Tag: Entertainment

I’m Starting a Go Fund Me to Bid on This*

It appears that there is a charity auction for the rights to hit the button to initiate the controlled implosion of the Trump Plaza casino in Atlantic City on January 19. 

Bidding appears to be north of $50K right now, and I also want to raise money to commission Banksey to put a mural on the side before that date.

I think that he might appreciate the whole scene.

Proceeds go to charity.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to bid on the right to push the button to implode Trump Plaza, Atlantic City, NJ. As you may or may not know, the Trump Plaza has been scheduled demolition and leveled off the boardwalk of Atlantic City. For several years it has been sitting empty and now is the time to end an era and replace it with something new. We are selling the experience to push the button to implode Trump Plaza. This will be done remotely and can be done anywhere in the world as well as close to the Plaza as we can safely get you there! All Proceeds of this auction will benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City, NJ. Ever since the start of this pandemic they have seen an increase of young children and adolescents benefit from the services of The Boys & Girl Club and are in need of all the assistance they can get for the community. This will be a live broadcasted sale so we hope to see you on sale day and start the year with a Bang!

So, should I go with Banksey, or a local street artist?

*No, I’m not actually going to open up a Go Fund Me for this. I like to blow sh%$ up, but I do not want to be associated with anything with the Trump name on it.

This Was the Weirdest Bit of TV I’ve Seen in a Long Time

I watch Perry Mason reruns. The real show, not the Freddie Silverman semi-regular movies that resembled Matlock more than the the original TV noir show that ran for more 9 seasons.

In the original series there was only color episode, The Case of the Twice-Told Twist, which was the only episode of the original series to be filmed in color.

It was intended to be a dry run for a 10th season, which was to go full color, but it was canceled at the end of season 9.

It was just ……… wrong.

First, Perry Mason is clearly a product of black and white TV, but second, the script just ……… off somehow.

In going for color, they decided for a more frenetic direction, with William Hopper as Paul Drake chasing a potential witness down a Mexican street, and repeated split second car stripping that looked like they had come out of a heist movie.

The full color version makes the episode more real, and some of the conventions of the show, smoking, drinking, and ethnic stereotyping, become far more jarring, as opposed to a relic of a bygone era.

Finally, the episode was replete with references to Dickens, specifically Oliver Twist.

If you are a Perry Mason fan, I’m not sure if I would recommend it unless you want to watch it stoned.

I think that it would be good to watch stoned.

All in all, it’s the second weirdest bit of TV I’ve seen this year, after the Presidential debates.

Drunk Blogging the Debates

10:39pm:
Final analysis:  Biden did not lose, so he won.

Trump really didn’t make a case for himself though.

I am at no risk of alcohol poisoning at this juncture, so I call this personal win.

10:37pm:
The debate is over, thank God.

It was far less chaotic than I had anticipated.

10:35pm:
OK, I have learned that rum and coke is dangerous.

This may be the drunkest I have ever been in a debate.

10:32pm:
F%$# this, I need to watch cat videos.

10:30pm:
A quick note:  Biden just has to not lose.

He has managed not to lose so far.

10:29pm:
Trump is talking about the bird kills and massive carbon footprint of windmills.

This is a lie.

He goes back to claiming that Biden will ban fracking.  (False)

10:26pm:
Had to feed the cats some wet food to make sure that Destructo gets enough water in his diet.

I am so f%$#ing sh%$faced right now.

10:23pm:
Anthropogenic climate change comes up.

10:21pm:
Trump has a valid queation, “Why didn’t you  do anything you get anything done in the 8 years that you were VP?”  About crime.

This is a talking point of his, but it is accurate.

10:20:
Biden actually admits to his earlier crime bills were a mistake.

I am completely sh%$ faced.

10:18pm:
Biden, “This guy has a dog whistle as big as a fog horn.”

Heh.

10:16pm:
Moderator confronts Trump on his racist rhetoric.

Trump claims to be the least racist person in the room.  Only if David Duke is stuck with him in an elevator.

10:14pm:
Trump brings up a valid point:  Biden has over 40 years in politics, and over 8 years as VP, and these things were never addressed.

Don’t know whether this will stick.

Thank god for real-time spell checking.  Without it, this will be comepletely incpomprehensible.

10:12pm:
I am unequivocally drunk.

Biden correctly reminds people that Trump called for the innocent kids from the Central Park 5.

10:10pm:
Biden talks relatively honestly, but does not mention his role in shepherding Clinton’s horrible crime bill through the Senate.

Trump brings up the 1994 crime bill.  (True)  And claims that he has done more for the minority community than anyone since Lincoln (F%$#ing lie).

Trump talks up opportunity zones, which is money to rich white developers like ……… Donald Trump.

10:08pm:
Race in America.

Talking about “The Talk” that minorities have to give their kids a talk about how cops will just shoot you.

10:06pm:
The colloquy over immigration is just dueling liars.

Trump is horrible and cruel, and Obama, and by extension Biden, was horrible and cruel.

Trump talks about immigrant murders and rapists.  Take an drink.

10:04pm:
Trump makes the point that punitive immigration policies start with Obama.  The cages, etc.

That is actually true.  

Take a drink.

10:02pm:
Trump talks about the beautiful wall.

There is not enough alcohol in the world.

10:00pm:
$15.00/hr minimum wage.

Trump says, “Leave it up to the states,” just like segregationists said about civil rights.

Bullsh%$.

9:58pm:
Trump says that the stimulus is a bailout for blue cities and states, and handouts to illegal aliens.

When the facts are on your side, pound the facts. When the law is on your side, pound the law. When neither is on you side, pound the table.

9:56pm:
Trump accuses Nancy Pelosi of playing politics with stimulus.  Well, duh!

9:55pm:
Trump claims that Biden living in Scranton as a kid is a fraud.

I need to drink more.

9:52pm:
Trump says that Kamala Harris is more liberal than Bernie Sanders.

I am clearly not drinking ENOUGH.

9:50pm:
Biden notes that his plan adds a public option, and that he is opposed to single payer.

Bad move, let the ambiguity benefit your electoral prospects.  Single payer polls over 50% with Republicans.

9:49pm:
Trump claims that Biden will create a single payer system.

This is:

  • Not true.
  • A stupid thing to accuse Biden of, it’s like accusing Biden of supporting motherhood.

9:46pm:
Shifts to Amy Coney Barret and Obamacare.

Trump claims credit for eliminating the personal mandate, and that Obamacare sucks.  

He’s right that Obamacare sucks, but he has no plan, and if he did it would be worse.

9:45pm:
The moderator is losing control.  Will they cut the mic?

9:42pm:
The DPRK comes up.

Trump’s claims of his wonderful relationship with Kim are bullsh%$.

So is Bidens’s dick swinging on the DPRK, the standard Council on Foreign Relations crap.

Tweedle Dee, meet Tweedle Dumber.

9:38pm:
Trump: China, China, China!

9:34pm:
Biden talks about Trump’s secret China bank accounts and his refusing to release his tax returns.

Trump claims that he he prepaid his taxes (bullsh%$) and accuses Biden of corruption.  

More drinking.

9:32pm:
Biden talks about Trump’s formerly secret China accounts

9:30pm:
Trump brings up the Ukraine story.  Take two drinks.

9:28pm:
Pivots to national security, and now it’s all Russia and Iran and election meddling.

Screw that.  I want to know how we get out of forever wars, and how we stop the US from being a purveyor of misery and drone strikes.

 9:25pm:
Good question from the moderator.  She called out Trump for trash talking Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Trump responds with false praise for the doctor.

9:23pm:
Biden notes that Trump is responding by blaming blue states.

Trump responds to this by blaming blue states.

9:20pm:
Trump notes that there is soaring drug abuse, domestic violence, suicides, etc. during the pandemic.

Remind me, who is sitting in the oval office right now?

9:19pm:
I am watching on the BBC, because American talking heads make me ill.

Unfortunately, there is some sort of problem at the Beeb studios, with libs not matching the words.

It’s refreshingly surreal.

10:38pm:
It’s over. Jeebus.  I need a f%$#ing drink.

9:18pm:
Getting some cross-talk now drinking.

9:16pm:
Biden:  Paraphrases to, “What did he know, and when did he know it?”

I love it when someone uses a classic.

9:14pm:
Not much interruptions yet, so I’m just having a pleasant drink and an unpleasant watch.

9:13pm
Biden notes that Trump is spending his time claiming that it will go away, instead of dealing with the problems.

9:11pm:
Trump tries to deflect to China.

9:09pm:
Shorter version Joe Biden response on Covid-19, “This guy has no clue, and is lying, and the US is in worse shape than the rest of Europe.

9:07pm:
Donald Trump is asked about what he will/has done on Covid-19.  Claims that everything is good, and that he is immune.

I think that he is arguing that he is Superman.  Take a drink.

9:04pm:
Introduction with notes that the microphones will be off for person B when person A is asked a question.

Hello Nurse!!!!


Be still my beating heart

In a few weeks, they will be releasing the first new episodes of Animaniacs in over 20 years.

This will include Pinky and the Brain, but, unfortunately, no new Goodfeathers bits:

Readers of a certain age will have fond childhood memories of weekday afternoons spent in the company of the Warner siblings, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, the central figures of the hugely popular, Emmy-award winning animated series, Animaniacs. Now a whole new generation can appreciate their comic genius with Hulu’s revival of the show, slated to debut next month.

The premise of the original Animaniacs was that Yakko, Wakko, and Dot were characters from the 1930s who were locked way in a water tower on the Warner Bros. lot until they escaped in the 1990s. Now they exist to wreak havoc and have fun. The format borrowed heavily from sketch comedy, with each episode typically featuring three short mini-episodes centered on different characters, connected by bridging segments. Other regular characters included two genetically altered lab mice, Pinky and the Brain, who are always trying to take over the world; Ralph the Security Guard; Slappy Squirrel and her nephew, Skippy; Chicken Boo; Flavio and Marita, aka the Hip Hippos; studio psychiatrist Dr. Otto Scratchansniff and Hello Nurse (also a common catchphrase); and a trio of pigeons known as The Goodfeathers.

As appealing to adults as to kids, the show was smart, funny, irreverent, and even educational, especially with its playful songs listing the nations of the world, for instance, or all the US states and their capitals—set to the tune of “Turkey in the Straw”—or all the presidents set to the “William Tell Overture.” (My personal favorite was “The Solar System Song,” complete with the obligatory joke about Uranus.) The writers were masters of parody, so much so that it became something of a badge of honor to be so featured. Honorees included A Hard Day’s Night, Seinfeld, Friends, Bambi, Power Rangers, Rugrats, and The Lion King, as well as the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas Pirates of Penzance and H.M.S. Pinafore. And of course, the Goodfeathers segments invariably parodied characters from both The Godfather and Goodfellas.

When the original series began streaming on Netflix, it proved so popular that Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation began thinking about reviving Animaniacs. They ultimately inked a deal with Hulu, which included the rights for the original series, as well as Tiny Toon Adventures, Pinky and the Brain, and Pinky, Elmyra, and the Brain. (That means we can all revisit our favorites on Hulu.) Spielberg returned as executive producer and insisted on bringing back most of the original voice cast for the reboot. A first-look clip debuted earlier this month at the virtual New York Comic-Con (embedded below), parodying Jurassic Park (John Hammond—or rather, a cartoon Spielberg channeling Hammond—reanimates the Warner siblings).

I hope that the writing holds up.

The original was magic.

Sober Blogging the Presidential Debates

10:38pm:
It’s over. Jeebus.  I need a f%$#ing drink.

10:34pm:
Chris Wallace asks the candidates to ask their supporters not to freak out during a progracted recount, and not to declare victory , Trump’s response, “If it’s a fair election ………”

Biden’s response, “Yes, and the fraud issue is bullsh%$.”

10:30pm:
Chris Wallace pivots to election integrity.  (He is well and truly sick of Trump not following the rules)

Biden exhorts people to vote, and he weakly implies that Trump is trying to steal the election.

Trump just said, “Crooked Hillary Clinton.”  If this were a drunk blog, I would have finished all the alcohol in the house, and gone to hospital. 

Trump is pushing his fraud strategy, big time.

10:24pm:
Did Trump actually suggest dropping a nuke on a hurricane?

Furious Googling: Sweet mother of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, it’s true.

10:19pm:
The environment is the next segment.

Trump blusters.

Biden talks a bit about what he plans to do, but it does not sound sincere.

This is a mass-extinction crisis, a literal end of the world as we know it.  I would appreciate some more enthusiasm.

10:16pm:
I am finding it increasingly difficult to pay attention.

Shoot me now!!!

10:11pm:
Chris Wallace is clearly pissed at Trump, demands that he call out right wing milita groups, Trump refuses, and tells Trump, “We’re done, sir.”

I’m wondering if any of the moderators at the later events are drafting their resignation letters as I type.

10:07pm:
Biden says that Trump has been pouring gasoline on a fire.  True, but meaningless.

10:03pm:
Now they are spewing crime stats at each other.

10:01pm:
Trump is attempting to conflate anti-racism with hating America.

He actually has a point:  Racism in America is as American as Apple Pie.

9:59pm:
Biden is stuttering a bit.  It’s the first time that I have noticed it.

Biden flat out says that justice is not administered fairly in the US.

9:57pm:
Race comes up, and Biden criticizes him, but Biden should call him a racist using that word.  It will drive him crazy.

OMFG, Trump tells the truth about Biden’s record on crime and race, particularly on the Clinton crime.

This may be the first True thing he has said in the debate.

9:54pm:
Wallace actually called out Trump for his constant interrupting.  I did not expect that.

9:53pm:
Biden may have had the best line so far, “You had good people, and you fired them.”

More crosstalk, and I am feeling pity for Chris Wallace.

9:49pm:
Did Trump just say to Biden, “No, you’re number 2?”

Really mature dude.  This is not middle school.

9:48pm:
Trump is arguing that the stock market is the economy.

9:45pm:
Biden just called Trump the worst President ever.  Cool.

9:43pm:
Wallace asks Trump about his taxes.

Trump evades, and Wallace presses (I’m impressed), and Trump says that he pays, “Millions”.

9:41pm:
Trump goes off again, and Chris Wallace is quietly losing his mind.

Trump claims that he saved football.  Yeah, right.

9:40pm:
Biden explains the K-shaped economy, raises Trump’s taxes.

It’s an OK strategy for him, and he does sound sincere when he talks about the plight of first responders.

9:38pm:
Wallace is pivots to the economy.

Trump: China China China.

Also, I think that Trump is even more orange than normal.

Also Trump:  Democrat governors are conspiring against me.

9:35pm:
Wallace is asking about the size of their rallies vis a vis Covid. WTF? 

It’s now dick measuring.

9:33pm:
GAWD!!!!!

Chris Wallace has the worst job in the world.

9:32pm:
Trump objects to Biden calling him stupid.  It’s a raw nerve, hammer on it constantly.

Trump will lose his sh%$ if you do this.

9:31
Biden calls Trump a liar again.  When do you call him a con-man and a tax cheat?

9:28pm
The entire back and forth over Covid is heat completely devoid of light.

It’s like some bizarre collapsing star.

9:25pm:

Trump is claiming that “Democrat Governors” are praising his actions.

9:22pm:
Wallace moves on to the pandemic.

Biden goes first, and tears into Trump, brings up his praise for Xi Jinping’s handling of the pandemic.

Trump’s response, “China, China, China.”

9:20pm:

Wallace asks about packing the court and eliminating the filibuster, Biden is very non committal, though I liked his, “Keep Yappin’ man barb to Donald Trump.

9:18pm:
And then he pivots back to Obamacare, because he’s trying to run as Obama’s 3rd term.

I think that this is a losing proposition. 9:17pm:
Biden just dropped the, “L-bomb,” and called Trump a liar.

9:15pm:
Trump is arguing more with moderator Chris Wallace than he is with Biden.

9:13pm:
Biden notes that Trump is trying to reverse Roe v. Wade.

Trump tries to sleaze out of his support of criminalizing abortions.

9:12pm:
Trump is a noun, a verb, and socialism.

9:07pm:
First question on Amy Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme court.

Trump’s respnse is, “Neener Neener, I have Mitch McConnel, so f%$# you.”

Biden pivots to it being an assault on Obamacare.

Then he compliments Barrett. (No, just no, you moron)

Trump is saying that there are not 100,000,000 people with pre-existing conditions.
Yes, there are.

Over 260,000!!!

We now have an estimate on the total number of Covid-19 cases from the idiots who whent to the Sturgis motorcycle rally, over 260,000, or nearly half of all of the new cases over the past few weeks:

Last month’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally drew upwards of 450,000 attendees to the small city of Sturgis, South Dakota, marking the largest physical gathering since the pandemic began. While many feared the Sturgis would prove to be a “super spreader” event, the true magnitude of the spread is only now becoming known. And it isn’t pretty.

A new study published by health economists Dhaval Dave, Andrew Friedson, Drew McNichols, and Joe Sabia concluded that Sturgis is responsible for 260,000 new cases of COVID-19 – or, 19% of the total number of US cases during the month of August — and $12 billion in new medical care.

………

In the case of Sturgis, attendees generally did not wear face masks and congregated in confined spaces (restaurants, bars, Smash Mouth concerts, etc.) over the course of 10-day event, and did not self-isolate once the event was over. As a result, an estimated 263,708 cases of COVID across the country can now be attributed to the rally. Already, one person who attended the rally has died from the virus, but unfortunately that number is also expected to grow.

As the Japanese say, “バカにつける薬はない.”*

*There is no medicine for stupidity.

Adding to the List of They Who Must Not Be Named


Inspired Photoshop Work

When someone passes a certain level of both inhumanity and irrelevance, they end up on my list of They Who Must Not Be Named.

Well, Ellen Degeneris has now crossed that threshold in a sufficiently egregious way that not only is she on they list, but, She also has been memed by The Onion:

Ellen: ‘I Never Intended To Make Staff Feel Unsafe By Wearing A Bloodied Ram Skull And Stalking Them With A Hatchet’

This is a level of screwing the pooch that approaches some sort of twisted dog bordello.

Kanye Has Left the Building

Rapper, and celebrity nut job, Kanye West has ended his presidential run:

On July 4, Kanye West tweeted that he was running for president. It was treated as one of his typical grandiloquent pronouncements. The tweet sparked a lot of opinion pieces, cable news segments, and even a question in an Oval Office interview with Donald Trump. But most people brushed it off. In a follow-up interview with Forbes, West pledged, if elected, to run the White House like the nation of Wakanda from Black Panther. That remark seemed to reinforce the notion that this was just a lark. After all, West had previously compared himself to figures varying from God to Willy Wonka without attempting to establish the Kingdom of Heaven or manufacture an Everlasting Gobstopper.

………

On the morning of July 9, TMZ reported that West’s family was concerned that the billionaire rapper was suffering a bipolar episode based on his presidential aspirations. The well-sourced tabloid website added “our sources say his family and those close to him are worried, but they believe things will stabilize as they have in the past.”

………

Later that day, I talked to Steve Kramer. He is a get-out-the-vote specialist who runs a firm that also helps candidates get on the ballot. Kramer, who has worked mostly for Democratic candidates but has also had some Republican clients, told me that he had been hired to help West get on the ballot in Florida and South Carolina. He added that his understanding was that West’s team was “working over weekend there, formalizing the FEC and other things that they’ve got to do when you have a lot of corporate lawyers involved.”

………

This all seemed real enough, and I reached out to West’s publicist for a response. The initial response was to loop in another spokesperson on the email. West’s team then went dark. As I waited for a response, I followed up with Kramer who told me, “He’s out.”

I asked what happened. “I’ll let you know what I know once I get all our stuff canceled. We had over 180 people out there today,” Kramer said.

Is Vermin Supreme running this year?

Florida, Man ¯_(ツ)_/¯

On a day with record numbers of Covid-19 diagnoses, Disney World is reopening.

Seriously, Florida must be proof of Weisshaupt’s dictum, “I firmly believe that if you can’t fool all of the people all of the time you should start breeding them for stupidity.”

The Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, a Magic Kingdom hair salon where little girls get styled like Disney princesses, remained closed this weekend. Buzz Lightyear was only able to wave from a distance. Parades and fireworks? Scratched.

And the coronavirus continued its rampage through Florida, with officials reporting more than 15,000 new infections on Sunday, a daily record for any state, including New York.

None of which stopped Sonya Little and thousands of other theme park fans from turning out — in masks in the scorching Florida heat — for the reopening of Walt Disney World. After closing in March because of the pandemic, the mega-resort near Orlando began tossing confetti again at 9 a.m. on Saturday. Two of its four major parks, the Magic Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom, welcomed back a limited number of temperature-checked visitors, with some attractions and character interactions unavailable as safety precautions. Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios were set to reopen on Wednesday.

………

To safely reopen, however, the Magic Kingdom had to allow some of the grimness of pandemic life to puncture the utopian fantasy. To ward off germs, Disney now leaves rows of seats empty on rides like Pirates of the Caribbean. Employees constantly disinfect ride vehicles and lap bars. Face masks are mandatory, and, for some visitors, the coverings quickly grew wet with sweat.

Am I the only one to think that the is completely bat-sh%$ insane?

Political Correctness Run Amuck

HBO is doing a reboot of the Warner Brothers’ Looney Toons cartoon, and they are ‘taking Elmer Fudd’s gun away.

I get that guns are a problem in today’s society, but we are talking about guns in the context of hunting, and it’s ELMER F%$#ING FUDD!!!!!

It boggles the mind what some people will do to create the APPEARANCE of doing something about a problem while not actually doing anything.

Responsible Performers, How Do They F%$#Ing Work

There are performers out there live for their live shows, and whose fans also live for their live shows.

If you were to ask someone to name a band that fits this criteria, the first band most people would list would be The Grateful Dead.

The second band that comes to mind is Insane Clown Possee, and they just canceled this year’s ICP gathering to protect their health.

Good for them. Lord knows that this cannot be cheap for them:

It’s a bummer to have to report on all the stuff that’s getting postponed, which is why it brings us no joy to add this to the sadness pile:

Stale News Break… pic.twitter.com/IeYQwOMjr9

— Insane Clown Posse (@icp) April 22, 2020

The annual Gathering of the Juggalos is canceled until 2021 due to the coronavirus. While that shouldn’t surprise anyone at this point, it’s worth talking about what this does to the Juggalos. For the unfamiliar, the Juggalos are a group of people united in their love for the band Insane Clown Posse and discount soda. Over the years, and in response to the FBI’s unfair gang designation, they’ve taken a Fast & Furious “It’s all about family” approach in describing their group.

………

This festival is quite a big deal to the Juggalo community. They don’t waste time trying to bring it to New York or Los Angeles, instead choosing the Midwest as its hosting grounds like a trailer park Coachella (Not an insult BTW). That makes it even more impressive that The Gathering has been able to land some of the performers it has over the years (Ice Cube ain’t cheap.).

………

What’s of note here is that Juggalos tend to be blue-collar (or no collar) workers. The same type of people you may have noticed getting crapped on extra hard by current events. So while we really couldn’t give a shit about some rich silicon valley douche missing out on this year’s Burning Man, this kind of hits a little different.

The Gathering of the Juggalos is an independent event — they don’t have corporate sponsors telling them that they have to cancel anything. It seems like they’re genuinely doing this out of love for their Juggalo family. The tweet from ICP leaves us with a final uplifting message from Fred Fury, “You can’t replace what you mean to our team. Without you, tell me where the f%$# we’d be?”

(%$# mine)

This is f%$# load more concern for these people than their employers would ever show.

She is Off My “They Who Must Not Be Named” List?

I have a list of people that I refuse to cover, They Who Must Not Be Named.  Basically, these are folks who occupy a significant role in popular culture, but I consider too trivial for me to write about. (Tabloid fodder)

I have applied this to actors, singers, the entire royal family, and celebrities for no reason at all, such as the the reality show family whose last name resembles an adversary race in later series in the Star Trek franchise.

My standard statement on this is:

Absent some sort of political activity, such as endorsements, running for office (PLEASE GOD NO!!), or their attempting to assassinate someone, they will not be mentioned here.

Well, the first person is coming off the list and it is Britney Spears, of all people, because she is calling for a general strike and a massive reorganization of society, which I think qualifies her for removal from the list.

Also, she is sounding Trotskyite, which means that referencing her will piss off my brother, Stephen, aka Bear who swims:

Britney Spears has called for us to strike.

On Instagram, Spears shared a graphic that included the words, “We will feed each other, redistribute wealth, strike.” Her comment on the graphic “Communion goes beyond walls 🌹🌹🌹” included three roses, the symbol associated with socialist movements in the United States, United Kingdom, and beyond. That, dear reader, is the main thing we needed to tell you.

A post shared by Britney Spears (@britneyspears) on



Spears is a surprising but very welcome ally in the struggle to ensure that our response to the global coronavirus pandemic is a just one. But her meming also points to the fact that this is a very rare and unusual time: a period in which draconian, repressive government measures could be introduced, but there is also an opening for people to demand a better society. Across the globe, quarantined people are increasingly reliant on low-paid workers. Governments are swiftly discovering that the actual backbone of society is the lowest paid and, in the case of the gig economy, those with few rights.

Trevor Noah Needs an Audience

I watched The Daily Show on Monday, and they are doing a shut in show, with Noah in front of a single camera, with people Skyping in.

Noah is off his game, even though the words in his monologue and discussions are pretty much the same.  (I guess that the writers are working from home too)

His performance, though, is VERY flat.

I think that he feeds off of his audience when he does his performances, and so he is strangely unmoored when it’s just him hunkering down in his apartment.

Hopefully, he will improve over time.

Well, This Has Gone from Concerning to Bat-Sh%$ Insane Quickly

I am talking, of course, about Coronavirus.

In the past 24 hours, after Donald Trump gave the least reassuring political speech since Pennsylvania State Treasurer R. Budd Dwyer’s resignation speech 1n 1987,* things have gone to hell in a hand-basket.

The NCAA has canceled the collegiate basketball championships, AKA March Madness, because of COVID-19 19 concerns.

This is the most ppopular sporting event in the United States, normally pulling in about 50% more in ad revenue, and even more in eyeballs, than the Superbowl, and it’s canceled.

In addition, the Baseball Spring training has been suspended, the NBS has suspended its season,

Heard on every trading desk for last 10yrs: “Fck Dodd-Frank.”

Heard on every trading desk for the last 10d: “Thank fck for Dodd-Frank”

— Joseph S. Mauro (@jsmauro13) March 10, 2020

And then, for the second time this week, but only the third time in more than 20 years, circuit breakers temporarily halted stock trading after the S&P 500 entered free fall.

I am certain right now that there are a lot of brokers who are VERY happy that Dodd-Frank strengthened these market protections.

Finally, in Maryland, all public schools will be closed for 2 weeks, Catholic Schools in Baltimore are shutting down, Episcopal Churches are suspending services, and both state and federal courts are suspending cases, with most public entertainment events cancelled as well.

This all went pear shaped rather quickly.

* Following his conviction on bribery charges, he blew his brains out at a press converence.
.

23 Years

Honestly, I never expected Harvey Weinstein to get such a long sentence, but IMHO, it is well justified:

Harvey Weinstein, the titan of Hollywood turned convicted rapist, has been sentenced to 23 years in prison on Wednesday in New York.

The fallen mogul was handed down his punishment by Judge James Burke at the New York supreme court having been convicted of two counts of sexual assault. The judge imposed 20 years for a first-degree criminal sex act for forcing oral sex on a production assistant, Miriam Haley, in 2006.

He also imposed a three-year sentence for third-degree rape of a woman whom the Guardian is not naming because her wishes over identification are not clear.

The two sentences will run consecutively, meaning that Weinstein, 67, will have to complete the terms of the criminal sex act before serving the rape sentence.

Good.