FanFare

The crew leads a Union delegation to sign a peace treaty with the Krill. [more inside]
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit on Jun 23, 2022 - 7 comments

A corporation is running for president. And that’s the good guys. Start with The Revolution, Brought to You by Nike, by Mefi's Own andrhia (a/k/a Andrea Phillips). Take a little detour into this follow-up essay. Then crack open America Inc., a novel of democracy and dirty tricks.
posted by Etrigan on Jul 14, 2020 - 2 comments

Meet the man who figured out how to reshape national politics by making tiny investments in the smallest of places. [more inside]
posted by Monochrome on Jun 15, 2018 - 2 comments

This week....

• President Trump appoints to the head of the VA his White House doctor.
• Egypt has a Presidential election, the winner of which will almost certainly be strongman Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, since one of his opponents was arrested and three more intimidated into withdrawing. His only opponent, Mousa Mostafa Mousa, was a supporter of his!
• Sinclair Media Group's continued efforts to turn local news into Fox News 2, including must runs trying to push the idea of a "deep state" working against Trump, and trying to push an idea that national media outlets push fake stories. (Links below fold.)
• And Now: Baseball's Back, And Local News Knows Exactly What That Means. (It means weird concession food.)
• Main Story: Immigration Courts, which are a complete mess. One judge said of them, "In essence we're doing death penalty cases in a traffic court setting." Furthermore, they're not criminal courts but civil courts, meaning many guarantees, such as for legal council, are not available, and they're not part of the Judicial Branch, but instead, of the Executive Branch, and Jeff Sessions can in fact review cases himself. In some, children as young as three are actually asked to represent themselves before a judge. Just to drive home how stupid that is, LWT produced a bit of a court show in which everyone but the defendant (H. Jon Benjamin!) is three or four: Tot Bench.

Here's the main story on YouTube (18m). [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Apr 2, 2018 - 4 comments

After Andrea is attacked by a stranger in Mexico City, she just wants to figure out who the guy was. Investigating this question drops her right into the middle of one of Mexico's biggest conspiracies.
posted by latkes on Dec 18, 2017 - 12 comments

This week... John Kerry holds a conference in Vienna to try to get Syria to reach an agreement with rebels, but while delegates from 20 nations show up, neither Syria nor the rebels attend. "Chewbacca" is arrested in Ukraine for campaigning on behalf of "Darth Vader," who is running for mayor there. In the UK, the threatened removal of tax credits for the poor are thwarted by an unlikely benefactor: the House of Lords. And Now: The Inevitable, Sad Consequences Of Morning Show Anchors Celebrating Halloween. The main story: 2015 state elections determine whether more states will opt out of expanding Medicaid to their residents. YouTube (14m) And Now: Oh Sweet Jesus, They've Put The Weather Forecasters In Costumes Too. Finally, China attempts to gain control over shipping lanes in the South China Sea by claiming sovereignty over artificial islands, a situation that has become tensely volatile and a potential cause for war. In an attempt to introduce some reason, Last Week Tonight brought on Kenny G (unexpectedly popular in China) to sing a song about it. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Nov 4, 2015 - 3 comments

This week: Greece gets a loan reprieve. Cease fire violated in Ukraine, Egypt butchers the Russian national anthem. The UK's Labour Party tries to appeal to women by means of a pink bus (YT 4m). Last Week Tonight imagines what would happen if Labour did damage control in a video segment, Pretty Princess Ponies. Main story: The many problems with electing state judges in the US (YT 13m). And Now: CNN Weatherman Chad Myers Hates His Job, His Life and Everyone Around Him. China celebrates the beginning of the Year of the Sheep. Or is it Goat?
posted by JHarris on Feb 23, 2015 - 13 comments