Top 10 Conservative Idiots #17-16: Death Of An Insurance Salesman Edition

[Top 10 Idiots]

Top 10 Conservative Idiots #17-16: Death Of An Insurance Salesman Edition

Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! Yoooooooooooooooooooooo!!! What’s up, UCLA, how you guys doing? You doing fucking good? Great! It is good to be home! And by the way we just passed our 8th anniversary, how wild is that? We’ve come a long way, baby! This is our penultimate Top 10 of the year and the last regular one for quite a while. As we keep saying, we have to take a break because this recent election cycle brought us to the breaking point. Couldn’t take it! And we were growing increasingly tired of seeing Fuckface on TV and social media 24 hours a day. I know, we’re a political comedy show! But hey… it’s been a wild ride these last few years and especially in 2024. But we will be back with a new and improved format. We’re also exploring the idea of finally getting a podcast off the ground… maybe. But next week is of course our annual year-end roundup and man we are busy working overtime trying to sort through all the crazy shit that happened this year, and what we think is going to happen next year. But one question I get asked all the time is “Why are you ending the show right now when it’s going to be insane next year? Hasn’t he made your job easier?” Two answers to that question – 1) We had to take a break. A long break. This election practically brought us to the breaking point and we’re just exhausted. Like most of us. We’re fucking sick of seeing his face and all his hate, bile and garbage on TV and social media 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You just can’t satirize this shit anymore because it’s insane thing after insane thing. Enough of it! And the answer to part 2 – no, it hasn’t made our jobs easier. It’s made it that much more fucking difficult! And any actual news is getting harder to find anymore as it gets hidden behind a paywall, while bullshit is free and out there. So that’s the answer to that question. OK enough of the intro. We have a lot of idiocy to cover for our next to last show of the year. But first Stephen Colbert lays his take on the Pete Hegseth nomination and that guy is scary AF!:

So where do we begin this week? Before we go any further, we want to say that we are not going to make fun of the murder of the United Healthcare CEO, but instead we are going to tell you about what his company was up to in his final minutes. We can do that, right? Of course we can! In the number one slot this week is of course United Healthcare (1). While we do not take light in what may be a premeditated murder, we’re certainly going to talk about what happened because it’s crazy. And no, Matt Walsh, we’re not dunking on him because he’s white, just go fuck right the fuck off with your race baiting bullshit. In the second slot this week is Bird Flu (2). Yes, while California is pointing fingers at one of the biggest raw milk producers in the country, there’s a possibility that H5N1 is a mutation away from jumping to humans… or it isn’t. In the number 3 slot this week, is of course Fuckface himself (3), and has the “honeymoon” period after the election ended? Well it’s entirely possible depending on what your sources are, and of course Fox News can’t wait to bend over and kiss the ring every single day, which means they probably interfered in the election. Ugh. In the number 4 slot this week is DOGE (4). Yes, the new made up department to give Fuckface’s personal helper monkeys Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy something to do is getting ready to do as much damage to this country as it can possibly do. At what point do we rise up against these whackos? It’s going to be a long four years, isn’t it? In the number 5 slot this week is our segment detailing the plight of the world’s most poorly designed and constructed monstrosity on four wheels in “Cyberstruck” (5) and yes, the Tesla Cybertruck is the most poorly designed vehicle ever conceived! Great job, Elon! Taking the sixth slot this week is of course our weekly visit to the Holy Church Of The Top 10 in “Holy Shit” (6) and this week – does it feel like the hostile takeover of the government by religion is becoming a reality? Yeah you’re probably right and the quest to take the US into a totalitarian nightmare hellscape is being led by the worst people you know! At the number 7 slot is our segment that explores never-ending corporate greed in Late Stage Capitalism (7) and did you know that United Healthcare was in the process of deploying an AI that could have resulted in half of his staff being fired? Yeah, that happened and they’re not the only ones who are doing this, should you be afraid? Yes! In the number 8 slot this week is of course our weekly venture into the never-ending foray of online tin foil hat nuttery in Conspiracy Corner (8) and this week – RFK Jr isn’t just doubling down on his support of raw milk, he’s attempting to integrate it into the government and the biggest supplier of the shit on the West Coast just got recalled again! Yeah it’s going to be a ridiculously long 4 years, isn’t it? And in the number 9 (NEIN!!!!) slot this week, is a new I Need A Drink (9) and this week, we have to talk about the ridiculous new Netflix phenomenon that is “Hot Frosty” – a movie about a woman who wishes her snowman to come to life and it turns into a male model. Yeah that’s right! Finally this week in Road To The Shithouse (10) – we have to talk about one of Fuckface’s key campaign promises – his threat to eliminate the Department Of Education. Could it happen or could it not? Well the road to it happening is a lot more complicated than signing a simple executive order. Plus to cap things off, we have the legendary Duran Duran joining us! Buy their new album “Danse Macabre” or you are no friend of this program! Enjoy! And as always don't forget the key!

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[font size="8"]Brian Thompson
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Ladies and gentlemen, can I lay some harsh truths about reality on you for a minute? There’s one that I want to lay on everybody. That is… death isn’t always sad. Does anyone remember how you celebrated when you found out Rush Limbaugh died (see: Idiots #10-5 )? Well, 10 – 15 years from now, assuming that the United States and the world still exist, people will be asking you where you were when you found out that United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered by a then unknown assailant in cold blood? And the killer turned out to be Brooklyn resident and guy who has a way too Italian paisano video game character name – Luigi Mangione. For the sake of this piece, let’s call this “Death Of An Insurance Salesman”. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! I could totally see that working as a movie! But it’s totally insane the movement that this has been inspiring. I’ve personally likened it to the ending of the movie Joker. We may see some riots brewing because of this, but we may also not. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned in the events since the murder, it’s that this is a wake up call that the population is pissed, and we’re only getting angrier. But it’s absolutely insane that it came to this.

In the wake of the shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, lawmakers are weighing in on the crime and the reaction to it, including expressions of frustration many Americans feel toward the healthcare system.

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York told Business Insider on Wednesday that the rapturous online response to the shooting and the valorization by some of the suspect, Luigi Mangione, was indicative of a "mass bubbling of resentment around the precarity that people have been living with."

"Of course, we don't want to see the chaos that vigilantism presents," said Ocasio-Cortez. "We also don't want to see the extreme suffering that millions of Americans confront when your life changes overnight from a horrific diagnosis, and people are led to just some of the worst, not just health events, but the worst financial events of their and their family's lives." She added, "I think for people who are surprised, it's a wake-up call for how much of this exists in our society."

Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida, who began his political career as a gun violence prevention activist, told BI that he's "against gun violence in all forms," but that he understood some of the reaction. "There's so much animosity and hatred of this system that people are looking beyond maybe their typical moral scope to meme this guy, or to praise him, because the issue is just so pervasive," he said. "That's something to take note of."

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/progressive-lawmakers-reaction-uhc-ceo-224935610.html

Oh come on, people! Stop your rabbling! But the biggest takeaway from this murder is that people are finally reaching the breaking point of what the American for profit healthcare system is doing to actual Americans and not the billiionaires who own it. But what’s even more insane is the moral and ethical debate this has spawned. First – Ben Shapiro, no, the shooter is not being praised for killing a white male, let’s make that perfectly clear. He was killed because he was a greedy piece of shit who was only poised to become even greedier if this latest shareholder meeting had taken place. And no, Fox News, go fuck yourselves. His murder is not cannon fodder for your ratings. In fact, if you do some research, a quick Google search will tell you exactly what Brian Thompson and United Healthcare were up to that led to the shooting.

The fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday, which New York City police have described as "brazen" and "targeted," occurred after the insurance provider has faced legal scrutiny over its coverage.

Police have yet to make an arrest in the midtown Manhattan shooting, and a motive remains unclear. The shooting drew an array of reactions, with many critics not entirely sympathetic as they pointed out that the company has denied coverage to some patients. Others, however, slammed those reactions as insensitive, saying that a killing isn't justified and that acts of violence should be denounced.

One criticism of UnitedHealthcare that has garnered attention following the shooting involves a lawsuit alleging the company uses artificial intelligence (AI) to deny coverage to some elderly patients who are on a Medicare Advantage plan, despite allegedly being aware that the algorithm has a 90 percent error rate.

The lawsuit was filed on November 14, 2023. It names UnitedHealth Group, UnitedHealthcare and NaviHealth as the defendants. It was brought by the families of two now-deceased patients who were denied coverage by UnitedHealthcare for stays at nursing homes. The suit is ongoing, and its claims have not been proved in court.
https://www.newsweek.com/united-healthcare-ceo-shooting-ai-lawsuit-1996266

Uh oh… the crowd is getting restless! Better give them some mindless stimulation! Here, here’s some bullshit fearmongering from Fox News about the “border crisis”. So yeah, United Healthcare is in some deep doo doo about that AI that was being used to deny claims, while Brian Thompson and the UHC executives profited from it. But here’s the thing that MAGA needs to know – you want to know why your pay is so low? It’s not immigrants coming over the border to take your jobs. It’s your boss and the shareholder and dividend class! They’re the ones who are stealing our money and laughing all the way to the bank because you keep voting against your best interests time and time again! But this move definitely has UHC’s competition scared.

A web page listing the corporate leadership team behind Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS), one of America's biggest health insurers, has disappeared from the company's website.

The disappearance of the page listing the provider's 25 highest-ranking employees was highlighted in a post shared to the r/antiwork subreddit on Reddit by the user u/wendysdrivethru.

The web page appeared to have vanished after the fatal shooting of CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, in New York in what police described as a "premeditated, preplanned targeted attack."

Newsweek has reached out to Anthem BCBS via email for comment.

A screenshot shared as part of the Reddit post revealed how a 404 Error page appeared when they attempted to access the "leadership" section of the page. "Guess they don't want us to see who's on their board? Can't imagine why," a caption accompanying the post reads.
https://www.newsweek.com/blue-cross-blue-shield-corporate-about-us-page-vanishes-website-1996597

Yeah this is starting to feel a lot like the Joker isn’t it? I can see him going “Well, I off one little CEO and everyone loses their minds!”. Well look, America is a fucking powder keg waiting to go off, and this may have been the catalyst to light the fuse. We’ve been fucked over and taken advantage of by Wall Street for so long that it was only a matter of time before someone acted. And don’t worry, we’ll get to the *alleged* killer, Luigi Mangione next week. But this was maybe one of the more disturbing developments from the healthcare industry this week. Yes, they were planning to put time limits on anesthesia during surgery. If that’s not shockingly, disgustingly evil, then what is? And of course I’m not talking about the fact that the asshole criminal convicted felon has wormed his way back to the White House, that’s a different topic altogether. Everyone – remember, remember the 5th of Decembert!

After sharp criticism from anesthesiologists, an insurance company is halting its plan to limit the amount of time it would cover anesthesia used in surgeries and procedures. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield said on Thursday it would no longer move forward with the policy change.

“There has been significant widespread misinformation about an update to our anesthesia policy. As a result, we have decided to not proceed with this policy change,” the company said in a statement. “To be clear, it never was and never will be the policy of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield to not pay for medically necessary anesthesia services. The proposed update to the policy was only designed to clarify the appropriateness of anesthesia consistent with well-established clinical guidelines.”

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance representing Connecticut, New York and Missouri had previously said that, starting in February, it would deny any claims for anesthesia services that exceeded specific time limits set for surgeries and procedures.

Anthem had said the change was part of an effort to make health care more affordable by reducing overbilling for anesthesia.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/05/health/anthem-blue-cross-blue-shield-anesthesia-claim-limits/index.html

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[font size="8"]Bird Flu Pandemic

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When COVID-19 first broke out on the scene, people thought “it can’t happen here”. Well, it could happen and it did happen and it killed millions of people and 1.2 million Americans, including over 750,000 truly selfish individuals who mocked doctors and public health experts and spat in the face of COVID protocols. But, if you remember your COVID terminology, you probably remember the term “zoonotic virus”. That’s a virus that can jump between species. The current strain of H5N1 is getting to be dangerous. And if you’ve been following this program, you know that our segment Conspiracy Corner has been spending the last couple of weeks documenting the fight between the state of California and one of the biggest producers of the substance known as raw milk, Raw Farms. But of course, the conspiracy theorists didn’t listen to experts during COVID, so what makes you think they will listen to experts this time around? The H5N1 virus has been around for a while, but the current strain could wreak serious havoc on our hospitals.

Influenza A viruses are associated with most of the documented global pandemics in human history. High pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) viruses belonging to the H5N1 subtype are a leading risk factor for future pandemics. The evolutionary barriers to mammalian adaptation of these viruses are lower than previously thought, as shown by rapid mutation accumulation in key viral proteins.

H5N1 viruses were initially detected only in Asian poultries during the past two decades. However, in recent years, a rapid transmission of these viruses into new mammal species has been observed worldwide, endangering wildlife, agricultural production, and human health.

Such rapid viral transmission started after the emergence of a new genotype of H5N1 viruses belonging to clade 2.3.4.4b, which infected wild birds from Europe to Africa, North America, South America, and the Antarctic. These viruses arose from genomic reassortment between the H5N8 and low-pathogenicity avian influenza (LPAI) viruses, generating new hybrid strains.

The genomic reassortment event between 2.3.4.4b H5N8 and low pathogenicity avian influenza (LPAI) viruses gave rise to the panzootic 2.3.4.4b H5N1 viruses, which are genetically different from prior strains. This reassortment involved the polymerase gene and surface proteins, facilitating rapid adaptation to new environments.
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20240925/H5N1-bird-flu-is-mutating-fast-and-jumping-to-mammals-could-the-next-pandemic-be-here.aspx

Yeah we’re in danger all right. Imagine the next administration takes office and RFK Jr bans vaccines and replaces actual science with raw milk, Crossfit, and magic beans. Then watch as Dr. Oz guts your health insurance and sends it back to the stone ages. Yeah it’s going to be a colossal shit show. But so far, actual public health experts aren’t concerned for the pandemic potential, but are calling on people to tone down the fearmongering. But of course our 24/7 news media hysteria isn’t exactly helping things, and they certainly don’t plan to start any time soon. But rest assured that there are some very smart people in charge of our public health (for now) and they’re actively looking into the situation.

Outbreaks at the interface of animal and human health are hard to study in the U.S. because they’re covered by different jurisdictions. The USDA [U.S. Department of Agriculture] oversees farm issues and its focus is on agriculture. While the USDA does have an emergency response team dedicated to influenza, farmers may have concerns about people coming onto their property to collect samples from livestock or workers, and some of those workers may not have documented immigration status. But those workers are at risk of infection, as shown by a case of human infection that occurred in early April. Samples from animals at the relevant farm were reportedly ‘not available’ for testing.

If we can’t collect samples directly from cattle, we have to look at something like milk, and we have indeed found that a lot of tested milk samples contain genetic traces of the bird flu. But that does not tell us how many cows might be infected. It’s not at all clear because the milk we are testing is not from just one cow but many, and so we have no idea how many of them were contributing to the signal. All we can say is that it is certainly not a small number given how many samples are coming back positive, but beyond that we just don’t know exactly how many infected cows there are, where they are, or how many may have been very mildly infected and not detected.

One of the problems is the way public health has been politicized following the COVID pandemic. But the virus doesn’t care what side you’re on—it only cares if you have the appropriate receptors so that it can get into your cells, and from there into somebody else.
https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/bird-flu-doesnt-pose-imminent-pandemic-risk-but-lack-of-transparency-planning-a-cause-for-concern/

Yeah it’s the danger zone, all right! Someone call Kenny Loggins! Yeah it’s insane that our public health is going to be handled by anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists. That’s like giving the alcoholic the keys to the liquor cabinet. And to your car. And directions to the nearest cliff. What anti-vaxxers don’t understand about public health is that public health affects LITERALLY everybody on the planet. Yes, for those of you keeping score at home, that’s literally EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON THIS PLANET. And that includes you and me. Yes, the COVID vaccines worked. And an H5N1 vaccine will work. It’s not some stupid psy-op despite what your crazy uncle’s next door neighbor’s caretaker said on a Facebook meme last night.

The H5N1 bird flu virus that has spread worldwide is already better at infecting people than earlier strains. What’s more, a single mutation could allow it to infect the cells lining our noses and throats, making it more likely to go airborne.

This change alone is not enough for the virus to be capable of causing a pandemic. However, if a virus with this mutation swapped genes with a human flu virus, it could acquire pandemic potential almost instantly.

“The more people get infected, the more likely it is that something like this could arise,” says Ian Wilson at the Scripps Research Institute in California. Despite this, Wilson thinks the risk remains low.

A particularly virulent form of H5N1 bird flu evolved in the 1990s, probably in domestic birds in China, and spread worldwide. Around 2020, a new variant of this virus emerged and spread even more widely, reaching the Americas and Antarctica. It has infected domestic poultry in large numbers and is also spreading among dairy cows in the US, causing occasional human cases.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2459077-h5n1-bird-flu-is-closer-to-gaining-pandemic-potential-than-we-thought/

So yes, while the plight of the H5N1 pandemic potential continues to grow, once again, you can rest assured that there’s some very smart and talented people working behind the scenes to make sure that you’re safe. But while the media attempts to link that one case in Fresno, California to the suppliers of raw milk, Raw Farms, that strain is not the one that’s jumping to humans. If H5N1 follows the pattern of COVID – yes, they start out small and become much bigger than we could imagine. Could H5N1 cause the same kind of panic that COVID did? There’s only one way to find out, but so far it doesn’t look like it’s going to cause the same reaction that COVID did. For now. We hope.

H5N1 bird flu, a type of avian influenza, has infected dozens of people in the U.S., and spread to seven states and Canada this year.

As concern grows over whether it could lead to another pandemic or lockdown, California has announced a broad recall of raw milk and cream after the virus was found in some of the dairy.

There have been 32 human cases of bird flu in California this year — including the first U.S. child — according to the CDC. (None are linked to raw milk.) There have been 58 in the U.S. in total.

Almost all human bird flu patients have had contact with infected animals, but three cases in North America are getting particular attention because it’s not known how they were exposed to the virus: the child in California, a teenager in Canada and a person in Missouri.

The Canadian teen remained in critical condition at the end of November, weeks after symptoms started, and was being treated for acute respiratory distress at a children’s hospital in British Columbia after testing positive for H5N1 bird flu, the country’s first human case, the CBC reported.
https://www.today.com/health/disease/bird-flu-pandemic-rcna183174

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[font size="8"]Orange Fuckface

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Look, we told you what was going to happen if you elect Orange Fuckface a second term. We warned you how bad things were going to get. And he’s just barely getting started. Shit, two years ago, we called that if he got elected for a second term, it would be a venerable revenge-a-palooza. He’s out for blood, and his supporters want violent and bloody revenge for what happened in 2020. And now that he’s heading back to the White House, they will get it. But the most criminally insane part of the election was the ”undecided voters”, and many of those undecided voters waited until the last minute. That being said, we wondered how so many of the gullible were duped this time around, in fact, we had our own analysis on what was going on a few weeks ago. But now many of those “undecideds” have been regretting their choice. And now that we see what his true intentions really are, a lot of people are having second thoughts about their decision. Look, you only get one vote and you wasted it, you can’t take it back. Now look sad, bow your head and say “d’oh”. Yes, the “honeymoon” period for Orange Fuckface may be over as people are turning their anger towards him.

A new CNN poll is showing some positive news for President-elect Orange Fuckface as he continues to prepare for his second administration, but how long will that last?

The new CNN poll, released Wednesday and conducted by SSRS, found that more than half of Americans approve of how Fuckface is handling his transition back to the White House. The poll comes more than a month after Fuckface won a decisive victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.

The poll found that 54 percent of Americans believe Fuckface will do a “good job” in his return to the White House next month and 55 percent approve of how he’s handling the presidential transition so far.

The CNN report stated that the results show Fuckface has “earned a honeymoon period with the public as he prepares to return to the White House after being voted out four years ago amid broadly negative approval ratings of his own.” The report also noted that while Fuckface earned positive ratings on his transition back to the White House, the numbers still trail other presidents.
https://www.nj.com/politics/2024/12/is-it-just-the-honeymoon-phase-for-Fuckface-new-cnn-poll-says.html

Yeah does anyone remember how fucking bad things were in 2020? Is all you care about the damn gas prices? Well, I got news for ya, folks! There’s more reasons to vote than just your fucking wallets, but that only seems to be what you care about. So what are you going to do when Orange Fuckface guts your Social Security and Medicare and you lose all your money because he gutted everyone in the SEC and the IRS? And then RFK Jr and Dr Oz replace actual science with conspiracy theory quackery and people start dying in the streets? Well, don’t come crawling to us! Because we can say “we told you so” followed by a very childish “neener neener”. But while one takeaway from that infamous June debate was that his popularity was plateauing, the actual numbers say otherwise!

THE HONEYMOON BEGINS — To no great surprise, the mood of the electorate seems to be shifting in the transition period as Fuckface prepares to take the reins from President JOE BIDEN following an election that delivered a stinging rebuke to Democratic power in Washington.

In what will be a major feather in his cap, Fuckface is slated to be unveiled tomorrow as Time’s “Person of the Year,” our colleague Meridith McGraw scoops, beating out other nine other finalists including KAMALA HARRIS, ELON MUSK, BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, JEROME POWELL and JOE ROGAN. Having won the distinction back in 2016, Fuckface joins fellow two-term presidents BARACK OBAMA, GEORGE W. BUSH, BILL CLINTON and RONALD REAGAN (among others) as rare two-time recipients.

Now, new polling from CNN offers a window into how voters are feeling with Fuckface 2.0 loading — but serious questions remain about how long the president-elect can sustain the good-vibe feeling once he’s actually back in power.

The breakdown:

Majority rules: 54% believe Fuckface will “do a good job upon his return to the White House next month” and a similar 55% “approves of how he’s handling the presidential transition so far.”
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook-pm/2024/12/11/how-long-can-the-Fuckface-honeymoon-last-00132333

Seriously, that’s about what it feels like! 54%! He still receives a failing grade! Why didn’t you vote for the nice lady who wanted to give you free healthcare? You could have done that! But instead, you chose to vote for this fucking asshole. And look, we might have understood when it was 2016 and it was a much more innocent time. But this is 2024. We know who Fuckface is. We know what he stands for. We know that his intentions are bad. We know the people who he surrounds himself with. None of it is good, and nothing good will happen in January. If you still chose to vote for him despite everything that we now know, well, that’s entirely on you.

When President-elect Fuckface posed for photos with family members after securing a second term on Election Night, Elon Musk was there.

When Fuckface spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the phone following the election, the Tesla CEO joined the call.

And when Fuckface met with House Republicans in Washington on Wednesday as they gathered for leadership votes, the Space X founder was seated in the room among lawmakers.

“Elon won’t go home. I can’t get rid of him. Until I don’t like him,” Fuckface quipped, according to a source in the room.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4991320-donald-Fuckface-elon-musk-republicans/

Even the stock market – the stock market! Is having an “oh shit” moment. Like they didn’t think things were going to be different after they spent 4 years slandering and spiting Biden and Harris? They really thought things were going to be different with Fuckface version 2.0? Well guess what? All his billionaire and big business backers are going to realize that they went too far this time when all of his cuts and tariffs go into place and people start going broke and the shit hits the fan. Yeah it will affect them too. If it indeed causes a second Great Depression, it’ll be infinitely worse than the first one. And when that happens, once again, don’t say we didn’t warn you!

And just like that, half of the stock market's euphoric post-Fuckface-election gain is gone.

Major US indexes sold off sharply on Friday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the way, as investors came to terms with the fact that they may not get a December rate cut as previously expected.

The turning point came on Thursday, when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said he and the central bank are in no hurry to cut rates, given the positive signals being sent by the economy.

Stocks turned lower in afternoon trading, and that pressure continued through Friday. The S&P 500 fell as much as 1.6%, and has now given back more than half of its torrid 4% post-election gain. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.7% at intraday lows.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stock-markets-Fuckface-honeymoon-turning-051001086.html

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[font size="8"]DOGE
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The 47th president of the United States, Elon Musk, found himself in a bit of hot water this week over his newly proposed Department Of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and how much damage it could possibly do. It’s basically a way for the billionaire criminal class to launder money in plain sight by firing entire government agencies. Come on, we’re onto their little scheme. Which of course, the personal helper monkey to the actual president – Orange Fuckface – is poised to do some incredible damage to the United States government. But just how much damage? We’ve said in the last couple of weeks, that it's going to be like taking a bull to a china shop – and you get to clean up and put back together what’s left of the broken glass. But of course, we can’t let made up, unofficial government organizations get to the better of us. In fact, one Congressman in particular – Maxwell Frost – has had enough of Elon’s bullshit and is resorting to the offensive. But really – the two biggest social media trolls in the United States – Orange Fuckface and Elon Musk – are going to be the ones in charge of burning this country down, and well, the fire is only getting started. This is going to be a ridiculously long 4 years, isn’t it?

Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) criticized President-elect Fuckface’s choices to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), saying it’s “two billionaires who are cosplaying as government officials.” “Let’s be honest about DOGE and this whole thing, it’s a joke,” he said Thursday evening on MSNBC, noting DOGE is “not an actual department of this government.”

Fuckface tapped tech billionaire Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the advisory body — a decision that has spurred much controversy.

DOGE was created with the objective to “slash wasteful spending” and help restructure the government. Fuckface has also said that it will “provide advice and guidance” from outside of government. Several legislators from both sides of the aisle have already joined the related caucus, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is already set to chair a subcommittee related to DOGE and its efforts.

“I’m all for making our government more efficient, but we have to look at the proposition here,” said Frost, who was reelected last month for a second House term. “The proposition of these two guys is that to make the government more efficient we gotta fire a bunch of people and take away a bunch of funding.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5026681-maxwell-frost-doge-musk-ramaswamy/

Oh yeah. And while the CEO of 1,000 corporations is only salivating at the thought of annihilating the United States government and turning people’s livelyhoods into a game that you’d see on Facebook is just getting started, who knows what the end game is, and if they could really, actually accomplish what they’re setting out to do on “day one”. But this might be the most bizarre aspect of the whole DOGE endeavor – it’s applicants are literally working for free. That’s right – they will be working for 80 hours a week for zero money. That’s right – no pay, no benefits, no insurance, nothing. You get NOTHING! YOU
GET NOTHING! YOU LOSE! GOOD DAY SIR!

Elon Musk said in a post on the social platform X on Thursday that the brand new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — an advisory group under President-elect Fuckface focused on slashing government costs and restructuring federal agencies — will require “tedious work” with “zero” compensation.

“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lots of enemies & compensation is zero. What a great deal!” Musk wrote in the post.

Musk’s post comes as the advisory group, which will also be led by former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, made a post on X on Thursday seeking potential employees for DOGE.

“We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE. We don’t need more part-time idea generators. We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting. If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants,” the post from DOGE read.
https://thehill.com/business/4990829-musk-doge-will-be-tedious-work-with-zero-compensation/

What……….. and I cannot emphasize this enough………….. the fuck???? Seriously, can you imagine the uproar on Fox if Biden or Kamala proposed an agency to gut government agencies where its’ top 1% applicants got literally nothing? It boggles the fucking mind! And who are these people who are willing to work for nothing? I want some names, because these people need the Will Smith – Chris Rock treatment, damn it! Maybe not so much a pimp slapping, but maybe more of a WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU??? kind of deal. But here’s my favorite part of all of this – Elon says he watched Office Space as preparation for what to do with cost cutting. Uh…. fucking what???? That’s like watching Gator to prepare for a trip to New Orleans.

Billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk, stirred amusement and speculation after describing his unusual preparation for heading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

"I rewatched Office Space tonight for the 5th time to prepare for @DOGE!" Musk posted on X (formerly Twitter) on November 24. The post left many wondering whether Musk was joking or signaling serious intentions regarding his role in DOGE.

Office Space is a 1999 satirical comedy directed by Mike Judge of Beavis and Butt-Head fame, which critiques corporate culture and the drudgery of office life. The film has become a cult classic, known for its humorous take on bureaucratic inefficiencies, including the iconic scene where frustrated employees destroy a malfunctioning printer.

Musk's reference to the movie suggests a parallel between corporate and governmental bureaucracy, hinting at his intent to address what he sees as inefficiencies within federal operations.
https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-rewatched-office-space-doge-preparation-1990938https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-rewatched-office-space-doge-preparation-1990938

Oh what the fuck. You know, you could have voted for Kamala Harris and we could have had sanity and normalcy prevailing in Washington once again. But nope, you called her vicious names and downplayed everything she did, while elevating the fucking asshole and now this is what we’ve got. This whole thing gets weirder and weirder. By the way, in case you’re wondering the caliber of person that Elon and Vivek are looking for, well… first off, what the fuck does Vivek even do besides go on Fox News 100 times a day? What does Vivek do? Let us know in the comments! But Elon and Vivek say that they’re looking for super high IQ individuals. Uh… got to tell you guys something, you’re not going to find it in this crowd, and if you do, they won’t work for free!

The new Department of Government Efficiency, a group created by President-elect Orange Fuckface with the task of identifying ways to cut federal spending and headed by billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, is already taking resumes.

The request for job applicants was posted Thursday by the new X account for DOGE, which despite its heady mission isn't an official government department. In his statement on Tuesday announcing the effort, Fuckface described Musk and Ramaswamy's role as providing "advice and guidance from outside of government."

It's unclear where the funding for DOGE will come from or the size of its budget, as well as whether Musk, the world's richest person, and Ramaswamy, who has an estimated net worth of $1 billion, will be paid for their efforts. The Fuckface campaign didn't respond to a request for information.

In the meantime, DOGE is starting to hire, according to the post on X, the social media service (formerly known as Twitter) owned by Musk. The account already has 1.2 million followers on the platform.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-Fuckface-doge-government-job-how-to-apply/

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[font size="8"]Cyberstruck
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Oh man, I was just getting into that song! Yes, there are some men who just want to watch the world burn, and one of those men is Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Welcome to our segment detailing the plight of the world’s most ridiculous monstrosity on 4 wheels not seen since the DMC DeLorean – the Tesla Cybertruck! Yes, thanks to the Tesla mad man, and his MAGA ass kissing credibility, the stock of the company has sank to unheard of levels. But an even more alarming statistic about the once revered auto maker should be more concerning: Telsa is the least reliable car on the road! In fact, not only is the Tesla Cybertruck the most recalled vehicle on the road, it’s worse than 91% of all cars on the road! You’ve probably been seeing pictures like these pop up on your social media feeds. Most of them are true, like this one. That was AI, ha! Created with Elon’s Grok AI, of course! The thing about the Cybertruck is that it's not a functioning vehicle. It’s basically just an over bloated, expensive, near impossible to maintain status symbol for cryto dude bros who want to look cool, and that’s about it. But the main thing is clear – Elon Musk is probably going to kill a whole lot of us.

Cybertruck owners have discovered that a chunk of these stainless steel electric pickups could “stop producing torque” while thrumming along. The fault was noted by Tesla in a November 5 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recall. Any sudden loss of propulsion might “increase the risk of a collision,” added the filing ominously. The latest recall—the wedge wagon’s sixth this year—requires shop time, not an over-the-air (OTA) update.

Reports of instantaneous loss of e-horsepower due to duff drive inverters—devices that convert DC to AC and control an EV’s motor speed and torque—might alarm the average EV motorist, but to extrovert buyers of Elon Musk’s flagship, it’s evidence of the angular pickup’s edginess, Ivan Drury, the director of insights at car shopping guide Edmunds, told WIRED.

“The people drawn to [the Cybertruck] don’t have quality of construction or safety at the top of mind,” he says. “That this could be a dangerous vehicle to drive is key to its appeal. Nobody’s buying it to use as an actual truck.”

Stomping on the accelerator pedals of the affected Cybertrucks might get their drivers nowhere—a downer, you’d think, for a vehicle that’s faster to 60 mph than a Lamborghini Aventador—but, adds the Hawaii-based Drury, that won’t harm the pickup’s reputation with many wannabe owners.
https://www.wired.com/story/cybertrucks-many-recalls-make-it-worse-than-91-percent-of-all-2024-vehicles/

It’s not about money, it’s about sending a message. And that message from Elon Musk is apparently fuck all y’all! But of course, the actual people who purchase the Cyberbrick aren’t concerned with functionality, they’re just concerned that they got a cool toy. If you want functionality with your vehicle, the Dodge RAM EV or Yukon Denali EV would be more up your alley, and unlike the Cybertruck, they can actually do truck things, like haul things and tow things. And they won’t fail on you after 116 miles because you got yours stuck in the sand! Great way to waste $100,000! Not only that, the Cyberturd is the most disposable vehicle on the road too. But in comparison, not all electric vehicles are bad – some rank at the top of the list and some rank at the bottom. And like a huge percentage of the recalls are due to guess what? Bad software! It’s a tale as old as time. How about this - actually hire good software engineers and pay them what they are worth!

Electric cars are theoretically more reliable than ICEs because they feature substantially fewer moving and lubricated parts. Thanks to this design, they're also much cheaper to maintain and easier to live with. The only major repair that you need to conduct on an EV is having the battery pack's modules replaced when they reach the end of their lifespan . Most new EV manufacturers claim that this will occur sometime after 15 years of regular usage, which is much better than the EVs sold just under a decade ago. The EV industry has made massive advancements in developing electric drive units and energy storage solutions, resulting in today's EVs being more dependable than ever.

This doesn't mean that EVs are fool-proof . There are several new electric vehicles on the market today that don't benefit from the highest reliability ratings and are frequently subject to recalls relating to bad software or manufacturing. Electromobility remains a much newer technology compared to ICEs, which is why this development curve is understandable. It is worth noting that despite these issues, EVs remain more dependable than ICEs, just based on how much simpler their drivetrain systems are.

We've listed the Genesis Electrified GV70 at the top of this list because iSeeCars bundles the EV's reliability with its ICE counterpart. iSeeCars indicates that you can expect the GV70 range to be subject to 22.3 recalls within the next 30 years. Beyond this, we don't have a clear idea of how dependable the EV is in isolation. The Genesis GV70 Electrified scores a 44/100 predicted reliability rating from Consumer Reports, making it the most reliable large EV option featured on this list. J.D. Power also gives it an 82/100 quality and reliability score, which is also one of the highest results that we get to see on this list.
https://www.topspeed.com/least-reliable-evs/

Now to be fair, we’re just in the dawn of the age of the electric car. Yes, we poke fun at Tesla and specifically the Cybertruck because they’re easy targets, and their owner Elon Musk is a mentally deranged psychopath who’s out for absolute power. But those feeling aside, now that the Tesla Cybertruck is out on the road, it’s getting some absolutely crazy reactions from owners, non-owners, and people who just want to mock the ever-loving shit out of it. Which is exactly what we’re doing here, mocking the shit out of it. Even seeing one up close on the road last night, I couldn’t help but notice just how half-assed it is put together. Like even most Lego sets are designed and built so they’re flushed together and it looks natural. The Cybertruck on the other hand doesn’t even look like that. And this is a $100K vehicle we’re talking about here.

“Stay in your lane!”

That’s not just what another driver could have yelled as one of our test drivers struggled to get used to the Tesla Cybertruck’s unique steering on a narrow country road. It’s also how Consumer Reports plans to review the Cybertruck we just purchased.

If you want to clown on the design, watch videos of it taking on ridiculous challenges, or read astute commentary on how it relates to Elon Musk’s role in the 2024 election, you’re covered: Entire subreddits, YouTube channels, and long-form articles are devoted to those aspects of Tesla’s new stainless-clad, trapezoidal truck. But we’re going to stay in our lane and test our new Cybertruck the same way we evaluate every other major new vehicle that goes on sale.

We’ll measure its 0-to-60-mph time and braking distances, we’ll check how easy it is to install car seats, we’ll see how it handles when we put it through a high-speed obstacle avoidance maneuver, we’ll drive it up the rock hill at our track to evaluate its off-road abilities, we’ll tow with it, and we’ll test how many miles it can travel at highway speed before the battery needs to be recharged. We’ll also bring it home and live with it, hauling our families, our trailers, and our weekend projects. (Learn more about how Consumer Reports tests cars.)

Where it does poorly, we’ll say so. Where it outperforms the competition, we’ll give it credit. And, since our tests sometimes uncover problems that automakers fix in production, we might even improve it—like when we measured extremely long braking distances on the original Tesla Model 3, an issue the automaker quickly fixed with a software update. No matter what conclusions we reach, we’ll be better equipped to judge other pickup trucks and EVs based on this experience.
https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/hybrids-evs/tesla-cybertruck-review-a4750335741/

No, there’s not going to be any fire any time soon. But think about this – the people who are set on buying the Cybertruck basically have their minds made up already. And while the “truck” that looks loke a dumpster, chances are that nobody will be setting them on fire. Though there’s plenty that have been in accidents, had things broken, or simply failed. In fact, considering there’s entire subreddits dedicated to the insanity that is the Cybertruck, you’ve probably seen all the stories of the colossal and spectacular failure that it is. In fact, the Cybertruck may beat out the time tested Pontiac Aztek for the most ridiculous vehicle on four wheels in human history. And when you consider the quickest bricked Cybertruck ever, we’re only going to be seeing more of those stories as time goes on!

A soon-to-be Cybertruck owner, Nathan, says his Cybertruck got bricked even before Tesla could deliver it to him. Nathan shared his story on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum.

Here is what he wrote…

“Today was the day I should have gotten a non-foundation Cybertruck Cyberbeast. However, an hour before I was to take delivery, the Tesla showroom called me and said they had some technical issues with the truck, and they wouldn’t release it to me.”

This is an unfortunate level of inconvenience for anyone about to hand over $100,000 of his hard-earned money to a company.

So, what caused Tesla to cancel the delivery one hour ahead of when it was scheduled? Apparently, the Cybertruck got bricked as Tesla was making final preparations ahead of delivery.
https://www.torquenews.com/11826/tesla-sets-new-record-quickest-bricked-cybertruck-zero-customer-driven-miles-cybertruck

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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! You know, since the unfortunate selection of the unholy, ungodly Dark One to the highest office in the land, we can’t help but wonder what the end game is for Christian nationalism. Well, we kind of have an idea, but it’s an extremely scary thought and we’re definitely not going there! After all, this is a family show and we try to air on the lighter side of Christianity and religion in general, not the dark kind. But one of the Dark One’s unholy minions who we’ve been trying to dissect is Pete Hegseth. Yes, the one who the unholy Dark One has been tapping to lead the US military and be this nightmare administration’s “border czar”. Of course, he doesn’t worship GAWD or JAYSUS, no. He worships the unholy, ungodly Dark One! Yes, even though he will be the current leader of what’s left of the free world, I of course speak of a man so foul, so depraved and disgusting that his name dare NOT be spoken in my church! But like most people connected to his unholiness, ruiner of all things good and decent, he has a few skeletons in his closet. Most notably his literal NAZI ideology concerning America’s public education. Last we checked, public schools in the US aren’t churches!

Hegseth suggested that the first phase of this insurgency would involve regrouping and reorganizing, with a focus on creating a strong base of supporters from religiously affiliated schools. Once the groundwork is laid, he indicated, the second phase would involve more overt actions to reclaim control over the educational system.

“We call it a tactical retreat,” Hegseth explained, comparing his strategy to the principles of Mao Zedong’s insurgency tactics. “Once the foothold has been taken, once the recruits have graduated boot camp, then we can move to phase two.” He stressed that while school choice was an important policy, the real goal was to cultivate an underground force capable of eventually launching “offensive operations.”

“We’re in the middle of phase one right now, which is effectively a tactical retreat where you regroup, consolidate, and reorganize. And as you do so, you build your army underground with the opportunity later on of taking offensive operations in an overt way,” Hegseth said, adding that his remarks were "metaphorical and all that good stuff," eliciting laughter from the hosts.

Pete Hegseth is a former Fox News commentator and a veteran of the Minnesota National Guard. He has served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, earning two Bronze Stars for his service. His appointment as Secretary of Defense has raised concerns due to his polarizing views and past controversies.
https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/pete-hegseth-Fuckface-s-defense-nominee-sparks-outrage-with-call-for-educational-insurgency-against-american-schools/ar-AA1uJiXK

Oh yes, my fair congregation! But yes, boo this man. In fact, while we are supposed to be talking about the hostile takeover of government by the church, we can’t help but point out what a truly scary and frightening individual Mr. Hegseth is. And yes, here it is – just two chucklefucks yoking it up over having to protect the leader of the free world. And yes, we do have to share the same oxygen as these psychopaths. But if you ever want a perfect example of someone who was radicalized by propaganda, look no further than this guy. Yes, it’s insane that a literal Nazi and a guy who has a white power symbol tattooed on his chest is such a radical “Christian”. In fact, he gives actual Christians a bad name.

Shortly before Orange Fuckface nominated him to be Defense secretary, Pete Hegseth ventured to the podcast studio of Shawn Ryan, a former Navy SEAL now serving as the Joe Rogan of conservative military media.

Early in the interview, Hegseth reads aloud the dramatic tagline on the back cover of his new book, The War on Warriors: “I joined the Army to fight extremists in 2001. Twenty years later, that same Army labeled me one.” Later, Hegseth flashes his right pectoral muscle, and the tattoo that, he says, led to the label: a large, inky Jerusalem cross associated with the Christian right.

The backstory to Hegseth’s bitter complaint is this: Just after Jan. 6, 2021, when scores of active-duty troops and veterans participated in the attack on the U.S. Capitol, a fellow member of the Army National Guard flagged Hegseth’s tattoos as evidence he was a potential “insider threat.” Along with the Jersualem cross, Hegseth also has a tattoo that reads “Deus Vult” or “God wills it” — a motto from the Crusades that has been adopted by white supremacists and was seen at the deadly march in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.

“My orders were revoked to guard the Biden inauguration,” Hegseth says.

“What a punishment,” Ryan responds sarcastically, and the two men laugh.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/12/06/pete-hegseth-defense-religion-christian-00192117

Yeah really, and I cannot say this enough – but fuck that guy and his cause. But of course, we cannot speak ill of the cult! Never, never speak ill of the cult! But remember a couple of weeks ago when I compared their victory celebrations to that of ISIS or the Taliban? Well, if you want to see how a political party morphs into a Taliban or ISIS version of itself, you don’t have to wonder anymore. Because there’s an increasing view on the right that government and church are one in the same, but they really aren’t, in fact, we have this thing called the “United States Constitution” that would prevent such a thing from happening. And these people are scary, they are ruthless, and they are bloodthirsty, and they are coming to a church near you!

In addition to being an unabashed Fuckface cultist, evangelist Lance Wallnau is a self-proclaimed Christian nationalist who is among the most prominent purveyors of Seven Mountains Dominionism, a radical theology that advocates having right-wing Christians control all aspects of society.

Wallnau has made no secret of the fact that he want to see right-wing Christians take over nations all over the world, and he has been equally clear about his intent to take advantage of the reelection of Orange Fuckface to make that happen.

In the days after Fuckface's election victory, Wallnau appeared on a program hosted by evangelist Todd White, and was giddy with anticipation over the opportunities that Christian nationalists will now have to unite with the government to push their agenda globally.

Wallnau proclaimed that with Fuckface taking office, now "the government and the church" can begin "moving together to build the ekklesia" to take control of "the government mountain" globally. ("Ekklesia" is a term used by dominionists to refer to the church as God’s governing body on Earth.)
https://www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwatch/Fuckfaces-election-lance-wallnau-envisions-government-and-church-working-together

And these people should feel bad about themselves. They should experience shame, but they don’t and couldn’t. His Unholiness himself does not experience any shame whatsoever. And his most die hard fans love him for that. But of course, like all good conspiracy theories, it always comes back around to Hitler, doesn’t it? In fact, we have no doubt that his Unholiness will unleash his private army of brownshirts to carry out things that the military wouldn’t do. Unspeakable horrors that we dare not mention! And of course people like our ol’ buddy Joel Webbon are absolutely giddy at the thought of things like this being carried out. Because of course, that speaks more about him and his evil intentions than it does about anything else.

Texas pastor Joel Webbon is a radical Christian nationalist who has been very open about his belief that only Christians who share his Protestant theology should be allowed to serve in public office or express their faith publicly.

Naturally, that means that Webbon believes that all non-Christians, especially Jews, should likewise be prohibited from serving in government, which he made abundantly clear during an episode of his podcast last month.

"In a legislative sense and in terms of public rituals, things that are celebrated—virtues, holidays, all those kinds of things—the public square, legislatively and culturally, it would absolutely, unapologetically play favorites," Webbon declared. "And there would be one favorite, and it would be Anglo-Protestants. That would be the favorite. So, there will be no public Catholic parade, but you could have a public Protestant parade. And there would be no law that says Jews can't live here, but what there would be is anybody to hold public office would have to make a Christian profession of faith ... and they would have to have a track record of it. So, no practicing Jew who hasn't converted to Christianity will be able to serve in public office."
https://www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwatch/christian-nationalist-pastor-joel-webbon-says-jews-cannot-serve-public-office-my

Sigh… yes, his Unholiness is going to wreak some extreme havoc and he hasn’t even taken office yet, 2025 is going to be an insane year! We need a long vacation from this nightmare! Mass has ended, may you go in peace! That’s it this week for:




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[font size="8"]Late Stage Capitalism
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Top 10 Conservative Idiots Presents:

“Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” – Gordon Gekko, Wall St. (1987)

When corporate profits are at an all time high, there is nowhere else to go but to make more millions.

There is corporate greed, and then there is:



Gamers are a competitive bunch and one of the more easily swindled and manipulated groups in the realm of capitalism. Particularly in PC gaming, where the hardware that is used can cost more than the next guy’s hardware if has the label “gamer” attached to it. Gaming Youtube channels are well aware of this evil practice. For instance – this motherboard by MSI – the MAG Tomahawk X860, retails for around $299. Whereas, the gaming equivalent – the Asus ROG X860, retails for nearly $500. And then you’re just paying for the name. One company in particular this week has come under fire for manipulating gamers with a deceptively evil practice. That company is NZXT. Recently, the Youtube channel “Gamer’s Nexus” discovered that there’s something sinister afoot about NZXT’s “rent to own” PC scam. In fact, rent to own PCs are common because PCs – one part in particular of PCs being the graphics processing unit, or GPU, being ridiculously expensive. Which is why this process exists. But in fact, if you’re a gamer and you want to buy a new PC, or you’re even considering the rental agreement, then you should probably at least do some research before you click the buy button. There’s a lot of predatory scams out there, and this may be one of the most predatory we’ve seen in a while.

Gaming PC maker NZXT launched a rental program for computers. Inconsistencies and oddities in its performance claims arose, which the company put down to the variable availability of parts day-to-day. Given the inherent shadiness of rent-to-never-own consumer electronics, it wasn't enough to stop Gamers Nexus, a popular gaming site and channel, publicly accusing the company of running a scam. NZXT posted a response claiming GN was "confused" and promising to detail its rental program, which Gamers Nexus quickly denounced and fisked. As summarized by Dexerto:

"NZXT has posted a statement which not only misrepresents facts, but distorts the reality of their predatory rental computer program. The statement ignores major points and introduces several new concerns. Gamers Nexus has become aware of deeper elements connected to this story that GN has begun independently investigating," they said.

"While we will put together coverage of NZXT's inadequate and manipulative response in short order, we are also actively beginning work on a longer form investigation that could take weeks or months to finalize, depending on the depth of the rabbit hole. We will have more for you as it becomes available, starting with a deconstruction of NZXT's statement."
https://boingboing.net/2024/12/09/thinking-of-renting-a-gaming-pc-think-again.html

So if you want to buy a new PC through this arrangement, you have to be aware that the entry level costs are $59 a month for the low end tier PC with an i5 and a low end 3050 GPU, while the high end is $259 a month with an Intel i9, 32GB of RAM, and a 4090 GPU. There is one thing that both of these things have in common: you cannot cancel your subscription. That’s right – you’ll be paying that $59 a month from here to eternity and canceling it is apparently the stuff of nightmares. And by the time you could pay all your monthly payments, you could have bought and built a new PC yourself. But NZXT isn’t the only rental scam that you will soon see.

A new report alleges that PC hardware company NZXT's PC rental program is "shady and manipulative." The video from Gamers Nexus (via The Verge) accuses NZXT of changing prices and parts between "purchase" and "rental" versions of prebuilt PCs with the same (or similar) names.

For context, NZXT's Flex program allows customers to rent prebuilt gaming PCs starting at $59 (though a renter would need to provide a monitor, keyboard, and mouse). Gamers Nexus claims that specs and prices of prebuilt PC models change depending on whether you select "buy" or "rent." The exact prices and specs can change "day to day" according to the video.

For example, the video shows that a "Player: Three Prime" model PC contained an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 if a customer was set to buy it, whereas the rental version contained an RTX 4080 Super. However, the performance estimates--showing expected frame rates in certain games--did not change between the two models, despite containing significantly different hardware. These specs allegedly changed multiple times while Gamers Nexus was completing its report.

The Flex program's alleged issues don't stop there. Gamers Nexus highlights the Flex program's price point. Within nine or so months, the price of renting one of NZXT prebuilds will outstrip the cost of buying the PC (or its component parts) outright, with no rent-to-own option. Additionally, the report calls outs the program's "aggressive" terms of service, which allegedly allow NZXT to sell data created or stored on the rented PC.
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-video-claims-nzxt-pc-rental-program-is-a-scam-company-says-its-looking-into-it/1100-6528179/

Yes, they get the whole pie and we get to fight over what’s left of the crumbs, that’s late stage capitalism in a nutshell. But even after being called out for their predatory practices, they still came back with the lamest corporate BS response possible. But the fact that you can’t cancel your subscription once you hit the “buy” button means you’re stuck with a low end PC that could potentially light your house on fire due to its’ shoddy components. And that’s something that nobody wants, and of course, it’s in that terms of service agreement that you probably didn’t read when you signed up for the thing in the first place. But you did it anyways! Now nod your head and say “d’oh”! But this is the kind of thing that screws over gamers in the long run.

Gamers Nexus has released a video deconstructing NZXT’s defense of its Flex gaming PC purchase and rental program. In it, host Steve Burke says the company is still misleading customers, despite adjustments made in response to his previous video in which he called the program “a scam.”

NZXT said in its response this week that it would clarify details about its Flex program, which Gamers Nexus had criticized for having specs that would change sometimes “day-to-day.” The company has appeared to update specs and performance numbers for its purchase builds. But Gamers Nexus reports it still spotted issues like inconsistent FPS numbers and a FAQ that implied NZXT’s for-sale Player: Three Prime build uses an RTX 4090 graphics card, despite its specs saying otherwise.

The FAQ entry Burke mentions seems to be gone now, but as of this writing, there’s still an entry titled “What GPU is right for me?” that lists the RTX 4090 and its benefits. Such inconsistencies are a problem for potential customers, Burke says.

The fact that NZXT misrepresented its product, even after its statement, as having a 4090 when it still had a 4080 Super ... seemingly indicates that even NZXT can’t keep up with its own specs changes. If NZXT can’t keep up with it ... how are they expecting the customer to keep up with it?
https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/7/24315781/gamers-nexus-video-reply-nzxt-defense-misleading-customers-flex-pc-rentals

Gee, you think, Cartman? Don’t think that this controversy isn’t going away anytime soon. But since the advent of PC gaming, gamers are one group of consumers that constantly get played for chumps by predatory manufacturers. Because they think that gamers will buy anything no matter how bad it is if you slap the “gaming” label on it. Just because NZXT admitted that they screwed up doesn’t mean that they are out of the woods just yet. At least they’re taking action now to prevent future damage, but that doesn’t mean that the damage has already been done. It’s great to see channels like Gamers Nexus that are standing up to the predatory corporations out there and looking out for the little guy.

A few days ago, Gamers Nexus released an exposé calling NZXT's gaming PC rental service NZXT Flex a "predatory, evil rental computer scam". This caused quite a stir in online PC gaming communities, and it seems NZXT's taken note, as the company has now issued an official statement about the issue.

In a blog post, NZXT outlines some actions being taken in response, as well as some clarifications about the program. In a YouTube video, NZXT founder and CEO Johnny Hou expands on this and acknowledges the mistakes the company has made, stating, "I want to acknowledge that we messed up."

The problems that Gamers Nexus seemingly identified with the Flex program essentially amounted to a picture of a service that misrepresents products, locks users into an unfair contract and has predatory pricing. For instance, this includes swapping out components for less powerful ones, using the same names for Flex PCs as more powerful non-Flex ones, and showing seemingly misleading or false benchmarks.

At least, this is insofar as the case Gamers Nexus lays out is accurate, and on this front Hou and NZXT have attempted to clarify some potential misconceptions.
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/gaming-pcs/i-want-to-acknowledge-that-we-messed-up-nzxt-addresses-concerns-about-its-controversial-flex-gaming-pc-rental-program-and-commits-to-taking-action/

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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! Folks, this week, the plight of the internet conspiracy theorist and their beverage of choice continues to get weirder and weirder. I’m of course talking about the production and consumption of the unpasteurized cocktail known as raw milk. Yes, raw milk is the hot beverage of choice among the hardcore MAGA faithful and the most die-hard internet conspiracy theorists.. Last week, we talked about how the largest purveyor of it in California, Raw Farms, got shut down and recalled for it. This week – it’s been widely known that the current strain of Avian Flu – aka H5N1 – has jumped to cows. If you remember your terminology from the COVID days, that’s what is called a “zoonotic” virus. Look, people, just don’t drink this shit. No matter what, bird flu or not, it’s bad for you!

Raw samples nationwide will now be collected and shared with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in order to test for bird flu, according to a new federal order issued by the agency on Friday.

The new federal order by the USDA includes three new requirements. Raw milk samples must now be shared upon request by dairy farms, bulk milk transporters or dairy processing facilities.

Herd owners with cattle that test positive for bird flu have to provide information that allows health officials to perform contact tracing and disease surveillance. Private laboratories and state veterinarians must now report positive bird flu test results to the USDA.

The decision comes after bird flu virus was found in samples of raw milk from a California farm, which issued a recall of all of its raw milk products earlier this week. The farm was also placed under quarantine by state health officials.

The USDA order marks the start of the agency’s National Milk Testing Strategy, a program intended to boost surveillance of the nation’s milk supply and dairy herds and increase understanding of how bird flu is spreading.
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/usda-issues-order-raw-milk-samples-nationwide-tested/story?id=116531943

Yeah so think about this – raw milk is bad for you, you shouldn’t drink it. But that won’t stop the “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me” party. They’re going to drink this shit whether it contains poison or not, because it’s all about owning us! But the plot twist – H5N1 hasn’t just been detected in cows in California. It’s been detected in cows ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. And never mind what science is saying about H5N1 being one mutation away from being able to jump to humans more easily – MAGA would rather ban scientists and the FDA and USDA. Yeah so when the USDA is requiring bulk testing to find bird flu, that should be an indicator that you shouldn’t be drinking this shit! After all – more people drinking, more people catching the virus, more chances for the virus to mutate. It’s virology 101, people!

The nation’s milk supply must be tested for the bird flu virus H5N1 under a new order announced Friday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The rules require unpasteurized milk samples from dairy farms, bulk milk transporters or dairy processing facilities to be collected and shared with the USDA for testing upon request from the government.

Herd owners with cattle that tested positive for the virus will also be required to provide epidemiological details to help with contact tracing and disease surveillance under the new rules. It also requires private laboratories and state veterinarians to report positive results that come from tests done on raw milk samples drawn as part of the new strategy.

The announcement comes more than a year after the virus began circulating through dairy cattle — and as criticism mounts about the lack of testing and tracking of animals or people who may be infected with the virus.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5026873-usda-mandatory-raw-milk-testing-bird-flu/

You know, here’s the thing – this shit is bad for you. Don’t drink it! And the guy with the literal worm in his brain – RFK Jr – is not someone who you should listen to on the subject of public health. Yes, the so-called “wellness industry” – is rife with scammers. But here’s one thing we know about raw milk is that you shouldn’t buy it under any circumstances. Just don’t! Don’t listen to so-called “wellness influencers” because a good majority of them simply do not know what they are talking about! And when the words “pretty spooky” appear in an official report, that’s when you should be alarmed. But the alarm that would trigger MAGA into thinking that something’s wrong just flat out does not exit in these unhinged lunatics. They’d just assume ban and defund the inspectors rather than the substance itself. Which is why we can’t have nice things in this country.

With cases of bird flu in milk climbing, the USDA has rolled out new testing requirements for raw or unpasteurized milk across the country. That has left many consumers wondering what it all means for their milk supply at home.

"We've been dealing with this outbreak now for nine months," Dr. Keith Poulsen, the director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said. "Anything out there, even in affected dairies, there's really no reason to not market that [traditionally pasteurized] milk because pasteurization — it's 100 years old in 2024 and we have it for a reason — it's a great public health safety net."

While Poulsen said consumers shouldn't be concerned by the safety of pasteurized milk or products made with it, the climbing bird flu cases are another sign that people should be weary of drinking raw or unpasteurized milk.

"For raw products, we just don't know enough about whether that virus can affect people," Poulsen said. "We don't have any evidence that it does so already, but it's pretty early in our investigation into the outbreaks so, for raw milk in general... It's really not a good idea for retail consumption."
https://spectrumnews1.com/wi/milwaukee/news/2024/12/09/dairy-distress--what-usda-s-new-inspections-mean-for-your-milk

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[font size="8"]I Need A Drink
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Hey everyone! I don’t know about you, but I could really use a drink!



So of course, you know the idea behind this segment is that we have some drinks, and while we’re drinking, we talk about anything in the news as long as it doesn’t relate to politics. Because I don’t if you’ve noticed or not, but there’s some really dark shit in the news right now, and this is our first one since the election. No, no politics at the bar! Only rules we got in this bar – no fighting, no cussing, and no politics! Some mild swearing is allowed, but only if it’s not at someone. And my sober brothers and sisters, don’t worry – we got you covered too! Just grab a glass of your favorite coffee, tea or energy drink and come get wired with us! Well, this week, we’re getting into the holiday spirit, as you know, every year, the Hallmark Corporation drops a shit ton of their wildly and inexplicably popular Christmas movies. But this year – one has not only stood out from above the pack, it’s created an entirely new genre of cinema. I’m of course talking about the new Netflix phenomenon Hot Frosty – it’s about a woman who builds a snowman and wishes for it to turn into a hot dude, and it does. So tell me, bartender, what goes well with a movie about a snowman dude? The Hot Frosty cocktail? What’s in that? Do I dare ask what the secret ingredient is? No thanks, I’ll just stick with my usual Jack Daniels mixed with Jack Daniels. I call it the Double Jack! Now of course, the idea behind Hot Frosty isn’t anything new – it’s long been a staple of holiday movies. But this is a very new and interesting trend in Hollywood among holiday films, something that genre has very badly needed for a long time.

To most viewers, the Hallmark Christmas movie is more of a vibe than a part of the Hallmark brand. And it’s a vibe that Netflix has been more than happy to cash in on, shooting their own Hallmark(-esque) Christmas movies all year long so they can release a steady stream each holiday season. Hot Frosty is the highest profile release in some time, though others have already hit the platform. But Hot Frosty is also very unique: It’s more absurd, more meme-able, and frankly, it’s quite a bit hornier.

The premise of Hot Frosty is exactly what the title implies — a sexy snowman comes to life. If that sounds like a Chuck Tingle novella, that’s because it absolutely is. But this is also a Hallmark-like Christmas movie, so it features a woman who is too focused on her career to find love. This time around that’s Kathy (Lacey Chabert), a widowed cafe owner. Kathy is still mourning her late husband despite her friends insisting it’s time to move on. But when she leaves a scarf on the hottest snowman in the town snowman competition, the fully nude snowman (Dustin Milligan) comes to life in the form of the overly earnest and chronically shirtless Jack.

Kathy is forced to take Jack in when the local police (Craig Robinson and Joe Lo Truglio) make it their mission to track down the “streaker” whose appearance has upset the balance of the normally peaceful town. Viewers won’t be surprised when sparks fly, nor will they bat an eye when Jack’s boyish charm helps him win over the townspeople. But they’ll probably be surprised with just how overstuffed the film is. This is a genre that thrives on simplicity, yet Hot Frosty is practically bursting at the seams with sideplots and supporting characters that don’t do much other than make things more complicated.
https://inbetweendrafts.com/hot-frosty-review-great-news-for-snowman-fetishists/

So… basically Terminator but with snow? Well, there’s much more to Hot Frosty than meets the eye – in fact it’s more than the “inanimate object becomes human who learns how to do human things” cliché that we’ve seen time and time again in movies. In fact there’s a lot more depth to Hot Frosty than meets the eye, which is what makes it one of the more popular movies this festive season. So there is a lot to like about Hot Frosty. Even Ryan Reynolds – Deadpool himself – got in on the Hot Frosty action, by dedicating a commercial from one of his 100,000 business ventures that he owns – Mint Mobile, so yeah it's fun when celebrities get in on it!

The internet has lost its collective mind—admittedly, it doesn’t take much—over a Netflix rom-com called Hot Frosty, which makes this particular piece of silly-sappy entertainment ripe for parody.

Enter the king of snark Ryan Reynolds, who’s also a veteran advertising creative and a shameless promoter of his brand portfolio.

Given the means, motive, and opportunity, the actor-entrepreneur has made a commercial for his Aviation American Gin, hijacking the setup of the well-watched holiday streaming flick in which a widow (Lacey Chabert) brings a swole snowman (Dustin Milligan) to life with a magic scarf.

Reynolds, via the video from his Maximum Effort agency, uses himself as the model for a shredded and shirtless snowman who’s on display in a quaint town square.

This super-chill inanimate object—while missing the corncob pipe and top hat from classic American fables—is hoisting a bottle of premium booze. He gets a visit from a woman who gazes longingly at him and takes off her own scarf. Could a flesh-and-blood transformation be in the works?
https://www.adweek.com/creativity/ryan-reynolds-spoofs-netflixs-hot-frosty-in-new-aviation-gin-ad/

That will get you through the winter! Now of course, with every popular movie there always has to be someone coming out on social media and saying something stupid. Like come on… the plot of the movie is about a snowman who becomes human and experiences human things for the first time! So of course someone who didn’t exist yesterday is going to have some feelings! But come on, do people really care what some random user on the Xitter says? Like, seriously, that IS THE PLOT OF THE MOVIE is that he’s learning out that humans go through these things for the first time! Sheesh, I bet this guy is fun at parties, am I right?

One of Netflix’s newest Christmas films is raising some eyebrows. Starring Lacey Chabert and Dustin Milligan, Hot Frosty tells the tale of a handsome snowman being brought to life thanks to a young widow’s enchanted scarf. As with any cheesy holiday flick, whether on Netflix, Hallmark or anywhere else, there are some pretty ridiculous lines that make you rethink what you’re doing with your time. Hot Frosty is no different.

X user imjustinrandall shared that he watched the film, and while it was “wonderfully ridiculous,” there was one part that was “downright insane.” In the video that he shared, Chabert’s Kathy and Milligan’s Jack are talking, and Jack is still getting acquainted with the world. He said he was checking out the house earlier and checked out the basement for vampires. Now, you’d think that the conversation would continue to go into vampires and their lack of existence, but it went in a completely different direction.

Yeah now that’s what I’m talking about! Now with any inevitable hit, comes of course, the sequel talk and Hot Frosty hasn’t even been out for two weeks! So what’s Hot Frosty 2 going to entail? Well there’s plenty of speculation going around. But one thing we can assure you is that Hannibal Lecter himself, Sir Anthony Hopkins, is a bit of a Christmas movie buff. And he’s a fellow Netflix star with his new movie “Mary”, which Netflix is billing as a Christmas movie, but it really doesn’t have anything to do with Christmas. That’s like advertising McDonalds fries only to replace them with chicken. But yes, he definitely wants a piece of that Hot Frosty action! That came out wrong… or did it? Either way, the hype-o-meter definitely isn’t dying down anytime soon. But he definitely wants a piece of that hot sequel action!

Something of a catastrophic category error seems to have happened at Netflix. For some reason it seems to be billing its new film Mary as a Christmas film, when it doesn’t appear to be anything of the sort.

We all know what elements a film needs to have to be considered festive. A big-city career girl. A plaid-wearing apple farmer. A local school that needs to be saved. Maybe a naked snowman who comes to life to teach a hot widow how to love again. Almost certainly Lindsay Lohan. And yet Mary has none of these. It’s all deserts and angels and babies being born in mangers and king Herod. It really isn’t very Christmassy at all.

Admittedly the archangel Gabriel does keep turning into a scarf and floating about in the film. Maybe it’s the same scarf that magically makes snowmen come to life in Hot Frosty, in which case Mary is clearly part of some fiendish Netflix Christmas cinematic universe and I take it all back. On the whole, though, you wish that Netflix had got a bit more involved and re-nosed Mary as something like Christmas Baby on Candyfloss Lane or Herod: Grouchy Santa.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/dec/09/why-anthony-hopkins-netflix-herod-is-hot-frosty-2-sort-of-mary

Oh by the way, I want to say this is our last trip to the bar for a while. So until we reopen in the spring, I want to say thanks for hanging out and drinking with us!

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[font size="8"] Road To The White House 2024
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Welcome back to our segment that puts all of our post-election coverage in one place – Road To The Shithouse! Yeah we have to face reality that he’s back in the White House. Fuck. Well, this week – we have to talk about the headlines. Of course you know that the two that are currently dominating the headlines this week are Fuckface’s pick to be his “border czar” and head of the US military – Pete Hegseth. Yes, he’s nominating a literal neo Nazi and Christian nationalist extremist to be in charge of the US military. And of course we cannot forget about Elon Musk and his deranged “Department Of Government Effiency”, which, fuck that stupid department and its’ stupid logo! But this week, we have to talk about one of the hallmarks of Fuckface’s campaign – his promise to completely eliminate the Department Of Education. Conservatives, and in particular, Fox News, have been long waging war on education. But could this administration finally be the one to eliminate the bureaucracy? Well, he could… or he could not. And if he doesn’t, well, he’s gonna have to face both of his bosses – Rupert Murdoch and Vladimir Putin – to explain why the plans didn’t go through. As we all know, he claims the government works with the swipe of a pen with his executive orders like he did the last time around, but some of his more extreme promises might not be workable after all. Which would mean that most of his promises are just that – promises.

President-elect Orange Fuckface may break from the Republican Party of old in many ways, but not when it comes to how the party views the federal government's role in education.

"One other thing I'll be doing very early in the administration is closing up the Department of Education in Washington D.C., and sending all education and education work and needs back to the states," Fuckface said in a video posted to social media in October 2023 where he laid out his vision for education. "We want them to run the education of our children because they'll do a much better job of it."

Fuckface's platform also responds to issues that conservatives have rallied around for years by promising to "cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, radical gender ideology, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children."
The role of the federal government in education

There are limits to how much influence the president or the federal government can exert over local schools.
https://www.npr.org/2024/11/14/nx-s1-5181966/a-look-at-the-potential-impact-of-shutting-down-the-department-of-education

Totally insane that the stupidest among us could be the ones to eliminate the DOE. And by the way, parents of special needs and autistic children who voted for Fuckface – what are you going to do when the fucking asshole eliminates the DOE and weaponizes the government against your local public schools? Bet you didn’t think that one through, did you? And who needs critical thinking when you can just let Fox News dictate your thoughts for you? It’s truly insane that in one minute, Fuckface and MAGA are saying that should have unlimited power with no oversight (what could go wrong there?) and on the other hand, they say they want a “constitutional restoration” and the US Constitution prohibits those kinds of things from happening. Which is it? Pick a lane. But of course, Fuckface hasn’t just backed off on his threats – he’s doubled down.

In a new interview with Time Magazine, Orange Fuckface has reiterated his support for closing down the Department of Education when he takes office in January.

The reporters asked what his plan was on education policy in America, and he noted that the wants to move education issues back to the states. When pressed on "what does moving back to the states mean?" Fuckface responded by stating:

"A virtual closure ofDepartment of Education in Washington."

Orange Fuckface and his Project 2025 backers have long promised to close down the Department of Education despite there being no federally mandated education curriculum in the United States.

Should Fuckface move forward with closing down the Department of Education, he will need approval from Congress to do so. Right now, there is legislation pending in the United States Senate from South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds that would abolish the Education Department, although it has not yet been voted on. It is unclear whether Fuckface will have the votes to pass such legislation.
https://meidasnews.com/news/donald-Fuckface-commits-to-closing-department-of-education

Seriously…. Why???? How did the stupidest among us get so much power? It’s truly insane all of the possibilities that could happen should Fuckface make good on his threat to eliminate the DOE. But a lot of that could be resolved through expanded executive power. Which is insane because absolutely NONE of this mattered before he became president. And one thing we’ve covered on this program is how weird, insane and fucking creepy their obsession with children is. So would eliminating the DOE be beneficial to children? No, it would be beneficial to those who want to privatize school and dictate what our children learn, whether it’s history, biology, or anything else that they might want to fuck with, because right wingers are never satisfied with leaving anything alone and they are becoming increasingly rabid about what conforms to their every being.

President-elect Orange Fuckface’s Agenda 47 campaign pledged to close the Department of Education in Washington, D.C., in an effort to send all education work back to the states.

Although eliminating the department would not only require congressional approval but also a supermajority of 60 votes in the Senate, according to a Washington Post article, local school superintendents recently shared their thoughts on the possible future of education.

“It would take time. This is not something that immediately would take place, even if Congress were to vote to basically dissolve the department,” Sheridan County School District 2 Superintendent Scott Stults said. “I don’t believe that the suggestion is that not only you dissolve the Department of Education, but you also dissolve the money and the money doesn’t go to education. I think the premise behind that is that there should be more local control of where that money goes. I’m always a proponent of local control.”

Agenda 47 is a collection of formal policy plans of Fuckface, many of which would rely on executive orders and significantly expanded executive power in order to be executed, according to USA Today.
https://www.saratogasun.com/story/2024/12/12/news/uncertain-future-local-school-superintendents-share-thoughts-on-us-department-of-education/14292.html

The taxes! The finger thing means the taxes! Well, here’s the thing – since the advent of Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, right wingers cannot and will not leave education alone. And it’s been coming to an absolute peak of stupidity since the COVID-19 pandemic. Conservatives have been fucking with education for so long that we literally have the least informed electorate in United States history coming from the results of the 2024 election. This America First bullshit is going to get a lot of people killed, and this only because Fuckface and his goons have their middle finger aimed squarely at the pulse of the United States. But one thing we do *NOT* need under any circumstances is a “Kid First” policy because that would basically be a step away from teaching kids to be Hitler Youth.

Two weeks after Orange Fuckface was reelected president of the United States, Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota introduced legislation that would carry out one of Fuckface’s signature campaign promises: eliminate the Department of Education.

Even though it has the fewest employees of all 15 Cabinet-level agencies, the Education Department provides essential support to America’s students and 13,000 schools nationwide. Just 4,200 employees work for the department – 2,800 of whom are represented by AFGE Local 252.

“Sen. Rounds’ bill is callous and detrimental. Our members and colleagues provide crucial services for his constituents and all citizens. In fact, because of remote work, some of our members live in South Dakota and are livid that Senator Rounds is threatening their employment for his personal political advancement,” Local 252 President Sheria D. Smith said.

While funding and policy decisions for individual schools are made largely at the state and local levels, the department provides crucial financial support to low-income students and families across the country. It also helps cash-strapped school districts provide programs and services that they would otherwise struggle to provide, particularly those benefiting students with disabilities.
https://www.afge.org/article/afge-opposes-bill-to-eliminate-department-of-education/

[font size="4"]And Now This: [/font]
[font size="4"]Duran Duran[/font]

Folks, my next guest has a great new album out called Danse Macabre. You can see them live Dec. 29th/30th at Fontainebleau in Las Vegas and Jan 2nd /3rd at the Yaamava Theater in Highland, CA. Playing the title track from the album, give it up for Duran Duran!

Thank you UCLA! It’s great to be back home after this ridiculously long year of touring! We’re back at the home base next week for our big sendoff and fuck you to the year 2024!

See you next week!

Credits

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