FanFare

The main subject was a return to the opioid crisis, and the role of big pharmaceutical companies in causing it. Specifically one Richard Sackler, who pushed Purdue Pharma into heavily marketing Oxycontin. LWT created the website Sackler Gallery, which features a number of actors reading transcripts of court appearances by Sackler. On YouTube (21m). Other topics: Brexit gets pushed back to Halloween, and Julian Assange was thrown out of Ecuadorian embassy and brought into police custody for extradition.
posted by JHarris on Apr 21, 2019 - 0 comments

This week...

• The aftermath of Orlando shootings, from Trump's predictably awful remarks to the Democratic Party's filibuster, and the choke-hold the NRA holds over Congress and regulatory agencies, despite relatively low membership and campaign contributions. YouTube (11m)
• And Now: "60 Minutes" Anchors Are Still Prompting People to Deliver the Exact Soundbite They Need
• Main story: Brexit, that is to say, the motion to remove Great Britain from the European Union. Last Week Tonight debunks some of the reasons given for exiting. At the end, LWT provides their own (foul-mouthed, half-hearted) lyrics supporting staying in the EU, sung to the tune of Beethoven's "Ode To Joy." YouTube (16m)

[more inside]
posted by JHarris on Jun 22, 2016 - 4 comments

This week.... Afghanistan reports Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar has died; it's been revealed that he actually died in 2013 and the Taliban has been lying about it ever since, and has even been releasing statements in his name. Three teenage girls in Chechnya bilked ISIL fighters, who thought they were securing themselves brides, out of thousands of dollars. A member of British Parliament, Lord Sewel resigns as deputy speaker of the House of Lords in the wake of a scandal after a video surfaced purportedly showing him taking cocaine with prostitutes. John Oliver supplies some context on the House of Lords. And Now: Ten Actual Titles of Current Members of the British House of Lords, Paired With Photos of Pets Who Look Like They Would Have That Name. Main story: On statehood for Washington D.C. (YouTube, 17m) John Oliver presents a rewrite of the song that names the fifty states alphabetically to cover the plight of Washington D.C., and sings it with 19 kids. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Aug 3, 2015 - 7 comments

This week: Hillary Clinton announces her candidacy for President of the United States. Brits prepare for upcoming electoral fights, including a heated race for Prime Minister between current PM David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Milliband. Obama meets Raúl Castro to work towards normalizing relations with Cuba. And Now: Excruciatingly Awkward Silences Caused By Technical Difficulties. Main story: The loathed IRS (YouTube 18m), the difficulty of their thankless job, and the issues an unpopular but essential agency faces when their budged gets slashed year after year. Michael Bolton sings a song in support; the word anus is used more than once.
posted by JHarris on Apr 13, 2015 - 12 comments