FanFare

In the aftermath of yet another school shooting, children gathered outside the Tenessee courthouse chanting "Fuck Bill Lee!" due to the grossly underwhelming response from Republicans to the shooting, who expelled two House members because they had the temerity to side with the students. And Now: It's Easter, The Most Terrifying Time Of The Year." Main story: Homeowners Associations, much-hated, often-tyrannical groups that 29% of Americans must live with, a figure that's rapidly growing because over 80% of new homes are covered by one. They have been called "the most significant privatization of local government responsibilities in recent times." They sometimes function like small governments, but without any of the strictures that governments have. They can be astoundingly petty, and that's not even getting into how they can be the tools of racists. It's just one more way that people often get screwed over in the United States. On Youtube (25 minutes). The piece is concluded by a short segment depicting what it would be like if HOAs were forced to tell people what they may be in for. For people 35 or younger, who likely will never even be able to own a home, LWT has prepared an alternate story, A History of Chuck E. Cheese, a 28-minute video that can been seen at lastsqueaktonight.com. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Apr 10, 2023 - 12 comments

There are two topics covered at roughly equal length this week. The first is the long-awaited release of the Mueller Report, the contents of which reveal things that are entirely insane. On YouTube (15m). The other, almost as insane, is the story of Chiitan (TWITTER), an unofficial mascot for the Japanese city of Susaki. The behavior of Chiitan, a cartoon otter with a turtle on its head, was random, bizarre and violent, and so was asked to stop, by the city Susaki, associating with its official mascot, Shinjo-Kun (INSTAGRAM). But where some ways part, others join, so LWT sent one of their own mascots, Chii-john, a cute otter version of John Oliver, to Susaki to be Shinjo-Kun's new friend.
posted by JHarris on Apr 22, 2019 - 7 comments

Meanwhile, back on Earth....

• Trump's Press Secretary Sean Spicer digs an incredible hole for himself, first appearing to claim that President Bashar al-Assad of Syria was worse than Hitler because Hitler never used chemical weapons (he did), then that Hitler never used them against innocent people (he did), then making up the term "Holocaust centers" as the place where Jews were gassed.
• Trump meets with China president Xi Jinping, who apparently in 10 minutes convinced him to do what over half the United States desperately wanted him to do for months: learn a damn thing about North Korea. Alas they did so at Trump's Mar-a-Lago, having recently been cited for 13 health code violations. Trump continues to flip-flop on practically everything related to foreign policy, underscoring how desperately stupid his campaign was.
• Trump drops a "MOAB" (Mother Of All Bombs) on Afghanistan, causing euphoric celebration at Fox News from Geraldo Rivera. When directly asked if he had authorized the strike, Trump danced around the question.
• And Now: You Put Easter And Local News Together, And What Do You Fucking Expect?
• Main Story: The upcoming French Presidental elections, between 11 different candidates, at least three of which have been assaulted in public by citizens throwing baking ingredients. YouTube (18m)

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posted by JHarris on Apr 18, 2017 - 8 comments