new line was that it was “vigorously exploring all available legal options” to sanction him.
A few days later, the university received a tip that he had left a 2011 arrest and a stint at the University of Chicago off his application to UGA, and launched an investigation. A hearings board could suspend or expel him. Although investigator Barrett Malone wrote in his report that it is not related to his politics, Osei-Frimpong believes otherwise.
Read more: https://flagpole.com/news/news-features/2019/04/17/grad-student-says-uga-wants-him-gone-for-his-political-speech
In January, the right-wing website Campus Reform published a story about Irami Osei-Frimpong, a doctoral student in philosophy and teaching assistant at UGA. It quoted statements Osei-Frimpong had made on social media, such as, “Some white people may have to die for black communities to be whole in this struggle to advance freedom.”
UGA initially issued a statement condemning racism and violence while standing up for Osei-Frimpong’s First Amendment rights. The Equal Opportunity Office, which investigates discrimination complaints, quickly cleared him. But when the article’s author, recent UGA graduate Andrew Lawrence, claimed that a donor had threatened to withhold $2.5 million as a result of Osei-Frimpong’s comments, UGA’s stance shifted. The new line was that it was “vigorously exploring all available legal options” to sanction him.
A few days later, the university received a tip that he had left a 2011 arrest and a stint at the University of Chicago off his application to UGA, and launched an investigation. A hearings board could suspend or expel him. Although investigator Barrett Malone wrote in his report that it is not related to his politics, Osei-Frimpong believes otherwise.
Read more: https://flagpole.com/news/news-features/2019/04/17/grad-student-says-uga-wants-him-gone-for-his-political-speech
And by the way – republicans always scream that their views aren’t heard. That is complete and utter bullshit! They’re heard everywhere! And we’re supposed to just shake our head and go “OK”. But really they want a totalitarian dictatorship and they will get it whether we want it or not. But do we really have to put up with their shit like this? I can’t imagine this will end well.
Six Georgia Republicans want to regulate the work of journalists and other media entities by creating an ethics board and instituting requirements for how interviews are conducted.
State representatives Andy Welch, Tim Barr, Rick Jasperse, Ron Stephens, Mike Cheokas, and Mark Newton filed House Bill 734 on Day 40 of the 2019 session.
The measure seeks create a 9-member Journalism Ethics Board responsible for:
Accrediting journalists and organizations
- Entire news organizations would only be accredited if every journalist in the organization was accredited
Investigating and sanctioning journalists after complaints are filed by the public
- Allows for public and private reprimand, probation, and revocation of accreditation
Accepting and managing grants, donations, gifts, and other monetary awards
Setting rules and standards to adhere to for ‘factual and ethical reporting.’
Additionally, the bill requires that media outlets turn over any video and audio recordings in unedited format as well as photographs taken during an interview at no charge upon request by the person interviewed. It sets a 60-day window from the date of the interview to request the files, sets a timeframe to fulfill the request, and allows for private action against the media outlet or journalist for failing to comply, assessing a $100 per day penalty.
Read more: http://evans.allongeorgia.com/1st-amendment/full-text-ga-republicans-seek-to-regulate-the-media/
State representatives Andy Welch, Tim Barr, Rick Jasperse, Ron Stephens, Mike Cheokas, and Mark Newton filed House Bill 734 on Day 40 of the 2019 session.
The measure seeks create a 9-member Journalism Ethics Board responsible for:
Accrediting journalists and organizations
- Entire news organizations would only be accredited if every journalist in the organization was accredited
Investigating and sanctioning journalists after complaints are filed by the public
- Allows for public and private reprimand, probation, and revocation of accreditation
Accepting and managing grants, donations, gifts, and other monetary awards
Setting rules and standards to adhere to for ‘factual and ethical reporting.’
Additionally, the bill requires that media outlets turn over any video and audio recordings in unedited format as well as photographs taken during an interview at no charge upon request by the person interviewed. It sets a 60-day window from the date of the interview to request the files, sets a timeframe to fulfill the request, and allows for private action against the media outlet or journalist for failing to comply, assessing a $100 per day penalty.
Read more: http://evans.allongeorgia.com/1st-amendment/full-text-ga-republicans-seek-to-regulate-the-media/
Yeah you think? And remember when George Bush famously uttered the words “Is our children learning”? Well, no they aren’t, and there’s always a method for their madness. And that method might be – teachers are getting screwed! And Georgia is one of the worst states in the country where teachers are getting screwed the most. No wonder people are so crazy down in the south. We need some more edumacation!
The University System of Georgia has shorted its employees’ pension fund over $600 million since it stopped making legally required payments to the fund over a decade ago, according to a state audit.
When the Optional Retirement Program, a 401(k) plan for USG employees, was created in 1990, legislation required the USG to make two types of annual payments to the Teacher Retirement System to make up for fewer employees paying into the TRS pension fund. Roughly 400,000 current and former teachers, librarians and university faculty and staff are part of TRS.
One of those required payments has not been made since 2008, equaling an estimated $600 million to $660 million, according to the audit. The other payment has never been made, and state auditors don’t know the amount. The audit also found that USG shorted Optional Retirement Program members $12.6 million in fiscal year 2007.
The first payment required by a 2010 law requires USG to make an unfunded accrued liability payment to the TRS equal to the amount that would have been made for ORP employees if they joined TRS. But TRS never billed USG for those payments from 2008–2018.
Read more: https://flagpole.com/news/news-features/2019/04/03/audit-finds-university-system-shorted-the-teacher-retirement-fund
When the Optional Retirement Program, a 401(k) plan for USG employees, was created in 1990, legislation required the USG to make two types of annual payments to the Teacher Retirement System to make up for fewer employees paying into the TRS pension fund. Roughly 400,000 current and former teachers, librarians and university faculty and staff are part of TRS.
One of those required payments has not been made since 2008, equaling an estimated $600 million to $660 million, according to the audit. The other payment has never been made, and state auditors don’t know the amount. The audit also found that USG shorted Optional Retirement Program members $12.6 million in fiscal year 2007.
The first payment required by a 2010 law requires USG to make an unfunded accrued liability payment to the TRS equal to the amount that would have been made for ORP employees if they joined TRS. But TRS never billed USG for those payments from 2008–2018.
Read more: https://flagpole.com/news/news-features/2019/04/03/audit-finds-university-system-shorted-the-teacher-retirement-fund
[font size="4"]And The Winner Is…[/font]
Ooh man this was a close one. It’s down to the wire – Kentucky came back and answered 16 to Georgia’s triple double run. Current score 88 – 86 with less than 30 seconds on the clock. Now down to 15 seconds… ten seconds… Georgia makes the shot… it’s in!!!! 3 pointer at the buzzer! Down goes Kentucky, Georgia moves on!!! What an upset here folks!!! The Stone Mountain racists of Georgia have knocked off conference favorite Kentucky! Oh my god! Wow, what a performance!
[font size="4"]Next Week:[/font]
Next week the final two states are vying for their spot in the Final Four and it’s a battle to see who can go for broke with the Fiscal Irresponsibility Conference championship! We’re live from the home of the San Diego St Aztecs , the Viejas Arena for all the action! And it’s a battle of the Beltways as two conference juggernauts – Wisconsin and Michigan will faceoff to see who will move on! Stay tuned!
[font size="8"]And Now This:[/font]
[font size="8”]Periphery[/font]
Ladies and gentlemen, my next guest are a really awesome metal band from Baltimore. Playing their song “Blood Eagle” from their album “Periphery IV: Hail Stan”, give it up for Periphery!!
Thank you San Diego!!! We had an awesome time! We will be back soon! We’re off to Mizzoula, Montana next! See you next week!
Credits
Host: Initech
Top 10 Conservative Idiots Recorded In Front Of Live Audience At: American Comedy Club, San Diego, CA
Special Thanks To: American Comedy Club Management
Holy Shit Gospel Choir: UC San Diego Choir Club, La Jolla, CA
Images: All images copyright belongs to respective copyright holders.
Videos: All videos copyright belongs to respective copyright holdersArticles: All article content copyright belongs to respective copyright holders
Writing: Top 10 Writing Department
Graphics: Top 10 Graphics Department
Research: Top 10 Research Department
Lighting & Stage Props: Top 10 Lighting Department
Legal: Top 10 Legal Department
Advertising: Top 10 Advertising Department
HR: Top 10 Human Resources Department
Initech’s Wardrobe Provided By: JAB Inc.
Wheel Of Corruption By: Studio 1 Stage Props, Burbank, CA
Periphery Appear Courtesy Of: 3DOT Recordings
Management: Initech Productions, CCC Management
Follow The Top 10 On Twitter at: @10Idiots
Questions? Comments? Complaints? Hate mail? E-mail The Top 10 at: Top10ConIdiots@gmail.com
Initech Productions: Yes, We Got The Memo
