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This week.... Kamala Harris appeared to call for a cease fire in Gaza... but then qualified it by adding "for the next six weeks." Trump endorses North Carolina Republican candidate for Governor Mark Robinson by calling him, inexplicably, "Martin Luther King on steroids." And Now: C-SPAN Callers Show Once Again Why They're America At Its Best. Main story: state medical boards, the organizations whose job it is to issue, suspend and revoke licenses to practice medicine in each state. These boards tend to be underfunded, but also are often composed entirely of doctors, who can be biased in their judgements on behalf of their colleagues, a phenomenon called "the white coat code of silence." On Youtube (23 minutes). And Now: People On TV Love To Talk About Their Big Fuckin' Heads. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Mar 14, 2024 - 5 comments

This week.... Biden "hopes" for a cease fire in Gaza. The Supreme Court says they will take up Donald Trump's claim of absolute immunity while in office. And Now: Newscasters React to a Seasonal Phenomenon (iguanas falling out of trees). Main Story: The problems with aircraft manufacturer Boeing, which has fallen from grace in recent decades, after their merger with McDonnell Douglas brought with it a focus on using stock buybacks to juice their shares at the cost of all else, paid for by cutting corners on safety. LWT presents a more honest ad for Boeing at the end of the episode. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Mar 4, 2024 - 3 comments

Welcome back! This week (and the past two months).... The Chicago Rat Hole. (wait, what?) Tucker Carlson had a fawning interview with Vladimir Putin. Israel continued its horrific assault on Gaza. Courts have hit Trump with gigantic fines, but he keeps on Trumping, saying (amidst the word salad) all the horrifying things he's now been saying for over eight years, including telling Russia to "do whatever the hell they want." And Now: Chuck Grassley Celebrates His Favorite Holiday (Groundhog Day). Main Story: The Supreme Court, which has been losing respect among many, has been rocked by news of gross financial impropriety by Justices, which is dangerous for an institution with no enforcement power. Thomas, in particular, has accepted millions of dollars of trips and other gifts from conservative billionaires, including some who frequently are involved in matters before the court, and almost never recuses himself from their cases, and in recognition of its status as the highest court, the law explicitly carves out exceptions for Supreme Court justices. Last Week Tonight offers to resolve the appearance of impropriety with its characteristic bluntness: if seats on the highest court of the land are so invulnerable to appearances of influence without consequence, then John Oliver himself will offer Justice Clarence Thomas a $2.4 million-dollar motor coach and a million dollars a year for the rest of his life, if he will just step down from his office. In Oliver's words: "How is this legal?" [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Feb 19, 2024 - 7 comments

This week... the main story is about the Israel-Hamas war, specifically about their leaders, "how they came to power, whose interests they do and don't represent, and what role they played in bringing us to this current conflict." Hamas undermined the efforts of the previous poltical party Fatah, which had been pursuing peace; and Netanhayu is currently widely reviled within Israel by those who blame him for the security lapses that allowed Hamas to attack, but has long had other very troubling issues, and currently presides over the most right-wing government in Israel's history. (On Youtube, 32 minutes) And Now: Rachel Campos-Duffy Really, Really Needs You To Know That Her Husband Was Once In Congress. Concluding the episode is an update over the New Zealand Bird of the Century election. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Nov 14, 2023 - 3 comments

This week... a cold open about the situation in Gaza. The US House voted out Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and replacing him won't be easy. And Now: Jim Cramer Is Totally Untroubled By His Haters. The main story (Youtube, 20 minutes) involves food safety and the failings of the Food & Drug Administration in ensuring it. And Now: Check Out The Sexual Tension Between Fox Business' Liz Claman And Charlie Gasparino. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Oct 16, 2023 - 2 comments

"More than 65 million people around the world have been forced from their homes to escape famine, climate change and war, the greatest displacement since World War II. Filmmaker Ai Weiwei examines the staggering scale of the refugee crisis and its profoundly personal human impact. Over the course of one year in 23 countries, Weiwei follows a chain of urgent human stories that stretch across the globe, including Afghanistan, France, Greece, Germany and Iraq." [more inside]
posted by kokaku on Jul 20, 2019 - 3 comments

Due to overwhelming popular demand, they've unlocked this recent episode... Felix talks with @intifadarling, a Palestinian-American activist based in Ramallah. They discuss the context of the May 14 massacre of Palestinian protesters in Gaza, the political situation between Israel, America and Palestine, and the future of the Palestinian people. [more inside]
posted by Space Coyote on Jun 1, 2018 - 0 comments

This week: Americans striking ISIS in Iraq with aerial bombardment. Russian gang steals 1.2 billion internet passwords. A three-day cease-fire in Gaza doesn't quite go the distance. A long piece on the payday loan industry. (16m) Russia bans Western food imports.
posted by JHarris on Aug 11, 2014 - 9 comments

This week: Conflict in Gaza. Ukraine rebels shoot down airliner. The Commonwealth Games. John Oliver says the overall theme of the week was how depressing it was, so let's have a long piece on prisons in America... but with a puppet song at the end! John Oliver suffers so that we might laugh.
posted by JHarris on Jul 21, 2014 - 10 comments