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This week: West Virginia considers a law that would impose criminal penalties to people who expose children to "obscene literature," and similar moral panics grip lawmakers across the nation. The Alabama Supreme Court rules that frozen embryos are people "regardless of developmental stage," putting the legality of in vitro fertilization in jeopardy. Anti-abortion figures try to keep quiet that the Comstock Act could be used, in a second Trump term, to harm access to abortion drugs nationwide without going through Congress. And Now: More Explicit Readings From Concerned Citizens At Public Meetings. Main story: "Pig Butchering Scams," where malign entities send out-of-the-blue messages to people attempting to engage them in conversation, build a connection with them, and eventually con them. And Now: Local News Loses It Over Major League Baseball's New Pants. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Feb 25, 2024 - 4 comments

This week... Ron DeSantis claims he doesn't wear lifts in his shoes. Main story: the fight to preserve abortion access in US states. "[...A] truly horrible thing to have to add to the list of things that pregnant women are not safe to do. So it's now officially: ride a roller coaster, eat sushi, dye your roots, and simply exist in the State of Texas." It's on Youtube (23 minutes). And Now: It Was Halloween, And Local TV Hosts Did What They Always Do. And finally, New Zealand is having a poll to decide their "Bird of the Century," and Last Week Tonight is waging an "alarmingly aggressive" campaign on behalf of the Pūteketeke, a.k.a. the Australasian crested grebe. The website of their campaign is here. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Nov 7, 2023 - 3 comments

This week.... Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota spoke at a NRA forum, claiming that it wasn't just a bunch of old white guys, to a crowd composed almost entirely of old white guys. Texas judge Kacsmaryk suspended the FDA's approval of a key component of medication abortions 23 years after the fact, using terrible reasoning to do so (MeFi). And Now: Did You Know Action News' Robert Grant Has A Fucking Dairy Allergy? Main story: Farm workers (Youtube, 25 minutes), most of whom in the US are foreign-born and undocumented, are badly treated, work in dangerous conditions, are woefully paid, and can legally be as young as twelve, and yet are incredibly essential to agriculture, which is messed up. The closing segment (of a parody "Farming Simulator 2023") was narrated by Nick Offerman. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Apr 17, 2023 - 2 comments

This week... two main stories! #1 is on abortion, and Alito's draft opinion to overturn Roe vs. Wade. John Oliver's points are: what this ruling means, how we got to this point, and where we go now. YouTube (18 minutes) And Now: Local News Shows Go Through The Motions For "Star Wars Day." Main Story #2: The Phillipine elections, which have a chance of dumping current dictator Rodrigo Duterte, but if so one of the possible replacements is Ferdinand Marcos Jr., largely because of the rewriting of history in their media and on the internet. Be on the look out for John saying: "That is the single dumbest story involving a young Michael Jordan I have ever heard, and I have seen Space Jam." YouTube (20 minutes) And Now: WDIV Meteorologist Brandon Roux Enjoys Cinco de Mayo A Little Too Much.
posted by JHarris on May 8, 2022 - 4 comments

Last Week Tonight is back, in a studio, and with a live audience and a new set! This week... Texas's awful new abortion law that lets private citizens sue people who got or in any way abetted an abortion, including the people who drove the patient to the hospital. And Now: Yet Again, It's That Time Of Year (Starbucks is bringing back their Pumpkin Spice Latte). Main Story (YouTube, 19 minutes): Belarus, specifically its leader Alexander Lukashenko, the self-proclaimed "last dictator of Europe," who has clung to power for three decades. He's the most popular president Belarus has ever had, but only because he's the only president Belarus has ever had, and is in fact deeply unpopular and controls that nation's media with an iron fist. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Sep 13, 2021 - 10 comments

This week once again comes to us from the White Void of Sad Facts. The Supreme Court is on track to review Roe vs. Wade, to the chagrin of practically every non-conservative. In Philadelphia, Larry Krasner, running in favor of police reform, won a primary for D.A. and is set to go against Republican Charles Peruto. Along those lines there is a brief recap of cartoon character candidates in the news, such as Andrew Giuliani. And Now: San Francisco City Council Meetings' Public Comments Are A Joy To Behold. The main story: sponsored content (21 minutes), specifically in local news programs, revenue source for local stations that, due to vague FCC rules that suffer from lax enforcement, often is insufficiently identified as paid programming. Many examples are given, including three that Last Week Tonight produced themselves and got placed for a mere few thousand dollars, for the "Venus Veil," a fake product that is the "world's first sexual wellness blanket." [more inside]
posted by JHarris on May 24, 2021 - 10 comments

This week.... Donald Trump wins the South Carolina Republican Primary despite a feud with the Pope, and Jeb Bush finishes fourth. Republicans dig in on not confirming whatever replacement Supreme Court Justice Obama nominates. The "Judicial Crisis Network" makes an ad saying Republican senators should not confirm made mostly of smiling faces bought from stock footage sites. Last Week Tonight provides a stock footage rebuttal. How is This Still a Thing: Hollywood whitewashing. This week's main story: breast implants abortion (16m), and the stealth efforts of the right to outlaw it de facto by making it impossible in some states to operate an abortion clinic through the imposition of ridiculously onerous rules. The show finishes up with footage of a bucket of baby slothes -- and one in person, in the studio. Metafilter thread. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Feb 24, 2016 - 8 comments