Bugs Bunny should saw it off the country and let it fall into the sea: But I’ve evolved. It’s been 11 years since we launched PolitiFact, and I think it’s time to move beyond my beloved meter. I am heading a project at Duke University that is developing ways to automate fact-checking—including new ways to present the conclusions. I think the Truth-O-Meter’s ratings (which now range from True to Pants on Fire) are still effective for many readers. But I have come to realize that in our polarized environment, the meter I invented is not reaching everyone, and not reaching conservatives in particular. … Continue reading Speaking of the State of Journalism
People will always try to save each other. Always: ‘My 15-year-old son, one of the best students in our province, decided to take up arms and go to battle without informing me or his father. It was a big shock for me. I thought that my son would go to battle and die. For around 20 days I searched for him.’ Fatima al-Bahandly was able to convince tens of other young men to disarm, along with her own son. She is the director of Al Firdaws Society, an NGO founded in 2003 in Basra, Iraq. She works to demobilise and … Continue reading Not Everything Sucks: Iraqi Edition
I’ve been reluctant to write anything about the Manafort trial because I expect him to cop a plea before it starts. Why? The evidence against him is overwhelming and a guy who worked for foreign dictators is not the most … Continue reading Paul Manafort Meets Dollar Bill Jefferson
Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones ramped up threats against special counsel Robert Mueller on Monday, calling him a “monster” and described shooting the former FBI Director.
Jones’ nearly 3-hour July 23 InfoWars broadcast ranged from rants about Hollywood pedophilia to social media “shadow bans” to outlandish allegations Mueller was personally involved in a child sex ring composed of left-leaning political figures.
The InfoWars host went on to illustrate a “real world” threat against the former Marine Corps officer and Vietnam War veteran currently in charge of the Russian interference investigation of the 2016 presidential election.
Jones took on a particularly insidious tone during his Monday show, accusing Mueller of violent child sex acts before dramatizing a hypothetical “wild west” shootout with Mueller, a Republican appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to lead the Russia investigation in May 2017.
While playing spaghetti western music riffing off The Good, the Bad and the Ugly theme song, Jones detailed how the only thing about Mueller that scares him is Jones “not manning up.”(continued)
I don’t think you want Alex Jones as your friend. He’s making the same verbal mistakes that Frank Chappell did in his newsletter back in the 60s/70s, that is, taking a little information/facts and blowing them out of proportion or into a conspiracy where non existed.
There are enough legitimate leftist conspiracies out there to document and expose. Making up stuff hurts our side very badly as the Left is just waiting for even one little phrase or sentence that they can use against legitimate conservatives and libertarians.
Our credibility is our best weapon so we most guard it at all costs.
I’m still giggling over the handle “flaming consevative”…
To: MadMax, the Grinning Reaper
Comeystain
That’s a new one….
confronted President Trump with a nasty conspiracy rumor about a pee-pee video tape and attempted to blackmail him with “what if” this “news” ever got out, and low and behold it did.
All sorts of figures in the media traffic in foul conspiracy theories every day and in the MSM. What network is Alex Jones on?
26 posted on 7/25/2018, 2:08:32 AM by a fool in paradise (Spygate’s clock began in 2015 – what did President Obama know and when did he know it)
Followed by :
To: a fool in paradise
There was a time when such language wasn’t allowed on FR.
27 posted on 7/25/2018, 2:37:17 AM by donna (Arizona senate: Kelli Ward supports President Trump. McSally is a RINO.)
UPDATE THE THIRD: We did it! Thank you to everyone who contributed. This Sunday look for special Kick-and-cats-blogging in joyful celebration, and we really, really appreciate the ability to keep the lights on around here for another year! Update II: CRAZYTOWN WE ARE ONLY $400 AWAY FROM OUR GOAL. You guys get a Kick and Catz video if you put this thing away by midnight! Update: WE ARE HALFWAY TO OUR GOAL AFTER 2 DAYS. You guys are amazing. Thank you all so much. Click here to keep it going! Hey, the earth is caving in, help us keep the … Continue reading GOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!!!
I vowed not to complain about the heat this week. It’s always hot in New Orleans in July, after all. Besides, much of the world is having a heat wave so we’re not alone. Suffice it to say that even people who like warm weather are complaining about it. I’m trying my best to be stoical in the face of it all. I’m not sure if I’ll succeed in this but who the hell wants to hear a grown man whine about the humidity?
A big local story was the anointment of Zach Strief as the new play-by-play announcer of the New Orleans Saints. He has huge shoes to fill: Jim Henderson was to the Saints and their fans what Vin Scully was to the Dodgers. I’m skeptical that the inexperienced Strief is up to the job: he’s a recently retired Saints offensive lineman, and while he’s a bright, articulate guy, he’s unqualified to be a play-by-announcer. Of course, this is the age of the unqualified.
Our theme songs this week are variations on a dreamy themey. Patsy Cline’s Sweet Dreams was written by Don Gibson who recorded it 8 years before Patsy. Her version is the one we remember. Sweet Dreams was also the title of the fabulous Jessica Lange starring 1985 bio-pic.
Yes’ Sweet Dreams comes from their second album, Time and a Word. They were still finding their way in the musical world at that point.
Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) was a monster hit for the Eurythmics in 1983. There was an epidemic of teenage girls who cut their hair very short because they wanted to be Annie Lennox. Who could blame them?
That concludes this foray to Disambiguation City. It’s time to awaken from your dreams, sweet or otherwise, and jump to the break.
This is the week Michael Cohen and Donald Trump finally broke up. Their relationship has been slipping away ever since the raid on the former Fixer’s office but this week divorce papers were filed in the form of leaks and tweets. It seems that Cohen has gone from a willingness to take a bullet for Trump to shooting at him. In the immortal words of Lynyrd Skynyrd: Gimme back my bullets. The Cohen-Trump recording released at the beginning of the week offered more questions than answers. Other than proving that Trump lied about paying off Karen McDougal, its legal relevance … Continue reading The Fog Of Scandal: Liars Calling Other Liars Liars
So, this is just the first of many, possibly over a hundred, recordings that demonstrate that, duh, the president every bit the sleazeball we know he is. Go figure. Imagine almost any other politician getting caught up in something like this… Yet, in a you-can’t-possibly-make-this-up scenario, the nuttiest of the GOP wingnuts filed impeachment charges against Rod Rosenstein. I’m so old I remember when character issues were allegedly a big deal. Sure, they were always full of shit, but you’d think they’d be a little less openly shameless. Nope. They’re all in…and let’s hope come November, we can throw the … Continue reading The Michael Cohen Mixtape
I’m in a Marlowe mood this week: Philip, not Christopher. The High Window was Raymond Chandler’s third book featuring Marlowe. It’s been published with a wide array of covers over the last 76 years. Here are two representative ones: Continue reading Pulp Fiction Thursday: The High Window
I realize that Athenae walks the TRONC beat around here but I felt like taking a few shots at them myself. In this case by posting two tweets from the great Ron Rosenbaum who hates everything about TRONC, especially that stupid name: Any company that calls itself "tronc" has no business owning an entity that involves writing. Only stupid people would find "tronc"appealing on any level.. https://t.co/IoVu5FSI3S — Ron Rosenbaum (@RonRosenbaum1) July 23, 2018 The arrant stupidity of tronc–firing DailyNews library staff. Is it okay if I say I despise every single decision maker in the hateful tronc administration? tronc. … Continue reading Ron Rosenbaum On TRONC: Destroyer Of Newspapers
We live in an era of fake tough guys. It’s a phenomenon made worse by social media, which is full of nebbishes with keyboard courage. I don’t do Reddit but Twitter is jam-packed with tough talking bullies who are cowards … Continue reading Malaka Of The Week: Jason Spencer
I’ve never been much of a Led Zeppelin fan. Their music is pretty good but I’ve never cared for the vibe surrounding them. It’s rooted in my memories of their infamous 1973 gig at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. In … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Led Zeppelin
These justifications are always such fucking crap: The whole entire @NYDailyNews social media team was just let go by Tronc. There are no updates to any stories being pushed right now. #transitions — Candace Amos (@CandaceAmos) July 23, 2018 They have no idea what they’re doing, journalistically, and they have no idea in any other sense besides making the quarterly earnings report look slightly less shitty. That’s as far ahead as TRONC! (see previous examples of fuckery here, here, here, here and here) can manage to think. Let’s review how we got where we are, shall we? In the late … Continue reading Nimble. Agile. Digital First.
There are, of course, substantial differences between Elizabeth Jennings of The Americans and Mariia Butina. Elizabeth operated in the shadows whereas Two-I Mariia was openly trying to influence the NRA while keeping her real motives under wraps. Another difference is … Continue reading Life Imitates The Americans
As many of you know, my post Men Prefer Debt-Free Virgins Without Tattoos went viral and is causing quite a stir. I should have definitely titled it “Godly Men Prefer Debt-Free Virgins Without Tattoos.” I want to make clear that the audience I teach are those young women who want to learn biblical womanhood as according to God’s instructions in Titus 2:3-5. They love the Lord and His beautiful ways.
Everyone knows: Credit cleanliness is next to godliness.
12 posted on 7/19/2018, 7:35:02 PM by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
Heh.
To: kaehurowing
[The one I truly don’t get is tattoos and piercings. Why women choose to permanently disfigure themselves is beyond me.]
There is a phenomenon today where some women actually work to make themselves unattractive.
15 posted on 7/19/2018, 7:36:46 PM by headstamp 2 (My “White Privilege” is my work ethic.)
To YOU, dipshit. They work to make themselves unattractive to YOU.
Saves on taser batteries.
Of course, there’s the occasional Freeper who’s actually READ the bible…
To: Mechanicos
i’d rather have the woman that God provided for me.
As for the article, i’m sure that if Mary Magdalene had access to them she’d find it amusing.
God is in the business of making new creations out of fallen people.
26 posted on 7/19/2018, 7:55:22 PM by Calvinist_Dark_Lord ((I have come here to kick @$$ and chew bubblegum…and I’m all outta bubblegum! ~Roddy Piper))
To: MV=PY
Call me sexist.
…or a cab…
Men with tattoos, okay. Women, yuck! I never approved of tattoos until the most wonderful man in the world asked me to be his wife (he has 5 of them, but in a suit you would never know).
29 posted on 7/19/2018, 7:58:15 PM by TheWriterTX (Trust not in earthly princes….)
INCOMING!!!!
To: Mechanicos
GODLY MEN PREFER DEBT-FREE VIRGINS WITHOUT TATTOOS
So i guess because i have tattoos and am a tattoo artist and i’m married with 4 kids and in debt mildly i’m not a Godly man
That’s wonderful !
Good to know !
35 posted on 7/19/2018, 8:11:17 PM by ATOMIC_PUNK (;I’m not a psychopath, I’m a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research.” Sherlock Holmes)
To: Mechanicos
pffftttt……
Godly men wanted to kick a poor widow out of the synagogue.
how very pious of you.
Some of the most gentle and God loving souls I’ve met are covered in tats.
Three guys got into a car crash and all died. They all get up to heaven and meet St. Peter at the gates. St. Peter said “Okay everyone can come in, but whatever you do don’t step on a duck.” The gates open and there are ducks everywhere, all over the floor, on tabletops, everywhere. The first guy walks in and accidentally steps on a duck. St. Peter comes along and handcuffs him to the ugliest woman in all the world and says, “Now you must stay handcuffed for all eternity.”
The other two see this and do their best not avoid the ducks. The second guy goes months and months without stepping on any duck. Then one morning he wakes up and as he is getting out of bed he steps on two ducks. St. Peter comes over and handcuffs him to the most atrocious looking and smelling woman and says, “Now you must stay handcuffed to each other for all eternity.”
Now the third guy goes years and years and doesn’t step on any ducks in all that time. Then one day St. Peter comes along and handcuffs him to the most beautiful woman he as ever seen. St. Peter says, “Now you must stay handcuffed to each other for all eternity.”
The guy happily says, “Oh my God, what have I done to deserve this?!” And the woman says, “I don’t know what you did, but I stepped on a duck.”
34 posted on 7/19/2018, 8:09:47 PM by unread (Joe McCarthy was right…….)
In which the Washington Post twists itself into a pretzel trying to understand what’s in like the third paragraph of their own goddamn story: At the same time, many have acknowledged the awkwardness of being both self-proclaimed followers of Jesus and the No. 1 champions of a president whose character has been defined not just by alleged infidelity but accusations of sexual harassment, advancing conspiracy theories popular with white supremacists, using language that swaths of Americans find racist, routinely spreading falsehoods and an array of casual cruelties and immoderate behaviors that amount to a roll call of the seven deadly … Continue reading Racism. It’s Racism. It’s Always Racism. (Sometimes Abortion, But Mostly Racism.)
And it was always crap, but using kids as excuses for their homophobic horseshit was particularly galling, and now we can say FUCK YOU with science: The National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS) has been following a contingent of lesbian families since they first started to plan to have kids in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Those children are now about 25 years old, and the researchers have confirmed that they’re doing swimmingly. Compared to their peers who were not raised by same-sex couples, researchers found no significant differences with respect to “adaptive functioning (family, friends, spouse or partner relationships, and educational … Continue reading Everything The GOP Says is Crap
It’s been a long and difficult week for Americans who haven’t imbibed the MAGA Kool-Aid. I already wrote about it on Thursday and Monday so we’re going to keep this introduction snappy and mercifully brief. I wonder if the Insult Comedian would call that a double positive?
This week’s theme song is upbeat and positive in response to all the gloomy shit going on in the world. The Best Is Yet To Come was written for Tony Bennett in 1959 by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh.
We have three versions for your listening pleasure: Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra and Count Basie, and Chaka Khan. That’s right, Chaka Khan. She can sing anything, y’all.
This is the second time I’ve used The Best Is Yet To Come as a post title. The first was after President Obama’s re-election in 2012. It’s time for him to eschew the non-political Jimmy Carter post-presidential model, make like Harry Truman and hit the stump this fall. His party and country need him. Give ’em hell, Barack.
I’m not sure where the tree of life is right now, but I long to “pick me a plum.” I’ll figure out how to do so after the break.
Perhaps Trump’s hostility to the tiny Balkan nation, like his immigration policy, is rooted in ignorance and bigotry. It’s not impossible (a Trumpian double negative) that he thinks the country was founded by a guy named Monte Negro, and was named for its founder like Kenya. Kenya? Obama must be involved. Mayhaps that’s why the Kaiser of Chaos shoved Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic at last year’s NATO summit. Yo, Trumpy, if the “aggressive” Montenegrins attack anyone, we don’t have to come to their rescue. They’re on their own: article 5 only kicks in when they’re attacked. Tell your little friend … Continue reading Deep Montenegro Thought
Even as Trump demonstrates how crazy and unsuited for office he is, the GOP doubles down on him because of his popularity with the base (what’s the line? something like Democrats despise their base, Republicans fear theirs?). Almost every elected … Continue reading Drink Up, Cultists
It comes from an Esquire piece by Ryan Lizza: Jenkins, the congresswoman from Kansas, relayed a conversation she recently had with a factory owner back home, who told her that while the guys on his shop floor “hate” Trump—they are … Continue reading Quote Of The Day: Trump As Bill Laimbeer
The late Shel Silverstein was best known as an author/illustrator of children’s books. He also had a lively side hustle as a singer-songwriter. He was one talented dude. Here’s a selection of album covers, presented in chronological order. Oddly enough, … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Shel Silverstein
