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Top 10 Conservative Idiots #17-1: The Raging Wrath Of The MAGA Bunny Edition
Top 10 Conservative Idiots #17-1: The Raging Wrath Of The MAGA Bunny Edition
Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! Yoooooooooooooooooooooo!!! What’s up Santa Ana, how you guys doing? You doing fucking good? Great! We are back! We are baaaaaaaaaaaack!!! And yes, this is the beginning of the end. But as I have stated, don’t think of this as “we’re leaving”, think of it more like a “sophisticated breakup”. Look, we love making fun of the news here as much as anybody, but let’s face it – this last year and a half has been physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausting. It is literally impossible to keep up with the 24/7 news cycle anymore. But the good news is that many of your favorite segments will live on in some form or another. But we’ve already explained this 1,000 times already. But what we do want to say is that we’re back! Yeah this is the beginning of the end of the beginning. As the march to bring some fire and brimstone authoritarianism to the Land Of The Free and the Home Of The Brave continues, we’ll be there covering every last second of it! Do we have time for the thing? Of course we do! But look given the circumstances surrounding the events last Saturday, we’re not going to business as usual. Yeah, we got a lot of calls to call off this week’s edition. But you know what? You think we’re going to start playing nice with the right after all the shit they’ve put us through the last 15 years? Hell no! And you’d better believe that we’re not going to let Trump and Fox get away with this. Oh no, we’re going after Trump with the kid gloves off! Yeah so we’re actually taking Bill Maher’s advice. When they go low, we go even lower! We are a comedy show, after all! OK, enough of the intro, we have a lot of idiocy to get to. But first – our good friend Christopher Titus is back and he spells out the dangers of Project 2025:
So where do we begin this week? As usual, whenever the Top 10 is off for an extended period of time, we like to play Catch On Stuff We Missed (1 – 3), and holy shit did we miss a lot! Especially what’s happening overseas, so in the first slot, we’re going to talk about the elections in the UK and France (1), where conservatives saw an unprecedented wipeout, ending a collective 20 years of insanity between the two countries! United States, take a hint! In the second slot, also keeping with the theme of things we missed, we have to talk about the growing insanity surrounding the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025 (2), which is every bit as horrifying as it sounds! Yes, the worst rumors are true! In the third slot, we have everything else we missed in the last 6 weeks (3), and there’s a lot of hilarity and insanity unfolding right now in every aspect of our government. Whew. In the number 4 slot this week, yes, we have to talk about a Trump rally (4), but in the aftermath of last Saturday’s events that saw Trump nearly get assassinated at the hands of a 20 year old right wing male with a gun, we have to ask – who’s really responsible for political violence? The debate has been absolutely infuriating! How much damage can one organization do? A hell of a lot! In the number 5 slot this week, is an all new edition of We’re All Gonna Die (5)! And this week, if you think that temperatures are hot this summer, if the records in Death Valley and India are any indication, things are only going to get worse! In the number 6 slot this week, is of course our weekly visit to the Holy Church Of The Top 10 in “Holy Shit”, and this week, we have to talk about Ryan Walters, the batshit insane, Fox News installed, hardline authoritarian Oklahoma superintendent, and his gift to SCOTUS bringing some old fashioned fire and brimstone religion to our public schools. It’s just the beginning of MAGA’s all out assault on education, so strap in! In the number 7 slot this week, we’re adding professional Trump ass kisser, full-time Fox News correspondent and part-time Ohio senator JD Vance (Q – Batshit) to our ever growing list of People Who Somehow Got Elected! In the number 8 slot this week is our weekly venture into the never-ending void of online tin foil hat nuttery in Conspiracy Corner (8), and this week, it's the end of the thing that’s been plaguing America for the last 14 years – Infowars, so get ready to say goodbye and good riddance! But of course, Marjorie Three Names is going down with the ship! In the number 9 (NEIN!!!) slot this week, is a new I Need A Drink (9)! Finally this week, there’s only 118 days until the election, so we’re cramming as much coverage as we possibly can of the rematch that nobody asked for, in Road To The White House (10)! And with the Milwaukee GOP convention coming up, does it seem like election denial is going to be a key theme? You betcha! And to cap things off, we’ve got a little band called Phish joining us! YAAAAAAAAAAY!!!! Oh the kids love Phish, don’t they? Really, buy their new album “Evolve” or you’re no friend of this program! Enjoy! And as always don’t forget the key!
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[font size="8"]Catch Up On Stuff We Missed Part 1: The UK and France Elections
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So we decided to start off what’s going to be our last regular season for a while (don’t worry, we will be back at some point), with some not just good, but great news. After all, we don’t just want you to think this show is all about negativity, oh no sir! Or madam. Because what kind of hosts would we be? Not very good ones! Our mission statement since the beginning has been that we view conservative idiocy not just as a uniquely American problem, but a global one. We have evidence. We’ve done two world tours about it. And they’re the same no matter which country you go to. Even our neighbors to the north in Canada have a MAGA problem on their hands right now. Which is why we’re going there next week! But since 2010, one country has been meddling in elections around the world through use of TV and social media propaganda. I won’t say which one, but you can probably guess who it is. Oh who am I kidding? It's Russia! Countries around the world have been getting flipped to the side of Putin, fascism, and authoritarianism and haven’t come back to reality any time soon. Countries like India, the Philippines, Italy, Brazil, the US, Turkey, Hungary, and Spain, have flirted with this new brand of neo-fascism that’s been cropping up. But you know who came close? The UK and France. But they flushed conservatism down the toilet, which is where it should go!
Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party suffered a monumental, era-defining defeat at Thursday’s general election. Here in the U.K., we all knew it was coming. The polls in the run-up to the day itself suggested that the Tories were as much as 20 points behind Labour. But even so, the scale of what happened last night is eye-popping. The Tories won the smallest number of seats since the Tory Party came into being in 1832, a truly staggering failure to drum up enthusiasm for any more Conservative rule. They hold just 121 seats, having lost 252 since the last general election, compared with Labour’s whopping 412. Liz Truss became the first former prime minister in the history of the nation to lose her seat. Eight current Cabinet members also lost their seats, including the defense secretary, the culture secretary, and the leader of the House of Commons. A bloodbath.
It’s a goodbye to Rishi Sunak, and one he doesn’t even seem very unhappy to receive. Sunak has appeared to be campaigning in a half-arsed manner since he called the surprise election six weeks ago. Fair enough, on a personal level. He managed to hold on to his seat as a member of Parliament, but the thinking is that he will want to scuttle away to better paid and less contentious work somewhere like Silicon Valley soon. I wouldn’t want his job at this point either, standing at the helm of the most loathed and humiliated Tory Party of all time.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/07/2024-united-kingdom-elections-tories-rishi-sunak.html
It’s a goodbye to Rishi Sunak, and one he doesn’t even seem very unhappy to receive. Sunak has appeared to be campaigning in a half-arsed manner since he called the surprise election six weeks ago. Fair enough, on a personal level. He managed to hold on to his seat as a member of Parliament, but the thinking is that he will want to scuttle away to better paid and less contentious work somewhere like Silicon Valley soon. I wouldn’t want his job at this point either, standing at the helm of the most loathed and humiliated Tory Party of all time.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/07/2024-united-kingdom-elections-tories-rishi-sunak.html
Yeah how about that? How fucking awesome is that to see? Oh if only we could flush the conservative / MAGA party here like that, that would be sweet! See that, MAGAs? That’s how you drain the fucking swamp! And let’s face it – you are the swamp! But the UK election highlights one of the biggest obstacles facing any election – how the polls are taken. What a lot of pollsters fail to understand is that you can answer as many polls as you want. The only thing that matters is your vote – and you only get one vote. So use it to your advantage. Don’t let the polls persuade you either way. Especially in a major election like this, there’s going to be some gaslighting, and we’ve seen it happen way too often.
The 2024 UK election campaign was dominated by discussion of the polls, from start to finish. This was partially because of the sheer volume of polls being published. We had more MRP (multi-level regression post-stratification) polls than ever before, many giving quite different pictures of the size of Labour’s lead.
The chart below shows the average performance of 27 polls which predicted vote shares in the contest just prior to the election on July 4. The polling predictions are on the left and the actual vote shares are on the right for each of the five UK-wide political parties.
As a standard industry approximation, if the results differ from the outcomes by more than 3%, there is a statistically significant difference between the polling and the outcome. In other words, the pollsters got it wrong.
Using that rough yardstick, the pollsters over-predicted the Labour and arguably under-predicted the Tory vote, although in the latter case it was on the boundary of statistical significance. The other parties were within the margin of error. To be fair, different polling companies varied in their accuracy, so we need to look a little more closely at the results.
https://theconversation.com/election-2024-polls-were-wide-of-the-mark-on-labours-margin-of-victory-this-is-what-may-have-happened-234485
The chart below shows the average performance of 27 polls which predicted vote shares in the contest just prior to the election on July 4. The polling predictions are on the left and the actual vote shares are on the right for each of the five UK-wide political parties.
As a standard industry approximation, if the results differ from the outcomes by more than 3%, there is a statistically significant difference between the polling and the outcome. In other words, the pollsters got it wrong.
Using that rough yardstick, the pollsters over-predicted the Labour and arguably under-predicted the Tory vote, although in the latter case it was on the boundary of statistical significance. The other parties were within the margin of error. To be fair, different polling companies varied in their accuracy, so we need to look a little more closely at the results.
https://theconversation.com/election-2024-polls-were-wide-of-the-mark-on-labours-margin-of-victory-this-is-what-may-have-happened-234485
So what’s the moral of the story here? Fuck the polls. Yeah the media can put up whatever big, fancy numbers they want to make it seem like one candidate is going to win, but don’t let that tell you how to use your one vote. Now let’s shift gears and talk about France. Where it wasn’t exactly a clear shot to victory like it was in the UK. In fact, what happened in France might be more of a preview of what we can expect from the forthcoming 2024 US elections. It won’t be a landslide but it will be close. But what we did see what that France’s centrists in the Ensemble Alliance saw the threat coming from Marine LaPen’s National Rally party and stopped the MAGA / Nazi leaning LaPen from assuming power. See that, kids? If they can do that in France, we can do that here, too!
On Sunday night, joy: French voters had, once again, kept the far right out of power.
On Monday morning, uncertainty: A hung parliament, shaky alliances and the threat of turbulent years ahead.
President Emmanuel Macron called France’s snap parliamentary election to “clarify” the political situation. But after the shock second-round results, the waters are more muddied than they have been in decades.
While a surge in support for the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) coalition foiled Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) party, French politics is now more disordered than it was before the vote.
So, what did we learn last night, who might be France’s next prime minister, and has Macron’s gamble “paid off?”
As we wind down our live coverage, read the full story here.
https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/france-election-runoff-results-07-07-24-intl/index.html
On Monday morning, uncertainty: A hung parliament, shaky alliances and the threat of turbulent years ahead.
President Emmanuel Macron called France’s snap parliamentary election to “clarify” the political situation. But after the shock second-round results, the waters are more muddied than they have been in decades.
While a surge in support for the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) coalition foiled Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) party, French politics is now more disordered than it was before the vote.
So, what did we learn last night, who might be France’s next prime minister, and has Macron’s gamble “paid off?”
As we wind down our live coverage, read the full story here.
https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/france-election-runoff-results-07-07-24-intl/index.html
So let’s look at it this way – what happened in France wasn’t exactly a TKO standing ovation like it was in the UK. Think of it more as a “cautionary tale”. France could be headed for a stalemate much like what’s been happening here in the United States in the last 20 years since Fox took over most of the functioning republican party. What it was two sides working together to trounce a common enemy. We could do that here if we so wanted to. Look, we’ve given Marine Le Pen and her Nazi conspiracy theory party a lot of shit, and they deserve every bit of it. But one thing is for certain – this new brand of neo-fascist populist authoritarianism isn’t going away any time soon, at least as long as the head vampires – Dimitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin – sit in the Kremlin with no challengers. It’s time to break the cycle! We can do it!
Many who read the polls might say 2024 seems like the year of living dangerously. No one is arguing about who's got the momentum, only four days out from snap legislative elections here in France and on the eve of the first presidential candidates' debate in the United States.
French voters can argue that they've tried all the others, so why not the far right? They also assume that Marine Le Pen's party will be less Eurosceptic once confronted with the hard reality of governing, like what has happened in Italy with Giorgia Meloni.
But how, then, to explain Donald Trump's brand of politics? He is not untested. On his watch, supporters tried to overturn the outgoing US president's electoral defeat by force on January 6, 2021. Why does he have the momentum?
President Emmanuel Macron has been blasted for gambling away his relative majority on a snap election that does not give citizens enough time to reflect. Americans will have had four long years to do so. In both cases, are the one-third of voters solidly behind illiberal parties bigger risk takers than Macron? Or do they feel that they have nothing to lose?
https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/the-debate/20240626-from-trump-to-le-pen-why-the-far-right-surge
French voters can argue that they've tried all the others, so why not the far right? They also assume that Marine Le Pen's party will be less Eurosceptic once confronted with the hard reality of governing, like what has happened in Italy with Giorgia Meloni.
But how, then, to explain Donald Trump's brand of politics? He is not untested. On his watch, supporters tried to overturn the outgoing US president's electoral defeat by force on January 6, 2021. Why does he have the momentum?
President Emmanuel Macron has been blasted for gambling away his relative majority on a snap election that does not give citizens enough time to reflect. Americans will have had four long years to do so. In both cases, are the one-third of voters solidly behind illiberal parties bigger risk takers than Macron? Or do they feel that they have nothing to lose?
https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/the-debate/20240626-from-trump-to-le-pen-why-the-far-right-surge
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[font size="8"]Catch Up On Stuff We Missed Part 2: Project 2025
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The reason why we can’t have nice things in this country bottles down to three words: The. Heritage. Foundation. Yes, for those of you who are unfamiliar with them – they’re a conservative think tank that was founded during the Reagan years with the idea of promoting conservative ideals. That’s the base of what this organization is. If you dig much deeper – they’re responsible for nearly every single anti-government stance since the 80s. Recently they were instrumental in overturning Roe V Wade by installing three hardline authoritarians on the Supreme Court. Since then, they’re attempting to go even further with Project 2025, should they worm their way back to the White House. You may have heard about Project 2025 lately as it’s gaining traction. In fact if you haven’t seen John Oliver’s truly excellent take on it, you should go to Youtube right now and watch it. We’ve broached the subject of Project 2025 before, but the more we learn about this abomination, the more it’s far worse than you could ever imagine it was or will be. The Heritage Foundation has truly crossed multiple lines that should never be crossed with this one.
Developed by the far-right Heritage Foundation, Project 2025 proposes replacing the federal civil service with Republican partisans, ending the independence the FBI and DOJ to let the president oversee prosecutions, imposing Christian nationalism in law, and the defunding or abolition of a wide range of essential federal programs
“There's some very controversial parts of it," said Griffin. "One is eradicating Social Security, which he knows is obviously a political loser. But listen, people deeply connected to Donald Trump were part of this. He obviously praised it. He's going to be the first to tell you that Agenda 47 is actually his plan and platform."
"But the key part of Project 2025 ... I think it's the most important part for Americans to understand, is this reshaping of the federal government," Griffin continued. "And I saw the actual executive order at the end of the last administration, ready to go, that would remake every civil servant into a political appointee and a loyalist to Trump. And it goes beyond Social Security and some of these technical things. It's the national security apparatus. It's our emergency management. It's FEMA, it's responding to natural disasters, pandemics, those would all be our subject matter experts, the Dr. Faucis of the world, would be replaced with whatever loyalist he puts into those positions."
https://www.rawstory.com/project-2025-what-is-it/
“There's some very controversial parts of it," said Griffin. "One is eradicating Social Security, which he knows is obviously a political loser. But listen, people deeply connected to Donald Trump were part of this. He obviously praised it. He's going to be the first to tell you that Agenda 47 is actually his plan and platform."
"But the key part of Project 2025 ... I think it's the most important part for Americans to understand, is this reshaping of the federal government," Griffin continued. "And I saw the actual executive order at the end of the last administration, ready to go, that would remake every civil servant into a political appointee and a loyalist to Trump. And it goes beyond Social Security and some of these technical things. It's the national security apparatus. It's our emergency management. It's FEMA, it's responding to natural disasters, pandemics, those would all be our subject matter experts, the Dr. Faucis of the world, would be replaced with whatever loyalist he puts into those positions."
https://www.rawstory.com/project-2025-what-is-it/
Yeah BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! “There’s some very controversial parts”??? Uh excuse me??? All of it is controversial! And to quote a host from one of my favorite podcasts, “it ain’t good”. Do you know what eliminating social security will do to the economy? Or mass deportations? The United States would sink to third world status faster than you could blink. All because of Reagan’s “big lie” about how the government is the enemy has been sold to us 24/7/365 for the last 50 years. It’s utter insanity. And to my retired friends out there, don’t think you won’t be affected by this, because you absolutely will!
On May 6, the Social Security board of trustees released their annual report outlining the short- and long-term financial projections of the Social Security insurance programs serving retirees, survivors of deceased workers, and people with disabilities. This year, the report actually noted that the program’s long-term financial outlook had improved somewhat over the past year. According to the report, with no changes to current law, the retirement trust fund will continue to be able to pay out full benefits until 2033, at which time the trust fund will become depleted and would require an across-the-board benefit cut of 21% in order to reflect the amount of Social Security revenue still coming in.
A June 17 Heritage Foundation post used this possible future benefit cut to demand that more immediate cuts to benefits be made by raising the retirement age and changing the program’s inflation adjustment:
Heritage also waxed poetic about the virtues of people spending longer in the workforce, with Roe Institute senior research fellow Rachel Greszler arguing that “older workers’ wisdom and experience provides an invaluable insight and mentorship to younger workers.”
https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/project-2025-leader-heritage-foundation-calls-social-security-cuts
A June 17 Heritage Foundation post used this possible future benefit cut to demand that more immediate cuts to benefits be made by raising the retirement age and changing the program’s inflation adjustment:
Heritage also waxed poetic about the virtues of people spending longer in the workforce, with Roe Institute senior research fellow Rachel Greszler arguing that “older workers’ wisdom and experience provides an invaluable insight and mentorship to younger workers.”
https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/project-2025-leader-heritage-foundation-calls-social-security-cuts
Hey Heritage Foundation, I am going to say this with the utmost sincerity, but it must be said: FUCK YOU! And fuck your Project 2025 too! I’ll gladly tell you what you can do with this garbage. Just had to get that off my chest! And by the way – we highlighted retirement because you just know that MAGA will be eager to slash social security the way most people rip used band-aids off. So my retired friends – do you like being retired? If so, stop voting conservative! Turn off Fox News! Stop sending your cousins and relatives stupid republican meme propaganda. Just stop it already! And don’t think it will affect only retired folks. My working friends – all of us, we’re affected too! Because the assholes have a plan to destroy the one thing standing between us and the billionaire criminal class – the FDIC. Yeah imagine what will happen when Bezos and Musk come for your life savings!
As the presidential election heats up, both parties are talking about Project 2025, a collection of policy plans developed by conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation in conjunction with more than 100 other right-leaning organizations.
If enacted, Project 2025 would bring major changes to Americans’ finances.
Aiming to “pave the way for an effective conservative administration,” the roughly 900-page “mandate” proposes an overhaul of the federal government and sweeping policy changes that would affect families’ taxes, savings and more. The Heritage Foundation launched the project in 2022 and published the policy collection in April 2023.
President Joe Biden and Democrats have pointed to Project 2025 as an example of what a second term from former President Donald Trump could look like. Biden has a page on his campaign website about the project, describing it “as a blueprint for Trump to implement.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/15/what-project-2025-could-mean-for-your-wallet-in-a-trump-presidency.html
If enacted, Project 2025 would bring major changes to Americans’ finances.
Aiming to “pave the way for an effective conservative administration,” the roughly 900-page “mandate” proposes an overhaul of the federal government and sweeping policy changes that would affect families’ taxes, savings and more. The Heritage Foundation launched the project in 2022 and published the policy collection in April 2023.
President Joe Biden and Democrats have pointed to Project 2025 as an example of what a second term from former President Donald Trump could look like. Biden has a page on his campaign website about the project, describing it “as a blueprint for Trump to implement.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/15/what-project-2025-could-mean-for-your-wallet-in-a-trump-presidency.html
Yeah BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! So yeah, you like having money? Imagine Project 2025 gutting the FDIC and sinking this country into Great Depression 2.0. America was able to get out of the first one because we banded together. But if another one happens? We might not be so lucky this time. And Trump can deny it all he wants, but he is absolutely 100% behind it and is 100% responsible for it, and the democrats’ mission should be to end Project 2025 and the evil Heritage Foundation for good. Fascism comes to America if we let it, but we must stop them at all costs. And how do you do that? Vote. Vote at every single level. Leave no box unchecked. Otherwise, someone else might decide to do it for you. But who’s behind Project 2025? Let’s pull off the mask and see who you really are!
Donald Trump has lately made clear he wants little to do with Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for the next Republican president that has attracted considerable blowback in his race for the White House.
“I have no idea who is behind it,” the former president recently claimed on social media.
Many people Trump knows quite well are behind it.
Six of his former Cabinet secretaries helped write or collaborated on the 900-page playbook for a second Trump term published by the Heritage Foundation. Four individuals Trump nominated as ambassadors were also involved, along with several enforcers of his controversial immigration crackdown. And about 20 pages are credited to his first deputy chief of staff.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/11/politics/trump-allies-project-2025/index.html
“I have no idea who is behind it,” the former president recently claimed on social media.
Many people Trump knows quite well are behind it.
Six of his former Cabinet secretaries helped write or collaborated on the 900-page playbook for a second Trump term published by the Heritage Foundation. Four individuals Trump nominated as ambassadors were also involved, along with several enforcers of his controversial immigration crackdown. And about 20 pages are credited to his first deputy chief of staff.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/11/politics/trump-allies-project-2025/index.html
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[font size="8"]Catch Up On Stuff We Missed Pt. 3: The Worst Of The Rest
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You know, an awful lot can happen, being gone for six whole weeks. And there was a lot of news that made a lot of folks really angry. Which is why we’re naming this week’s edition after one of my personal favorite thrash metal albums – Mr. Bungle’s “The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny. Though let’s call it “The Raging Wrath Of The MAGA Bunny”. Ha ha ha ha! I’ll be expecting a call from Mike Patton’s lawyers relatively soon. But moving on. Especially on that holiest of days in America, July 4th. Yes, Fox News did *NOT* get their Americagasm at the base of Mt. Rushmore with an elaborate fireworks display as they had hoped. But the 1776 We The People crowd was certainly fired up, as you can probably expect. Which, after the Trump verdict, we totally called that they were only going to increase support, but really at this point, the people who vote Trump are still going to vote for him regardless, so it’s like multiplying by 1 – nothing really gained or lost. Well, one thing we did miss – in the ongoing quest by Rupert Murdoch and the Heritage Foundation, aided by Elon Musk and America’s right wing billionaires, to destroy and dismantle public education for good, this little bit of news just managed to slip through the cracks. And you can bet that if that abomination known as Project 2025 ever comes to fruition, you can bet that America’s public schools will suffer and that ultimately, America’s children will suffer. All to please a handful of assholes who have more money than god.
Near the edge of the Phoenix metro’s urban sprawl, surrounded by a wide expanse of saguaro-studded scrubland, Dream City Christian School is in the midst of a major expansion.
The private school, which is affiliated with a local megachurch where former President Donald Trump held a campaign rally this month, recently broke ground on a new wing that will feature modern, airy classrooms and a pickleball court. It’s a sign of growth at a school that has partnered with a Trump-aligned advocacy group, and advertises to parents by vowing to fight “liberal ideology” such as “evolutionism” and “gender identification.”
Just a few miles away, the public Paradise Valley Unified School District is shrinking, not expanding. The district shuttered three of its schools last month amid falling enrollment, a cost-saving measure that has disrupted life for hundreds of families.
One of the factors behind Dream City’s success and Paradise Valley’s struggles: In Arizona, taxpayer dollars that previously went to public schools like the ones that closed are increasingly flowing to private schools – including those that adopt a right-wing philosophy.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/19/politics/arizona-private-school-vouchers-invs/index.html
The private school, which is affiliated with a local megachurch where former President Donald Trump held a campaign rally this month, recently broke ground on a new wing that will feature modern, airy classrooms and a pickleball court. It’s a sign of growth at a school that has partnered with a Trump-aligned advocacy group, and advertises to parents by vowing to fight “liberal ideology” such as “evolutionism” and “gender identification.”
Just a few miles away, the public Paradise Valley Unified School District is shrinking, not expanding. The district shuttered three of its schools last month amid falling enrollment, a cost-saving measure that has disrupted life for hundreds of families.
One of the factors behind Dream City’s success and Paradise Valley’s struggles: In Arizona, taxpayer dollars that previously went to public schools like the ones that closed are increasingly flowing to private schools – including those that adopt a right-wing philosophy.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/19/politics/arizona-private-school-vouchers-invs/index.html
Yeah BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Hey Heritage Foundation and Fox News – three things – one is the country and our government is not your plaything, so stop fucking acting like it is. Two – you are not entitled to power no matter how much your stupid talk shows convince you otherwise. And finally – your ideas and politicians are bad, and you should feel bad. But you don’t. We also missed the insanity surrounding the presidential debate, but we’ll save that for a later entry. Another thing that we missed was the fact that gas prices are actually on the decline. But you wouldn’t know that if you listened to Fox News or any right wing programs! Guess the oil and gas companies ran out of their “Max Profit” blend for the year.
Gas prices are once again on the decline across the U.S., bringing some relief to drivers now paying a little less to fill up their tanks.
The national average for gas prices on Monday stood around $3.44, according to AAA. That’s down about 9 cents from a week ago — marking the largest one-week drop recorded by the motor club so far in 2024. Monday’s average was also more than 19 cents less than it was a month ago and over 14 cents below the level seen this time last year.
Why the recent fall in prices at the pump? Industry analysts point to a blend of lackluster demand and strong supply — as well as relatively mild oil prices worldwide.
There are a few factors contributing to today’s falling gas prices. For starters, fewer people may be hitting the road.
“Demand is just kind of shallow,” AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said, pointing to trends seen last year and potential lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Traditionally — pre-pandemic — after Memorial Day, demand would start to pick up in the summertime. And we just don’t see it anymore.”
https://apnews.com/article/gas-prices-fall-summer-travel-62e6c0a321892350830b0fe301494459
The national average for gas prices on Monday stood around $3.44, according to AAA. That’s down about 9 cents from a week ago — marking the largest one-week drop recorded by the motor club so far in 2024. Monday’s average was also more than 19 cents less than it was a month ago and over 14 cents below the level seen this time last year.
Why the recent fall in prices at the pump? Industry analysts point to a blend of lackluster demand and strong supply — as well as relatively mild oil prices worldwide.
There are a few factors contributing to today’s falling gas prices. For starters, fewer people may be hitting the road.
“Demand is just kind of shallow,” AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said, pointing to trends seen last year and potential lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Traditionally — pre-pandemic — after Memorial Day, demand would start to pick up in the summertime. And we just don’t see it anymore.”
https://apnews.com/article/gas-prices-fall-summer-travel-62e6c0a321892350830b0fe301494459
Yeah, see? We do bring you some good news every once in a while! Don’t want you to think that our whole program is about negativity! What kind of hosts would we be then? Not very good ones if you ask us! We also missed the insane debate about “presidential fitness” and how republicans are literally cheerleading a convicted felon to be the president. I mean seriously, did anyone else just absolutely cringe when MAGA Mike Johnson stood up at the RNC and said that the “republicans are the party of law and order”? How can they possibly say that? And how can they say that with a straight face? They are nominating a convicted felon to the highest office in the land!
Support among Republican voters for allowing convicted felons to be president has risen after former President Trump’s guilty verdict in New York last week, a new poll finds. The survey, conducted by YouGov, comes less than a week after a jury convicted Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, of all 34 felony counts in his hush money case.
Fifty-eight percent of GOP voters said in the new survey convicted felons should be allowed to become president if they are elected. YouGov noted that just 17 percent of Republicans held that opinion in April. Thirty-three percent of independents said a convicted felon should be able to be president, and just 12 percent of Democrats said the same in the recent poll.
The survey also found that fewer Republicans and independents now say criminality is among their least-desired traits in a president compared to a February poll. In February, 34 percent of GOP voters said criminality was among their least desired traits. Now, 19 percent say the same. Fifty-two percent of independents said it in February, and now 38 percent say criminality is not desirable.
Democrats largely maintained their belief that criminality is a not desirable trait for a president to have.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4705395-gop-felons-president-trump-conviction-poll/
Fifty-eight percent of GOP voters said in the new survey convicted felons should be allowed to become president if they are elected. YouGov noted that just 17 percent of Republicans held that opinion in April. Thirty-three percent of independents said a convicted felon should be able to be president, and just 12 percent of Democrats said the same in the recent poll.
The survey also found that fewer Republicans and independents now say criminality is among their least-desired traits in a president compared to a February poll. In February, 34 percent of GOP voters said criminality was among their least desired traits. Now, 19 percent say the same. Fifty-two percent of independents said it in February, and now 38 percent say criminality is not desirable.
Democrats largely maintained their belief that criminality is a not desirable trait for a president to have.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4705395-gop-felons-president-trump-conviction-poll/
Finally, while we normally don’t cover the bullshit spewed at the 18,000,000 Trump rallies that have been held since January 1st… Yeah, don’t remind me! He’s still having these stupid things! OK, moving on, yes – we do have to make an exception for this one. Trump has been talking a lot of grade A bullshit about electric cars, and particularly, for some reason electric boats. Trump’s said a lot of absolutely crazy, bizarre, unhinged stuff over the years. But his rant about electric boats at a recent rally takes the cake for all of them. And come on, this is a guy who said that windmills cause cancer and used a sharpie to reroute a hurricane. People are voting for this guy. To be in the White House. WTF.
Two of Donald Trump’s signature dislikes met head-on during a rally in Las Vegas on Sunday as the former president railed against both renewable energy and sharks in a wild rant.
Trump, who has frequently attacked electric vehicles, on Sunday complained that electric boats are so heavy they are prone to sinking ― but went off on several tangents as he spoke, including one about sharks.
Then, he wondered if it was better to be on a sinking electric boat or in the water with a shark.
“Do I get electrocuted if the boat is sinking, water goes over the battery, the boat is sinking, do I stay on top of the boat and get electrocuted, or do I jump over by the shark and not get electrocuted?” he asked.
Trump was clear on which he would choose.
“I’ll take electrocution every single time,” he said. “I’m not getting near the shark.”
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/trump-takes-hatred-sharks-bizarre-035826732.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=fb&tsrc=fb&guccounter=1
Trump, who has frequently attacked electric vehicles, on Sunday complained that electric boats are so heavy they are prone to sinking ― but went off on several tangents as he spoke, including one about sharks.
Then, he wondered if it was better to be on a sinking electric boat or in the water with a shark.
“Do I get electrocuted if the boat is sinking, water goes over the battery, the boat is sinking, do I stay on top of the boat and get electrocuted, or do I jump over by the shark and not get electrocuted?” he asked.
Trump was clear on which he would choose.
“I’ll take electrocution every single time,” he said. “I’m not getting near the shark.”
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/trump-takes-hatred-sharks-bizarre-035826732.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=fb&tsrc=fb&guccounter=1
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[font size="8"]Fox News & MAGA
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Look, people, we had quite the internal debate at our home offices in Santa Ana, California, as to whether or not to even broach the subject about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump last Saturday at the hands of a mad man with a gun, who – we were not at all shocked to learn – was a white, 20 year old male, whose parents had a stash of weapons, watched Fox News, and he was radicalized online by hate groups. Hey, it’s the mass shooter superfecta! What did we win? Well we’ll tell you what we won – we won a right wing circle jerk of every MAGA ass kissing politician, Fox News host, and right wing blogger telling us that we’re the ones to blame. Uh… excuse me??? Have you not listened to yourselves fucking talk for the last 8 years? You’ve been calling for civil war and violent uprisings on Fox News every night. And Trump has a playbook written by the Heritage Foundation that will give him a full blown fascist authoritarian puppet regime with unlimited unchecked power that will gut every government agency and protection we have. And it’s our fucking fault that this happened? I mean you cannot be serious! Who am I kidding? Of course they can’t.
Within hours of the assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump, many of his supporters began laying blame on Democrats, seeking to flip the script on who has stoked America’s heated political rhetoric as cases of political violence reach historic heights.
From establishment Republicans to far-right conspiracy theorists, a consistent message emerged that President Joe Biden and other Democratic leaders laid the groundwork for Saturday’s shooting by casting Trump as an autocrat who poses a grave threat to democracy. A Reuters analysis of more than 200 incidents of politically motivated violence between 2021 and 2023, however, presented a different picture: In those years, fatal political violence more often emanated from the American right than from the left.
The U.S. is embroiled in the most sustained spate of political violence since a decade of upheaval that began in the late 1960s, Reuters found in that report published last year. That violence has come from across the ideological spectrum, and includes extensive attacks on property during left-wing political demonstrations. But attacks on people -- from beatings to killings -- were perpetrated mostly by suspects acting in service of right-wing political beliefs and ideology.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/republicans-wake-trump-shooting-seek-pin-political-violence-trend-democrats-2024-07-14/
From establishment Republicans to far-right conspiracy theorists, a consistent message emerged that President Joe Biden and other Democratic leaders laid the groundwork for Saturday’s shooting by casting Trump as an autocrat who poses a grave threat to democracy. A Reuters analysis of more than 200 incidents of politically motivated violence between 2021 and 2023, however, presented a different picture: In those years, fatal political violence more often emanated from the American right than from the left.
The U.S. is embroiled in the most sustained spate of political violence since a decade of upheaval that began in the late 1960s, Reuters found in that report published last year. That violence has come from across the ideological spectrum, and includes extensive attacks on property during left-wing political demonstrations. But attacks on people -- from beatings to killings -- were perpetrated mostly by suspects acting in service of right-wing political beliefs and ideology.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/republicans-wake-trump-shooting-seek-pin-political-violence-trend-democrats-2024-07-14/
Yeah BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Only in this country can someone get shot by someone and it’s the other guy’s fault. Come on, remember when Dick Cheney shot that guy and then made him apologize for getting in the way of his shot? Even MAGA rapper Tom MacDonald attempted to unify people on his Youtube channel with a song that was not only poorly written, it didn’t even address the topic that it was supposed to address, which was political unity! But this is the most disturbing statistic that we’ve come across in the last week. Is that a whopping 4 in 5 Americans think that this country is descending into chaos. I mean come on, have you been following this program? We said that 8 years ago!
It’s barely been four days since a 20-year-old used an AR-15 to try and assassinate former President Trump at his rally in Pennsylvania—but if you thought that would stop a pro-gun group from continuing with their AR-15 giveaway at the Republican National Convention this week, then you’d be wrong.
The U.S. Concealed Carry Association, an RNC vendor and a Wisconsin-based “concealed carry advocacy group,” according to Rolling Stone, is sponsoring the giveaway, and entering is easy! All RNC attendees have to do is provide their name and phone number on a website specific to RNC guests, and they’ll be entered to win a Daniel Defense assault rifle—the same manufacturer of the AR-15 the gunman in the Uvalde school shooting used to kill 19 students and two teachers.
Daniel Defense rifles were also found in the stockpile of the gunman who carried out the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. And Saturday’s gunman also used an AR-15, though authorities haven’t yet revealed the exact make or model.
On Sunday night, journalist Robert Evans tweeted a photo of the giveaway sign at the USCCA’s booth, while Rolling Stone published a story on the booth and organization on Tuesday. RS wrote that they asked a rep if anyone felt weird about the giveaway, and apparently not.
https://www.jezebel.com/auto-draft-27
The U.S. Concealed Carry Association, an RNC vendor and a Wisconsin-based “concealed carry advocacy group,” according to Rolling Stone, is sponsoring the giveaway, and entering is easy! All RNC attendees have to do is provide their name and phone number on a website specific to RNC guests, and they’ll be entered to win a Daniel Defense assault rifle—the same manufacturer of the AR-15 the gunman in the Uvalde school shooting used to kill 19 students and two teachers.
Daniel Defense rifles were also found in the stockpile of the gunman who carried out the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. And Saturday’s gunman also used an AR-15, though authorities haven’t yet revealed the exact make or model.
On Sunday night, journalist Robert Evans tweeted a photo of the giveaway sign at the USCCA’s booth, while Rolling Stone published a story on the booth and organization on Tuesday. RS wrote that they asked a rep if anyone felt weird about the giveaway, and apparently not.
https://www.jezebel.com/auto-draft-27
Yeah isn’t that fucking insane? Like Trump gets shot with an illegally obtained AR-15, so what do they decide to do? Raffle off a fucking AR-15! The stupid in this scenario is absolutely unparalleled! But the absolutely ironic thing is that republicans have spent the last 40 years attacking liberals at every single possible opportunity. So you can imagine that we cringed super hard when the GOP announced that their 2024 platform is going to be – wait for it – unity! Yeah, the GOP running on unity is like Uncle Roger suddenly saying that he likes Jamie Oliver’s food. Come on, let’s get real here!
When Trump and the convention participants say they are seeking unity, what they really mean is that they want Democrats to stop using words like “fascist,” “authoritarian,” and “criminal” to describe the MAGA-GOP’s fascist, authoritarian, criminal leader.
You will not see Trump step to the podium and say, “Because there is never any excuse for political violence in America, I renounce my own role in contributing to the toxicity of American politics.” We know that because Trump never apologizes for anything. We know it because his first words following the shooting, “fight, fight, fight!” were a manifestation of that. And we know because we know Trump to be the number one instigator of political violence in this country, the number one contributor to the toxicity of the current environment.
Trump is the one who instigated and later celebrated the single largest act of political violence in modern American history—the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. He is the one who implied the proper response of his supporters to the Biden Administration would be “bedlam.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/unity-doesnt-mean-covering-up-the-truth-about-donald-trump?ref=home?ref=home
You will not see Trump step to the podium and say, “Because there is never any excuse for political violence in America, I renounce my own role in contributing to the toxicity of American politics.” We know that because Trump never apologizes for anything. We know it because his first words following the shooting, “fight, fight, fight!” were a manifestation of that. And we know because we know Trump to be the number one instigator of political violence in this country, the number one contributor to the toxicity of the current environment.
Trump is the one who instigated and later celebrated the single largest act of political violence in modern American history—the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. He is the one who implied the proper response of his supporters to the Biden Administration would be “bedlam.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/unity-doesnt-mean-covering-up-the-truth-about-donald-trump?ref=home?ref=home
Yes, it’s super cringy, right? The GOP claims they want unity from both the left and the right in order to work together for the betterment of the United States. But guess what? As we can tell, that didn’t last very long. In fact, I’m sure that the MAGA Qongress regional manager Sean Hannity immediately dropped what he was doing to have a pep talk with his employees in Congress. Because they went straight back to doing what they do best – some good ol’ fashioned liberal bashing. You’d think that maybe just for a minute, this would be the thing that unites both parties against a common enemy, but what do you do when that enemy is within? That’s a head-scratcher!
America’s political leaders described the 2024 presidential election as a life-or-death crucible long before a man opened fire at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania, wounding the former president and killing a supporter. Since then, Trump’s allies have moved quickly to blame liberals and the media for the would-be assassin’s actions, before any public evidence of his motivations. Biden’s campaign has pulled its advertising and events but remains committed to a fiercely negative campaign that casts Trump as a threat to basic freedoms and the American system of government. The result is a nation on edge, two presidential efforts poised to spend $1 billion on advertising to demonize each other and 112 days until the polls close.
“This country over the last several years has gone from being polarized to being polarized and radicalized,” said Michael Jensen of the University of Maryland’s START consortium for terrorism research. The former leads to gridlock, he explained, the latter to violence. “It’s reasonable for us to express outrage. It’s reasonable for us to call for unity. It’s reasonable for us to denounce these types of acts,” he said. “I don’t know that it’s reasonable for us to act surprised.” Investigators said they had no information Sunday about the motives of the shooter, whom they identified as a 20-year-old with no known history of violence, little to no social media profile and no significant involvement in political causes. Authorities said his bullets had killed a man in the crowd and injured others, including Trump, whose ear was bloodied.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219158984
“This country over the last several years has gone from being polarized to being polarized and radicalized,” said Michael Jensen of the University of Maryland’s START consortium for terrorism research. The former leads to gridlock, he explained, the latter to violence. “It’s reasonable for us to express outrage. It’s reasonable for us to call for unity. It’s reasonable for us to denounce these types of acts,” he said. “I don’t know that it’s reasonable for us to act surprised.” Investigators said they had no information Sunday about the motives of the shooter, whom they identified as a 20-year-old with no known history of violence, little to no social media profile and no significant involvement in political causes. Authorities said his bullets had killed a man in the crowd and injured others, including Trump, whose ear was bloodied.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219158984
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[font size="8"]We’re All Gonna Die
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Hey everyone, guess what? We’re all gonna die! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! WOOOOOOO. WOOO. WOO. So what’s going to kill us all this week, you might ask? Well once again, it’s global warming! And to answer the question – why yes it is hot in here, and no, it’s not just you! The desk is literally on fire, that’s how hot it is! Well, as you know, our program is based in Southern California. And we’re home to one of the hottest places anywhere in the entire world – the desert region known as Death Valley. The hottest temperatures in the entire world were recorded in the Death Valley city formerly known as Furnace Creek nearly 100 years ago. July 10th, 1913 – the temperature hit a record of 134’F. Which is basically hot enough to cook a filet mignon medium rare. And the answer is yes – you could fry an egg on the sidewalk, but should you? Probably not. But according to San Diego’s biological research institute known as Scripps, we’re not quite there yet. But we’re getting close!
While most Americans are trying to beat the heat, some 1.1 million people a year head towards it: to Death Valley National Park in California.
The desolate region is known as one of the Earth's hottest places. In fact, it holds the record for the hottest temperature ever officially recorded: 134 degrees Fahrenheit, recorded in July of 1913.
Associated Press journalist Ty O'Neil explained that even though he grew up in the desert, "this is a different level of heat."
On a recent visit, French, Spanish, English and Swiss tourists left their air-conditioned rental cars and motor homes to take photographs of the barren landscape so different from the snow-capped mountains and rolling green hills they know back home.
"Just because the sun sets doesn't mean it really cools down. I was out till about 12:30 a.m. last night and it never dropped below 100 degrees," O'Neil said.
https://www.scrippsnews.com/weather/californias-death-valley-is-reaching-deathly-high-temperatures
The desolate region is known as one of the Earth's hottest places. In fact, it holds the record for the hottest temperature ever officially recorded: 134 degrees Fahrenheit, recorded in July of 1913.
Associated Press journalist Ty O'Neil explained that even though he grew up in the desert, "this is a different level of heat."
On a recent visit, French, Spanish, English and Swiss tourists left their air-conditioned rental cars and motor homes to take photographs of the barren landscape so different from the snow-capped mountains and rolling green hills they know back home.
"Just because the sun sets doesn't mean it really cools down. I was out till about 12:30 a.m. last night and it never dropped below 100 degrees," O'Neil said.
https://www.scrippsnews.com/weather/californias-death-valley-is-reaching-deathly-high-temperatures
Come on, you know things are fucked up when the *COOL* temperature is 100 degrees. That’s the cool temperature! Now here’s the thing – we don’t make fun of death hardly at all on this program. But when this heat wave is literally killing people, shouldn’t it be a sign that maybe, just maybe, global warming is a bad thing? And we’ve been living under the spell of Rupert Murdoch’s anti-science bullshit rhetoric for way too long. But when something like this happens, this is, just a wee bit fucked up, don’t you think? We do!
A long-running heat wave that has already shattered previous records across the U.S. persisted on Sunday, baking parts of the West with dangerous temperatures that caused the death of a motorcyclist in Death Valley and holding the East in its hot and humid grip.
An excessive heat warning — the National Weather Service's highest alert — was in effect for about 36 million people, or about 10% of the population, said NWS meteorologist Bryan Jackson. Dozens of locations in the West and Pacific Northwest tied or broke previous heat records.
That was certainly the case over the weekend: Many areas in Northern California surpassed 110 degrees, with the city of Redding topping out at a record 119. Phoenix set a new daily record Sunday for the warmest low temperature: it never got below 92 F.
A high temperature of 128 F was recorded Sunday at Death Valley National Park in eastern California, where a visitor died from heat exposure and another person was hospitalized, officials said.
The two visitors were part of a group of six motorcyclists riding through the Badwater Basin area amid scorching weather, the park said in a statement.
https://www.wesh.com/article/motorcyclist-dies-from-heat-exposure-as-temperature-reaches-128-in-california-s-death-valley/61526831
An excessive heat warning — the National Weather Service's highest alert — was in effect for about 36 million people, or about 10% of the population, said NWS meteorologist Bryan Jackson. Dozens of locations in the West and Pacific Northwest tied or broke previous heat records.
That was certainly the case over the weekend: Many areas in Northern California surpassed 110 degrees, with the city of Redding topping out at a record 119. Phoenix set a new daily record Sunday for the warmest low temperature: it never got below 92 F.
A high temperature of 128 F was recorded Sunday at Death Valley National Park in eastern California, where a visitor died from heat exposure and another person was hospitalized, officials said.
The two visitors were part of a group of six motorcyclists riding through the Badwater Basin area amid scorching weather, the park said in a statement.
https://www.wesh.com/article/motorcyclist-dies-from-heat-exposure-as-temperature-reaches-128-in-california-s-death-valley/61526831
OK… OK… let’s think about this here. The high was 128. And the low was 92. I will repeat that. The low temperature is 92 degrees. That’s fucked up. This extreme heat is literally killing people. And yet there’s people who think that global warming not only is no big deal, they think it’s a hoax and they’re trying to murder the one person who wants to help. And that didn’t stop the tourists from packing Death Valley in droves. What are you people, fucking insane??? You don’t run towards the explosion! You run away from it! However, my home state of California is not the only state in the country, or even the only place on the planet that’s currently recording record temperatures. Let’s look at our next door neighbors in Nevada and see how they’re dealing with it!
Las Vegas baked Wednesday in its record fifth consecutive day of temperatures sizzling at 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46.1 Celsius) or greater amid a lengthening hot spell that is expected to broil much of the U.S. into the weekend.
The temperature climbed to 115 shortly after 1 p.m. at Harry Reid International Airport, breaking the old mark of four consecutive days set in July 2005. And the record could be extended, or even doubled, by the weekend.
Even by desert standards, the prolonged baking that Nevada’s largest city is experiencing is nearly unprecedented, with forecasters calling it “the most extreme heat wave” since the National Weather Service began keeping records in Las Vegas in 1937.
Already the city has broken 16 heat records since June 1, well before the official start of summer, “and we’re not even halfway through July yet,” meteorologist Morgan Stessman said Wednesday. That includes an all-time high of 120 F (48.8 C) set on Sunday, which beat the previous 117 F (47.2 C) record.
https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-las-vegas-eyes-record-of-5th-consecutive-day-over-115-degrees-as-heat-wave-continues-to-scorch-us/
The temperature climbed to 115 shortly after 1 p.m. at Harry Reid International Airport, breaking the old mark of four consecutive days set in July 2005. And the record could be extended, or even doubled, by the weekend.
Even by desert standards, the prolonged baking that Nevada’s largest city is experiencing is nearly unprecedented, with forecasters calling it “the most extreme heat wave” since the National Weather Service began keeping records in Las Vegas in 1937.
Already the city has broken 16 heat records since June 1, well before the official start of summer, “and we’re not even halfway through July yet,” meteorologist Morgan Stessman said Wednesday. That includes an all-time high of 120 F (48.8 C) set on Sunday, which beat the previous 117 F (47.2 C) record.
https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-las-vegas-eyes-record-of-5th-consecutive-day-over-115-degrees-as-heat-wave-continues-to-scorch-us/
Yeah, probably! So in case you’re wondering when it’s ever going to cool down – the answer is, you’re going to have to wait. But with the population of earth increasing, the temperature is only going to keep getting hotter. You think 128’F was hot? Wait until you see 140’F – which is hot enough to cook hamburgers medium. Yes, I looked up the minimum USDA requirements. But as we have said, the United States isn’t the only place on earth experiencing record temperatures. There’s plenty of other places in the world that are bearing the heat. And you know the old saying - if you can’t take the the heat, get off the planet!
More than 100 million people are under heat advisories Tuesday, with most of the extreme weather focused on the East Coast and the South, according to data from the National Integrated Heat Health Information System.
The National Weather Service said Monday a heat wave warning will remain in effect over the next few days from the Great Plains to the East Coast, “becoming particularly intense for many of the urban centers in the Southeast, Ohio Valley and along the East Coast."
The NWS predicts “extremely dangerous and potentially deadly heat,” especially for urban areas in the Southeast and on the East Coast, and many daily record temperature highs for the East Coast on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Many of the most populated areas on the East Coast are under a level four warning on the NWS’ Heat Risk Scale, which is the highest level and indicates extreme heat with impacts on most health systems, heat-sensitive industries and infrastructure.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/07/16/heres-where-temperatures-are-hottest-today-and-when-it-will-cool-down/
The National Weather Service said Monday a heat wave warning will remain in effect over the next few days from the Great Plains to the East Coast, “becoming particularly intense for many of the urban centers in the Southeast, Ohio Valley and along the East Coast."
The NWS predicts “extremely dangerous and potentially deadly heat,” especially for urban areas in the Southeast and on the East Coast, and many daily record temperature highs for the East Coast on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Many of the most populated areas on the East Coast are under a level four warning on the NWS’ Heat Risk Scale, which is the highest level and indicates extreme heat with impacts on most health systems, heat-sensitive industries and infrastructure.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/07/16/heres-where-temperatures-are-hottest-today-and-when-it-will-cool-down/
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[font size="8"]Holy Shit
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Gather around my fair brothers and sisters! It’s time to take a seat in the pew and pass the collection plate, for the Holy Church Of The Top 10 has convened and it’s time to remind you that the holiest among us are the most full of:
My fair congregation! Please be seated! We have returned from our summer vacation, we are tanned, we are rested, and we are ready to go! But usually, we try to bring you some fun topics while we are off during a long vacation. Unfortunately, this isn’t one of them. We got to talk about what’s going on in the Sooner State, Oklahoma. Oklahoma, what are you doing? You’ve probably heard about their MAGA extremist megachurch pastor and full time Fox News correspondent Ryan Walters, who is the inexplicable superintendent of Oklahoma schools. Yes, we don’t take him serious. Mr. Walters is not a man of GAWD. Oh no. He represents the unholy, ungodly Dark One! I of course speak of a man so foul, so depraved and disgusting, that his name dare NOT be spoken in my church! Yes, that is our one rule here, and we stand by it! Now the question is – did Mr. Walters step in it, in his gift to the MAGA Taliban, or is this a gift to the far right SCOTUS? Probably a little column A, little column B.
In the days since Oklahoma’s state superintendent, Ryan Walters, ordered school districts to teach the Bible, he’s been defending his mandate.
For example, he claimed in an interview on NewsNation that the Bible had “been removed from classrooms, and we’re saying, listen, we’re proud to be the first state to bring it back.”
In reality, U.S. federal law has never prevented public schools from including the Bible as an appropriate aid in the teaching of secular subjects. Rather, what current Supreme Court precedent forbids is use of the Bible as part of religious training in public schools.
Walters’ mandate – sent to districts on June 27, 2024 – seems to blur this line between secular and religious instruction. It also contributes to a larger trend of state officials striving to weaken the boundaries between religion and state.
https://theconversation.com/oklahomas-superintendent-orders-public-schools-to-teach-the-bible-relying-on-controversial-views-about-religious-freedom-233643
For example, he claimed in an interview on NewsNation that the Bible had “been removed from classrooms, and we’re saying, listen, we’re proud to be the first state to bring it back.”
In reality, U.S. federal law has never prevented public schools from including the Bible as an appropriate aid in the teaching of secular subjects. Rather, what current Supreme Court precedent forbids is use of the Bible as part of religious training in public schools.
Walters’ mandate – sent to districts on June 27, 2024 – seems to blur this line between secular and religious instruction. It also contributes to a larger trend of state officials striving to weaken the boundaries between religion and state.
https://theconversation.com/oklahomas-superintendent-orders-public-schools-to-teach-the-bible-relying-on-controversial-views-about-religious-freedom-233643
Yeah BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Come on, now! My congregation, I don’t know if you know this, you all should know this, is that we have this thing called the Bill Of Rights in this country, and we also have this thing called the First Amendment which guarantees freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom of religion! Freedom of religion means that you can choose any religion you want, and be free from government persecution! It also means that you don’t have to worship any religion at all. But mandating that one religion be taught over any others is a kind of evil that I just cant even begin to fathom or comprehend!
Oklahoma’s top education official says “a lot of the inspiration” for his order requiring public schools to integrate the Bible into classroom instruction came from the former president and soon-to-be official GOP nominee for the White House, Donald Trump.
Ryan Walters, a Republican elected Oklahoma’s state superintendent of public instruction in 2022, issued a memorandum in late June requiring that schools in the state incorporate the Bible “as an instructional support into the curriculum” across grades five through 12. The directive came after Louisiana last month enacted a law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom.
Walters’ move marks the latest chapter in a long-standing American debate over the relationship between religion and public schools. It also may be met with a legal challenge: The Freedom From Religion Foundation, for example – a nonprofit that aims to promote “the constitutional principle of separation between state and church” – vowed “to take action to stop” the new rule in Oklahoma, which ranks No. 49 in the education category of U.S. News most recent Best States analysis.
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2024-07-01/oklahoma-schools-chief-bible-in-classrooms-mandate-inspired-by-trump
Ryan Walters, a Republican elected Oklahoma’s state superintendent of public instruction in 2022, issued a memorandum in late June requiring that schools in the state incorporate the Bible “as an instructional support into the curriculum” across grades five through 12. The directive came after Louisiana last month enacted a law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom.
Walters’ move marks the latest chapter in a long-standing American debate over the relationship between religion and public schools. It also may be met with a legal challenge: The Freedom From Religion Foundation, for example – a nonprofit that aims to promote “the constitutional principle of separation between state and church” – vowed “to take action to stop” the new rule in Oklahoma, which ranks No. 49 in the education category of U.S. News most recent Best States analysis.
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2024-07-01/oklahoma-schools-chief-bible-in-classrooms-mandate-inspired-by-trump
I knew it!!! Of course, this decision was not made lightly, and the unholy, ungodly Dark One was involved in it! This is what he does – he destroys everything that he touches! And in case you’re wondering if Oklahoma schools are united on this topic or not, I can assure you that they, in no way, shape, or form, they are not. Again, this is why elections matter, and why you must vote at every single possible level. Leave no box unchecked! Because, otherwise, other people may decide to do it for you, and I can guarantee, my fair congregation, that you will not like the result! And this decision by Mr. Walters is yet another sad reminder of why we can’t have nice things in this country!
Norman Public Schools will not require its teachers to teach from the Bible, despite a recent memorandum from State Superintendent Ryan Walters attempting to require them to do so, according to comments made by the district’s superintendent in a recent report.
In a report published by the Norman Transcript on Friday, Norman Public Schools (NPS) Superintendent Nick Migliorino is quoted saying NPS will not follow guidance laid out in a recent memo from State Superintendent Ryan Walters, in which Walters told districts teachers would be required to incorporate the Bible into their lessons.
“Effective immediately, all Oklahoma schools are required to incorporate the Bible, which includes the Ten Commandments, as an instructional support into the curriculum across specified grade levels,” the June 27 memorandum from Walters said.
Migliorino told the Norman Transcript, NPS does not plan to follow that memorandum.
“I’m just going to cut to the chase on that. Norman Public Schools is not going to have Bibles in our classrooms, and we are not going to require our teachers to teach from the Bible,” Migliorino told the Transcript. “The standards are clear and our curriculum is very clear. And we’re not going to deviate from that. I don’t know. I’m just going to be direct on that one.”
https://kfor.com/news/report-norman-public-schools-will-not-follow-walters-attempted-bible-mandate/
In a report published by the Norman Transcript on Friday, Norman Public Schools (NPS) Superintendent Nick Migliorino is quoted saying NPS will not follow guidance laid out in a recent memo from State Superintendent Ryan Walters, in which Walters told districts teachers would be required to incorporate the Bible into their lessons.
“Effective immediately, all Oklahoma schools are required to incorporate the Bible, which includes the Ten Commandments, as an instructional support into the curriculum across specified grade levels,” the June 27 memorandum from Walters said.
Migliorino told the Norman Transcript, NPS does not plan to follow that memorandum.
“I’m just going to cut to the chase on that. Norman Public Schools is not going to have Bibles in our classrooms, and we are not going to require our teachers to teach from the Bible,” Migliorino told the Transcript. “The standards are clear and our curriculum is very clear. And we’re not going to deviate from that. I don’t know. I’m just going to be direct on that one.”
https://kfor.com/news/report-norman-public-schools-will-not-follow-walters-attempted-bible-mandate/
No, that’s not really a flex! And it’s not just school districts that are divided on the subject! Actual congregations think that this might be a step too far! But of course, when one worships the unholy Dark One, these kinds of things happen! However, let this be a lesson! And that lesson is don’t vote for people like Ryan Walters! Just turn off Fox! Turn off the propaganda sources that worship the Dark One and enable his evil deeds! Otherwise, again, people just might decide to vote for you, and you’re definitely not going to like the result! Also, we expect this to get worse before it gets better!
Thousands of people have signed onto a Christian petition rejecting a rule requiring the Bible to be taught in Oklahoma public schools implemented by the state's Republican superintendent.
In June, Oklahoma public school superintendents received a memo from the Oklahoma State Department of Education informing them that schools would be "required to incorporate the Bible, which includes the Ten Commandments, as an instructional support into the curriculum across specified grade levels."
Superintendent Ryan Walters, whose conservative approach to education has garnered national attention, described the Bible as an "indispensable historical and cultural touchstone." But the new requirement has sparked pushback from many who say it blurs the lines in separation of church and state, as the First Amendment guarantees Americans freedom of religion.
A petition by the Christian organization Faithful America opposing the requirement has received nearly 15,000 signatures as of Friday afternoon. The petition slams the rule as a "blatant disregard of the common good and America's commitment to religious freedom for all."
https://www.newsweek.com/christian-petition-condemns-republican-public-school-bibles-1924571
In June, Oklahoma public school superintendents received a memo from the Oklahoma State Department of Education informing them that schools would be "required to incorporate the Bible, which includes the Ten Commandments, as an instructional support into the curriculum across specified grade levels."
Superintendent Ryan Walters, whose conservative approach to education has garnered national attention, described the Bible as an "indispensable historical and cultural touchstone." But the new requirement has sparked pushback from many who say it blurs the lines in separation of church and state, as the First Amendment guarantees Americans freedom of religion.
A petition by the Christian organization Faithful America opposing the requirement has received nearly 15,000 signatures as of Friday afternoon. The petition slams the rule as a "blatant disregard of the common good and America's commitment to religious freedom for all."
https://www.newsweek.com/christian-petition-condemns-republican-public-school-bibles-1924571
People like Ryan Walters are the reason why we can’t have nice things in this country, and we definitely expect things to get worse. Yeah, great way to start the season, am I right? Mass has ended, may you go in peace! That’s it this week for:
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[font size="8"]People Who Somehow Got Elected: J.D. Vance
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Politicians at the state and local levels who are so toxic, you wonder how they’re able to get away with the things they get away with. This is:
This week – full time Fox News correspondent and part time Ohio senator J.D. Vance (Q – Batshit). Yet another toxic politician to add to this ever-growing list. You have to wonder how people like this get elected and keep getting elected. Oh yeah, Fox News, that’s right. But Mr. Vance is in the news because he’s Trump’s vice presidential pick. But the one aspect of this story that’s clearly not being reported enough is how Mr. Vance went from shit talking Trump in 2016 about how he’s mentally unfit to be president to being Trump’s vice presidential pick. We’re guessing because he’s spent the last month and a half on Fox News 24 hours a day instead of actually doing his job. And in case you are wondering where Mr. Vance stands politically – he’s no doubt a Putin apologist and part of the white wing authoritarian society. And if – god forbid – something should happen to Trump, well let’s just say that Mr. Vance could do some serious damage.
A fresh wave of worry spread through Ukraine on Monday as news from the Republican National Convention crossed the Atlantic. Senator J.D. Vance, a diehard opponent of American aid to Ukraine, had been selected as Donald Trump’s running mate, and the Ukrainians realized what his rise could mean for their war against Russia.
“That’s bad,” one fixture of Kyiv’s foreign policy circles wrote in a text message, adding a screenshot of Vance’s past claims in the media—all unsubstantiated—that Ukrainian officials might use American assistance to “buy a bigger yacht.” Another former official under President Volodymyr Zelensky put it this way: “Now Ukraine must be especially careful about its words and actions.”
Given Vance’s record and his rhetoric about Ukraine, it’s far from clear that Zelensky can do much to win him over. The bad blood between the two men goes back at least to the fall of 2023, when Vance began a concerted effort to block U.S. aid for Ukraine.
https://time.com/6999083/thats-bad-ukrainians-fear-what-j-d-vance-could-do-as-vice-president/
“That’s bad,” one fixture of Kyiv’s foreign policy circles wrote in a text message, adding a screenshot of Vance’s past claims in the media—all unsubstantiated—that Ukrainian officials might use American assistance to “buy a bigger yacht.” Another former official under President Volodymyr Zelensky put it this way: “Now Ukraine must be especially careful about its words and actions.”
Given Vance’s record and his rhetoric about Ukraine, it’s far from clear that Zelensky can do much to win him over. The bad blood between the two men goes back at least to the fall of 2023, when Vance began a concerted effort to block U.S. aid for Ukraine.
https://time.com/6999083/thats-bad-ukrainians-fear-what-j-d-vance-could-do-as-vice-president/
Yeah what could possibly go wrong there? It’s no secret that Vance is a hard line authoritarian and Putin apologist. But this selection of him as Trump’s vice president is very questionable. As you can imagine, in the last couple of days since the selection, people have already been going and digging up some of his most choice, controversial quotes. And well, they aren’t good. In fact, his 2016 book, which is called “Hillbilly Elegy”, was recently unearthed and people have, well, actually read it. And seriously, Ohio, what are you doing here? How did this guy get elected and keeps getting reelected? You should probably do some research before you start deciding who you vote for.
The book would have been successful regardless. It’s standard American fare, the kind of thing the Middle and Wealth Class can’t get enough of. As America struggled into obvious decline, it was the type of tome that reassured people the meritocracy actually worked in sorting the good from the bad, the deserving from the deplorable. It would have sold a ton of copies, undoubtedly. But it answered a vital need.
Vance was welcomed onto every network and show you could imagine. The rise of Donald Trump as the Republican nominee necessitated it. Anchors and media types living their cloistered lives in New York City and Washington, D.C. wanted to understand exactly what all those jug- hooting rednecks in Nowhereville were up to. How could they possibly identify with a billionaire real-estate fraudster- turned- nascent -demagogue?
What Vance sold alongside his book was exactly what the elites wanted to hear. A reassurance that the people were stupid and beyond help. They were determined to destroy themselves. If they were given so much as a solitary penny, they’d hurt themselves with it and only make their situations worse. His segments usually ended with some media elite shaking their head and thanking him for his invaluable insight, like Jane Goodall had guested to share some clips of her favorite tribe of chimpanzees.
https://www.splinter.com/in-j-d-vance-trump-picks-the-perfect-butcher-boy-as-vice-president
Vance was welcomed onto every network and show you could imagine. The rise of Donald Trump as the Republican nominee necessitated it. Anchors and media types living their cloistered lives in New York City and Washington, D.C. wanted to understand exactly what all those jug- hooting rednecks in Nowhereville were up to. How could they possibly identify with a billionaire real-estate fraudster- turned- nascent -demagogue?
What Vance sold alongside his book was exactly what the elites wanted to hear. A reassurance that the people were stupid and beyond help. They were determined to destroy themselves. If they were given so much as a solitary penny, they’d hurt themselves with it and only make their situations worse. His segments usually ended with some media elite shaking their head and thanking him for his invaluable insight, like Jane Goodall had guested to share some clips of her favorite tribe of chimpanzees.
https://www.splinter.com/in-j-d-vance-trump-picks-the-perfect-butcher-boy-as-vice-president
Seriously, Ohio, get some help. This guy is a dangerous lunatic. He’s a con artist who only got to where he is by saying exactly what Fox News viewers want to hear. After all, they’re a network out for absolute power who’s using all three branches of the government as their personal plaything. Here’s why Vance is a threat – he’s younger than Trump, by a lot. And if something happens to Trump and he assumes the presidency, declaring himself dictator for life isn’t that far of a stretch, and he could rule with unlimited, unchecked power for a very long time. Oh and what we’ve said isn’t the most controversial thing Vance has said, and this really makes us wonder if republicans actually hear themselves talk, or they just talk to talk and don’t care about what they say.
As recently as 2021, the newly announced Republican candidate for vice president, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, had harsh words for Americans who divorce, including those who did so to leave abusive marriages. Divorcees, Vance argued, are quitters who ruin their children's lives.
"This is one of the great tricks that I think the sexual revolution pulled on the American populace, which is the idea that like, 'Well, OK, these marriages were fundamentally, you know, they were maybe even violent, but certainly they were unhappy. And so getting rid of them and making it easier for people to shift spouses like they change their underwear, that's going to make people happier in the long term," Vance told the audience at Pacifica Christian High School in Southern California.
The 39-year-old Vance went on to argue that kids "who grew up in my generation" ended up with "family dysfunction" because couples are no longer "doggedly determined to stick it out." The "Hillbilly Elegy" author held up his grandparents as role models, because they "were together to the end," despite "an incredibly chaotic marriage."
https://www.salon.com/2024/07/16/shift-spouses-like-they-change-their-underwear-jd-vance-decried-divorce--but-now-loves/
"This is one of the great tricks that I think the sexual revolution pulled on the American populace, which is the idea that like, 'Well, OK, these marriages were fundamentally, you know, they were maybe even violent, but certainly they were unhappy. And so getting rid of them and making it easier for people to shift spouses like they change their underwear, that's going to make people happier in the long term," Vance told the audience at Pacifica Christian High School in Southern California.
The 39-year-old Vance went on to argue that kids "who grew up in my generation" ended up with "family dysfunction" because couples are no longer "doggedly determined to stick it out." The "Hillbilly Elegy" author held up his grandparents as role models, because they "were together to the end," despite "an incredibly chaotic marriage."
https://www.salon.com/2024/07/16/shift-spouses-like-they-change-their-underwear-jd-vance-decried-divorce--but-now-loves/
You seriously have to wonder how these people don’t get heckled and booed off stage for all of the absolutely batshit crazy things they say. People like Vance have grown up living in a very heavily right wing, white supremacist focused propaganda bubble. You can’t be surprised when someone whose parents grew up listening to Rush Limbaugh, that they start spouting neo-nazi and white supremacist rhetoric. And by the way, we could see the first president and vice president banned from traveling to England, judging by the comments that Vance made about the country. And this might be his most extreme statement yet.
Senior Labour figures have rejected comments by Donald Trump’s vice-presidential pick, JD Vance, that the UK could become the first “truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon” under the party. They were reacting to comments that were made by Vance, a junior senator for the state of Ohio who has been announced as Trump’s running mate, at a conference for US conservatives.
Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, told ITV that Vance had said “quite a lot of fruity things in the past” and she looked forward to meeting him and Trump if they won the US election in November.
“I don’t recognise that characterisation. I’m very proud of the election success that Labour had recently,” she said. “We won votes across all different communities, across the whole of the country, and we’re interested in governing on behalf of Britain and also working with our international allies.” The jibe is likely to be embarrassing for the UK’s foreign secretary, David Lammy, who has attempted to build bridges with Vance in recent months, comparing their impoverished childhoods.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/16/trump-running-mate-jd-vance-uk-first-islamist-country-nuclear-weapon
Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, told ITV that Vance had said “quite a lot of fruity things in the past” and she looked forward to meeting him and Trump if they won the US election in November.
“I don’t recognise that characterisation. I’m very proud of the election success that Labour had recently,” she said. “We won votes across all different communities, across the whole of the country, and we’re interested in governing on behalf of Britain and also working with our international allies.” The jibe is likely to be embarrassing for the UK’s foreign secretary, David Lammy, who has attempted to build bridges with Vance in recent months, comparing their impoverished childhoods.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/16/trump-running-mate-jd-vance-uk-first-islamist-country-nuclear-weapon
That’s Ohio Fox News correspondent, senator, and possible future vice president J.D. Vance - just another one of the extremely toxic politicians to add to the ever growing list of:
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[font size="8"]Conspiracy Corner
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Welcome back to our segment that attempts to explain the unexplainable, Conspiracy Corner! Of course conspiracies exist when people simply don’t want to read the article past the headlines and just flat out make shit up. We of course are coming to you live from our underground doomsday shelter from deep within the New Mexico badlands. Undisclosed location, of course! Let me just adjust my trusty tin foil hat for maximum government interference. Ah, there we go! They are trying to read yours and my thoughts after all! Well this week, we have to talk about the end of an era. That’s right – the conspiracy king of the internet and America’s biggest arms dealer and gun salesman, Alex Jones, is finally throwing in the proverbial towel and closing up Infowars for good! Yeah round of applause! Because, really, fuck that guy! Or is it? Yeah you know what he did to the poor victims of the Sandy Hook tragedy was truly reprehensible, disgusting, and beyond the pale. So how did it get to this point? Well, a couple of weeks ago one of the many judges axing Alex Jones and his “BANNED” show finally threw the book out regarding one of his many lawsuits
A U.S. bankruptcy court trustee is planning to shut down conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ Infowars media platform and liquidate its assets to help pay the $1.5 billion in lawsuit judgments Jones owes for repeatedly calling the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting a hoax.
In an “emergency” motion filed Sunday in Houston, trustee Christopher Murray indicated publicly for the first time that he intends to “conduct an orderly wind-down” of the operations of Infowars’ parent company and “liquidate its inventory.” Murray, who was appointed by a federal judge to oversee the assets in Jones’ personal bankruptcy case, did not give a timetable for the liquidation.
Jones has been saying on his web and radio shows that he expects Infowars to operate for a few more months before it is shut down because of the bankruptcy. But he has vowed to continue his bombastic broadcasts in some other fashion, possibly on social media. He also had talked about someone else buying the company and allowing him to continue his shows as an employee.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/24/alex-jones-infowars-bankruptcy-liquidate-00164746
In an “emergency” motion filed Sunday in Houston, trustee Christopher Murray indicated publicly for the first time that he intends to “conduct an orderly wind-down” of the operations of Infowars’ parent company and “liquidate its inventory.” Murray, who was appointed by a federal judge to oversee the assets in Jones’ personal bankruptcy case, did not give a timetable for the liquidation.
Jones has been saying on his web and radio shows that he expects Infowars to operate for a few more months before it is shut down because of the bankruptcy. But he has vowed to continue his bombastic broadcasts in some other fashion, possibly on social media. He also had talked about someone else buying the company and allowing him to continue his shows as an employee.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/24/alex-jones-infowars-bankruptcy-liquidate-00164746
You know, it’s not in my nature to kick a man when he’s down – but really, when you consider that Alex Jones made a living, and got filthy rich beyond his wildest dreams – of kicking people when they’re down in order to sell guns and other cheesy merchandise, fuck that guy. But don’t think we’ve seen the real end of Infowars just yet. Yes, the internet conspiracy theory outlet will continue broadcasting 24/7 propaganda to the people who buy into it. As they say – the show must go on, but the host probably won’t be the same!
Friday was a day of reckoning for Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and a long-awaited culmination for the Sandy Hook families who sued Jones for defamation. A federal bankruptcy judge in Texas has decided that Jones must sell off his personal assets through a Chapter 7 liquidation in order to pay families nearly $1.5 billion in damages for spreading lies that the 2012 school shooting never happened.
A trustee was appointed Friday afternoon to take over control of Jones’ personal estate. Liquidation means Jones' personal belongings — from his gun collection to his jewelry — will be auctioned to the highest bidder in something of a fire sale. He could even lose access to his account on X, where he currently has 2.3 million followers. However, Texas law allows him to keep his home, which is worth more than $2 million.
But the judge denied the request by some families to also put Jones’s company in the hands of a Chapter 7 trustee. The company, Free Speech Systems, which produces Jones’s Infowars show, filed for bankruptcy separately from Jones. Some families argued converting the FSS case to a Chapter 7 liquidation would ensure a more orderly and equitable distribution of proceeds from a sale of the company. But other families wanted the FSS case dismissed, arguing that would result in more money, more quickly. Dismissal is also what Jones wanted.
https://www.npr.org/2024/06/14/nx-s1-4991095/alex-jones-bankruptcy-sandy-hook-judge-liquidate-chapter7
A trustee was appointed Friday afternoon to take over control of Jones’ personal estate. Liquidation means Jones' personal belongings — from his gun collection to his jewelry — will be auctioned to the highest bidder in something of a fire sale. He could even lose access to his account on X, where he currently has 2.3 million followers. However, Texas law allows him to keep his home, which is worth more than $2 million.
But the judge denied the request by some families to also put Jones’s company in the hands of a Chapter 7 trustee. The company, Free Speech Systems, which produces Jones’s Infowars show, filed for bankruptcy separately from Jones. Some families argued converting the FSS case to a Chapter 7 liquidation would ensure a more orderly and equitable distribution of proceeds from a sale of the company. But other families wanted the FSS case dismissed, arguing that would result in more money, more quickly. Dismissal is also what Jones wanted.
https://www.npr.org/2024/06/14/nx-s1-4991095/alex-jones-bankruptcy-sandy-hook-judge-liquidate-chapter7
You know, how insane is it that Jones calls his company “Free Speech Systems”? Look, nobody is here to debate the existence of freedom of speech. That is your fundamental right under the United States Constitution and Bill Of Rights. Yes, Jones has the right to say whatever he wants, just like we have the right to not agree with him. Get how that works? OK moving on. But considering all the damage that Mr. Jones has not only done to the United States and the United States government, watching the inevitable end of his empire of hate will be sweet to watch.
A federal bankruptcy court trustee appointed to oversee the liquidation of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' estate is asking a judge to temporarily block families and other creditors from seizing assets related to his media company, as he readies "an orderly wind-down process" and sale.
The trustee, Christopher Murray, "seeks this Court's intervention to prevent a value-destructive money grab and allow an orderly process to take its course," according to his emergency filing Sunday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.
The move came after families who won a 2022 defamation lawsuit in Texas against Jones asked a state district court judge to compel his Free Speech Systems, which operates the Infowars platform, to turn over "all money," including "money held in any bank accounts or being controlled by any other third parties at the direction" of the media company.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bankruptcy-court-trustee-alex-jones-liquidation-case-previews-wind-med-rcna158659
The trustee, Christopher Murray, "seeks this Court's intervention to prevent a value-destructive money grab and allow an orderly process to take its course," according to his emergency filing Sunday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.
The move came after families who won a 2022 defamation lawsuit in Texas against Jones asked a state district court judge to compel his Free Speech Systems, which operates the Infowars platform, to turn over "all money," including "money held in any bank accounts or being controlled by any other third parties at the direction" of the media company.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bankruptcy-court-trustee-alex-jones-liquidation-case-previews-wind-med-rcna158659
Yeah, probably! So Alex Jones is selling the ranch, the studio, and the doomsday shelter in order to pay the piper in his Sandy Hook lawsuit. But this is another one of those “play stupid games, win stupid prizes” kind of deals. The Sandy Hook lawsuits showed what a certified grade A asshole Jones is to the entire world. Even though it’s something that those of us who have been paying attention knew that from the beginning. But it’s not just Sandy Hook either. No amount of money or things will undo the damage done to those families. And there’s no amount of justice that can be done to Alex Jones to bring anything back, either. At the very least, we can hope for a straight jacket and a padded cell in Mr. Jones’ foreseeable future, because that’s where he belongs. Hopefully this means the Infowars era will be coming to an end soon.
Alex Jones wants to sell his Staples, Texas, ranch for $2.8 million to help cover the legal costs of his bankruptcy as he works to resolve litigation with families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims.
The families hold $1.5 billion in judgments against the right-wing conspiracy theorist, who was found financially liable after falsely claiming the 2012 shooting was a hoax. Jones asked the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on Wednesday for permission to sell the 127-acre ranch to pay administrative expenses related to his Chapter 11 case.
EMS Ranch LLC entered a contract with Jones in April to buy the ranch as-is, which includes “portable buildings, game feeders, hunting blinds, tanks and gates” on the property, according to the Wednesday court filing. Jones said EMS isn’t an insider or an affiliate. The contract lists Steven Minor as the manager of EMS.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/bankruptcy-law/alex-jones-aims-to-sell-ranch-for-2-8-million-amid-bankruptcy
The families hold $1.5 billion in judgments against the right-wing conspiracy theorist, who was found financially liable after falsely claiming the 2012 shooting was a hoax. Jones asked the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on Wednesday for permission to sell the 127-acre ranch to pay administrative expenses related to his Chapter 11 case.
EMS Ranch LLC entered a contract with Jones in April to buy the ranch as-is, which includes “portable buildings, game feeders, hunting blinds, tanks and gates” on the property, according to the Wednesday court filing. Jones said EMS isn’t an insider or an affiliate. The contract lists Steven Minor as the manager of EMS.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/bankruptcy-law/alex-jones-aims-to-sell-ranch-for-2-8-million-amid-bankruptcy
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[font size="8"]People Are Dumb
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Hit it!
Of course, you know by now that people are people, and people are dumb. I want to preface by saying exactly what makes a People Are Dumb story. Like a guy who gets caught by the TSA with a gun in his suitcase – not really that dumb. A guy who gets caught by the TSA trying to smuggle 100 pounds of chicken nuggets – in his pants, with hot mustard sauce – now that’s a People Are Dumb story! And come on, that’s pretty impressive for the pants that they can stand up to that kind of pressure! Also, for the sake of the stories, all the names and addresses have been omitted. We don’t want to draw any negative attention to our program. OK – first up, speaking of smuggling things, let’s head to China for this story. As we say – no country is immune from stupidity, either! This guy totally answers the question “Is there a snake in your pants or are you happy to see me?”. And the answer is – you’re not going to like it – he does have a snake in his pants. Actually, several of them. We do have to say that this is a pretty impressive feat, though you can’t help but wonder if the TSA was laughing and making crude jokes behind the scenes!
A man has been caught trying to smuggle more than 100 live snakes into mainland China by cramming them into his trousers, according to the country’s customs authority.
The unnamed traveller was stopped by customs officers as he sought to slip out of semi-autonomous Hong Kong and into the border city of Shenzhen, China Customs said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Upon inspection, customs officers discovered that the pockets of the trousers the passenger was wearing were packed with six canvas drawstring bags and sealed with tape,” the statement said.
“Once opened, each bag was found to contain living snakes in all kinds of shapes, sizes and colours,” it added.
The statement said officers seized 104 of the reptiles, including milk snakes and corn snakes, many of which were non-native species.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/10/man-in-china-caught-smuggling-100-live-snakes-in-his-trousers
The unnamed traveller was stopped by customs officers as he sought to slip out of semi-autonomous Hong Kong and into the border city of Shenzhen, China Customs said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Upon inspection, customs officers discovered that the pockets of the trousers the passenger was wearing were packed with six canvas drawstring bags and sealed with tape,” the statement said.
“Once opened, each bag was found to contain living snakes in all kinds of shapes, sizes and colours,” it added.
The statement said officers seized 104 of the reptiles, including milk snakes and corn snakes, many of which were non-native species.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/10/man-in-china-caught-smuggling-100-live-snakes-in-his-trousers
Ha ha ha!!! There’s a Family Guy and/or Simpsons clip for everything! Next up – OK, look, we got a lot of requests to do the story about the Florida Man who put a lit firework on his head and died. The answer is no. We don’t cover a lot of death on this segment. We do make exceptions from time to time, but definitely not for that one. We are, instead going to talk about the two guys who stole Lambos and then went on a joyride through Colorado. Now this is a classic People Are Dumb story! If you’re going to drive a stolen car, let alone one that’s worth nearly half a million, maybe don’t go for a joyride down the highway at 110 miles per hour. Yeah just don’t.
The Wyoming Highway Patrol says it found two Colorado men trying to smuggle a pair of stolen Lamborghinis through southern Wyoming last month.
(omitted) each face one count of felony theft, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines, on suspicion of shutting off the GPS trackers on two Utah rental Lamborghinis and smuggling them through Wyoming.
Their case rose to the felony-level Carbon County district Court on Thursday.
Pinnacle Of Performance
Court documents say at least one of the cars was speeding in excess of 100 mph, but Lamborhinis can go double that with ease, said Vince Bodiford, publisher of TheWeekendDrive.com.
He told Cowboy State Daily on Monday that the two cars involved and impounded by the WHP appear to be a 2019 white Huracán Roadster and a 2015 green Aventador.
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/06/10/two-colorado-men-busted-trying-to-smuggle-lamborghinis-through-wyoming/
(omitted) each face one count of felony theft, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines, on suspicion of shutting off the GPS trackers on two Utah rental Lamborghinis and smuggling them through Wyoming.
Their case rose to the felony-level Carbon County district Court on Thursday.
Pinnacle Of Performance
Court documents say at least one of the cars was speeding in excess of 100 mph, but Lamborhinis can go double that with ease, said Vince Bodiford, publisher of TheWeekendDrive.com.
He told Cowboy State Daily on Monday that the two cars involved and impounded by the WHP appear to be a 2019 white Huracán Roadster and a 2015 green Aventador.
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/06/10/two-colorado-men-busted-trying-to-smuggle-lamborghinis-through-wyoming/
Next up – of course you know whenever we do one of these segments, we have to mention the sheer, utter craziness and pure insanity coming from the Sunshine State. Florida. Or as Homer Simpson and Tracy Jordan have both famously referred to it – America’s penis. Because Florida *ALWAYS* brings the crazy and they never stop. We’ve been doing this for nearly 8 years now and we are always amazed at the sheer insanity coming from the Sunshine State. Let’s start with this story coming from well, Tik Tok of all places. There’s a guy who used an alligator to open his can of beer. Yeah, we just want to preface by saying – DO NOT DO THIS. Under any circumstances.
Video of a Florida man using an alligator to open a can of beer has gone viral on X.
The popular X account Wall Street Silver posted a nearly 30-second video on Wednesday, which shows a man on a boat using an alligator to open a beer can. The video has gone viral and has since been viewed nearly two million times.
"Florida man uses a gator to open a beer can," Wall Street Silver wrote in the post's caption.
Video shows the man placing his hand into the water to get the small, but dangerous animal's attention, then using its sharp teeth to pierce the can and proceeding to drink from the opening. After successfully opening the can, the other individuals on the boat can be seen celebrating. ..............(more)
https://www.local12.com/news/offbeat/florida-man-uses-alligator-to-open-beer-can-gators-gator-danger-dangerous-animals-unusual-activity-cincinnati-viral-x-post-trending-internet-culture-meme-exchange-information-america-american-cultural-thirty-second-video-fishing-trip-millions-views
The popular X account Wall Street Silver posted a nearly 30-second video on Wednesday, which shows a man on a boat using an alligator to open a beer can. The video has gone viral and has since been viewed nearly two million times.
"Florida man uses a gator to open a beer can," Wall Street Silver wrote in the post's caption.
Video shows the man placing his hand into the water to get the small, but dangerous animal's attention, then using its sharp teeth to pierce the can and proceeding to drink from the opening. After successfully opening the can, the other individuals on the boat can be seen celebrating. ..............(more)
https://www.local12.com/news/offbeat/florida-man-uses-alligator-to-open-beer-can-gators-gator-danger-dangerous-animals-unusual-activity-cincinnati-viral-x-post-trending-internet-culture-meme-exchange-information-america-american-cultural-thirty-second-video-fishing-trip-millions-views
Ha ha ha ha ha ha!! Next up – remember that episode of Parks & Rec where Ron Swanson shot a drone that was attempting to deliver packages to his kids without their permission? Well, that’s another thing that you should not do, ever. But in the day and age where packages are delivered by flying drones, we are really surprised that this sort of thing doesn’t happen more often. So if you are going to have your package delivered, maybe have it delivered through standard means and not super high tech ones. You never know what the guy next door might be doing to that package of Charmin you ordered.
A 72-year-old Clermont, Florida, man faces multiple charges, including a felony charge, after authorities say he shot a Walmart delivery drone that he said was flying over his house.
According to an arrest affidavit, Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived at Clermont’s Walmart store Wednesday in response to a drone being shot while flying on delivery.
Representatives from DroneUp, a new drone delivery service partnered with Walmart, told deputies they had a two-man crew in a nearby neighborhood promoting their company by doing mock deliveries. The crew was at the delivery point outside Dennis Winn’s residence in a cul-de-sac.
After the drone arrived and began its descent, one of the DroneUp employees told authorities a man, later identified as Winn, pointed a handgun at the drone. After hearing a gunshot, the crew ran to the van and drove back to Walmart. The damaged drone also returned to the store. ..............(more)
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/florida-man-arrested-on-charges-of-shooting-walmart-delivery-drone
According to an arrest affidavit, Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived at Clermont’s Walmart store Wednesday in response to a drone being shot while flying on delivery.
Representatives from DroneUp, a new drone delivery service partnered with Walmart, told deputies they had a two-man crew in a nearby neighborhood promoting their company by doing mock deliveries. The crew was at the delivery point outside Dennis Winn’s residence in a cul-de-sac.
After the drone arrived and began its descent, one of the DroneUp employees told authorities a man, later identified as Winn, pointed a handgun at the drone. After hearing a gunshot, the crew ran to the van and drove back to Walmart. The damaged drone also returned to the store. ..............(more)
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/florida-man-arrested-on-charges-of-shooting-walmart-delivery-drone
Finally this week – this entire week it seems has a theme and that theme is things you should never, ever, ever do. Yeah there was that guy who was throwing chairs off of high rises in New York City, and there was the guy who smuggled snakes in his pants. Not a metaphor, sir! But one thing you should probably never do – take your kids with you when you’re making a beer run! Especially if you don’t plan on paying! That’s what one Florida Man did and of course he got caught when he came back looking for his kid. So yeah – it was a one two three combination and that’s exactly what makes this a perfect People Are Dumb story!
A man was arrested this Thursday accused of leaving his three-year-old daughter at a CVS store in Miami, after stealing beer from the establishment.
The man, (omitted), with a stroller containing two children, a girl and a boy.
The man went to the beer section - located a few meters from the entrance- and while he was selecting the drink, the three-year-old girl got out of the stroller without him noticing, as revealed by Telemundo 51 quoting the police report.
After placing the beer on top of the car, the man quickly exited the store without paying, and without realizing that the child had been left behind in the establishment.
The shop assistants called the police after finding the girl alone in the place.
Realizing that the child was not in the stroller, the individual hurried back to the store and it was at that moment that the Miami police stopped him..
https://en.cibercuba.com/noticias/2024-07-05-u1-e129488-s27061-nid284670-arrestan-hombre-miami-tras-robar-robar-cerveza
The man, (omitted), with a stroller containing two children, a girl and a boy.
The man went to the beer section - located a few meters from the entrance- and while he was selecting the drink, the three-year-old girl got out of the stroller without him noticing, as revealed by Telemundo 51 quoting the police report.
After placing the beer on top of the car, the man quickly exited the store without paying, and without realizing that the child had been left behind in the establishment.
The shop assistants called the police after finding the girl alone in the place.
Realizing that the child was not in the stroller, the individual hurried back to the store and it was at that moment that the Miami police stopped him..
https://en.cibercuba.com/noticias/2024-07-05-u1-e129488-s27061-nid284670-arrestan-hombre-miami-tras-robar-robar-cerveza
That’s it this week for:
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[font size="8"] Road To The White House 2024
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Welcome back to our segment where we’ve got all your election coverage in one easy to find place – Road To The White House! Holy shit, it’s been 4 years already? And I mean come on, we didn’t even have to change the graphic from the last time we did this! We just changed the font. How about we add a funny subtitle like: The Rematch Nobody Asked For (Or Wanted)? Nah, not enough zing. I know, let’s call it: The 2024 Election: Embrace The Suck! On one side, we have Joseph R. Biden, who has been making big strides since he got elected in 2020. And his fans well, we’re around. We go to his political events and rallies. But on the other side is the guy who never shuts up for any reason – the former president, Fox News correspondent, social media site owner, loudmouth blowhard, twice impeached, and 34 times convicted felon Donald J. Trump. Yes, do we really have to do this again? Come on, make me! I’m having a sit-in. OK fine. This week, let’s talk about the unofficial number one issue in the 2020 election – election denialism. Yes, the GOP is looking toward the future, while simultaneously destroying it. But they just cannot seem to let go of 2020.
Inside the convention center, the GOP's forward-looking signage is impossible to miss:
Make America Wealthy Once Again. Make America Safe Once Again. Make America Strong Once Again. And Make America Great Once Again.
Why it matters: Taking a lesson from their disappointing 2022 midterms, top Republicans are intent on running a campaign centered on this election, not the last one. But the ghosts of 2020 — and of Jan. 6 — are everywhere.
The big picture: At Donald Trump's Republican National Convention, acknowledging "election irregularities" in 2020 is the minimum bar for entry.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Trump's new running mate, has said he would not have certified the 2020 election had he been vice president on Jan. 6, 2021, instead of Mike Pence.
https://www.axios.com/2024/07/17/trump-rnc-2020-election-denial-january-6
Make America Wealthy Once Again. Make America Safe Once Again. Make America Strong Once Again. And Make America Great Once Again.
Why it matters: Taking a lesson from their disappointing 2022 midterms, top Republicans are intent on running a campaign centered on this election, not the last one. But the ghosts of 2020 — and of Jan. 6 — are everywhere.
The big picture: At Donald Trump's Republican National Convention, acknowledging "election irregularities" in 2020 is the minimum bar for entry.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Trump's new running mate, has said he would not have certified the 2020 election had he been vice president on Jan. 6, 2021, instead of Mike Pence.
https://www.axios.com/2024/07/17/trump-rnc-2020-election-denial-january-6
Yeah so let’s think about this – if you kiss the MAGA cult ring enough, you too can be vice president, despite having absolutely no experience that would qualify you for the job! So what does this mean for the 2024 election? Well you can bet that if it’s even slightly close, that MAGA will try to steal that any single way that they can, and they’ve got the backing of the Fox News / Heritage Foundation SCOTUS to do their every evil bidding. Which of course, they’ve already got the ball rolling – should they lose, they will have a path to stealing it, and it will come courtesy of the Supreme Court Of The Heritage Foundation And America’s Right Wing Billionaires.
Four years ago, Republicans sought to throw out the 2020 presidential election results and disenfranchise millions of Americans based on false allegations of widespread voter fraud, fueling a violent riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Now, despite Trump’s triumphant return to the top of the Republican Party, and polling that shows him positioned to retake the White House, Republicans are making election fraud a running theme at this week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
And there’s one group the GOP is stoking fears about more than any other ahead of the November election: illegal immigrants.
“We cannot allow the many millions of illegal aliens they allowed to cross our borders, harm our citizens, or disrupt our elections. We will not allow it,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who led the legal effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, said in a speech on Tuesday.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-gop-convention_n_66984148e4b053ef7d6c6992
Now, despite Trump’s triumphant return to the top of the Republican Party, and polling that shows him positioned to retake the White House, Republicans are making election fraud a running theme at this week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
And there’s one group the GOP is stoking fears about more than any other ahead of the November election: illegal immigrants.
“We cannot allow the many millions of illegal aliens they allowed to cross our borders, harm our citizens, or disrupt our elections. We will not allow it,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who led the legal effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, said in a speech on Tuesday.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-gop-convention_n_66984148e4b053ef7d6c6992
Yes, as the GOP prepares to “yoink” the election from the United States and descend this country into the nightmare authoritarian fascist hellscape that’s engulfed much of the world, courtesy of the mad men in Moscow – Vladimir Putin and Dimitri Medvedev, you can bet that the soft coup that’s been going on the last four years will turn into a real one. After all, fascism only comes to the United States if the population lets it. And if I was a betting man, I’d be willing to bet good money that something foul is definitely afoot! If Kari Lake and her ongoing 10,000,000 attempts to steal the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election are any indication, you can bet that the shit will hit the fan on Nov. 6th!
Forget election season; election denial season has officially kicked off.
Over the last few weeks, Republican legislators have held committee hearings as well as introduced and passed legislation preventing noncitizens from voting — something that is already illegal in state and federal elections, and very rare. Former President Donald Trump has ramped up his claims that the 2024 election will be stolen — even above and beyond his typical portending. The cast of the 2024 veepstakes have all been toeing the line on election denialism. And let's not forget the hundreds of election-denying candidates running for election or reelection up and down the ballot.
"This effort has the effect, and perhaps has the intent, of planting the seeds of doubt about an election that some Trump supporters must think he might lose," said David Becker, the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research.
There was a moment in the weeks following the 2022 midterm elections where it felt like maybe, just maybe, the election denial trend was starting to fade. Voters had roundly rejected election-denying candidates, including in some of the most high-profile races on the ballot, and the vast majority of candidates who lost their election conceded, including even some of the most dedicated election deniers. But it's become clear over the past few weeks that Republicans are not yet ready to abandon the election denial narrative and are instead angling to make it a central issue come November.
https://abcnews.go.com/538/republicans-ramping-election-fraud-claims-ahead-november/story?id=110640715
Over the last few weeks, Republican legislators have held committee hearings as well as introduced and passed legislation preventing noncitizens from voting — something that is already illegal in state and federal elections, and very rare. Former President Donald Trump has ramped up his claims that the 2024 election will be stolen — even above and beyond his typical portending. The cast of the 2024 veepstakes have all been toeing the line on election denialism. And let's not forget the hundreds of election-denying candidates running for election or reelection up and down the ballot.
"This effort has the effect, and perhaps has the intent, of planting the seeds of doubt about an election that some Trump supporters must think he might lose," said David Becker, the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research.
There was a moment in the weeks following the 2022 midterm elections where it felt like maybe, just maybe, the election denial trend was starting to fade. Voters had roundly rejected election-denying candidates, including in some of the most high-profile races on the ballot, and the vast majority of candidates who lost their election conceded, including even some of the most dedicated election deniers. But it's become clear over the past few weeks that Republicans are not yet ready to abandon the election denial narrative and are instead angling to make it a central issue come November.
https://abcnews.go.com/538/republicans-ramping-election-fraud-claims-ahead-november/story?id=110640715
I don’t think it works that way! So let’s make this clear – while they won’t flat out say it out loud at the RNC in Wisconsin this week, election denial is the name of the game that will take place once the votes are cast. In fact, Trump is stacking the RNC with family members, while there are lots of election denial groups that are going to try to gaslight the vote. Remember, folks. You can vote in as many polls as you want, but you only get one vote that counts. Make sure it counts! Otherwise, as we have repeatedly said this week, some other folks may decide to do it for you. And one thing we can guarantee, if that happens, is that you won’t like the result!
As the most consequential presidential election in a generation looms in the United States, get-out-the-vote efforts across the country are more important than ever. But multiple far-right activist groups with ties to former president Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee are mobilizing their supporters in earnest, drawing on one baseline belief: Elections in the US are rigged, and citizens need to do something about it.
All the evidence states otherwise. But in recent weeks, these groups have held training sessions about how to organize on a hyperlocal level to monitor polling places and drop boxes, challenge voter registrations en masse, and intimidate and harass voters and election officials. And some are preparing to roll out new technology to fast-track all of these efforts: One of the groups claims they’re launching a new platform for checking voter rolls that contains billions of “data elements” on every single US citizen.
These groups could have a major impact on the 2024 election. In addition to disenfranchising voters and putting additional pressure on already overstretched election offices, they could convince more and more people that US elections are fraudulent.
https://www.wired.com/story/election-denial-groups-november-2024/
All the evidence states otherwise. But in recent weeks, these groups have held training sessions about how to organize on a hyperlocal level to monitor polling places and drop boxes, challenge voter registrations en masse, and intimidate and harass voters and election officials. And some are preparing to roll out new technology to fast-track all of these efforts: One of the groups claims they’re launching a new platform for checking voter rolls that contains billions of “data elements” on every single US citizen.
These groups could have a major impact on the 2024 election. In addition to disenfranchising voters and putting additional pressure on already overstretched election offices, they could convince more and more people that US elections are fraudulent.
https://www.wired.com/story/election-denial-groups-november-2024/
[font size="4"]And Now This: [/font]
[font size="4"]Phish[/font]
Folks, returning to the show, their latest album is called “Evolve”! You can see them in Bethel, NY from Aug. 7th-10h, at the Mondegreen Festival in Delaware, Aug. 15th - 18th, and at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Denver, Aug. 29th – Sep. 1st! Playing the title track, Evolve, give it up for Phish!
Thank you Santa Ana! It’s great to be back! We are off to Montreal next, that’s in French Canada, don’t you know? See you next week!
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Top 10 Conservative Idiots Recorded In Front Of A Live Audience At: Constellation Room At Observatory OC, Santa Ana, CA
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