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Initech

Initech's Journal
Initech's Journal
February 15, 2016

John Oliver Lampoons New Zealand PM Steven Joyce Getting Hit In The Face With A Dildo



Comedian John Oliver has teamed up with moviemaker Sir Peter Jackson for an inevitable satirical swipe at the dildo-throwing incident involving government minister Steven Joyce.

During Waitangi celebrations earlier this month, a protester shouted "that's for taking away our sovereignty" before throwing the large fake pink penis, hitting Mr Joyce in the face.

The incident has caught the attention of the Last Week Tonight host, who has featured it on the latest episode of his HBO show.

Earlier today the show sent a response to Mr Joyce on social media after the MP had jokingly suggestion on Twitter "someone send the gif over to John Oliver so we can get it over with".

The video response shows Sir Peter Jackson waving a flag with Steven Joyce and a sex toy on it, with the line in the tweet saying "we made your country a new flag. Here's Peter Jackson to show it to you".

http://m.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11590035


That was epic.
February 15, 2016

Top 10 Conservative Idiots #15: Funk You Very Much Edition


Top 10 Conservative Idiots #15: Funk You Very Much Edition

Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! So... Antonin Scalia died. And while that happened on Saturday while this was being put together, it's going to take a while to sort through all the madness to put together a proper Idiots style tribute to the late conservative Emperor. But we won't let that ruin our fun for last week, will it? No that will be next week! So back to the edition that I had originally planned: Now that the first leg of the long, long, long, long election cycle has begun. We saw the Iowa caucuses and all the election insanity surrounding it. But… that doesn’t mean because we are in New Hampshire that we’re out of the conservative idiots wood work just yet folks. Last week you know that Bernie Sanders visited Saturday Night Live when Larry David was the host. Last week we closed out last week’s edition by playing the amazing “Bern Your Enthusiasm” bit from Saturday Night Live, which might be the best thing they’ve ever done. But there was another sketch there that had the great one – Sen. Sanders himself – appearing in a sketch alongside Larry David that was amazing:



So where do we begin this week? Do we start with trashing the Oscars or do we go into the post-Super Bowl insanity surrounding Beyonce’s appearance at the halftime show? Or do we talk about what republicans were doing behind closed doors when everyone else is focusing on the election? Or do we talk about the Michigan government outlawing sodomy? I know! Let’s talk about all of the above! But who was the big winner or loser this week? Well, you got to go with Ted Nugent (1) for this one as he’s firing on all fours unleashing a brand of good old fashioned, dare I say Nazi-esque, brand of anti Semitism. And he has gone off the deep end, folks, like padded walls deep end. At number 2 is another fascist, and that’s Der Trumpenfuror (2), who might be gaining in the polls, but his son is proving to be just as bat shit crazy as he is. Not to mention he's the subject of an incredible super star filled movie made by Will Ferrell's internet production company Funny Or Die. Coming in at number 3 is former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani (3), who is in the news for trashing Beyonce’s appearance at the Super Bowl for being anti-police, but what was actually in her new song? At number 4, while everyone is paying attention to the polls in New Hampshire, GOP state legislatures (4) are busy quietly passing some unbelievable anti-sodomy laws. At number 5, there’s plenty of cringe-worthy primary madness to talk about (5) which includes Carly Fiorina getting owned by Planned Parenthood, Jeb Bush getting kicked out of a Rotary Club meeting, and Marco Rubio talking about hard stuff. Next, we’re going to play a game of (cue reverb) “you be the judge”. Former Denver Bronco Bill Romanowski (6) is trash talking Cam Newton after the Panthers’ disastrous Super Bowl appearance, but it seems the outrage machine is making some noise and we’ll let you decide if he really is racist or not. At number seven, Ted Cruz (7) has a porn star ad fail and his wife is claiming that he’s on a mission from God. At number 8, John McCain (8) is trashing GOP candidates for using faulty rhetoric, but let’s take a look at some good old fashioned GOP hypocrisy, because history is lost on the GOP. Taking the number 9 seed, is former Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo – who is unleashing an extremely potent dose of some good old fashioned white supremacy. And finally this week, to lighten the mood after a nearly all racist, homophobic, and anti-semitic edition, I’m going to introduce a new feature to the Top 10 – Astonishing Adventures of Florida Man (10). And this week we’ve really got a whopper of a tale from Florida – it appears that a guy threw an alligator through the window of a Wendy’s drive through and is charged with assault with a deadly weapon. This story ranks about a 9.5 out of 10 on my WTF-o-meter. And we're going to close out this list with a bonus idiot for you – Martin Shkreli has a thing for overpriced hip hop. First the Wu, now he has his sights set on Kanye West. Enjoy! And as always don’t forget the key!


[font size="8"]Ted Nugent[/font]


The republican argument on gun control is a lot like a bad thriller movie. You know it’s going to suck going in, and there’s a lot of plot holes and bad arguments and dialogue to get to the payoff. But you sit through it knowing it sucks because you want to get to the twist at the end of the argument. Because after all that’s how they keep you hooked and coming back for more. It’s like a bad Jerry Bruckheimer produced movie directed by M. Night Shymalan. And no matter how many times you have the formula figured out, there’s people who are willing to take it to new and terrifying extremes. Look at Ted “Pants Crap Fever” Nugent. Just like Donald Trump went Full Hitler, Ted Nugent is heading down that path, possibly vying for a VP position with Der Trumpenfuror. But here’s where Ted has gone full Hitler:

Ted Nugent Goes Full-On Jew Hater in Facebook Rant. Nugent posted a photo of prominent Jewish Americans to Facebook with the caption, “So who is really behind gun control?” and put an Israeli flag next to each of their faces

There is and has always been an undercurrent of anti-Semitism in conservative ranks. It rears its ugly head from time to time, such as when Ann Coulter claims Jews are “unperfected” Christians who are therefore oh so close to being actual human beings.

Nothing so “subtle” for Ted Nugent, who recently called Obama a Racist Child-Killing Freak. This time the admitted sexual predator and ex-rocker went to Facebook to publicly air his anti-Semitism, posting a photo with the caption, “So who is really behind gun control?”

The problem is that all those pictured are Jewish, like the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and attorney and pundit Alan Dershowitz, to name just a few.

Just to reinforce that point, Nugent got his Julius Streicher on and put an Israeli flag next to each of their faces:

<snip>
http://www.politicususa.com/2016/02/09/ted-nugent-goes-full-on-jew-hater-rant.html




And of course the NRA is in full “move along, nothing to see here” mode:
NRA Dodges Accountability: "Individual Board Members Do Not Speak For The NRA." After declining to comment to several news outlets, the NRA told The Washington Post on February 10 that "individual board members do not speak for the NRA."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/02/10/gun-rights-advocates-urge-nra-to-remove-ted-nugent-from-board-over-anti-semitic-outburst/?tid=sm_tw


First off Ted – a word of advice – when you’re in a hole, stop digging!!!

In the ensuing controversy, Nugent has been condemned by diverse voices including civil rights groups, Jewish organizations, and both gun safety groups and pro-gun organizations and writers. Several organizations called on the NRA to remove Nugent from its board of directors. (Nugent was praised by white nationalists, and his support for Ted Cruz is still displayed prominently on the GOP contender's website.)

In a February 11 interview with an unnamed questioner, available only on his Facebook page, Nugent suggested that his critics are "mentally challenged" and said, "To attack me one would have to not only play devil's advocate, one would actually be the devil's advocate or more probably the devil itself." To deny charges of anti-Semitism, Nugent stated, "I admire and love my good Jewish friends even more than usual because of their valiant dedication to 'Never Again!'"

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/02/12/amid-anti-semitism-controversy-nras-nugent-atta/208561


But it gets better – he’s actively attempting to justify it by calling himself a “black man” and a “war hero”. Even Robert Downey Jr.’s Kirk Lazarus character from the 2008 flick Tropic Thunder is wondering what the hell Ted Nugent is smoking. Hell, I want some of whatever he’s smoking, because it must be some pretty strong shit:

Ted Nugent has had quite a start to 2016, posting anti-Semitic messages on his Facebook page and ludicrously declaring that he is a war hero, all of which came just weeks after he called for President Obama and Hillary Clinton to be killed.
Nugent, a board member of the NRA, kept it up with a bizarre column for WorldNetDaily yesterday in which he said that he is a “Motown black man” who is intent on freeing other black people from their “modern slave masters known as the Democratic Party.”
As a large, in charge, Motown black man my bad-self, who honed my Sonic Baptizm, soul-cleansing soulmusic on the greasy rhythm and blues of the musical funk and roll gods James Brown and Chuck Berry et al., and who learned and then perfected the fine art of American defiance from my hero Rosa Parks, I continue to celebrate nonstop all things good and black.

My motto has always been: Black is beautiful. Minimal exposure to my killer Detroit guitar playing would immediately reveal why I was voted the No. 1 Guitarist Alltime in Michigan a few years back. No cracker can play like that!

If you don’t like it, well funk you very much.

- See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/ted-nugent-declares-he-motown-blac-man-who-will-free-democratic-slaves#sthash.j75lxPGH.dxcz6kHG.dpuf






He didn’t just say “funk you very much” did he? There’s only one person in the entire world who gets to say that phrase in a proper context, and that is Bootsy Collins. And big difference between Bootsy Colllins and Ted Nugent – Bootsy rules, Nugent doesn’t. Not by a long shot. Allow me to channel Kirk Lazarus for a minute: “Don’t go full Hitler, kid. Never, ever go full Hitler.”. In fact to get the stink of Nugent out of the room, let’s play some Bootsy:






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


One of the stranger things that happened in New Hampshire this week is that Vermin Supreme finished fourth in the primaries. This is just how fucked up our political system is. People would actually be willing to vote for a guy who wears a boot on his head and is running on a platform to give America free ponies. This guy:



So how does this factor into this week’s news about Der Trumpenfuror? Well for one thing they’re both crazy candidates running on platforms promising Americans a lot of nonsense and are gaining huge numbers in the polls. Then Der Trumpenfuror’s son is proving that he’s just as batshit crazy as his dad is:

Donald Trump’s son, Eric Trump, appeared on Fox’s On the Record Monday night to explain that waterboarding not only wasn’t torture — it was basically tantamount to frat house shenanigans.
Greta Van Susteren asked Eric Trump to elaborate on his father’s assertion that he would do worse than waterboarding. He explained:
You see these terrorists that are flying planes into buildings, right? You see our cities getting shot up in California. You see Paris getting shot up. And then somebody complains when a terrorist gets waterboarded, which quite frankly is no different than what happens on college campuses and frat houses every day. And, you know, the man would keep this country safe. There is no question about it.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/trumps-son-says-waterboarding-no-different-than-what-happens-in-frat-houses-every-day/


Oh yeah waterboarding is just a harmless frat prank. Move along, nothing to see here. Oh yeah and it’s the kind of thing that gets fraternities kicked off campus. By the way, a Google search for “frats kicked off campus” yields about 2,000,000 results. So colleges aren’t taking this sort of thing sitting down. But the best thing this week about Der Trumpenfuror? Well leave it to Funny Or Die to create a long lost 1980’s TV movie starring Der Trumpenfuror, and based on his book “The Art Of The Deal”:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/11/movies/trump-movie-funny-or-die-johnny-depp.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0

LOS ANGELES — Johnny Depp has played a loopy pirate, a mad hatter and a demon barber. But will he be a convincing Donald J. Trump?

The humor website Funny or Die on Wednesday began streaming a 50-minute comedy that finds Mr. Depp portraying the businessman turned politician, full-blown comb-over and all. Kept a secret for months — no small task in Hollywood — “Funny or Die Presents Donald Trump’s The Art of the Deal: The Movie” was released to coincide with Mr. Trump’s victory on Tuesday in the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary.

“It was a crazy, completely nuts idea that somehow we pulled off,” said Adam McKay, a co-founder of Funny or Die, which also counts Will Ferrell and Judd Apatow as principal partners and produces exclusive material that often features well-known stars. Mr. McKay, the director of “The Big Short,” which is a contender for best picture at the coming Academy Awards, added that the site’s newest skewering of Mr. Trump will “with any luck” annoy the presidential hopeful.

“The Art of the Deal,” which takes its title from Mr. Trump’s 1987 best-selling business advice book, may establish a new Hollywood genre: the fake television movie of the week. As a narrator (the director Ron Howard, playing himself) tells viewers at its start, the movie was made in the 1980s and had Mr. Trump as its writer-producer-director-star. But a football game went into overtime, and so an angry Mr. Trump ordered the prime-time special pulled and forever tucked away in a vault.


If you haven’t seen it yet, you owe it to yourself to watch it. This is why Johnny Depp is one of the greatest actors of our generation – just like playing Whitey Bulger in Black Mass, Depp is almost unrecognizable as Der Trumpenfuror. You’d almost think you were watching the real thing. And I love that they made Robert Durst a business partner.


[font size="8"]Rudy Guiliani[/font]


So while Coldplay was the main attraction at the Super Bowl halftime show this year, Beyonce stole the show – and nearly all the critics agreed. But the racists and sexists out there slammed her performance. There were even reports of it being “too sexual” for a “family friendly program” (those people are Mike Huckabee’s target audience ). But the racists have been out in full force since the show, and can’t seem to shake one particular aspect of Beyonce’s performance:

The anti-Beyhive is planning to protest the "Drunk in Love" singer outside of the NFL Headquarters in Manhattan on Feb. 16, the same day tickets for her “Formation” world tour goes on sale.

The “Run the World” artist faced criticism from politicians including former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Rep. Peter King (R-Long Island) for being “anti-police" following her halftime performance at Sunday's Super Bowl.

“Are you offended as an American that Beyonce pulled her race-baiting stunt at the Superbowl?” the event description said. “Do you agree that it was a slap in the face to law enforcement?”

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/protesters-planning-anti-beyonce-rally-nfl-hq-article-1.2525945?cid=msn


On the same day that a world wide tour goes on sale? You know that you’re going to be outnumbered here, right, race baiters? In the words of one of the funniest movies made in the last ten years – Idiocracy, “Go away, baitin’!”. :lol:

But no one does the baitin’ better than former New York mayor Rudy Guiliani, as he did on the show that I love to make fun of the most, Fox & Friends:
KILMEADE: Mr. Mayor, I also look at the NFL. What do they do? They took control of the halftime because they didn't like what MTV was doing after Janet Jackson got her, her --
DOOCY: Wardrobe malfunction.
KOOIMAN: Wardrobe malfunction.
KILMEADE: After that happened. So didn't they go and review this and say wait a second, why are you -
GIULIANI: Can't you figure out who you're putting on? I mean this is a political position, she's probably going to take advantage of it. You're talking to middle America when you have the Super Bowl, so you can have entertainment. Let's have, you know, decent wholesome entertainment, and not use it as a platform to attack the people who, you know, put their lives at risk to save us.
http://mediamatters.org/video/2016/02/08/fox-amp-friends-slam-beyonceacutes-super-bowl-p/208427

Really? Beyonce used her Super Bowl appearance as a platform to attack police? Funny I watched that same show and I don’t remember that happening. I was too busy being distracted by the lights and colors of the halftime show. I’ve even read the lyrics to the new song that she debuted, I don’t find the words “attack police” anywhere in it:

When he fuck me good I take his ass to Red Lobster, cause I slay
If he hit it right, I might take him on a flight on my chopper, cause I slay
Drop him off at the mall, let him buy some J’s, let him shop up, cause I slay

I want some of whatever these guys are smoking, that’s all.


[font size="8"]GOP State Legislatures[/font]


So we can all admit that this was a pretty cool image from the Super Bowl halftime show, right?



“Believe in love” – because that’s what everybody should be doing. Well not if you saw Twitter after the game on Sunday. Nope. You would see such angry, hateful comments as “All the halftime show did was promote homosexuality”. And “Basically a homo pride celebration during halftime… and that’s one reason why our country has gone down”, or my favorite angry 13 year old tweet – “That was the GAYEST halftime show I’ve ever seen like straight up homo” Uh….. what? Homosexuality is served straight up with no chaser? I didn’t know it was a drink! Well, as you may know Uganda and Russia have been under international scrutiny for enacting some of the toughest anti-LGBT laws not seen anywhere else in the world. Well, if laws passed in South Dakota and Michigan are any indication, the US might join them. Yay! Three countries all run by right wing religious extremists telling people who can and can’t get laid! What great examples of humanity!
The South Dakota House of Representatives advanced a measure on a 46-10 vote Monday that would allow people or organizations to discriminate against same-sex couples, unmarried pregnant women or transgender people without jeopardizing state contracts or employment.
The bill's sponsor Rep. Scott Craig, R-Rapid City, said the proposal is about protecting freedom of speech for those with conservative views, but opponents warned the legislation, if approved, would endorse discrimination and could put the state in violation of federal law.
http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/politics/2016/02/08/house-advances-bill-aimed-protecting-conservative-views-sex-marriage/79998670/


And Michigan:

Michigan is one of more than a dozen states that still have sodomy bans on the books, despite the U.S. Supreme Court's 2003 ruling in Lawrence v. Texas declaring them unconstitutional.
Some states' sodomy laws specifically target gay relations, but Michigan's is among those that make oral and anal sex crimes illegal regardless of whether they're same-sex or different-sex. Michigan is also one of several states with a sodomy ban that's intertwined with a prohibition on bestiality – effectively equating the two. The law makes it a felony for anyone to commit "the abominable and detestable crime against nature with mankind or with any animal." If the person is already a sex offender, violations are punishable by life in prison.
http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/johnwright/michigan_senate_passes_bill_saying_sodomy_is_a_felony


Yes this would be a felony punishable by life in fucking prison. Because that’s exactly what both Uganda and Russia are doing and it sets an incredibly dangerous precedent that’s got them in serious trouble with human rights activists. Do we really want the US to go down that path? Hell no!! The mere fact that the laws are on the books in not one, but two states is a slap in the face to freedom.


[font size="8"]Cringe Worthy Primary Madness[/font]


So in what has to be one of the most cringe worthy moments of the entire primary cycle, Jeb! got kicked out of a New Hampshire Rotary Club meeting:



And in an even more cringe worthy moment, on the subject of republicans and creepy, implied sexual innuendo, Marco Rubio had this to say while eating a Twix bar:



“I just bit into a Twix bar and I go, ‘Man this Twix bar’s got something really hard in it,’” Rubio said of the incident, according to The Wall Street Journal. “And I go, ‘Oh my gosh, I cracked my tooth.’”

http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/269147-rubio-cracks-tooth-on-candy-bar




But what has to be the best thing is now that we’re finally out of New Hampshire and heading out toward Super Tuesday, we can expect a lot of conservative idiocy. Thankfully, we won’t have Mike Huckabee, Chris Christie, or Carly Fiorina to deal with anymore. And Planned Parenthood had some lovely parting words for Carly:

If you have not heard, lying, “baby parts”-obsessed windbag Carly Fiorina has dropped out of the presidential race. This is, of course, completely unsurprising given her poll numbers, which have traditionally been firmly in the gutter ever since it became common knowledge that the felons who created her favorite propaganda videos had heavily and deceptively edited them.
On Wednesday, Fiorina joined fellow (former) 2016 hopeful Chris Christie in dropping out of the race.
“While I suspend my candidacy today, I will continue to travel this country and fight for those Americans who refuse to settle for the way things are and a status quo that no longer works for them,” Fiorina said as she pretended she has accomplished anything more than helping convince a right-wing terrorist to shoot up a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado.
As part of her outgoing message to “girls and women across the country,” Fiorina made it clear that females should not feel they have “to vote a certain way or for a certain candidate because you’re a woman” (*cough*HillaryClinton*cough*).
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2016/02/10/planned-parenthood-tells-carly-fiorina-to-go-fck-herself-on-the-way-out-the-door-tweets/


Where’s Nelson when you need him? Oh here he is:




[font size="8"]Bill Romanowski[/font]


Allow me to play devil’s advocate for a minute. We’re going to play a game called “You be the judge”. Notice that I didn’t use the “racism” icon because we’re going to talk about the internet outrage machine. It’s getting ridiculous folks. So after the Super Bowl, former Denver Bronco and current anti violence poster boy Bill Romanowski posted this on Twitter:



Sure, Cam Newton threw that famous temper tantrum at the Super Bowl which caught world wide attention. But Eli Manning was just as big of a dick if not worse than Newton. Well here’s where the whole thing might have been misconstrued and taken out of context like the internet outrage machine tends to do all the time:

Former NFL standout Bill Romanowski is a racist.
Last night, after Cam Newton, who broke records for being sacked in the Super Bowl, saw his dreams of winning the game dashed. After it was over, as expected, he was utterly dejected.
This is normal, but black men are not often given the space to be emotional or expressive without being subjected to white anger.
Romanowski, a former Denver Bronco with a bad reputation, could not wait to chime in. In a now deleted tweet, he said “You’ll never last in the NFL with that attitude. The world doesn’t revolve around you, boy! #CamNewton”
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/king-bill-romanowski-calling-cam-newton-boy-racist-article-1.2523980


But no! He’s not racist! He told TMZ that he claims that he loved the show “Good Times”!

Ex-NFL star Bill Romanowski says he honestly had no idea the term "boy" could be used as a racial slur -- and says he apologizes to Cam Newton from the bottom of his heart. Romanowski joined the guys on the "TMZ Sports" show (airing Monday at 9 PM PT on FS1) -- and we asked him straight up about the tweet that many people condemned as racist.
The tweet in question -- Bill had tweeted to Cam Newton, "The world doesn't revolve around you, boy!"
Bill says he takes full responsibility for using the word -- and addresses Chad Johnson who had tweeted -- "Boy? You never watched Good Times Bill?"
Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2016/02/08/bill-romanowski-cam-newtonim-not-racist-tmz-sports/#ixzz3zsqnMKHF

See, this is where I think the internet outrage machine takes things way too far. As is often the case with Mr. Romanowski. Sure, he has a history of being a complete dick to people, and has a well known history of violence, but no, let’s call him out for using the word “boy” in the wrong context. But here’s where Mr. Romanowski might be considered a racist – he threatened Cam Newton:

Romanowski was asked whom he'd rather hit, Newton or Peyton Manning, and how it would go down. Here was his response on the Carolina Panthers quarterback:
"Cam Newton. Are you kidding me? I'd hit him as hard as I possibly could, and probably at the bottom of the pile I'd try to get him by the neck and choke him. Hopefully he can't breathe for a long time."
http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/super-bowl-50-carolina-panthers-cam-newton-bill-romanowski-choke-020416


OK now I’m starting to think that Tweet might actually be racist. But… you be the judge!


[font size="8"]Ted Cruz[/font]


In what has to be one of the most cringe worthy moments of the primaries so far, let’s talk about Ted Cruz, the current winner in the primaries. First off, his new ad airing in New Hampshire features the star of a movie called “Kinky Sex Club” and “Sex Spa II: Body Work” (did he see Sex Spa I?):


Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz's campaign pulled an ad after it was revealed one of the actresses in it has been in adult movies.

Buzzfeed was the first to report the campaign had pulled the ad, titled "Conservatives Anonymous," from its website after it learned actress Amy Lindsay has been in films with names such as "Confessions of a Lap Dancer," "Kinky Sex Club," and "The Sex Spa II: Body Work."

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/02/ted_cruz_pulls_ad_after_learni.html


And if you guessed he pulled it – you are correct!



And further, Ted Cruz loves to play the Jesus card doesn’t he? I mean he goes so far out of his way to prove that he’s the more godly candidate than the next, that Ted Cruz and his wife both are resorting to saying stupid shit like this:

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/heidi-cruz-ted-running-show-country-face-god-we-serve
Sen. Ted Cruz’s wife Heidi, who has been campaigning for her husband full-time over the past several months, explained the role of faith in the Texas Republican’s presidential campaign yesterday, telling a South Carolina radio host that Cruz is running to “show this country the face of the God that we serve.”

Cruz’s father Rafael made a similar statement last month when he said that Ted, whom he has implied was chosen by God for the White House, was running for president to “share the love of Jesus Christ” with “every person in America.”

Heidi Cruz told South Carolina radio host Vince Coakley yesterday that even if she were not married to Ted, she’d be trying to work on his campaign because “this country is in crisis and this individual has an incredible talent to bring us out of this crisis.”


So Ted, are you and Heidi now channeling Elwood and Jake? Are you on a mission from God?




[font size="8"]John McCain[/font]


So torture… we can all agree is horrible, right? And who is the worst person in the world to ask about it? The one guy who was actually tortured in real life when he spent 3 years in a POW camp while serving Vietnam. Even after all these years, you think John McCain would be the one who’d be actively campaigning against torture, am I not correct about that? Well here, he unleashes the hypocrisy you’d come to expect from former Bush officials, especially the one guy who wanted to “bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb Iran”.
On the day of the New Hampshire primary, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., sharply criticizes current Republican presidential candidates for their positions favoring waterboarding. (Photo: AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Former GOP presidential nominee and prisoner of war John McCain wants Republicans seeking the White House to stop speaking so casually in favor of waterboarding, a form of torture which was used to interrogate prisoners in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and was found to be in violation of international human rights standards.
The issues of torture and waterboarding have been a surprise focus heading into Tuesday’s first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary. On Monday night, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump “had a lot of fun” repeating a vulgar word used by a supporter to describe opponent Ted Cruz because the Texas senator hedged on a waterboarding question in Saturday night’s debate. Cruz said of waterboarding that he would not “bring it back in any sort of widespread use.” While Cruz left the door open to the maligned practice in some cases, Trump has supported its return unequivocally.
https://www.yahoo.com/politics/mccain-blasts-republicans-for-loose-talk-on-185546253.html

So between John McCain and Eric Trump let’s look the other way on torture because it’s just a harmless frat boy prank, am I not right about that? Well let’s revisit some history from his former vice presidential candidate and current “Hunter Barbie” figure Sarah Palin:
Sarah Palin said in a speech over the weekend that the controversial practice of waterboarding should be known as "how we baptize terrorists."
In a speech to the National Rifle Association on Saturday night, Palin said she would reinstitute the practice, which President Obama has labeled a form of torture. Those undergoing waterboarding have water poured over a cloth covering their face to simulate the feeling of drowning.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2014/04/28/palin-waterboarding-is-how-we-baptize-terrorists/


Yeah we’re just baptizing the terrorists by cutting off their air supply and pouring freezing cold water on them. To quote Stephen Colbert – “This just in – Jesus has quit!”.




[font size="8"]Phil Anselmo[/font]


I’ve said before in previous editions that I love the metal, and just about all kinds of rock music. And it saddens me that I have to include this entry in my list this week. Talk about spoiling a party and ruining what was otherwise a nice tribute. So Dimebag Darrell was an awesome dude and a great frontman for one of the best heavy metal bands of the late 80’s, early 90’s. And we can all agree that him getting gunned down on stage by a crazed lunatic just playing a gig is one of the saddest tragedies in music, am I not right about that? Well every year since his tragedy, mourners gather in Los Angeles to pay tribute to the late Dimebag. This year’s bash was attended by another one of the all time greats in rock music – and that’s Dave Grohl. Here’s a clip of Dave performing a very moving tribute to Dimebag covering Pink Floyd’s classic “Wish You Were Here”:



And here’s where things went south. Dimebag’s Pantera costar Phil Anselmo got caught with his racist pants down. Video of this is available on Youtube, and I won’t link to it out of the interest of keeping this NSFW friendly.

Metal musicians have condemned Pantera frontman Philip Anselmo after he was filmed last week giving a Nazi salute and shouting “white power”.
Anselmo was filmed by a fan at the Dimebash event on 22 January, a tribute to Pantera’s late guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott. He claimed at first he had been making a joke about the white wine served to performers at the event, who included Dave Grohl and members of Metallica, and said: “I fucking love everyone, I fucking loathe everyone, and that’s that. No apologies from me.”
He backtracked on that on Saturday, when he issued a statement on Housecore Records’ YouTube channel, saying:
“Philip H Anselmo here, and I’m here to basically respond to all the heat I’ve been getting that I deserve completely.
“I was at the Dimebash, and it was extremely late at night. There was heavy-duty talk between myself and those who love Dime. And heavy emotions were flowing, jokes were made backstage that transpired upon the stage, and it was ugly. It was uncalled for. And anyone who knows me and my true nature knows that I don’t believe in any of that; I don’t want to be part of any group. I’m an individual, and I am a thousand percent apologetic to anyone that took offence to what I said because you should have taken offence to what I said. And I am so sorry, and I hope you just … man, give me another chance to … just give me another chance. I love all of you. And anyone who’s met me, anyone who knows me knows that I love all of you. Bless you.”
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/feb/01/metal-community-condemns-racism-phil-anselmo-nazi-salute-white-power




So... your claim of “white power” was actually referring to your white zinfandel? To quote one of my favorite flicks, Super Troopers, “I'll believe that when me shit turns purple and smells like rainbow sherbert.” Sorry Phil, but you forget that you live in the Internet age, and there’s no such things as take backs. You made a white power salute and got caught on tape with your racist pants down. But why is it back in the news this week? Corey Taylor of Slipknot / Stone Sour fame gave an interview in which he explains – and nails – metal’s huge problem with racism.

Answering fan questions for The Guardian, Taylor said that he had "kept mum for the most part" about the incident because "I wasn't there. So I don't know the background on what happened, I haven't seen the video of it - though I've been told by many people that it's blatant, and there's no way to misrepresent what was done."

Taylor added: "I will say this. This is a bigger problem than what happened that night. Slipknot has dedicated itself to bringing people together, to fighting racism, to fighting hate in general since the day we were started. I don't have time for people who judge other people by the colour of their skin. If that in itself offends some of my fans, then I'm sorry, you're wrong. I don't ever want our fans to feel like we're judging them because of colour, religion, culture, upbringing, etc. We welcome everyone, we always have and we always will."

While admitting that racism "is a problem in metal" and "across the board in music", Taylor remained confident that "it will take very little to eradicate racism from [the metal community] because the majority of it isn't racist".

Read more at http://www.nme.com/news/slipknot/91389#DIK2EM6vpaw4FbMD.99


Well said, Mr. Taylor. Well said.


[font size="8"]Astonishing Adventures Of Florida Man[/font]


Ah, Florida. As Tracy Morgan once called it on an episode of one of my favorite shows of all time, 30 Rock, “The penis of America”. So you guys and gals by now know that I am dedicated to bringing the crazy extra hard for the 10th spot for the Top 10, am I right about that? Well, what’s crazier than a guy who threw a live alligator through the window of a Wendy’s drive through, then telling the police that he’s a fan of the late Steve Irwin? The only thing that would be crazier is if crap literally started spewing out of Alex Jones’ mouth. Roll tape!


Authorities in Florida have arrested a man accused of throwing a live alligator through a restaurant’s drive-through window.
Investigators identified Joshua James, of Jupiter, Fla., as the man who tossed the 3½-foot reptile into a Wendy’s last fall, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission incident report.
He faces three charges related to the incident: aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; unlawful sale, possession or transporting of an alligator; and petty theft. James, 24, was taken into custody and booked into the Palm Beach County Detention Center on Monday, as first reported by NBC affiliate WPTV.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/02/09/assault-with-a-deadly-weapon-florida-man-charged-with-throwing-live-alligator-into-wendys/


Oh starts out innocently enough. Just some Wendy’s employees pulling the night shift when they suddenly get the surprise of a live fucking alligator being thrown the drive through window. And it would even be weirder than that if it was a fucking alligator, wouldn’t it? Hey o!!!

Let’s continue:
The driver, wearing a baseball hat backward, arrived at the drive-through window to receive a large drink just before 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 11, according to the report’s summary of surveillance footage.
“While the attendant has her back to the window and is at her register, the male driver reaches across the inside of his vehicle in the passenger area and throws an alligator from his vehicle into the drive through window,” the report reads.
A photograph in the report shows the American alligator flat with its legs splayed on the fast-food restaurant’s kitchen floor. An officer responding to the incident captured the alligator, taped its jaws shut “for safety” and released it into a nearby canal, according to the report.


Backwards baseball hat? Check. Pulling into a drive through window for a large jug of caffeine and sugar for an all night bender? Check. Throwing something, much less a live animal at fast food employees? Check. Mate. But that arrest report brings up many questions. First – well, first being “why?????”. Second - “possession of an alligator” is a criminal offense in Florida? Really? Is that the only state in the union where this is a crime? And how big was this alligator? According to the article, it was not a full grown one – this one was just 3 and a half feet long. But here’s where it gets weird:

Once approached by authorities, James admitted to having picked up the alligator along the side of a road, driving to Wendy’s and throwing the beast through the drive-through window.
A judge on Tuesday ordered James to stay away from all Wendy’s restaurants, to avoid possessing any weapons, to get a mental health evaluation and to limit his contact with animals to his mother’s dog, according to WPTV.
James’s parents described him to the TV station as an outdoorsman and harmless prankster, adding that he viewed famous crocodile hunter and conservationist Steve Irwin as an idol.


You know James, the name of the show was “Steve Irwin: Crocodile Hunter”, not, “Steve Irwin, Alligator Tosser”. Talk about missing the point of the show. I mean seriously, this is one of the biggest epic fails of a story that I have heard in quite some time. But while the prank was far from dangerous, here’s just what could have happened if an alligator of that size actually did attack someone:

James P. Ross, a retired scientist at the University of Florida's Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, said a 3.5-foot alligator would likely weigh about 20 to 30 pounds, and its hard body could deliver quite a jolt if it struck someone.
He said the gator's bite would be comparable to a dog's and would be unlikely to cause serious injury or snap off a finger, although it could tear tendons. Perhaps the biggest concern would be infection if a bite went untreated, he said.
"The alligator would be unlikely to 'attack' people and more likely to be in a highly traumatized and frightened defensive mode," he said. "It could, and quite likely would, snap and lunge at anyone approaching it closely and could project its head and jaws 12 to 18 inches in most any direction."
http://abc7.com/news/man-accused-of-hurling-alligator-through-wendys-drive-thru-window/1193923/

This story might be an epic fail on just about every sense of the term, but James will have a story to tell at parties for decades, assuming he doesn’t get attacked by an alligator first.



[font size="8"]BONUS IDIOT:[/font]
[font size="8"]Martin Shkreli [/font]


I wouldn’t let you get out of here without giving you a bonus, could I? Because what kind of host would that make me? Not a very good one if you ask me! So Martin Shkreli, you know him best as Pharma Bro, and you know that in multiple previous issues, I have discussed his on again, off again feud with the Wu Tang Clan. I would save this for next week, but this is too damn good to leave off this week. But let's start with Kanye West's insane set of rules for performers for his ego stroking album premiere in New York City this week. Well now it appears he has his sights set on another overpriced rap album and that’s Kanye Wests’ “The Story Of Pablo” which he revealed to the public yesterday in a batshit crazy press conference Kanye style:

Late on Thursday afternoon at Madison Square Garden — after weeks of intrigue, changed plans, adjusted track lists and scrapped album titles — the rapper-slash-designer debuted his third Yeezy collection for Adidas and his defiant seventh solo album, “The Life of Pablo,” simultaneously on the city’s biggest stage.
Well, not quite on stage. A relatively low-key Mr. West, casual in a black cap and burgundy long-sleeve T-shirt promoting the album, played M.C. for the event from the floor behind the sound booth, where he’d plugged in a laptop to blast his new music at earsplitting volume.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/12/arts/music/kanye-west-yeezy-season-3-life-of-pablo.html


Kanye West does something low key for a change? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha… wait a minute.. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. I mean come on, he had the fucking launch party at Madison Square Garden! And it was broadcast in movie theaters all around the country! But here’s a guy who he shares something in common with – a massive ego and more money than brains – and that’s Pharma-Douche Martin Shkreli. Well here’s where Shkreli wants to buy the only copy of “The Life Of Pablo” available right now – for the low low price of $10 million. Oh and he also owes the IRS $4.5 million.


http://finance.yahoo.com/news/martin-shkreli-just-offered-kanye-222435409.html#
Martin Shkreli, former pharmaceutical CEO who gained infamy last year for raising the prices of a drug taken by HIV patients, has an offer he doesn’t think rapper Kanye West can refuse.

Shkreli is offering West and his record company $10 million for the new album, which West has been promoting for weeks through a series of increasingly bizarre tweets. The deal requires that only Shkreli get the album, with no broad release. As is his usual course of action, Shkreli announced his offer to the public on Twitter, including a tweet with a picture of the letter he claims he sent to West.

This isn’t the first time he’s been in the news for his hip-hop dealings. He paid $2 million for the only copy of the Wu-Tang Clan record “Once Upon A Time in Shaolin” and has since gotten into a public spat with Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah.

It isn’t clear that Shkreli could actually pay the $10 million, as Gawker has reported he owes $4.5 million in unpaid taxes.


Can we get a Kickstarter going to raise the $15 million needed to make this happen? Maybe we can we end Kanye’s madness before it starts? Well there’s at least one way to solve that problem! Come on let’s get it going! At least they have a song they can share together:



Baby, I’m awesome… awesome… y’all know…

See you next week!
February 11, 2016

Ted Nugent Claims He Is A "Motown Black Man" Who Will "Free Democratic Slaves"

Ted Nugent has had quite a start to 2016, posting anti-Semitic messages on his Facebook page and ludicrously declaring that he is a war hero, all of which came just weeks after he called for President Obama and Hillary Clinton to be killed.

Nugent, a board member of the NRA, kept it up with a bizarre column for WorldNetDaily yesterday in which he said that he is a “Motown black man” who is intent on freeing other black people from their “modern slave masters known as the Democratic Party.”

As a large, in charge, Motown black man my bad-self, who honed my Sonic Baptizm, soul-cleansing soulmusic on the greasy rhythm and blues of the musical funk and roll gods James Brown and Chuck Berry et al., and who learned and then perfected the fine art of American defiance from my hero Rosa Parks, I continue to celebrate nonstop all things good and black.

My motto has always been: Black is beautiful. Minimal exposure to my killer Detroit guitar playing would immediately reveal why I was voted the No. 1 Guitarist Alltime in Michigan a few years back. No cracker can play like that!

If you don’t like it, well funk you very much.

- See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/ted-nugent-declares-he-motown-black-man-who-will-free-democratic-slaves#sthash.j75lxPGH.8U9UiniJ.dpuf


Funk you very much??? WTF is he smoking? He's not Bootsy Collins. Only Bootsy gets to say that!

February 11, 2016

Vermin Supreme Finishes Fourth In NH Primaries

Sporting a boot on his head, Supreme is a fixture in New Hampshire politics, where he has run for president seven times. In a recent interview with FOX25 News, he described the four planks of his platform:

1) Mandatory tooth-brushing laws ("Gingivitis has been eroding the gumline of this great nation of ours for long enough and must be stopped.&quot ;

2) Time travel research ("I'm the only candidate who is willing to fully fund time travel, go back in time and kill baby Hitler with my bare hands before he's even born.&quot ;

3) Zombie preparedness ("I am the only candidate who has a plan to protect America from the imminent zombie invasion and I will be harnessing the awesome power of zombies to create electric energy utilizing the latest in giant hamster wheel technology.&quot ; and

4. Free ponies for all Americans ("A federal pony identification system and you must have your pony with you at all times.&quot .

It's worth noting that he is not the only candidate who has said he would kill baby Hitler. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said, "hell yeah, I would" when asked about it in November.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/vermin-supreme-finishes-fourth-in-new-hampshire-democratic-primary/


I am loving this.

In case you're unaware, Vermin Supreme is this guy:

February 8, 2016

Top 10 Conservative Idiots #14: Take My Brother, Please! Edition


Top 10 Conservative Idiots #14: Take My Brother, Please! Edition

Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! Well another Super Bowl and Iowa Caucus have come and gone. Well the Super Bowl – there were a lot of highlights and a few low lights (don't get me started on how much I utterly despise Mountain Dew's “puppy monkey baby” commercial). Congratulations to the Denver Broncos and Peyton Manning. Time to go out on a high note, Peyton! Panthers – you put up a good fight, and you can sleep easier knowing that your championship hats and t-shirts are going to be clothing Africa's impoverished children. First off, I love that Stephen Colbert took the liberty of moderating a Trump Vs. Trump panel:





There was a lot of conservative idiocy for Iowa Caucuses. Almost too much. But the biggest loser of all of them was easily Jeb! (1). The Jeb! campaign is so desperate to regain its' former glory that its' easily taking the top spot this week. And celebrate good times come on! I'm of course talking about the fact that stupid loser Der Trumpenfuror (2) came in second in the Straw Poll, but he's not taking it sitting down. Oh no good sir/madam, Der Trumpenfuror is pissed and we'll tell you all about it! At number 3 and 4, we're going to recap the Iowa straw poll and all the madness including Ben Carson flying to Florida for a “change of clothes”, the debate intro fail, Michelle Bachmann calling Obama the antichrist, and we're going to take a look at some GOP marketing fails from Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. Returning champion Michigan governor Rick Snyder (5) falls to fifth place this week, but he's not leaving this list until he resigns or is arrested. Next, we're going to introduce you to a men's rights activist named Dariyush Valizadeh (6) and something about this creep tells me that he should be on a registered sex offender list or two. Ted Cruz (7) is getting an endorsement from a pastor who thinks that Ted Cruz was appointed by God to run the US, while a reporter who attended a Cruz rally has the exact opposite opinion. At number 8, last place contestant and current Ohio governor John Kasich (8) says that if he's elected president he'll reunite Pink Floyd. Good luck with that, John! Taking the 9th seed is the Bundy Bunch (9) who are finally behind bars, but the Malhuer occupation is far from over. Finally – the Oscars aren't the only thing committing some racially sensitive marketing fails (10). We're going to take a look at some extremely poorly planned marketing decisions including a Sacramento Kings promo fail and a Detroit ad agency's planned “ghetto day”. Enjoy! And as always don't forget the key!


[font size="8"]Jeb![/font]


Before we begin this entry, we need the appropriate music, and like my favorite podcast, read this entry in your best Casey Kasem voice. Can we get some sad Hulk music?



Jeb! has a sad. Seems he can’t even buy votes. But the sinking ship known as the Jeb! campaign is so far beyond saving that it’s almost impossible to recover. In fact Jeb! is so desperate to regain the lead in his campaign that he's resorting to get help from the one family member who he thinks can be a real game changer.

Former President George W. Bush will appear in a television ad produced by the super PAC supporting younger brother Jeb Bush's White House bid starting this weekend in South Carolina, NBC News has confirmed.

The Right to Rise ad, titled "First Job," is not affiliated with the candidate's official campaign and features the former president speaking to the camera while photos of his brother pan across the screen.
"I know Jeb," George W. Bush says. "I know his good heart and his strong backbone."

Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/george-w-bush-appear-ad-supporting-brother-n511626


Yup! It's (thankfully former) President Dim Son! *Bush impression* Vote for my brother! He he he... you'll essentially be voting for me again! He should have packed it in, after placing behind Ben Carson in Iowa. But nope, he appears to be running a reverse campaign. Roll tape!



That’s Jeb! actually instructing an audience to “please clap”. And before we go further, go back to the video. Notice that guy in the blue and white striped shirt sitting directly behind Jeb! ? He's so bored he looks like he's about to fall off his chair and go to sleep. That's how dull the Jeb! campaign really is. Here’s more:

“If you look at their records, they’re gifted in how they speak, but what about their life experience?” Mr. Bush said at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, likening the two to President Obama, who was elected president after less than four years in the Senate. “Is there something in their past that would suggest they have the capability of making a tough decision?”

Yet there are signs Mr. Bush may still have some work to do.Speaking at the Hanover Inn near the Vermont border on Tuesday, Mr. Bush finished a fiery riff about protecting the country — “I won’t be out here blow-harding, talking a big game without backing it up,” he said — and was met with total silence.

“Please clap,” he said, sounding defeated.

The crowd laughed — and then, finally, clapped.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/04/us/politics/jeb-bush-an-also-ran-in-iowa-may-be-pivotal-in-new-hampshire.html?_r=0


And what the fuck is with republicans and creepy, implied innuendo? Did you not catch the part of the article where Jeb! told an 18 year old audience member that he “wanted to be his first”? And in case you were wondering, no, that's not your dirty mind thinking dirty thoughts, but yes, he’s talking about voting. But in New Hampshire now, an even different atmosphere awaits the Jeb! Campaign, where a reporter described the atmosphere in the room as if he'd been in a funeral home. But what’s even sadder for the Jeb! campaign is that as I said earlier, he can’t even buy votes. *Casey Kasem voice* Here’s how you too can make a quick $50 by attending a Jeb! campaign stop in Des Moines:


Someone is paying people to attend a campaign event this afternoon for Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's lagging campaign. Or so claims a mysterious flyer that was allegedly circulated in Des Moines today.

The flyer, which was tweeted out by staffers for a rival campaign and super PAC on Monday, offers cash for individuals who show up to -- and sit through -- a Bush rally at an Embassy Suites in Des Moines, which began at noon Monday. Bush's campaign quickly denied on Twitter any connection to the flyer or the offer for cash, but did not respond to a VICE News request to discuss the incident Monday.

During the Bush event today, a heckler stood up and shouted: "We've been here for two and a half hours and haven't gotten paid yet! Where's that $50?"

The heckler was soon removed from the room, amid shouting from Bush supporters who began chanting: "Jeb! Jeb! Jeb!"
https://news.vice.com/article/mystery-entity-offers-to-pay-people-to-attend-jeb-bush-rally-in-iowa


Were these supporters thrilled to actually be in the same room as Jeb! or were they just happy to get their $50? And that shout out goes to the one person in Des Moines who showed up too late to collect their $50. I’m Casey Kasem.


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




Celebrate good times come on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One down, 49 to go. I’m of course talking about the fact that Der Trumpenfuror lost the first of what will hopefully be many elections. Before we get into the madness that is the Donald Trump campaign this week, first open a new tab on your browser and go to www.loser.com. Go ahead, we’ll wait.

But first, the New York Daily News is once again nailing it:



Pretty funny, am I not right about that? Well, defeat is something that comes natural to Donald Trump, but he doesn’t take it very well. In fact, he’s not taking it sitting down, and is actually going, well, batshit crazy Trump style.

After accusing Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) of "illegally" stealing a win from the Iowa caucuses, Donald Trump said Wednesday that he'll "probably" sue over the results of the vote.
Trump said this in an interview on Boston Herald Radio, that was flagged by BuzzFeed.
When asked if he would file a formal complaint over the caucuses' results, Trump replied, "probably."
"What did is unthinkable," Trump said, later stating that Cruz was a "really fraudulent" character.
Earlier in the day, Trump fired off a raging tweetstorm accusing Cruz of cheating in Iowa. Trump even suggested the Republican Party take the unprecedented step of holding a do-over election in Iowa or nullifying Cruz's results.

Read more: http://www.aol.com/article/2016/02/03/trump-i-will-probably-sue-because-ted-cruz-cheated-in-iowa/21307315/


Yes, Donald Trump is so desperate to Make America Great Again, that despite losing out in Iowa, he's threatening to sue Ted Cruz for election tampering. Somebody call the whambulance! But that's not the only thing plaguing Der Trumpenfuror's campaign. It appears that he has been using much loved music superstar Adele's music without her permission, and she responded by not just calling out Der Trumpenfuror, but all American politicians can't use her music without express written permission:

When we think of Donald Trump, we don't typically think "man who sobs himself to sleep while listening to Adele on repeat." But apparently, the super normal and totally tolerant presidential hopeful loves the British singer's music so much that he's been playing her hits at political rallies. Pshhhh, what now?
Fans alerted Adele to Trump's fan-boying when "Rolling in the Deep" was played after Sarah Palin's endorsement, and let's just say there was a general feeling of "NOPE."
http://www.marieclaire.com/politics/news/a18393/adele-trump-music-ban/

Trump must really be rolling in the deep if he's being slammed by one of the world's most loved singers right now. And how did he lose in Iowa? Why he has no idea how to run a campaign!

http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/02/donald-trump-explains-iowa-loss
The post-Iowa reckoning continued Wednesday morning, with Donald Trump speed-dialing into MSNBC’s Morning Joe for an awkward postmortem. Trump, who has been the Republican presidential poll-leader for months, placed second in the Iowa caucuses Monday night, three percentage points behind Ted Cruz....

“I think we could have used a better ground game, a term I wasn’t even familiar with,” Trump said. “You know, when you hear ‘ground game,’ you say what the hell is that? Now I’m familiar with it. But, you know, I think in retrospect we should have had a better ground game. I would have funded a better ground game, but people told me our ground game was fine. And by most standards it was.”...

Trump may not have had a ground game, but he proved perfectly willing to pay the pander game. In the run-up to the caucuses, he expressed hope that his daughter Ivanka Trump would give birth in Iowa, and shared some newfound skepticism about Obergefell v. Hodges, in which the Supreme Court ruled to extend marriage equality to the entire nation.

“The caucus system is a complex system and I was never familiar with it,” Trump said on Wednesday. “I mean, I was never involved with the caucus system. Don’t forget, Joe, I’m doing this for the first time. I’m like a rookie and I’m learning fast and I do learn fast, and I think we’re doing really—I think we did very well.”


Well since the primaries next head to New Hampshire, who knows what kind of lunacy awaits us? But one thing we can be sure of – Donald Trump is a loser for now! And while I hate to kick a man while he's down, but considering Donald Trump does that for a living, I will gladly make an exception! And to drive another nail into Trump's campaign coffin, the former president of Mexico says the Mexican people won't pay a dime for his "stupid wall":

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump might want to build a wall across the country's southern border to keep Mexican migrants out but don't expect Mexico to pay for it, the former Mexican president told CNBC, calling the billionaire a "not very well-informed man."

The Presidential hopeful shocked viewers in October by insisting that, if elected, he would build a wall the Mexican border and what's more, Mexico would pay for it. But Felipe Calderon, the former president of Mexico between 2006 and 2012, told CNBC on Saturday that there was no way that Mexico would pay for such a device.

"Mexican people, we are not going to pay any single cent for such a stupid wall! And it's going to be completely useless," Calderon said.

"The first loser of such a policy would be the United States," he added. "If this guy pretends that closing the borders to anywhere either for trade (or) for people is going to provide prosperity to the United States, he is completely crazy."

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/mexico-wont-pay-a-cent-for-trumps-stupid-wall/ar-BBpeJIY?li=BBnbfcL




Though if Der Trumpenfuror should make it past Super Tuesday, I think I have the perfect running mate for him - another crazy TV clown who speaks of insane fairy tales:



Trump / Supreme 2016!


[font size="8"]Straw Poll Special – Part 1[/font]


Now that we got stupid loser Der Trumpenfuror out of the way, there was so much more to Iowa that made it immensely entertaining. So much that it was nearly impossible to figure out where to start with all the madness. Like Marco Rubio caught repeating himself multiple times during the most recent debate:



But... where else do we begin, but with the guy who, as Bill Maher called him, the “Human Screensaver”, Ben Carson? Well after coming in a distant fourth to Marco Rubio, Ben Carson rushed home to Florida to grab a change of some “fresh clothes”?

Caucus night is inherently wacky and, in a year when the Republican presidential front-runner is a reality TV star, journalists covering the proceedings in Iowa surely anticipated something they've never seen before.
But surely not this.
Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who briefly led the GOP field just a few months ago, announced that after voting concludes in the Hawkeye State, he will not hurry off to campaign in New Hampshire, site of the nation's first primary next Tuesday, like everyone else. Nor will he head to South Carolina, whose primary follows 11 days later.
Instead, he will go home to Florida to rest and — this is the best part — "get some fresh clothes."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/01/ben-carsons-amazing-excuse-for-taking-a-break-from-the-campaign-trail-he-needs-fresh-clothes/


You can’t make a politician like Ben Carson up. His campaign will be the stuff of legend. He is Governor Dunston from 30 Rock.



But next where else do we go? Oh yeah Michelle Bachmann went off the rails and said that Obama is going to reveal that he is the antichrist!

Michele Bachmann is fantasizing about the apocalypse again — but it’s hard to tell if she’s trying to stop it or enthusiastically cheering it on.
The former Republican congresswoman appeared Saturday on the “end times” radio program hosted by Jan Markell and Eric Barger, who she warned that the Syrian civil war was setting up the biblical battle of Armageddon, reported Right Wing Watch.
Bachmann predicted world leaders were poised to grant “legitimacy to the Islamic State,” and she said Russian and Iranian military intervention in Syria was establishing grounds for a future invasion of Israel to seize its energy resources — in accordance with the biblical prophecy.
“I believe that they are positioning themselves so that someday they could invade Israel to be able to take over the vast stores of oil and natural gas that Israel is controlling,” she said.


Oh yes my friends. Heed this warning! Obama will become the antichrist! Because you know the Bible says that the dark one shall pose as creature of light. And so on and so on...

But who's the bigger threat to America – ISIS or conservatives? Well this week Newsweek paints a very grim picture of the republican party – and you guessed it – they are the bigger threat!

The problem is getting worse, although few outside of law enforcement know it. Multiple confidential sources notified the FBI last year that militia members have been conducting surveillance on Muslim schools, community centers and mosques in nine states for what one informant described as “operational purposes.” Informants also notified federal law enforcement that Mississippi militia extremists discussed kidnapping and beheading a Muslim, then posting a video of the decapitation on the Internet. The FBI also learned that right-wing extremists have created bogus law enforcement and diplomatic identifications, not because these radicals want to pretend to be police and ambassadors, but because they believe they hold those positions in a government they have created within the United States. .........

http://www.newsweek.com/2016/02/12/right-wing-extremists-militants-bigger-threat-america-isis-jihadists-422743.html


Why gee who would have guessed it? The biggest threat to America isn't Osama Bin Laden, oh no – it's actually the Bundy Bunch, who we will cover much later in this edition! Huzzah!


[font size="8"]Straw Poll Special – Part II: Electric Boogaloo Die Harder Money Never Sleeps[/font]


People say that politics is boring. Although if we had the amazing musical Hamilton back when I was in high school and American politics and history were told through rap battles, I can guarantee that there would be a lot more politicians around. Well politics is boring, but then there's the Iowa caucuses which come around once every four years and offer some incredible free entertainment that usually trumps the dull January movie slump. And once every four years they bring with them such guilty pleasures as poor marketing fails and the sinking ship that is the Jeb! Campaign which we will cover later in this edition. But first here's how you don't make an introduction:



That intro was so bad that Ben Carson - as expected - fell asleep during it, and it was mocked relentlessly on SNL. But for this part – we're going to start by explaining some extremely poor marketing fails that involve the Ted Cruz campaign. He may have won Iowa, but he is losing in the marketing department!

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/02/04/1480113/-Ted-Cruz-s-Logo-Hilariously-Appropriate

You know that “TrusTed” logo? The one with TRUS and TED merged, yet separated via different colors?

Turns out that when you Google “TRUS”, the logo at once becomes hilarious and hilariously appropriate:
"A transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) is an ultrasound technique that is used to view a man's prostate and surrounding tissues. The ultrasound transducer (probe) sends sound waves through the wall of the rectum into the prostate gland, which is located directly in front of the rectum."

Yup, that’s the very top Google result. Basically, it’s an anal probe.


You see Ted – we have this thing called “Google” that you can type words and phrases into and it will match words and phrases with useful articles that might contain those words and phrases. You should try it sometime. Actually I think all republicans should try it sometime.

Continuing on with the subject of extremely poor marketing fails, Marco Rubio did surprisingly well considering that he placed third behind Ted Cruz and Der Trumpenfuror. But he too is the victim of some bad timing and poor marketing. For $30 – and who wouldn't spend $30 on this bright blue Marco Rubio t-shirt that has the word “bae” on it?



(CNN)Just call him Marco Ru(bae)o.
Marco Rubio's campaign recently has been selling a bright blue T-shirt emblazoned with the Florida senator's smiling face above a millennial-friendly spelling of his last name: "Ru(bae)o."
The unusual spelling of Rubio is a reference to 2015 buzzword "bae," a trendy term of affection, and in keeping with Rubio's efforts to capitalize on his relative youth to appeal to younger voters.
Available at the Rubio campaign store for $30, the item is listed as "Marco Rubio is bae T-shirt." Bumper stickers with the spelling are also on sale for $5.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/03/politics/marco-rubio-bae-shirt/


But what does bae mean? Some say its' an acronym for “before anyone else”. Others think it means “baby” or “sweetheart”. But Urban Dictionary has an entirely different take:


Bæ/bae is a Danish word for poop. Also used by people on the internet who think it means baby, sweetie etc.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Bae


Yup – two of the front runners for the GOP are now both knee deep in shit.


[font size="8"]Rick Snyder[/font]


Speaking of things that are knee deep in shit – we go back to Flint, Michigan for our ever growing coverage of Leadgate. Yeah so I added the word “gate” to the end of another word to make it a scandal worthy name. What are you going to do? Fight me about it? So we can all agree that the Flint clusterfuck is an epic fail on multiple levels, right? Well now it appears that the air in Michigan is just as toxic as the water in Flint. So what is Gov. Snyder doing about fixing this? Nothing and there’s calls for his arrest which probably won’t happen.

High-ranking officials in Governor Rick Snyder’s administration were aware of a surge in legionnaires’ disease potentially linked to Flint’s water long before the Michigan governor reported the increase to the public last month, internal emails show.

After the release of the emails, the Michigan Democratic party called for Snyder to step down on Thursday.

When Snyder disclosed the spike in legionnaires’ cases on 13 January, he said he had learned about it just a couple of days earlier. But emails obtained by the liberal group Progress Michigan through public-records requests show Snyder’s own office was aware of the outbreak since last March. At the time, others in the administration were scrambling to respond to suggestions that bacteria in the city’s new water source, the Flint river, could be the culprit.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/04/governor-rick-snyder-urged-to-quit-flint-water-crisis-emails-legionnaires-outbreak


Gee who woulda thunk it? Why the toxic water is bringing with it – the return of deadly diseases! And yes this is something that Gov. Snyder should absolutely be arrested for. But you know what the governor is doing to help his citizens out? He’s not fixing this, but he’s giving you a 30% discount!
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announced a proposal Wednesday that would allocate state money to pay part of Flint residents’ water bills during the ongoing lead contamination crisis.
Snyder, a Republican, will make the case for the $30 million plan when he presents his budget next week for the coming fiscal year. Pending the state legislature's approval, his proposal would lower residents’ bills by about 30 percent until water is safe to drink, and credit their past bills going back to April 2014. Former residents would also be eligible for refunds.
“I agree with Flint residents, that they should not have to pay for water they cannot drink,” Snyder said in a statement.
The city's problems date back to 2014, when it stopped buying pre-treated Lake Huron water from Detroit as a cost-cutting measure. It began using Flint River water without treating it to prevent corrosion, and the water then wore down the system's aged pipes and leached lead from them.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/flint-water-bills-rick-snyder_us_56b2893ee4b01d80b245188e


*Gets out old timey announcer costume and voice* Step right up folks! Get your Gov. Snyder approved toxic cure all! Wait, did I say toxic? I meant tonic! It is a miracle cure all for everything from the common cold to cancer! Now you get a discount for it folks! First 100,000 Flint residents get a new shiny 30% discount for Gov. Snyder’s miracle cure all!

I give up…


[font size="8"]Daryush Valizadeh[/font]


So in case you aren’t aware of what’s going on in the world, back in Idiots #11, I covered the horrifying New Year’s Eve mass sexual assaults that took place in Cologne, Germany allegedly conducted by an anti-woman terrorist group. The country is still fuming and the local police didn’t seem to get the message. And one person in America definitely didn’t get the message either, and is actually actively trying to make that sort of thing legal. This is not funny and not OK, under any circumstances, do you get that Daryush??

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/feb/2/roosh-v-pro-rape-activist-organizes-covert-meeting/
A blogger who once argued rape should be legal if done on private property has launched an “International Meetup Day” where followers are expected to gather furtively Saturday night in various locations throughout the world.

The website Return of Kings is hosting the event, promising a total of 165 meetings in 43 countries, which will all take place Saturday night. Return of Kings is run by Daryush Valizadeh, better known as Roosh V — a self-described pickup artist who sparked international outrage last year after he authored a blog post supporting “legal rape.”...

Mr. Valizadeh said on Twitter Tuesday night that the blog post was meant to be satire, but the backlash continued. Mayors in the U.K., Australia and Canada have publicly condemned the blogger, and petitions have been launched to revoke his travel rights. A U.K. petition calling for him to banned from the country before scheduled meet-ups in Glasgow, Edinburgh, London and Cardiff has surpassed 50,000 signatures, even though he is not expected to be present at those meetings. Australia’s Immigration Minister Peter Dutton responded to the controversy Tuesday, saying “People who advocate violence against women are not welcome” in the country. Mr. Valizadeh, of Maryland, said he would be joining the activists on Saturday in Washington, D.C. only....

“Up to now, the enemy has been able to exert their power by isolating us and attacking with shrieking mobs, but we’ll be able to neutralize that tactic by amassing in high numbers come February 6,” he wrote, DNAInfo reported. “I will exact furious retribution upon anyone who challenges you in public on that date.”




Does this guy not have any women in his family? And what sick, disgusting men would attend this kind of rally? I know I wouldn’t! In fact part of me wonders if this guy is on a registered sex offender list somewhere, and if not, he should probably be on one, as should most of the people who are going to be attending these meetings and want to see rape legalized. But the nice thing? The first is that they are getting trolled by Anonymous to the point where Valizadeh tweeted to his 19,000 fellow sex offenders that they should change their e-mail addresses:

http://www.sfgate.com/news/nation-world/article/Hacktivists-Anonymous-take-aim-at-legal-rape-6809402.php
When "legal rape" blogger Daryush Valizadeh (also known as Roosh V) invited devoted readers to an international meetup day, the announcement wasn't exactly met with open arms. Actually, in one instance, it was met with boxing gloves. But the threat of physical pain wasn't the only thing that scared the group into cancelling its event.

Valizadeh told members, known as "tribesmen," to be careful after the meetup announcement caught the eyes of hacktivist group Anonymous.

For years, Return of Kings has been called the "worst blog on the Internet" and a "vile troll site." They were even dubbed misogynistic "garbage" by the Ottawa mayor on Wednesday. With its fat shaming, racist commentary and degrading write-ups about women, the site's aggressive reputation preceded its meet-up announcement, prompting the hashtag #TurnAwayReturnofKings.

"Heads up to all forum members: change your emails immediately," Valizadeh tweeted to his nearly 19,000 Twitter followers on Wednesday. "Hacking group that works for media is incoming." The tweet has since been deleted.


But my personal favorite part about this is that it was met with a counter protest by a Toronto women’s boxing club:

http://www.metronews.ca/news/toronto/2016/02/02/toronto-woman-plans-to-crash-roosh-v-meetup-.html
How do you deal with a man who advocates for legal rape? With boxing gloves, according to a group of Toronto women....

Roosh, whose real name is Daryush Valizadeh, has promised to take video of feminists who crash the gatherings so he and his online followers can “tear them up” afterwards.

But the Toronto Newsgirls boxing club isn’t afraid retaliation, online or off. They’re pledging to find the meeting spot and show up in full force, gloves and all.

“Pictures will show up online of women wearing boxing gloves, and blah, blah, blah,” Howe said. “The photos of us will show women that being powerful is an option.


Great job ladies! But can you actually physically fight this guy? Or can we throw this creep in an octagon with Ronda Rousey? I can imagine it would go something like this:



That would be the shortest fight ever. Only fight to ever win by telepathy.


[font size="8"]Ted Cruz[/font]


Ted Cruz may have won Iowa, but he's still a loser, and the 2016 election is still a long way off. And he's still a loser in a lot of aspects. He's certainly the most religiously crazy, and now that Huckabee and Rand Paul are both out, he is going so far out of his way to prove that he's the more manly and godly candidate than the next. Remember this video of him eating bacon that he fired off a machine gun?



Well batshit crazy mega church pastor Kenneth Copeland thinks that Ted Cruz isn't just a mere presidential candidate – no, he's the savior! So if Obama is the antichrist, and Ted Cruz is the savior, then what does that say about these people?

Earlier this year, Ted Cruz's father and primary presidential campaign surrogate, Rafael, spoke at televangelist Kenneth Copeland's church in Texas, where the controversial prosperity gospel preacher declared that Ted Cruz has been anointed by God to be the next president.

Copeland, who believes that he can destroy the Ebola virus by speaking in tongues, introduced the elder Cruz by asserting that "I believe, with all my heart, that his son is called and anointed to be the next president of the United States."

After Cruz spoke for an hour, delivering his standard presentation urging Christians to vote in order to beat back secularism and take control of this nation, Copeland asked him to recount how the Holy Spirit had descended upon a Cruz family prayer session and convinced Ted to seek the presidency, which Rafael took as a sign that "God has raised him up for such a time as this."

Then, several church elders gathered around Cruz in order to lay hands upon him and pray while Eagle Mountain International Church senior pastor George Pearsons proclaimed that "we are in the midst right now of the new birth of this nation."

- See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/kenneth-copeland-declares-ted-cruz-has-been-called-and-anointed-god-be-next-president#sthash.6lusMgqS.dpuf


But how right or wrong is Kenneth Copeland? Well he is wrong, very very very very wrong. One reporter attended a Cruz rally in Iowa and found some incredibly disturbing facts that prove just the opposite of what Pastor Copeland claims.

http://www.salon.com/2016/02/05/the_special_hell_of_a_ted_cruz_rally_what_its_like_to_spend_an_evening_with_the_gops_oiliest_operator/

Cruz is often described as “oily,” but that word doesn’t really do him justice. In fact, he’s so oleaginous he reminds one of the puddles covering the stained cement floor of a Jiffy Lube. It’s not just a physical characteristic – though there is that; the man has a sheen about him – but also one of affect. When he strides out to a rapturous greeting from the crowd and walks along the edge of the stage slapping hands with people in the front row, it feels so studied that I can picture college-age Ted Cruz practicing this move in his Princeton dorm room.

The speech is filled with the usual bullshit that no one will call him on, even in a GOP debate, because all the candidates are trying to appeal to a base that has gone beyond reason and Earth’s orbit. But it’s worth rebutting a few of the lies here, if only for the benefit of future archaeologists picking through the ruins of our civilization if Ted Cruz winds up leading it.

For economic policy, Cruz has a plan to turbocharge the American economy. It seems to go something like this:
•Repeal Obamacare
•Institute a flat tax on all personal and business income
•Economic growth!!!!!


So Ted Cruz is not the savior that the GOP thinks he is. Oh no – he's actually a sleazy snake oil salesman who's not only selling an invisible product, but selling an invisible product that is going to have devastating long term effects on America's economy. Worse than Bush. He's a graduate of the South Park Underpants Gnomes school of business economics: Step 1 – Repeal Obamacare and flat tax businesses and personal income. Step 2 - ? Step 3 – Profit!

See? Even Der Trumpenfuror has an opinion on this one.


[font size="8"]John Kasich[/font]


Politicians – especially republicans – tend to promise some incredibly stupid shit while campaigning. One such politician is dead last candidate, and the current governor of Ohio, John Kasich. At least to give him credit for one thing, he knows what music fans like, and that’s some Pink Floyd. Oh I love me some Pink Floyd. To paraphrase a quote from Homer Simpson - “He who is tired of Pink Floyd is tired of life.” And that is true if you're a music fan. But John Kasich is so far behind in the polls that he's resorting to saying stupid shit like this. Roll tape!


Republican presidential candidate John Kasich placed 8th in last night’s Iowa caucus, earning only 1.9% of the vote. But Kasich knows what the people want — Pink Floyd — and he’s prepared to offer it. The Ohio Governor spoke to CNN about his campaign today, and the interview concluded with Alisyn Camerota asking him about his favorite concert ever. “Pink Floyd’s The Wall,” Kasich replied. “Roger Waters is a remarkable artist. I saw The Wall in Pittsburgh; it was absolutely incredible. I don’t even have to think twice, it was the best. And if I’m president, I am going to once and for all try to reunite Pink Floyd to come together and play a couple songs. And since we have so much trouble in America with our finances, I’m going to start with a little song they created called ‘Money.'” Well, there ya have it! Watch below.
http://www.stereogum.com/1856977/presidential-candidate-john-kasich-promises-to-reunite-pink-floyd-if-elected/video/


Hey! Hey knows what we like, and we apparently love some Pink Floyd. I know I do! But getting Roger Waters and David Gilmour in the same room would be a near impossible feat without them killing each other. But hey… they still tour and they still play Pink Floyd songs, so its’ not like we’re missing much. I am actually going to see David Gilmour in March at the Hollywood Bowl playing behind his great new album “Rattle That Lock”, and of course he’ll be playing some Dark Side and Wish You Were Here era Floyd. Between poison in Flint, our crumbling infrastructure, and our military industrial complex getting unchecked power and government subsidies, is this really what we want our next president focusing all his power on? Besides, we all know what this is really about:






[font size="8"]The Bundy Bunch[/font]


Here's the story of a man named Ammon, who stormed onto some remote government property with his brother. Together they forgot snacks and got dildos instead. Here’s the story of a man named Cliven, who was raising up two very angry sons. Now just like their father, they all share a jail cell in a maximum security prison. And there, they’re known as the Bundy Bunch… the Bundy Bunch! OK that doesn’t have the same ring to it, but it appears that the Malheur madness might finally be coming to an end… or is it?

Well at LaVoy Finicum's funeral – here's Cliven Bundy being treated like a discount Don Corleone:



But let's roll tape on the latest statement from the Bundy Bunch regarding Ammon's arrest:



But will they get bail or won't they get bail? Both Ammon and Ryan Bundy, and John “Sworn Oath” Ritzheimer will be denied without bail:

A federal judge ordered Ammon Bundy and other leaders of the armed militia in Oregon to remain behind bars without bail at a hearing in Portland. By the Friday afternoon hearing, 11 people associated with the standoff at the Malheur national wildlife refuge in rural Harney County had been arrested and charged with federal felony offenses – and only four holdouts remained at the occupation of federal buildings.

In a packed courtroom hundreds of miles away from the wildlife refuge that rightwing protesters first seized on 2 January, prosecutors argued that the militia protesters were “flight risks” given their well-documented criminal activities and anti-government statements over the past month.

The hearing came days after police stopped Bundy and several others on a remote highway outside of the town of Burns, arresting five people and fatally shooting protest spokesman LaVoy Finicum. Six more people were subsequently arrested, including three who left the refuge voluntarily and turned themselves in to FBI officials at nearby checkpoints.

The suspects are all accused of impeding federal officers from discharging official duties through the use of force, intimidation or threats – facing a maximum sentence of six years in prison. Ten of them – including Bundy and his brother, Ryan – appeared for a detention hearing to determine whether they would be released on bail.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/29/oregon-militia-standoff-ammon-bundy-jail-bail-malheur-national-wildlife-refuge







[font size="8"]Racially Sensitive Marketing Fails[/font]


Black History Month. That month that makes white supremacists everywhere say “how come there's no white history month?”. And if you have to ask that out loud, the answer to that question is, “yes, you're a racist”. But for this white Southern California male, one of my favorite flicks last year was the N.W.A. Biopic “Straight Outta Compton”. And you know what? It was a damn good movie, one that you can easily watch more than once, and a biopic that was actually about something other than the musicians kicking drugs and finding Jesus. It wasn't just about N.W.A., but about the cultural and social impacts N.W.A.'s music had that influenced the events of the period, notably the Los Angeles riots, and I grew up in that time frame so it was really interesting to see how everything unfolded. And how good was O'Shea Jackson Jr playing his dad, otherwise known as Ice Cube? Well in case you haven't been following the news, we're a week away from the Oscar Awards, and the Academy Of Motion Pictures has been getting some much deserved shit (don't worry, next week's edition will be devoted to tearing down the AMP) for not including perennial favorites Creed and Straight Outta Compton in the Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor categories. Well, the Oscars are not the only thing this year that are the victims of poor timing and poor taste. For exhibit A, we're going to Michigan where an ad agency is under fire for a planned “ghetto day”. Yes, this is a real thing here, folks.

Jim Palmer, CEO of Campbell Ewald, was terminated three days after the October 2015 email by an employee in the Detroit-based agency’s San Antonio office appeared in a news report, according to the holding company that owns the firm, Interpublic Group.

“Also please share with the teams that today is officially Ghetto Day in the SA, and we're inviting our Big D homeb-----s to cycle in and pop a freak with us,” the email read, according to Adweek. “Ghetto music, Malt 45s at lunch, and of course, drugs and prostitution are legal all day until close of business. Word, my cerebral gangsters.”

The employee who wrote the email also included an old picture of two African-American men posing on a trash-filled street in an unidentified urban area.

Use of the word “ghetto” has long provoked tension, most recently at the Golden Globes Awards earlier this month. The news of Palmer’s firing followed word from one of the company’s major clients that it would be taking its business elsewhere and outrage about the racially-charged email.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ad-agency-ceo-fired-office-ghetto-day-email-surfaces-article-1.2514142


Uh… Mr. Palmer, have you not seen the news lately? You know how much turmoil is being directed at the Academy Of Motion Pictures over the Oscar choices? And yet you choose to go through with this? This is just an epic fail on about every sense of the term. Have you not heard the term “Oscars So White”? Although I do want to say that working for a place that allows 40 ouncers at work would definitely make things a hell of a lot more interesting! Tall boy? In the words of Pam Poovey from Archer, “This here’s a 40, shorty!”

Next we’re going to Sacramento. The Sacramento Kings may not be the best team in the NBA, but they have one of the better forwards in the game with DeMarcus Cousins, who was on that awesome UK team that won the championship a couple of years ago. Well, after their latest promo SNAFU that was supposed to be promoting Chinese New Year, well, don’t be surprised if DeMarcus sits out a few games in protest.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- The Sacramento Kings canceled a Lunar New Year promotional giveaway after DeMarcus Cousins complained it was insensitive on the first day of Black History Month.
The Kings were set to give away T-shirts commemorating the Chinese Year of the Monkey, which starts on Feb. 8, at the team's game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night. The shirts sported the image of a purple monkey.
But according to a Facebook post, Bucks analyst and former player Marques Johnson said Cousins was discussing the matter with Kings employees before fans arrived for the game. Johnson agreed that the T-shirts could be construed as offensive
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/kings-cancel-lunar-promo-cousins-complains-203949307--nba.html


Did the Kings not consult their players before going ahead and printing the t-shirts? They probably should if they’re going to print t-shirts with a racist symbol on them.



[font size="8"]And Now This:[/font]
[font size="8"]Bern Your Enthusiasm[/font]

How many people have been enjoying Larry David's impersonation of Bernie Sanders on Saturday Night Live this year? I know I have and I'm a huge Bernie supporter. But they definitely took it to some new heights with this mashup of the Bernie Sanders campaign and one of my favorite shows – Curb Your Enthusiasm. This is one of the best things that SNL has done in quite some time. Enjoy!





See you next week!
February 8, 2016

Former Mexican President Denounces Donald Trump And His "Stupid Wall":

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump might want to build a wall across the country's southern border to keep Mexican migrants out but don't expect Mexico to pay for it, the former Mexican president told CNBC, calling the billionaire a "not very well-informed man."

The Presidential hopeful shocked viewers in October by insisting that, if elected, he would build a wall the Mexican border and what's more, Mexico would pay for it. But Felipe Calderon, the former president of Mexico between 2006 and 2012, told CNBC on Saturday that there was no way that Mexico would pay for such a device.

"Mexican people, we are not going to pay any single cent for such a stupid wall! And it's going to be completely useless," Calderon said.

"The first loser of such a policy would be the United States," he added. "If this guy pretends that closing the borders to anywhere either for trade (or) for people is going to provide prosperity to the United States, he is completely crazy."

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/mexico-wont-pay-a-cent-for-trumps-stupid-wall/ar-BBpeJIY?li=BBnbfcL


February 1, 2016

Top 10 Conservative Idiots #13: Fear The Walking Bundys Edition


Top 10 Conservative Idiots #13: Fear The Walking Bundys Edition

Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! If you or a loved one have taken the Vaxaprim Pharmaceuticals drug TTCI and have experienced the following side effects – heart attack, stroke or death, you or a loved one may be entitled to compensation. Call the law offices of Mortimer and Gas today at 1-800-BAD-DRUG. We will fight for you against the big pharmaceutical companies. Not licensed in all 50 states. Some states may be eligible for a claim but there is a small percentage of cases that actually make it to a trial. Consult your doctor for eligibility before contacting the law offices of M&G. OK enough nonsense. We’ve got a lot of conservative idiocy to cover this week, and I do mean a lot. Almost too much for one edition. First off how great was Tina Fey imitating Sarah Palin on SNL? I could have sworn that was the real thing. I’m still obsessed with that speech last week, that was magical.



By the way, someone on Youtube took the liberty of mashing up Sarah Palin’s speech with a Yosemite Sam cartoon, and the results are hilarious:





So where do we start this week? For one thing, the first spot is our returning champion Michigan governor Rick Snyder (1) who is in some deep toxic water as Flint's crisis continues to grow and mutate. At number 2 – Ammon Bundy (2) might be in custody, but the fans remain. And it's far from over – oh no, it continues to get weirder and weirder. Next, Der Trumpenfuror (3) is declaring himself bigger than Jesus, and is trolling Fox's debate party by holding his own (can you debate yourself?), and he got trolled by Harry Potter author JK Rowling. He also got a huge endorsement from the only guy in America who's a bigger racist than he is. At number 4, in this corner, we've got racism – and a lot of it! First, we're going to go to Phoenix, where a high school is under fire after a group of students spelled out the “N” word for a yearbook photo. Then we're going to Florida where during a debate about the nation's harshest abortion ban yet is resulting in some unrequested misogyny and racism targeted at single mothers. In the 5th slot, a New York Times investigation discovered that the Wounded Warrior Project (5) spent – you guessed it – no money on actual wounded warriors! Taking up the sixth spot, is none other than pharma bro Martin Shkreli (6) who's escalating his feud with the Wu Tang Clan, and everyone knows that Wu Tang aint nuthin to fuck with. At number 7, Glenn Beck is once again preparing for the apocalypse by reading to his family the delightful bed time story “Left Behind”. At number 8, North Carolina Senator Tom Tillis (8) wants restaurants to be able to opt out of those pesky health code regulations. In the number 9 spot, we're going to North Carolina and introducing you to Pastor Kenneth Simmons (9) who is encouraging his flock to leave religious pamphlets disguised as $20 bills as tips. This is a Mr. Burns level of evil. Finally for the 10th spot, we're bringing back Good Guys With Guns (10). This time we're going to Seattle where a guy who was terrified of mass shootings brought a gun into a showing of the Michael Bay Benghazi flick “13 Hours” and – wait for it – shot someone. You can't make this stuff up, folks. Enjoy! And as always don't forget the key!


[font size="8"]Rick Snyder[/font]


So just as President Obama declared Flint a federal disaster area, it seems that it's not making anything better and in fact it's getting worse. In case you forgot just how bad things are in Flint, let me show you another picture of their water and remind you that the Michigan Department Of Environmental Quality (DEQ) – declared this shit safe to drink.



And it appears that this did not just occur overnight, this might have happened as far back as 2012:

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder may have known about the Flint River’s toxicity as early as December 2012, according to a new report.

Ed Kurtz, Gov. Snyder’s first appointed emergency manager (EM), was given authority to make all financial decisions on behalf of Flint’s elected officials (as part of the controversial EM law Snyder passed early in his administration) first considered switching the city’s municipal water supply to the Flint River at the end of 2012. However, as the Daily Beast reported, Kurtz dismissed the idea after floating the proposal to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).

This detail wasn’t made public until the Beast‘s Curt Guyette discovered a taped deposition from Jerry Ambrose, the Chief Financial Officer of Flint’s EM committee, who would later become Flint’s fourth EM. Ambrose gave the statement under oath in 2014 as part of a separate civil lawsuit filed by municipal retirees fighting Gov. Snyder’s cuts to their health benefits:...

It’s still not confirmed if Ambrose and Kurtz told Snyder about the danger of using the Flint River as a source of municipal drinking water in December of 2012, since Snyder refuses to release any emails about Flint from late 2012 or 2013, when state officials were initially discussing the cancellation of Flint’s water contract with Detroit. But one Flint city administrator alleges that the decision to make the switch was made by Gov. Snyder himself. In the fall of 2015, former Flint public works director Howard Croft told the Michigan ACLU that the decision to officially make the Flint River the city’s interim water source was financial, and that it handed down from Snyder’s office.

http://usuncut.com/class-war/governor-snyder-aides-knew-flint-river-was-toxic-3-years-prior-to-the-switch/


So it's not just Rick Snyder – his whole administration might be under indictment for this. It's almost as if he channeled Homer Simpson and had the drinking bird push the “yes” button for every decision he made since he took the job (and if you remember that episode – it almost ended with the Springfield Nuclear Plant exploding thanks to Homer's carelessness).


And then taking this to a whole new level of evil, it seems that Flint is so broke, that it's forcing their residents to pay for their poisonous water – or get this – household owners will be considered in danger of child endangerment and they will literally take your kids away. This is a whole new level of evil.

Flint, MI – As the water crisis in Flint deepens, it is becoming apparent that the effects of the lead-infested water are not just a health hazard, but the situation has the potential of ruining many more lives outside of the poison issue. There is no denying that the water in Flint is undrinkable and that it is contaminated with lead and other substances, and it is clear that the government of Flint is responsible for the problem.

However, the city’s government continues to charge people for the poison water and then threatening to foreclose their home or take their children if they refuse to pay. Michigan law states that parents are neglectful if they do not have running water in their home, and if they chose not to pay for water they can’t drink anyway, then they could be guilty of child endangerment. Activists in Flint say that some residents have already received similar threats from the government if they refuse to pay their bills.

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/flint-residents-told-children-pay-citys-poison-water/#kK2dH01bfC4UvLlY.99


This just... ah!!! This is an entirely new level of shit! And yes that does involve Flint's water – which really does look like shit! This is why we can't have nice things people!!!




[font size="8"]Ammon Bundy[/font]


Well finally! Our long national nightmare is over...? There was a shootout and LaVoy Finicum, aka Tarp Man, died in a shootout, but the good news is that the feds have locked up Ammon Bundy !! Celebrate good times come on!!

But oh no its' far from over, folks. In fact its' far from over. They've got everything including supporters who, like Jake and Elwood Blues, are also on a mission from God:

Still, the heavily armed militants believe their cause is not only just, but an act of divine intervention.

“God wants us here, there’s a sense that’s beckoning and it comes from heaven,” militiaman Kelly Gneiting said. “We’re doing what’s right, we’re doing what the founding fathers would do because we’re inspired by God, also.”

http://koin.com/2016/01/20/god-wants-us-here-more-militiamen-arrive-at-malheur/


No... no, God doesn't want you there. And you're not the Blues Brothers either – you're on a mission from your gun, not god. Get it right.



And this is where they're spawning copycats:

BURNS – The protesters holding the wildlife refuge had nine ranchers in two states Saturday renounce their grazing privileges and they promise more will do so in the coming week, a symbolic step toward their avowed goal of shaking federal control of ranchland.

Meantime, the real effect is hard to tell. The ranchers say they'll keep using the federal land for their cattle. They say they may pay into escrow the modest fees -- $1.69 a month for a cow-calf pair – paid for using public land.

The ranchers' acts endorsed the view of Ammon Bundy and his armed militants at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge that federal land managers were violating the U.S. Constitution.

http://www.opb.org/news/series/burns-oregon-standoff-bundy-militia-news-updates/


Yes – we are witnessing Ranchers Gone Wild! And you too can own the video for the low low price of... a quick Google search! But it's not all doom and gloom for the Malheur madness, in fact they're fighting back Braveheart style!

As the anti-government standoff in Harney County, Ore. rounds into its fourth week, media outlets are looking more closely at some of the men running the takeover of federal wildlife buildings—militants who have 58

Both WW and The Oregonian have singled out a key figure running security: a 31-year-old man from Anaconda, Mont. named Ryan Payne.

The closest and best examination of Payne was reported nearly two years ago by the Missoula Independent. Reporter Ted McDermott visited Payne at his family's log cabin outside Anaconda, not long after Payne took a leading role defying the U.S. Bureau of Land Management at Cliven Bundy's ranch in Nevada.

The Independent found in Payne an Army veteran who had become disillusioned and saw his former superiors in the U.S. military as an "oppressor" across the globe. He became further radicalized when his Southern California dune buggy company was put out of business by the costs of emissions tests—an example, he felt, of government regulators trying to control citizens.

http://www.wweek.com/2016/01/23/montana-militant-ryan-payne-its-legal-to-kill-a-cop-whos-unlawfully-trying-to-arrest-you/


Yikes. Did I mention this guy is running for president? Yeah that guy will never win, but he might secure a cabinet position in Donald Trump's cabinet. And let’s not forget to mention the Kansas mom who took her singing sons to Oregon to entertain the madmen militia. But let's pay one last tribute to Tarp Man who has provided us with a lot of material the last few weeks:





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




Ahhhhhh!!!! OK here's your dollar! Don't scare us like that, please! Before we get started though, I also have to point out the latest cover of German political magazine Der Spiegel, which literally had Trump's pants on fire:



But damn, where do we begin this week? We could talk about how Donald Trump is blowing off the next planned Fox debate and hosting his own event (can he debate himself?). or we could talk about the obvious. Well the obvious would be to start with Der Trumpenfuror declaring himself bigger than Jesus – yes – while at a rally, he stated that he could shoot a man on New York's 5th Avenue and get away with it. I've been to 5th Avenue lots of times. He's not joking about that. But I can definitely joke about it because this happened:

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump, apparently concerned the deadly blizzard was infringing on his media coverage, said Saturday that he is so popular, he could shoot someone and not lose voters.
Addressing a campaign rally in Sioux Center, Iowa, Trump bragged that his "people" are the most loyal.
"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters, okay? It's, like, incredible," Trump said.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/01/23/trump-could-shoot-person-and-not-lose-votes/79232258/


Can’t believe he went there, though if you consider exactly how much traffic there is on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, he actually probably could (not that I’m advocating that sort of thing just so we’re clear). But Donald Trump is very actively doing his best to completely annihilate the conservative party. Just this week, he was denounced by the National Review, who had fired on all cylinders by inviting every single prominent conservative writer to explain just how toxic Der Trumpenfuror is going to be for the party should he actually take the nomination at the RNC:

Donald Trump must be stopped: That's the theme binding an avalanche of essays by conservative thought leaders — 22 in all — that the National Review sent thundering down the political mountain onto GOP voters late Thursday, along with an editorial by the magazine's editors.
With a massive winter storm expected along the East Coast this weekend, perhaps some of the 35 percent of Republicans who support the real estate mogul-reality TV star will be buried in actual snow, with nothing better to do than read all 9,000 words and change their minds.
Or perhaps they will dismiss "Against Trump" — the title of this special collection by one of the nation's preeminent conservative publications — as just another chorus of naysaying from the loathsome, out-of-touch "establishment." (The National Review did just get dropped as a debate sponsor by the Republican National Committee, however, which might help the magazine appear less establishment-y.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/22/a-yuge-number-of-conservatives-just-shredded-donald-trump-in-the-national-review/


Yeah. And how about the fact that Der Trumpenfuror is getting a shocking endorsement from the only guy in America who’s a bigger racist than he is:

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is heading to Iowa to campaign on behalf of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, according to CNN and New York Times reports.

The Arizona sheriff has been a vocal opponent of the Obama administration for years and is known for his tough take on tackling crime and hardline stance on illegal immigration.

Arpaio will appear with Trump in Marshalltown, according to the Times, a month after appearing at a Trump rally in his home state.

Trump has made ending illegal immigration a focal point of his Republican presidential campaign, and is running neck-and-neck with Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) in Iowa ahead of ballots being cast Monday.

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/267069-sheriff-joe-heading-to-iowa-to-endorse-trump


But let’s not forget that Der Trumpenfuror is making good on his promise to end religious freedom in America and give Christianity unchecked power:

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2016/01/24/donald-trump-promises-christianity-will-have-power-if-he-becomes-president/
We all know how much conservatives love to whine about how persecuted they are for their mainstream beliefs, and continue promoting their completely skewed perception of what it’s really like to be discriminated against.

On Saturday during a speech in Iowa, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump revisited his previous comments where he’d proposed that all Muslims be banned from coming into the United States, offering up a completely out of touch alternative scenario. Trump actually had the audacity to say that he would have had “less difficulty” if he had suggested a ban on Christians from coming into America instead of Muslims! The business mogul said to his audience at Dordt College, a Christian school:...


But for fun and to end this entry on a high note without getting too much Trump for this edition, let’s take a look at how Der Trumpenfuror got owned on Twitter by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling:

Early Sunday morning, Rowling linked to Pierson's comment in her own tweet and seemed to suggest that the Trump spokeswoman was a "Death Eater."
Death Eaters walk among us. https://t.co/tqKq1anHpf
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) January 24, 2016
The popular children's book author was invoking villains from her Harry Potter series -- "Death Eaters" -- known for their "pureblood" fervor. Purebloods, in the Harry Potter universe, are wizards (or witches) whose mother and father were both magical. Death Eaters made it their mission to eradicate any "half-bloods" or "mudbloods" who did not come from a magical family line.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/j-k-rowling-weighs-in-on-trump-spokespersons-pure-breeds-comment/


In this case, the death eaters are Trump supporters, or would they be called “stupid losers”?



[font size="8"]Racist Idiots[/font]


Last time we did a mega entry, was way back in Idiots #9 when we discussed a lot of religious stupidity that happened over the holidays. Well get ready because we’re on the eve of Black History Month 2016. Who has two thumbs and knows that racism is not dead in America? This guy! Well first let’s go to Phoenix, Arizona where a group of high school students who are clearly not university material (well, they might be Liberty University material ), spelled out the “N” word for a yearbook photo, and as you can imagine, the outrage machine has been cranked up way past 11 here:



A suburban Phoenix school district is taking disciplinary action after a photo of students spelling out a racial slur with T-shirts showed up on social media.

Tempe Union High School District spokeswoman Jill Hanks said Friday that the discipline process remains ongoing but six girls will be punished in accordance with district policies.

Hanks says Desert Vista High School students were wearing shirts to spell out "BEST(asterisk)YOU'VE(asterisk)EVER(asterisk)SEEN(asterisk)CLASS(asterisk)OF(asterisk)2016" for a senior class yearbook photo. She says the girls in the photo went off on their own and used their shirts to spell out a racial slur, "n---."

Someone shared the photo online, prompting calls to the principal.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/article56154915.html#storylink=cpy


The gold color really makes their hatred and ignorance stand out in a crowd, doesn’t it? Next, we’re going across the country to where else but Florida? This time, while the state had been planning the harshest abortion bans in the country since Roe V Wade, and got struck down by SCOTUS quickly, a state senator has some absolutely wonderful things to say about America’s single mothers:

Republican Rep. Charles Van Zant, who sponsored the bill, argued that life began at conception, and that even zygotes were “citizens of Florida.”

While testifying about the bill, an anti-abortion activist named Paul injected race into the discussion.

“We see the destruction we’re bringing upon ourself as a nation,” Paul opined. “The Muslims, they don’t kill the babies.”

Paul noted that “white people” did not “live on an Island,” and that “the Mexicans” would propagate faster because they did not practice abortions. .............(more)

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/fl-anti-abortion-hearing-turns-racist-white-culture-dies-if-women-are-outside-the-home-not-having-babies/


Yes because we “kill the babies” that means that white people are all going to eventually die off. Does this guy even know how this sort of thing works?

And in case this doesn’t get too racist, here’s some transphobia courtesy of Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson:

Jeremy Clarkson has understandably provoked anger after making insensitive and bigoted comments about the trans* community.

The former Top Gear star has compared “men who want to be women” as “ladyboys” and mocked transgender people as “nothing more than a punchline”.

Jeremy even went as far as to compare those struggling with their gender identity to those with a “Napoleon’s complex”, saying that children who were born in the wrong gender are simply playing at pretending.
http://news.yahoo.com/jeremy-clarkson-transgender-women-are-ladyboys-153255010.html




Boy Cartman is really excited about that prospect, isn’t he?


[font size="8"]The Wounded Warrior Project[/font]


So one thing everyone in this country can agree on – liberal or conservative, Rams or Raiders, Bud Light vs. Miller Light, is that the people who are willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good of this country and come home from combat with a missing limb or other health problems are the greatest Americans in the country, is that not correct? If you don’t agree with that, you should definitely get the hell out. Well, you may have noticed this charity called the “Wounded Warrior Project” advertising during your favorite sporting event of choice. Here’s one of their commercials:



Pretty freaking depressing, am I not right? Well after this you won’t cry after seeing those ads anymore. Instead, your blood is probably going to boil. Because as you may know, the WWP has not been, well, truthful about the money that has been coming into the organization and what they’ve been spending it on. The New York Times explains:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/28/us/wounded-warrior-project-spends-lavishly-on-itself-ex-employees-say.html?_r=0
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — In early 2014, after 10 years of rapid growth, the charity Wounded Warrior Project flew its roughly 500 employees to Colorado Springs for an “all hands” meeting at the five-star Broadmoor hotel.

They were celebrating their biggest year yet: $225 million raised and a work force that had nearly doubled in just a year. On the opening night, before three days of strategy sessions and team-building field trips, the staff gathered in the hotel courtyard. Suddenly, a spotlight focused on a 10-story bell tower where the chief executive, Steven Nardizzi, stepped off the edge and rappelled down toward the cheering crowd.

That evening is emblematic of the polished and well-financed image cultivated by the Wounded Warrior Project, the country’s largest and fastest-growing veterans charity.

Since its inception in 2003 as a basement operation handing out backpacks to wounded war veterans, the charity has evolved into a fund-raising giant, taking in more than $372 million in 2015 alone — largely through small donations from people over 65.....It has spent millions a year on travel, dinners, hotels and conferences that often seemed more lavish than appropriate, more than four dozen current and former employees said in interviews. Former workers recounted buying business-class seats and regularly jetting around the country for minor meetings, or staying in $500-per-night hotel rooms....


Kind of makes me wish I had access to the resources and equipment John Oliver has because I would love to make a commercial mocking these asshats. But in case you were wondering, after a $225 million surplus in 2014, the charity spent less than what the IRS requires charities to spend on their cause, and a whopping $130 million on itself which included things like:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/28/us/wounded-warrior-project-spends-lavishly-on-itself-ex-employees-say.html?_r=0
The organization has also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent years on public relations and lobbying campaigns to deflect criticism of its spending and to fight legislative efforts to restrict how much nonprofits spend on overhead.

About 40 percent of the organization’s donations in 2014 were spent on its overhead, or about $124 million, according to the charity-rating group Charity Navigator. While that percentage, which includes administrative expenses and marketing costs, is not as much as for some groups, it is far more than for many veterans charities, including the Semper Fi Fund, a wounded-veterans group that spent about 8 percent of donations on overhead. As a result, some philanthropic watchdog groups have criticized the Wounded Warrior Project for spending too heavily on itself.

Some of its own employees have criticized it, too. During five years with the Wounded Warrior Project, William Chick, a former supervisor, said of the charity, “It slowly had less focus on veterans and more on raising money and protecting the organization.”....


So the next time you give money to a charity like that, you might want to take a look at who really runs it because these fucking douchebags should be dragged on their ass the same way Martin Shkreli was.


[font size="8"]Martin Shkreli [/font]


Speaking of Martin Shkreli, former billionaire pharmaceutical CEO and current cover model for orange jumpsuits everywhere, Pharma-Douche is back in the news for being, well, Pharma-Douche. So now he's taking the Marshawn Lynch defense of “I'm just doing this so I dont get fined.”. Well no shit! Of course you take the fifth when you're being indicted by the federal government for fraud. But screwing over people who can't afford the basic medication they need to survive is one of the lowest lows ever, and you can't pull the Marshawn Lynch defense over this. Sorry, well, it should not work that way!

Shkreli’s lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto in Brooklyn to step in after the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee issued the former executive a subpoena to testify at the Jan. 26 hearing on drug pricing. The panel warned it would pursue criminal contempt charges against him if he does not show up.

The kerfuffle with Congress has a certain academic feel, as Shkreli has already said that he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refuse to answer questions from lawmakers. His appeal to the New York judge refers to the terms of Shkreli’s $5 million bail package, which bar him from any travel. Shkreli’s lawyers asked the judge to quash or delay the congressional subpoena “if the court decides that Mr. Shkreli may not leave the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York in order to attend the committee hearing,” according to the filing.

With characteristic flair, Shkreli appears to be doing his best to irritate members of Congress. On Friday he tweeted to lawmakers: “You want me to go to DC to just say ‘I plead the 5th’? For your entertainment?” ...............(more)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-25/mr-shkreli-goes-to-washington-and-mocks-ghostface-killah


Wow. Colossal dick move there, Shkreli. You don't fuck with the Wu Tang Clan, and you know what they did to you last time. Oh wait – here's where he's threatening to destroy the only existing copy of the Wu's one-off pressing of “Once Upon A Time In Shaolin”.

The Pharmadouche strikes again. When it was revealed that Martin Shkreli, the jack-ass pharmaceutical CEO infamous for his price-gouging of an AIDs medication, was the mysterious buyer who dropped $2 million on the one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, we all let out a collective groan. When Shkreli was arrested by the FBI on ponzi scheme allegations, we rejoiced. Perhaps now the album would finally see a chance at release, even if it came because the smug scumbag had to sell it to pay off legal fees.

Well, leave it to the world’s most loathsome man to spit in our faces. During an interview for a Vice profile with Allie Conti, Shkreli had the record playing in the background. Apparently the first time he’d actually played the thing, he told Conti he “vacillates between wanting to destroy the record and dreaming of installing it in some remote place so that people have to make a spiritual quest to listen.” While the latter of those two options has at least a bit of mystique to it, either one is incredibly douchey.

And if you think Shkreli isn’t proud of that fact, you’re wrong. As he stated in the Vice piece, he actually wants the world to hate him, as if he gets a kick out of the whole thing. “I’m not just the heel of the music world,” he said, using pro-wrestling vernacular for “bad guy,” “I want to be the world’s heel.” It sucks that we’re giving in to his desires, but it’s just so easy to hate on this jerk.

http://consequenceofsound.net/2016/01/pharmadouche-martin-shkreli-threatens-to-destroy-wu-tang-album/


Yes it is really easy to hate this guy, because he makes himself hateable. He's like mega billionaire Saudi Prince Alaweed bin Talal, only without charisma, or the Saudi Royal Family, he's just a douchebag who's charging an insane amount of money for an every day medication. But you know what? He won't be a customer of Wu Tang Financial any time soon, and if it is true that there's a clause in their contract of sale that says that the Wu can pull off a heist and steal the album back (See Idiots #4 ), now is the time to do it! You can own this douche and you would be enshrined in the internet hall of fame! Wu Tang Clan ain't nuthin to fuck with! Wu Tang Clan aint' nuthin to fuck with! Wu Tang Clan aint nuthin to fuck with!


[font size="8"]Glenn Beck[/font]



Ultra conservatives are extremely paranoid at the thought of American society collapsing into the abyss. Ted Cruz is certainly an offender. In fact I was originally going to make this entry about Cruz, but this is too damn good to leave off. So Glenn Beck… we can all agree is one of the most batshit crazy conspiracy theorists on the planet right? I mean his comparisons of the US to Nazi Germany actually aren’t too far off if Donald Trump were to ever assume the presidency. But Glenn takes what Alex Jones says and adds a dash of batshit crazy insanity to the mix. Any parent on this board has probably read to their kids at some point right? Well… Glenn Beck is reading this to his kids.

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/glenn-beck-readies-read-his-children-left-behind-and-move-operations-israel-preparation-loom
Glenn Beck hosted a studio audience on his television program last night, where he revealed that he has ordered his staff to find a location outside of the United States from which he can continue to broadcast his programs once American society collapses and the government shuts down his network.

Beck fielded a question from a woman who had relocated her family from California to Texas based upon Beck's warnings of a coming social collapse and wanted Beck's advice on how best to prepare her children for what is to come, to which Beck responded that he and his wife are going to start reading the apocalyptic "Left Behind" series to their own children in preparation for the End Times.

Beck revealed that he recently had conversations with two different people who warned that the American economy and social structure are on the verge of total collapse, which prompted him to tell his staff to get to work finding a location in Israel to which they can flee when it happens.

"We have to pick up our pace on finding another place to broadcast," Beck told his staff. "I need to know if I can get to Jerusalem, where they won't shut this down and we can be able to broadcast into the United States. This could end quickly."




Yes, he is preparing his wife and kids by reading to them the charming tale of fire, death, destruction, and rule by Satan known as “Left Behind”. My parents read me “Green Eggs and Ham”. Wow. But then he ups the ante by announcing that he’s going to be moving operations to Isreal once American society collapses. OK… this raises a lot of questions like mainly why? That’s the biggest one. Is it possible we can send him on a permanent vacation there or revoke his broadcasting license? I just hope he doesn’t have movie time planned for after he reads his kids “Left Behind”.


That movie by the way earned Nicholas Cage a Razzie Award last year.


[font size="8"]Tom Tillis[/font]


So with the latest outbreak of a killer virus that is rapidly spreading called the Zika virus, I think a certain senator from North Carolina needs some first grade reeducation. So Tom Tillis (R-Idiot), believes that restaurants should be able to opt out of health codes that require employees wash hands after restroom usage. Now stop and think about what Tom wants to do, and reread the first sentence of this paragraph multiple times. Scary shit isn't it? Well this isn't the Onion, this is real.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) argued this week that restaurants should be able to “opt out” of health department regulations that require employees to wash their hands after using the bathroom.
On Monday, the freshman senator ended his talk at the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) with a story to illustrate his philosophy on government regulations.
“I was having this discussion with someone, and we were at a Starbucks in my district, and we were talking about certain regulations where I felt like maybe you should allow businesses to opt out,” Tillis recalled. “Let an industry or business opt out as long as they indicate through proper disclosure, through advertising, through employment, literature, whatever else. There’s this level of regulations that maybe they’re on the books, but maybe you can make a market-based decision as to whether or not they should apply to you.”
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/02/gop-senator-let-restaurants-opt-out-of-handwashing-after-toilet-to-reduce-regulatory-burden/#.VqIsuu1NoE2.facebook


No Tom, this is not “regulatory burden”. This is some certified, grade A, Ayn Rand, anti government bullshit. Let me reeducate you here. See we have these things called “diseases”., and in recent years science has made some advances to eradicate these diseases. We also have these things called “health codes” and “vaccines” that are designed to prevent the spread of deadly diseases. We have seen what happens when you take away vaccines, but what happens when you take away health codes? You will get the spread of bodily fluids on your food, which in turn will create some newer and scarier diseases. You don't want that do you? I hope he doesn't visit any restaurants any time soon. I can guarantee in the world that Mr. Tillis envisions, if I see a sign that says “We don't require employees to wash hands”, I don't frequent that establishment. Get how that works?


[font size="8"]Kenneth Simmons[/font]


Sigh... if Jesus ever were to come back and see some of the atrocities being committed in his name – and a lot of them mentioned throughout this edition, he'd turn around and come back almost immediately. Let's go to North Carolina for this one and introduce you to Pastor Kenneth Simmons. While this story doesn't make it clear that it was him or his flock, he's guilty of this either way. Jesus needs to smite this guy, because this is a cartoonish, almost Mr. Burns level of evil here:



On Wednesday, we brought you the story of a restaurant employee in Charlotte, North Carolina who got cruelly stiffed by a religious pamphlet disguised as a twenty dollar tip.
The employee’s manager, the perfectly named Penny Craver, issued a righteous response to the proselytizing jerks who left her server the fake tip. After looking up the Harbor Baptist Church, which had printed its name on the pamphlet, Craver fired back with a letter to the church’s pastor Kenneth Simmons. Craver’s response highlighted the exact problems with the fake tips –they’re not money and they’re incredibly pretentious – and put it all in biblical terms that these sanctimonious church trolls can understand.
http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/277909/penny-craver-slams-fake-tip-harbor-baptist-church/




It takes some serious balls to leave that as a tip, and I hope that if those patrons never frequent that restaurant ever again, or they might go full Slammin' Salmon on them, which would be a well deserved punishment.



But instead the manager of the restaurant which was not named left a much classier response for the church trolls than I would have:

Pastor Simmons:

I am the general manager of Dish (restaurant) in Plaza Midwood. Imagine one of my server’s surprise when she received a small pamphlet (Every one of us will face eternity one day) instead of a tip when she served what I assume was one of your congregation. H er particular religious beliefs are not discussed at work; however, I do know that this pamphlet can not pay her mortgage or her electric bill. It concerns me that someone would consider a pamphlet fair monetary exchange. Suppose your congregation felt it was sufficient to tithe their personal writings instead of 10% of their income. Your church wouldn’t be paying their bills for very long. I think it would be great if you used this in a sermon. Pride, one of the 7 Deadly Sins, is considered, on almost every list, the original and most serious of the seven deadly sins: the source of the others. It is identified as believing that one is essentially better than others, failing to acknowledge the accomplishments of others, and excessive admiration of the personal self (especially holding self out of proper position toward God). I think it could be educational for at least one member of your congregation. Thank you very much for your time.
http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/277909/penny-craver-slams-fake-tip-harbor-baptist-church/


Boom. Drop the mic.


[font size="8"]Good Guys With Guns[/font]


So there's three things that should never, ever mix - alcohol, weapons, and Michael Bay movies. Add some incredibly low inhibition brought on by the movie and you've got a toxic storm brewing for the next entry in... (cue reverb) GOOD GUYS WITH GUNS!!! Yes these wannabe heroes are just placating into the NRA's mantra that "good guys with guns" can take out bad guys with guns in just about every situation. Well this next entry has me absolutely speechless. For this insane story, we're going to Renton, Washington. There, a guy tried to take a weapon into Michael Bay's factually incorrect Benghazi flick "13 Hours".

A Washington man who accidentally shot a female moviegoer at a showing on the Benghazi action film “13 Hours,” told police he carries a gun because he fears “mass shootings.”
According to the Seattle Times, Dane Gallion, 29, told police he carried the gun with him to the Regal Cinemas 14 at the Landing last Thursday night because he was “concerned about recent mass shootings in public places.”
According to witnesses at the time, Gallion appeared drunk and bolted from the theater after after the gun went off, striking the woman in the seat in front of him.
Gallion — a father of two and a graduate student — turned himself in later that evening after returning home and having his father call 911.
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/man-who-shot-woman-at-13-hours-benghazi-movie-carried-gun-because-he-feared-mass-shootings/


I seriously hope that I'm not the only one who is understanding the irony of this situation here. Look I can understand the thought of being terrified at the prospect of a mass shooting, and in this day and age who isn't terrified of that prospect? I know I am. But... that said, if you're terrified of shootings why would you bring a gun? You know you're not going to be the hero in this situation. No, you're more going to be more like George Costanza at the children's birthday party when the oven caught fire:



I hope that no one is ever in an active shooter situation, but if you are, you're going to be more like George Costanza, and less like the hero the NRA wants you to be. You will be the guy knocking down clowns in this situation. But there's more and it gets weirder:

Court documents say the man told police that he went to the movie alone and he had chambered a round in his Smith and Wesson 9mm, which he kept in his waistband because he was worried about mass shootings.

http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/2016/01/23/theater-shooting-suspect-appears-court/79245650/


The gun was empty when Gallion brought it into the theater. It was fucking empty. I will repeat that - the gun was fucking empty!! That means that he loaded the gun during the movie!!! He purposefully loaded a gun and shot someone with it during the movie!! You can't be terrified of mass shootings if you're the guy committing the shooting!!

Investigators believe Gallion may have been intoxicated at the time. Reports show Gallion told police he had taken a Xanax for anxiety in the morning, then ate a pizza and drank a 22-ounce beer before the movie.

"Preliminary accounts indicate that an intoxicated suspect entered one of the theaters and was fumbling with a handgun he had in his possession when it went off, striking another patron seated in front of him," Renton Police said in a statement.

Gallion was booked into the King County jail Thursday night, and now faces a third degree assault charge. He also has one prior conviction for driving under the influence nearly five years ago.

http://komonews.com/news/local/victim-in-stable-condition-following-shooting-at-renton-theater


Hey don't go blaming the pizza and beer on this. If there's the two greatest inventions of all time, it's pizza and beer. I've eaten a lot of pizza and drank a lot of beer in my life. Hell I could do 3 tall boys standing on my head and still be sober. But a single tall boy and he feels the need to shoot someone? Either this guy is the worst drunk on the planet or the most paranoid gun nut on the planet. I've never, ever had the need to load a gun and shoot someone with it while watching Michael Bay movies! And that doesn't count the time I drank a whole six pack , playing with an air gun while I was watching Transformers. Just... ah!!!! NRA, you fucking own this. This is the face of the good guy with a gun that you created!!! Yes you, Wayne LaPierre, I'm talking to you! This is the kind of shit we have to live with on a daily basis. And you wonder why we can't have nice things!



[font size="8"]And Now This:[/font]
[font size="8"]This Picture Of A Potato Is Worth More Than You[/font]

And it unintentionally makes the best case for a Bernie Sanders Presidency. Think about it.



Yup, that thing is worth almost $1.7 MILLION DOLLARS. This is why the rich need to be taxed people! Because when you have more money than brains, you tend to spend it very foolishly.

See you next week!

Ed. Note: Next week's Top 10 will be a Super Tuesday special edition. Stay tuned!

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