News and Current Events - 2017 - 2022

[Jeff Wrangler]

I'll go you one better. There was an opera written about the Jerry Springer show.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Springer:_The_Opera

David Soul was in it. (There's clips of it on youtube.)

Now that you mention it, I remember hearing that someone wrote and opera about the Springer show.

David Soul's father was a Lutheran pastor. The family name was actually Solberg, or something like that. I haven't double-checked.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Could be bad writing, too, especially if that's a news article. These days never underestimate the power of a news reporter to be a bad writer.

You are correct about that. Almost anyone who writes about current events online is considered a journalist.

My high school journalism teacher, who was also my composition teacher, must be turning in his grave.

Best teacher I ever had. Thanks to him, I was even able to write coherent compositions in exam "blue books" in college. My professors were astonished.

[killersmom]

Bill Cosby released after sexual assault conviction overturned by Pennsylvania Supreme Court

A previous prosecutor had decided not to charge the legendary comic, and he relied on that move to speak freely and give incriminating statements.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the sexual assault conviction of Bill Cosby on Wednesday and ordered his release from prison after finding that he was denied protection against self-incrimination.

The court said that a prosecutor's decision not to charge Cosby, 83, opened the door for him to speak freely in a lawsuit against him and that testimony was key in his conviction years later by another prosecutor.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bill-cosby-be-released-after-sexual-assault-conviction-overturned-pennsylvania-n1272748

[killersmom]

Donald Rumsfeld, The Controversial Architect Of The Iraq War, Has Died

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/30/donald-rumsfeld-dies-us-defense-secretary

[Lyle (Mooska)]

Bill Cosby released after sexual assault conviction overturned by Pennsylvania Supreme Court

The court is basically saying that Cosby "reached a deal never to be charged."  Which is ridiculous.

From the comments I've read online, the general public is taking this as he's free because he's not guilty, which is not true. He basically had the means and wealth to have lawyers keep nitpicking away at the law to find a technicality to get him off on.

It seems there's no justice/punishment for anyone the last five years.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

This won't surprise anyone with a brain or not in a cult:

Trump Ranks Among The Worst Presidents In History, According To Survey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ngsZuhZMM0

[Lyle (Mooska)]

California Bans State Travel To Florida And 4 Other States
June 30, 2021
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

California added five more states to the list of places where state-funded travel is banned because of laws that discriminate against members of the LGBTQ community, the state attorney general announced Monday.

Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta added Florida, Arkansas, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia to the list that now has 17 states where state employee travel is forbidden except under limited circumstances. "Make no mistake: We're in the midst of an unprecedented wave of bigotry and discrimination in this country — and the State of California is not going to support it," Bonta said.

Lawmakers in 2016 banned non-essential travel to states with laws that discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The 12 other states on the list are: Texas, Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, Mississippi, Tennessee.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

We Just Got Our Clearest Picture Yet Of How Biden Won In 2020
NPR | All Things Considered | July 1, 2021
https://www.npr.org/2021/06/30/1011781661/we-just-got-our-clearest-picture-yet-of-how-biden-won-in-2020

We know that President Biden won the 2020 election. We just haven't had a great picture of how Biden won. That is until Wednesday, when we got the clearest data yet on how different groups voted, and crucially, how those votes shifted from 2016. The Pew Research Center just released its validated voters' report, considered a more accurate measure of the electorate than exit polls, which have the potential for significant inaccuracies.

There is some head scratching stuff in this article, but this is something I just don't get:

Women (especially white women) Swung Toward Trump
The idea that a majority of white women voted for Trump quickly became one of the 2016 election's most-cited statistics, as many Hillary Clinton supporters — particularly women — were outraged to see other women support Trump. While that statistic was repeated over and over, Pew's data ultimately said this wasn't true — they found that in 2016, white women were split 47% to 45%, slightly in Trump's favor but not a majority.

This year, however, it appears that Trump did win a majority of white women. Pew found that 53% of white women chose Trump this year, up by 6 points from 2016.

 

I don't know what to say. If you were to brainstorm and try to imagine the worst person imaginable that would repel women the most and that would be someone they would never ever vote for, to me that IS Trump. And yet... What the heck am I missing?

[Lyle (Mooska)]

And to add insult to injury, the Supreme Court handed down rulings on a partisan vote.

They struck down a disclosure law in California so voters know where the money's coming from.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., called it a "dark, dark day for democracy."

"The Court That Dark Money Built just built dark money a home in our Constitution," he said on Twitter.


The Court also upheld Arizona's new voting restrictions. Justice Alito, who is my least favorite Supreme Court Justice, had a brilliant comment in writing the decision: "Just because voting may be 'inconvenient for some,' doesn't mean that access to voting is unequal."

The GOP In defending their restrictive laws even admitted THIS during the oral argument in the case: that the Republican Legislature's motive in enacting the Arizona voting restrictions was less anti-fraud and more political. Not having such restrictions "puts us at a competitive disadvantage," lawyer Michael Carvin said on behalf of the GOP. "Politics is a zero-sum game, and every law they get through an unlawful interpretations of Section 2 hurts us."

Alito never has hidden his partisanship. He's always displayed it proudly.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

Why does it always feel like it's constantly a battle for honesty, common sense, fairness, compassion, integrity, morality, principles, ethics, empathy, sincerity, impartiality...and truth...to be the norm now. Truth!  "We hold these truths to be self-evident..."

They are not self-evident at this moment; in this time.

[Jeff Wrangler]

When more than half the country believes the Big Lie about the election, truth isn't even truth anymore.

[gattaca]

Yeap, those 3 Justices that SOB and the GOP robbed, stole and shoved thru - we will be living with for the next 30-40 years as they tilt everything in the conservative directions.  My stomach just nearly lost it when RBG died.  I still believe she should have retired when the Democrates had full control so at that seat would have been safe.   "We The People" - may never recover.   I despise Alito as much as those three liars, bigots and clowns -  if not more.  He's the one who sat in Congress and shook his head negatively when Obama called them out that giving corporations the rights of people and allowing uncontrolled dark money into political campaigns would be a no-op.  How he EVER got appointed as a Justice of anything is um-fathomable.   

IMHO, every $ needs to be fully disclosed right down to individual who wrote the check or authorized the donation and there needs to be a reasonable limit on any and all donations.  They made those original laws for good reason and they should have never been repealed - ever.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

It's more than half of Republicans I think, but not the country. But it's bad enough.


1 in 3 Americans Believe the 'Big Lie'
Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large
Mon., June 21, 2021
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/21/politics/biden-voter-fraud-big-lie-monmouth-poll/index.html

"Some men you just can't reach."

That famous line from the movie "Cool Hand Luke" kept echoing in my head as I paged through a new national poll conducted by Monmouth University. Here's why: 32% of respondents in that poll said that President Joe Biden only won the 2020 election "due to voter fraud." Which is stunning -- but not the worst part of the poll. Guess what percentage said that Biden won only because of election fraud in the November 2020 Monmouth poll? Answer: 32%. What about in the January 2021 Monmouth poll? 32%. And how about the March 2021 Monmouth poll? Yup -- 32%.

Nov. 2020 poll: 32%
Jan. 2021 poll: 32%
Mar. 2021 poll: 32%
Jun. 2021 poll: 32%

The consistency of belief that Biden won solely because of fraud speaks to the fact that one-third of the country simply cannot be reached by facts -- no matter how often they are presented by the mainstream media. Because it is a FACT that Biden won 81 million votes and 306 electoral votes. And it is a FACT that Donald Trump won 74 million votes and 232 electoral votes. It is a FACT that the the results in all 50 states and the District of Columbia have long been certified. It is a FACT that there is zero evidence -- turned up by federal or state officials -- that any widespread electoral fraud occurred anywhere.

The article gives 3 reasons why they can't be reached and concludes with:

What we are witnessing here is a remarkable abnegation of fact. A sacrifice of the truth at the altar of partisanship. A direct -- and ongoing -- threat to democracy.

[And today the Supreme Court's Arizona law ruling was against democracy.]

[Jeff Wrangler]

I guess I've said before: Anybody who points out these facts, well, they're just part of the conspiracy that stole the election.

Of course, there are alternative facts, and the truth isn't the truth.   

[Lyle (Mooska)]

Enjoy the 4th everyone!

Some old current events made new (in comic book form):
https://thenib.com/the-american-revolution-s-greatest-leader-was-openly-gay-baron-von-steuben/