Top 10 Conservative Idiots Best Of #31: The Best Of Season 16 Edition (2024)

Top 10 Conservative Idiots Best Of #31: The Best Of Season 16 Edition

Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! Oh hello! I know, right? Its absolutely insane how much time flies. Were five months out from the 2024 election, which is feeling more and more like an eternity away. That said, were busy tidying up the set and checking things out before we gear up for season 17. So before we begin with this Best Of edition, we would like to clarify something we brought up in the finale. When our last program is going to be. The truth is we dont know how long this is going to last, but we also dont know whats going to happen beyond January of 2025. That is, especially given what the future of America could be, should Trump, Fox News and the Heritage Foundation retake the White House and turn the United States into a religious fascist utopia, which we hope doesnt happen. One thing is for absolute certain though is that we do plan to take an extended break in 2025 after the inauguration. Which we hope, it will all be over, and we will do the right thing and send the MAGA cabal packing. Also we do plan to keep some of our signature segments that you know and love, like Holy sh*t, Beating A Dead Horse, Conspiracy Corner, and I Need A Drink going in some form even long after our program ends and we run out of money. But when the time comes we will let you know. But for now, lets get those all important tour dates going! Here they are!

July 18th Constellation Room at Observatory OC, Santa Ana, CA(Season Premiere)
July 25th Montreal Comedy Club, Montreal, QC
August 1st Comedy Factory, Edmonton, AB
August 8th The Improv Center, Vancouver, BC
August 15th Shrine Auditorium, USC, Los Angeles, CA (Wheel Of Corruption)
August 22nd UC Berkeley Student Union, Berkeley, CA
August 30th San Diego State University Open Air Theater, San Diego, CA
Sept. 5th - **DARK** (Labor Day, no Top 10 that week)
Sept. 12th Oregon State University Theater, OSU, Corvallis, OR
Sept. 19th - **DARK** (No Top 10 that week)
Sept. 26th Gonzaga University Student Commons, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA
Oct. 3rd Rutgers University Student Commons, Rutgers, New Brunswick, NJ (Wheel Of Corruption)
Oct. 10th **DARK** (No Top 10 that week)
Oct. 17th Comedy Off Broadway, University Of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
Oct. 24th Michigan State University Student Commons, MSU, Lansing, MI (pre-election special)
Oct. 31st University Of Texas Student Commons, UT, Arlington, TX (Halloween Spooktacular)
Nov. 7th - **DARK**
Nov. 14th University Of Connecticut Student Commons, U CONN, Storrs, CT (Wheel Of Corruption)
Nov. 21st Syracuse University Student Commons, Syracuse, NY
Nov. 28th - **DARK**
Dec. 5th University Of Colorado Student Theater, Boulder, Colorado
Dec. 12th Pauley Pavilion, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Dec. 19h Constellation Room at Observatory, OC, Santa Ana, CA (2024 Year In Review Edition)

And thats it! OK enough of the intro, we have a lot of idiocy to get to. But first we have to play John Olivers segment about the extremely controversial Project 2025, which would essentially dissolve the government as we know it and pave the way for fascism to come to the United States:

So yeah thats some scary sh*t! Anyway, where do we begin for this Best Of edition? In the number one slot this week is from Idiots #16-10, and remember when the MAGA Qongress (1) attempted to blow up the Ukraine spending bill and it hilariously backfired on them? That happened! And someone needs to tell Fox News they really suck at governing! In the second slot, from Idiots #16-2 Our old buddy former Fox News and current X correspondent Tucker Carlson went to Moscow at the invitation of Vladimir Putin, and instantly became a Russian asset! Shocker! In the number 3 slot this week, is from Idiots #16-8 anyone remember Trumps social media hidey hole, Truth Social (3)? Well, after MAGA high-fived themselves over the stock initially trading high, its since been in a free fall in what traders call a pump and dump. Yeah, the Trump Pump And Dump is going exactly according to plan, and its definitely a dump all right! In the number 4 slot this week is from Idiots #16-4, and speaking of social media, the tale surrounding one of Elon Musks BFFs, Chaya Raichik (4), who goes by the handle libsoftiktok, is in some extremely hot water for inspiring a murder in Oklahoma further proving that stochastic terrorism gets you nowhere and nothing in return. In the number 5 slot, from Idiots #16-6 is our award winning segment that cuts through media fearmongering, Were All Gonna Die (5), and in this segment, thanks to anti-vaxxers, measels and mumps have returned in the Sunshine State, and well, if Floridas surgeon general is any indication of their level of competence, in the words of Bender from Futurama, were boned! In the number 6 slot this week, from Idiots #16-13, our weekly visit to the Holy Church Of The Top 10 in Holy sh*t (6) and this week its graduation season, and Harrison Butker of the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs went full MAGA Taliban and said the quiet part out loud about where the anti-abortion movement is heading! In the number 7 slot, from Idiots #16-12, our pop culture segment Beating A Dead Horse (7) takes another look at artificial intelligence and Apple basically spat in the faces of a large portion of its user base, and that never ends well! Taking the number 8 slot this week, from Idiots #16-11, is our segment that delves into the seemingly never-ending void of online tin foil hat nuttery in Conspiracy Corner (8) and this week, why is our favorite Qongress critter Marjorie Greene getting a shout out from Russian state TV? Remember if youre under investigation for having ties to Russia, maybe stay away from that whole thing! In the number 9 (NEIN!!!) slot is I Need A Drink (9) and this week, we are going to have some drinks and take a look at the great Red Lobster Endless Shrimp promotion of 2024, and if stock trends are any indication, Red Lobsters got a lot more problems than all you can eat shrimp! Finally this week we are in an election year, and in season 17, were dedicating the 10th slot as your one-stop shop for all things election related, and were giving you a preview of what to expect here, with the first installment of our 3 part series Road To The Primaries (10)! Plus to cap things off, we have the legendary Eagles stopping by previewing what to expect with their shows at the Las Vegas Sphere! Enjoy! And as always don't forget the key!

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[font size="8"]The MAGA Qongress

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From: Idiots #16-10

Lets start this week off with some good news for once! We dont want you to think this whole show is about negativity, because what kind of hosts would that make us? Not very good ones! For years, YEARS now, we were told not to question MAGAs ties to Russia. But lately, more and more it seems like their worst motives are becoming clear. Last week, we reported on Marjorie Three Names and her fight to unseat Mike Johnson as the Speaker Of The House because of some bullsh*t involving the border and the Ukraine bill, neither of which have anything to do with each other. Well, this week, the MAGA Qongress got their asses handed to them over this fight. Yes, how about that, ladies and gentlemen? Well were definitely glad that some members of the MAGA Qongress decided to side with reality over internet conspiracy theories. Which, look, its a rare win for our side, so well take it! Gotta take it one step at a time, am I right? Well lets take a look at the bill and whats in it. Biden is supposed to sign it into law today since it passed the Senate too. This is why elections matter, and why you have to vote at every single level. But the fact that this bill passed the house and senate in spite of Fox News and conspiracy theorists is a truly massive win.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday with broad bipartisan support passed a $95 billion legislative package providing security assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, over bitter objections from Republican hardliners.

The legislation now proceeds to the Democratic-majority Senate, which passed a similar measure more than two months ago. U.S. leaders from Democratic President Joe Biden to top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell have been urging embattled Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring it up for a vote.

The Senate is expected to pass the measure next week, sending it to Biden to sign into law. A dozen or so Democratic lawmakers waved small Ukrainian flags as it became clear that element of the package was headed to passage. Johnson told lawmakers that was a "violation of decorum." Johnson this week chose to ignore ouster threats by hardline members of his fractious 218-213 majority and push forward the measure that includes some $60.84 billion for Ukraine as it struggles to fight off a two-year Russian invasion.

The unusual four-bill package also includes funds for Israel, security assistance for Taiwan and allies in the Indo-Pacific and a measure that includes sanctions, a threat to ban the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok and the potential transfer of seized Russian assets to Ukraine.

Yes! Its about damn time that sanity prevailed! And look, we do have to applaud Mike Johnson for doing the right thing and siding with reality and not caving to the demands of the conspiracy theorists and Fox News / AM talk radio hosts that are currently polluting the GOP. Well, of course, the ring leader of the 3 ring MAGA circus thats infecting the House Of Representatives, Marjorie Taylor Greene (Q Batsh*t), aka Marjorie Three Names, aka Marjorie sh*t For Brains, from crying about how America First isnt being respected enough. But really, we have zero respect for these bizarre cultists anymore, so were still celebrating this one!

Meanwhile, upon leaving the Capitol on Saturday, Greene told reporters: "This is the sellout of America today. When we had members of Congress in there waving the Ukrainian flag on the United States House of Representatives floor while we're doing nothing to secure our border, I think every American in this country should be furious."

When asked if she will call for a vote to oust Johnson, Greene said, "I'm actually going to let my colleagues go home and hear from their constituents because I think people have been too obsessed with voting for foreign wars and the murder industry here in America to actually understand how angry Americans are."

So far, Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, and Representative Paul Gosar, an Arizona Republican, have joined Greene's effort to oust Johnson.

Meanwhile, Johnson has said he's not resigning and called any attempt to oust him as speaker "absurd."
https://www.newsweek.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-ukraine-aid-passes-reaction-1892521

Yeah seriously, Marjorie. Take the L on this one. You lost! Get over it! Thats what you guys are always telling us, right? Yes, and we have the talk radio and Fox News footage to prove it! Speaking of Fox News, that didnt stop them from complaining that Ukraine flags were being waved on the House floor, and that there was one MAGA Qongress person who is proposing banning any flag waving that isnt 100% American. Sheesh, these people really have a symbolism complex, dont they? And do they not know how diplomacy works? But one thing is for certain its great to know which of our Congressional representatives are on Vladimir Putins payroll!

The House of Representatives finally passed a $61.8bn (£49bn) aid package for Ukraine after a tense few months of negotiation between politicians.

The Republican-controlled House passed the bill by a comfortable margin of 311-112 after the speaker of the House Mike Johnson allied with Democrats to get the bill through Congress.

Democrats and Republicans who did vote for the bill to pass could be seen celebrating by waving flags and chanting "U-kraine, U-kraine" on the House floor.

Representatives were swiftly told off for their conduct before the House moved on to other business.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/senate-approves-nearly-61b-ukraine-122515786.html

Now heres the thing you might be wondering why aid Ukraine? Well lets look at history for a minute. Especially South Korea. You know how close we came to losing South Korea during the Korean War? Closer than you would actually think. And that would have made North Korea an even bigger nuclear power. So picture that. Now picture Russia taking over Ukraine and wiping that country off the map. Yeah it would make Russia an even bigger nuclear power. While we arent close enough to seeing Vlad hauled off in chains, this is a major victory, and one that should be celebrated with revels!

President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed into law an aid package providing crucial military assistance to Ukraine, capping months of negotiations and debate.

The aid package, passed by the Senate late Tuesday evening and worth $95 billion in total, includes nearly $61 billion in aid to Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel and $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific. The package also includes a bill that could eventually lead to the banning of TikTok in the United States - giving Chinese parent company ByteDance roughly nine months to sell it or else it will be banned from app stores in the United States.

The signing of the aid package was the culmination of months of tense negotiations, personal lobbying from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a split in the House Republican conference that continues to threaten the leadership position of House Speaker Mike Johnson. Hardline House conservatives opposed further US funding to Kyiv and threatened to oust Johnson over his handling of the negotiations. Conservatives in Congress have opposed additional assistance for what they view as an unwinnable war.

Biden had spent months lobbying Johnson to move forward with aid to Ukraine, enlisting top administration officials and CIA Director Bill Burns to lay out the stakes for Ukraine - and ultimately democracy in Europe and across the world - if Russia continued to make inroads in its military campaign there.

From: Idiots #16-2

I think the Top 10 Conservative Idiots opinion on Vladimir Putin is perfectly clear. We think that hes an inhuman, disgustingly evil monster who must be destroyed and his minions eradicated from this planet that we live on. Hes a threat to the security and stability of not just the United States, but the entire world at large. But that didnt stop fired Fox News employee and current Twitter / X commentator and social media troll Tucker Carlson from going to Moscow and interviewing the king troll himself. You cant humanize an inhuman monster like Putin. That didnt stop internet conspiracy theorists and TwiXters biggest trolls from positively org*sming over this interview. Did it accomplish anything? All it did was draw even more attention to the GOP and MAGAs ties to Putin and his evil regime. And Putin came off looking like a rambling maniac in the process. Which is pretty much what wed expect from a guy whos attempted to recreate Mother Russia. Well lets get into this interview and for the sake of this piece, why dont we call it Mr. Tucker Goes To Moscow. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! Thats another great one. Well heres more.

American pundit Tucker Carlson, who is currently on a visit to Moscow, has announced he is interviewing Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The conservative provocateur and former Fox News anchor said he was interviewing Putin because its our job. Were in journalism. Our duty is to inform people.

Carlson who will be the first American to interview Putin since the start of Moscows full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost two years ago has repeatedly questioned U.S. support for Kyivs war effort.

The TV host, who was ousted by Fox last year, seemed to suggest the interview was yet to take place and did not specify when it would air, but said it would be published unedited and not behind a paywall on his personal website.

In a social media monologue, Carlson said he had been motivated to sit down with Putin because the populations of the English-speaking countries were ill-informed about the war in Ukraine, alleging that was because no one has told them the truth.
https://www.politico.eu/article/tucker-carlson-vladimir-putin-interview-confirm/

Oh f*ck right the f*ck off! Were not ill informed. We know damn well of Putins evil intentions to conquer Europe and the damn US media is just sitting back and letting it happen. Hell Fox News is practically salivating at the thought, theyre egging on our Congress people every night to do nothing about whats happening in Ukraine. And Putin can go f*ck himself. And Im not even going to point out the irony yet. But what is happening is that the most flag waving patriotic Americans are now revealing their true colors, and their true colors are red and yellow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had not been interviewed by an American journalist in almost three years, but this week he granted an interview to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. That means, of course, that Putin still hasnt been interviewed by an American journalist in three years. He was interviewed by a former Fox News entertainer. The questions we should be asking are, why did Putin give an interview to Carlson and why did he choose to do so now?

To be clear, my issue isnt that an American interviewed Putin. Thats what real journalists should do. But, to repeat, Carlson isnt a real journalist. Fox News, which fired him in April, made that clear when it successfully defended Carlson against a slander accusation filed against him in 2019. In writing her opinion, U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil restated Foxs defense: The general tenor of the show should then inform a viewer that he [Carlson] is not stating actual facts about the topics he discusses and is instead engaging in exaggeration and non-literal commentary.

Carlson wasnt even stating actual facts when he wrongly claimed that Western journalists havent pursued a Putin interview. Why, then, did Putin choose Carlson after denying other interview requests from Americans? The answer, in part, lies in Putins keen awareness that Carlson isnt a journalist. Real journalists ask hard questions of powerful people. They push back when misleading or false information is proffered. Putin wanted none of that. Thats essentially what Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. Other Western news outlets have tried to interview Putin. The Kremlin chose Carlson because he has a position that differs from the rest.
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/tucker-carlson-vladimir-putin-interview-fbi-intelligence-rcna137924

Does anyone see the irony here? Anyone at all? For the entirety of the Trump administration, the MAGA republicans were like Dont you f*cking dare question our ties to Vladimir Putin!!!. Now they literally make frequent trips to Moscow and theyre like Putins not such a bad guy after all!. Its truly beyond hope right now. At least it feels that way. But who really came off looking like a colossal idiot was Tucker Carlson. And Putin came off looking like the psychopath that we all know he is. This was supposed to be some kind of anti-liberal ownage? Come on, guys. You can do better than that. Or maybe you cant, maybe this is the best were going to get.

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson conducted a much-hyped interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week that mostly consisted of Putin lecturing Carlson about Russian history while barely letting him get a word in.

However, Financial Times Moscow Bureau Chief Max Seddon singled out one particular part of the interview that had to be particularly embarrassing for Carlson, which came when the Russian president mocked him for getting rejected to work at the CIA decades ago.

"We should thank God that they didn't let you in!" Putin said to Carlson. "Although it is a serious organization, I understand."

Seddon noted that Putin embarrassed Carlson despite the fact that Carlson had gone out of his way to lob softball questions at him while also in the past praising his nation for supposedly upholding traditional Christian values.
https://www.rawstory.com/tucker-carlson-putin-interview/

And by the way in case youre wondering, yes, we did find this footage of what Tucker thinks of Putin and its not flattering. But you probably knew that already. But the entire thing turned out to be basically just a two hour history lesson of Russia and thats about it. By the way MAGA conservatives, if you love Putin so much and youre embarrassed to live in the US, then why dont you go move to Moscow then? I hear that Vlad is looking for recruits for his volunteer army. But anyway there wasnt really much accomplished with this interview, other than that the MAGA / Murdoch cult doesnt want anyone to f*ck with them.

US talk show host Tucker Carlson's interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin began with a rambling half-hour lecture on the history of Russia and Ukraine.

Mr Carlson, frequently appearing bemused, listened as Mr Putin expounded at length about the origins of Russian statehood in the ninth century, Ukraine as an artificial state and Polish collaboration with Hitler.

It is familiar ground for Mr Putin, who infamously penned a 5000-word essay entitled "On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians" in 2021, which foreshadowed the intellectual justification the Kremlin offered for its invasion of Ukraine less than a year later.

Historians say the litany of claims made by Mr Putin are nonsense - representing nothing more than a selective abuse of history to justify the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Regardless of the historical realities, none of Putin's assertions would form a legal justification for his invasion.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68255302

From: Idiots #16-8

We all know that when that guy who we inexplicably used to call president, Donald J. Trump, started his social media hidey-hole Truth Social, that it wouldnt last. But what we didnt know, and probably should have anticipated, is that Truth Socials parent company Donald J. Trump Media Group, which trades under the NASDAQ symbol $DJT was basically just a giant money laundering operation. Yeah the stock traded at unprecedented highs when it first started. But since then, the stock has been in a total free fall, which market analysts call this scheme the pump n dump. Which means that I guess we can call this the Trump Pump N Dump. No, that does not refer to the fact that he wears diapers. Thats pretty gross. In fact the $DJT stock is so volatile right now that its actually kicked Trump off of the list of Americas billionaires. Yeah imagine spending that much money just to be a sh*t poster and not face any of the consequences for said sh*t posting.

Trump Media shares have been slipping in recent days. So has Donald Trumps net worth.

The former president is no longer listed on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the worlds 500 richest people, after the stock price for Trump Media the parent company behind the former presidents social media company Truth Social took a nosedive.

The price has skidded. Shares dipped 12% on Friday and 8% on Monday. And after making up some lost ground on Tuesday, Trump Media nosedived again on Wednesday, ending the day down 8.6% at $34.26. Shares have slid more than 50% since their peak in late March.

Wednesday has been the stock's lowest-trading day since Trump Media merged with the public shell company Digital World Acquisition Corp. and started trading under the ticker DJT on March 26.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/04/09/trump-media-stock-price-dip/73260727007/

So first off, imagine naming your company in such a way that your initials are your companys ticket on the stock tracker. Second, imagine actually purchasing said stock because you think its going to make you a rich person. Third, imagine that your idea of becoming as rich as Trump once was, and it completely backfires on you! Well, market experts are totally torn on whether or not the $DJT stock will continue on the trajectory that its currently on, or if it will eventually level out. Uh have you been following Trump lately guys? Hes just going to take the money and run.

Shares of Trump Media have erased all their gains since they began trading under the ticker DJT last month.

The stock closed down more than 8% Monday at $37.17 after falling about 11% earlier in the day. It had traded above $79 a share on March 26, the day of its debut.

But experts say it's hard to draw any firm conclusions about what the stock price's movement means. That's because so many available shares about 12%, one of the highest ratios of any active stock listing reflect traders' bets that the stock will fall, said Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director at S3 Partners, a data and predictive analytics company.

This is called short-selling.

Right now, much of the trading activity surrounding the stock reflects investors attempts to position bets around whether it will continue to fall, Dusaniwsky said in an email.
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/markets/trump-media-stock-erases-gains-since-going-public-what-it-means-rcna146859

Yeah what a loser, right? Weve seen what happens when right wing authoritarian billionaires like Elon Musk buy social media sites they lose money. In fact Truth Social is the biggest money loser in the social media market since Elon Musk bought Twitter and turned into the right wing sh*thole currently known as X. But for those of you who insist that Trump is the peoples president and that he cares about us you are wrong! He doesnt even care about his own companies! He treats his companies the same way he treats hurricane victims in Puerto Rico and that piece of toilet paper that got stuck to his shoe that one time.

Former President Donald Trumps social media companys stock market slide continued Monday, as the more than $10 billion valuation scored by Trumps companys just two weeks ago looks to be fleeting.

Shares of Trump Media, the majority Trump-owned parent of the right-wing social media platform Truth Social, fell 8% Monday to just above $37.

Thats some 54% below the peak $79 per share Trump Media fetched on March 26, its first day of trading under its DJT ticker upon the completion of its reverse merger with blank-check company Digital World Acquisition Corp.

The value of Trumps 58% stake in Trump Media, has accordingly cratered in the 13-day stretch, falling from $6.25 billion to $2.93 billion.

That knocked his net worth from its March peak of more than $7 billion to $4.8 billion, according to Forbes estimates.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2024/04/08/trumps-stock-officially-down-50-since-first-day-peak--trumps-stake-down-over-3-billion/?sh=7497e6507f5d

Yeah MAGAs so heres the thing, someones getting rich off $DJT stock, but it aint you! Its definitely him and only him! In fact, the Trump Pump And Dump is going according to plan! And if you dont know what a pump and dump is, I highly suggest looking it up. Its a big thing in the crypto world which again you fall for time and time again. Remember those stupid NFT trading cards you all bought? Or his shoes and Bibles? Its all a colossal scam. But one person is definitely laughing all the way to the bank and thats DJT himself. Hes the guy who gets away with it all, and youre the one who gets fed in the a.

Trump Media & Technology Group shares continued to spiral Monday, putting the company's stock on track close at its lowest level since listing on the Nasdaq exchange in late March.

In late-day trading the stock was down $4.15, or more than 10%, to $36.44. The company, whose largest shareholder is former President Donald Trump and which trades under the ticker symbol "DJT," surged to a high of $79.38 after its market debut on March 26, valuing it at more than $9 billion.

Since that peak the stock has fallen 54%, with Trump Media's market capitalization dropping to less than $5 billion.

Trump Media, whose main asset is the social media service Truth Social, generated $4.1 million in revenue in 2023. The company disclosed mounting losses in a regulatory filing earlier this month, while noting its accountant had warned of "substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a growing concern."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-media-stock-price-truth-social/

From: Idiots #16-4

If youre not familiar with a term called stochastic terrorism, you should definitely do some research on the subject. The basic definition of this term is that it is demonization of an opponent to the point where your followers commit acts of violence against the demonized. Its back in the news right now, because since Elon took over, Twitter / X has a huge stochastic terrorism problem on its hands. Its mainly stemming from one account called libsoftiktok. You may have heard of this account. Its owned by noted stochastic terrorist and open MAGA fan Chaya Raichik, who was an active participant in January 6th. Yeah I know, Elon hates it when I show that photo! Well this particular account is famous for its doxxing and harassment treatment of teachers, doctors and other professionals based on LGBT, and especially the T issues. Well did you know that this account has nearly 3 million followers and is heavily promoted by Elon Musk? Yeah thats what makes this scary. Well, Chaya is under fire because her rhetoric may have gone too far this time and actually got people killed. Hold your boos.

Why are people upset with Chaya Raichik after Nex Benedict's death?

In 2022, Owasso teacher Tyler Wrynn resigned amid controversy surrounding a post on TikTok where he affirmed LGBTQ+ students.

The post was featured on "Libs of TikTok," causing Wrynn to face harassment.

Benedict's mother told The Independent that her child was angry about the backlash Wrynn received. She said teachers who encourage debate about gender issues were not promoting sexualized content, the news outlet reported.

Theyre allowing the students to be who they are, she said.

The cause of Benedict's death has not yet been determined, but people on social media are linking Raichik's influence on Wrynn's resignation to Benedict's death.
Libs of TikTok creator responds to claims surrounding Nex Benedict's death
https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2024/02/21/libs-of-tiktok-chaya-raichik-oklahoma-under-fire-after-nonbinary-oklahoma-students-dies/72682329007/

Yeah its truly scary the reach and influence of this wretched account. We reported last year that this account was inspiring death and bomb threats against Boston hospitals and the ire has since turned to school boards. But wherever Chaya goes, it seems like violence and chaos follow. This is the kind of person who the Trump / MAGA movement attracts and its not a good one. And heres the thing, depending on what news sources you read, the headline could have entirely different outcomes. One thing we know is clear Chaya Raichik is one of the biggest stochastic terrorists on the internet, and its a shame that Elon Musk is promoting and monetizing this account!

Last March, police in Coralville, Iowa, investigated a bomb threat targeting a junior high school. Authorities brought in specially trained dogs to sniff for explosives and started looking into why someone might try to target the communitys teachers and students.

Law enforcement quickly determined that the threat was a hoax. Detective Hanna Dvorak from the Coralville Police Department arrived at a theory.

It appears this all stems from a post made earlier this week by Chaya Raichik and her Libs of TikTok account, Dvorak wrote in a report to her superiors.

Raichik, 29, is not accused of making any bomb threats in Iowa or anywhere else. But about a day and a half before authorities responded to the threat at Coralvilles Northwest Junior High, Raichik posted that the school offers a p*rnographic book in its library that teaches kids about gay sex.

These are the books theyre giving your kids to read in school, she wrote on the social media platform X. People have frequently targeted the book in question, This Book Is Gay, a coming-out guide for LGBTQ teens, with book bans going back years.
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/libs-tiktok-x-chaya-raichik-bomb-threat-twitter-of-libsoftiktok-rcna102784

Not even that, shes just pure evil. But part of the reason why we wanted to bring that up is her influence in the state of Oklahoma. It seems, like most in the MAGA community, wherever Chaya goes, violence, death threats and bomb threats follow. It must take a seriously disturbed person to leave a threat to murder someone they didnt know, based off a 60 second clip posted on social media that was most likely taken out of context. Which is what Chaya does for a living. And thats a pretty sad way to make a living. Now we bring this up because Chaya was recently hired by the Superintendent of Oklahoma, Ryan Walters, a Fox News addicted Q Anon lunatic. This makes the murder in question that much worse!

Raichik has no background in education and worked as a real estate agent before her rise to prominence online. Libs of TikTok which has 2.5 million followers on X alone serves to direct harassment at teachers, doctors, hospitals, and other individuals who support the rights of the LGBTQ+ community and the need for comprehensive education on issues of race, gender, and sexuality. Libs of TikTok is banned from TikTok itself and in the past has been temporarily suspended from Instagram and Facebook.

Libs of TikTok primarily operates by singling out accounts or institutions deemed promoters of woke, or inclusive ideology, often reposting videos that have been edited or stripped of context. Despite Raichiks claims that she simply reposts content thats already available online to expose the crazies, threats, hate mail, and intense vitriol against those featured on the account tend to follow shortly after. Raichiks activity has been linked to bomb threats against schools and hospitals, and intimidation campaigns against those featured in her content. Raichik sees this as a point of pride. After USA Today published an article on a report chronicling Libs of TikToks impact, Raichik gloated that shed made the front page of the paper. Raichik currently uses a photo of herself holding up the paper as the profile picture on her personal X (formerly Twitter) account.

Walters has been working overtime to introduce the influence of extremist right-wing ideologues in Oklahomas education system. In September, the superintendent announced that the state had agreed to form a partnership with the right-wing media organization PragerU without subjecting the materials to a state curriculum review. Walters is also overseeing efforts to remove what he calls woke ideology from the states school libraries, and has accused the American Library Association of supporting the exposure of young children to p*rnography. Walters crusade often conflates p*rnography with literature that references LGBTQ+ individuals.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/chaya-raichik-libs-tiktok-oklahoma-schools-committee-1234952518/

Yeah BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! This is part of the problem with right wing hate culture is that the bad guys dont get punished. Instead they get rewarded because they speak the same language of hate as they do! And Ryan Walters is a huge part of the problem in Oklahoma. Quite frankly, we dont know how the parents are tolerating this sh*t. Either that or theyre celebrating it. Sigh Fox News is the reason why we cant have nice things in this country. And you cant call out a right wing troll in this country no matter how much death they attract. Whats it going to take? Oh and we cant forget that Chaya was readily identified as being part of the January 6th mob, so there is that. Yeah boo.

An Oklahoma city council member has accused the states board of education and Libs of TikTok influencer Chaya Raichik of having blood on your hands over the death of nonbinary student Nex Benedict.

Sean Cummings, the vice-mayor of The Village, a suburb of Oklahoma City, told members of the Oklahoma State Board of Education at a Thursday hearing that they had emboldened bullying and hatred towards the LGBTQ community and that that discourse may have led to Nexs death.

You emboldened these three girls yourself, Mr Cummings said. Chaya Raichik emboldened these three girls by being on the library board. Its already difficult to be in high school. Its very difficult to be different.

Nex, 16, died on 7 February, one day after their family say they got into a fight with three girls in a bathroom at Owasso High School, after being bullied for their gender fluid identity.

Mr Cummings told The Independent in an interview afterwards that he felt compelled to speak at the meeting even though his wife Cathy Cummings, a former mayor of The Village, had died earlier this month.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/nex-benedict-oklahoma-libs-of-tiktok-b2501608.html

From: Idiots #16-6

Lets give the wheel a good strong spin shall we? Wheel goes round where it stops, nobody really knows! Oh hey! Its time for one of our patented Clips Without Context!

Well f*cking duh! We could have told you that one! Spin it again! Ahhh!!! Were all gonna die!!

Hey everyone, guess what? Were all gonna die! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! WOOOOOOOOOO. WOOOO. WOOO. So whats going to kill us all this week, you might ask? Well this week, anti-vaxxers have managed to successfully revive two deadly diseases that were previously thought to be eradicated! To which we say: good job, assholes! I hope you sleep easier at night knowing how much you put everyone in jeopardy! And how did this happen? Well, the governor of Florida, you may know him as Ron DeSantis (Q Woke), in his infinite wisdom, appointed a bunch of f*cking idiots and social media trolls to run Floridas medical board. And this is why people need to stop paying attention to Fox News and social media trolls. Because sh*t like this happens. Anti-vaxxers should have never been given the time of day. Instead they got a megaphone and now weve got measles again, happy? Now that I got that off my chest, theres one guy to blame in Florida and thats their idiot surgeon general, who should have been sh*tcanned a long time ago. At least in a competent administration.

Shortly before Joseph Ladapo was sworn in as Floridas surgeon general in 2022, the New Yorker ran a short column welcoming the vaccine-skeptic doctor to his new role, and highlighting his advocacy for the use of leeches in public health.

It was satire of course, a teasing of the Harvard-educated physician for his unorthodox medical views, which include a steadfast belief that life-saving Covid shots are the work of the devil, and that opening a window is the preferred treatment for the inhalation of toxic fumes from gas stoves.

But now, with an entirely preventable outbreak of measles spreading across Florida, medical experts are questioning if quackery really has become official health policy in the nations third most-populous state.

As the highly contagious disease raged in a Broward county elementary school, Ladapo, a politically appointed acolyte of Floridas far-right governor, Ron DeSantis, wrote to parents telling them it was perfectly fine for parents to continue to send in their unvaccinated children.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/03/florida-measles-outbreak-preventable

Yes people seriously, stop being so stupid!!! Did the brains from Futurama show up and start making everybody really stupid? I mean its like we live in a world where up is down, good is bad, day is night, and so on and so forth. Do I really need to explain how vaccines work? Im pretty sure that I destroyed a keyboard or two attempting to do so in 2020. But yeah if you go to Florida and youre not vaccinated, you can pretty much expect to come home with a disease or two. This is the fresh hell that internet anti-vaxxer trolls have wrought on society. Do they sleep easier at night? I doubt it.

Federal health officials warned this week that measles cases are on the rise both domestically and globally, with 58 confirmed cases in 17 states, including Florida, in the first three months of the year.

The 58 cases reported as of Thursday, March 14, are equal to all cases reported in 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday in an advisory to health care providers. The agency said 93 percent of the measles cases were linked to international travel, and that destinations such as Austria, the Philippines, Romania and the United Kingdom are all experiencing measles outbreaks.

Florida made national headlines earlier this year after a measles outbreak was reported at Manatee Bay Elementary School in Broward County.

As of Monday, there have been 10 measles cases reported in the state since Jan. 1 one in Polk County and nine in Broward County data from Merlin, Floridas reportable disease surveillance system, shows.
https://patch.com/florida/miami/fl-measles-outbreak-among-58-cases-17-states-cdc-says

No, dude, were not gonna die. At least not yet. At least measles is treatable and it probably will not kill you. But could this have been prevented? The easy answer is yes and that prevention is to stop watching that f*cking news network! Im talking about Fox, of course! Yes, that sh*t is bad for you, so stop watching it! If you dont watch Fox, you wont be inclined to vote for f*cking idiots like Ron DeSantis who will appoint other idiots to positions they dont belong in. Yes, this latest bullsh*t could easily be prevented if people would stop listening to Sean Hannity and start listening to real experts on the subject!

A measles outbreak at a Florida elementary school is the latest in a string of flare-ups in nearly a dozen states around the country as health authorities warn of rising cases of the preventable infection.

Health Department officials in Broward County have confirmed at least six cases of measles, a highly contagious viral infection once believed to have been eliminated in the U.S. that often leads to a rash, fever and cough. Measles can be especially dangerous and even deadly for children and babies.

The disease is easily preventable with a regular measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly a dozen states have identified cases since December, and outbreaks have occurred in Washington state, Pennsylvania and now Florida.

Broward County Public Schools confirmed the first case on Friday in a third grade student at a Weston elementary school who had no history of travel, the Sun Sentinel reported. On Saturday, officials said the Florida Department of Health was investigating additional cases but did not say whether they involved students, teachers or school staff. A state database indicates there were six cases in Broward County, just north of Miami.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2024/02/20/florida-measles-outbreak-cases-grow/72669939007/

https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit 96/1*QR4R8JydXnlobK5GHnbkMg.gif

No, again, nobody is dying here! While Florida may welcome you with open, sore-covered arms, maybe you should decline the offer, at least until they finally wake up and realize the damage that Ron DeSantis and Fox News are doing to that state. But did we learn nothing from COVID? And again, I cant stress that I think during the lockdowns, I may have destroyed a keyboard or two attempting to explain how vaccines work, and a guy who reads 30,000 articles is NO expert on anything. Hes just a guy who read 30,000 articles. OK Im getting off topic here. But needless to say weve got to stop electing and listening to idiots on these subjects or next time, its going to get worse. If there is a next time!

The Florida measles outbreak is expanding. As of Monday, health officials in Broward County confirmed an eighth case of the virus, including one in a child under age 5.

Its unknown what connection the youngest measles patient has to Manatee Bay Elementary School in Weston, near Fort Lauderdale, where most of the cases have been identified. The spread beyond school-age kids was expected.

Cases are not going to stay contained just to that one school, not when a virus is this infectious, said Dr. David Kimberlin, co-director of the division of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that as of Friday there have been at least 35 measles cases in 15 states in 2024 most related to international travel. In January, there were nine measles cases in Pennsylvania, eight of them in Philadelphia. (If there are no more cases reported there as of early next week, the Philadelphia outbreak will be declared over.) Late Friday, Michigans health department announced that it, too, had identified a measles case its first since 2019.
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-health/florida-measles-cases-rise-experts-oppose-state-surgeon-generals-decis-rcna140000

From: Idiots #16-13

Gather around my fair brothers and sisters! Its time to take a seat in the pew and pass the collection plate, for the Holy Church Of The Top 10 has convened and its time to remind you that the holiest among us are the most full of:

My fair congregation! Please be seated! Its graduation season, and I am sure that you or someone you know happens to be graduating. And if you dont know who is speaking at your commencement, you probably should at least look into it. Why is that? Because theres one little known college in Atchinson, Kansas is getting a lot of undeserved attention for their commencement address. Benedictine College got way more than they bargained for when they signed up Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker to deliver the commencement. He gave a hate-filled speech that included every extreme right wing talking point that youve ever heard. Including some old school fire and brimstone religious talking points about women. Yeah he absolutely went there, and he is getting some absolutely well deserved sh*t for it.

Harrison Butker is the latest Kansas City Chiefs player to become a household name and this time it's for controversial reasons.

The 28-year-old NFL star sparked headlines after giving a firebrand commencement speech May 11 at Benedictine College, a small Catholic liberal college in Kansas. During his speech, the athlete, who is Catholic himself, spoke out against birth control and IVF while also encouraging young women in the audience to be homemakers, among other topics.

Butker asserted during his speech that his wife Isabelle Butkers life really started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.

Butker's speech left some graduates at the school outraged and sparked an online backlash.

His comments and drew criticism from a group of nuns associated with Benedictine College, who celebrated the college's "educated" women in a statement.
https://www.today.com/news/harrison-butker-speech-backlash-rcna153080

Yeah BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! You know therein lies the problem is that a lot of people who believe this stuff believe it! And they do not worship GAWD or JAYSUS, oh no, my friends! They worship the unholy, ungodly Dark One! I of course speak of a man who is so profane, so disgusting that his name DARE NOT be spoken in my church! You just know that it was bad when the university itself had to go into overdrive doing some damage control. The comments, my fair congregation, were so extreme that the NFL had no choice but to respond! And yes, even they distanced themselves from his extremism!

The NFL has responded to Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker's controversial commencement speech at Benedictine College, where he urged women to be homemakers and railed against Pride Month. The league said in a statement to CBS News that it doesn't hold his views.

"Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity," said Jonathan Beane, the senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer at the NFL. "His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger."

The organization's response comes after backlash over the three-time Super Bowl champion's remarks. In a 20-minute address last weekend at the Catholic liberal arts school, he took aim at Pride Month, women in the workforce, President Biden and abortion.

Butker, who has made his conservative Catholic beliefs well known, began his address by attacking what he called "dangerous gender ideologies" in an apparent reference to Pride month, which has been celebrated in June since the Stonewall riots in 1969.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/harrison-butker-commencement-speech-nfl-kansas-city-chiefs-benedictine-college/

You know, Mr. Butker isnt speaking for all Catholics, hes just saying the quiet part out loud. I know, my fair congregation, we shouldnt pass judgement! For does it not say that in our Good Book? Of course it does! But the backlash for what is going on is insane. And you cant quite possibly be as anti-woman as Butker is. Even the nuns! The nuns of this school are speaking out against Mr. Butkers disgusting comments about women. That is how you know its most certainly evil and f*cked up, my fair congregation! I mean come on, did anyone ever see that movie Blues Brothers? Thats the kind of punishment he should be facing!

Harrison Butker is facing yet another statement condemning his controversial commencement address at Benedictine College last weekend. Only this one comes from a unique source.

In a statement shared via Facebook, the sisters of Mount St. Scholastica -- a "founding institution and sponsor of Benedictine College" -- said they found it "necessary" to respond to Butker's remarks.

"The sisters of Mount St. Scholastica do not believe that Harrison Butkers comments in his 2024 Benedictine College commencement address represent the Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts college that our founders envisioned and in which we have been so invested," the nuns wrote. "Instead of promoting unity in our church, our nation, and the world, his comments seem to have fostered division. One of our concerns was the assertion that being a homemaker is the highest calling for a woman. We sisters have dedicated our lives to God and Gods people, including the many women whom we have taught and influenced during the past 160 years. These women have made a tremendous difference in the world in their roles as wives and mothers and through their God-given gifts in leadership, scholarship, and their careers."
https://www.etonline.com/harrison-butker-criticized-by-benedictine-college-nuns-for-controversial-commencement-speech-225734

And by the way, Bill Maher, I see you with your he did nothing wrong bullsh*t! Dont think were not letting you get away with that one! Its absolutely no secret that the MAGA Taliban, and our brothers and sisters on the right, want to drag womens rights back to the stone ages. So who should you listen to on womens rights? Rather than listen to Butker drag womens rights back to the stone ages, you could listen to another Chief Travis Kelces sister in law give this speech on womens rights. But we do like that women are meme-bombing Butkers Facebook page with things that women should be doing, and its hilarious!

On May 11th, Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker gave a commencement address to graduates from Benedictine College. During his speech to the private Catholic liberal arts college in Kansas, he suggested Pride Month was a "deadly sin," condemned abortion rights, and informed women that they had "the most diabolical lies" told to them (after he quoted a Taylor Swift song earlier in his speech, of course).

He went on to speak about his wife, Isabelle, claiming she would be the first to say that "her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother" and that he was able to be the man who he is because his wife embraced one of the most important titles of all: being a homemaker.

After Harrison gave his speech, it not only garnered a direct response from the NFL stating that Harrison's views were not those of the NFL as an organization but also widespread backlash from people across the country. But while a lot of people have vocalized their disgust about the commencement address on their own personal social media accounts, women have begun to leave sarcastic comments about their "abilities as a woman" directly on the Kansas City Chiefs's Instagram account and they're brutal in the best way possible.
https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/hope-see-tv-kitchen-women-031602861.html

Well, Harrison Butker is yet another brainwashed Murdoch bot. Hell have a cushy job at Fox News when he retires. Another reason why we cant have nice things! Mass has ended, may you go in peace! Thats it this week for:

From: Idiots #16-12

2024 is the year of Artificial Intelligence. Yes, AI is everywhere. Every company youve ever heard of is finding ways to integrate AI into its existing products. Hell well probably find ways to integrate AI into this very program! You dont know! You dont know! Weve even discussed AI on this program to death several times. But its getting harder and harder these days to tell if an image or a program was in fact written by AI. Hell, I could tell you that this footage of a childs birthday party from Mar-A-Lago with mermaids and for some reason a guy in a tuxedo singing Phantom Of The Opera was generated by an AI bot. WRONG! That was a real f*cking clip!

Link to tweet

Yes, that actually happened! What about Under The Sea? It is Disney, MAGAs hate them. Hell, even something like Margaritaville would be more appropriate for the backdrop. Oh wait, they dont like Jimmy Buffet either. So why are we talking about AI this week, you might ask? Well, while AI is the next gold rush in the tech industry, one of the biggest companies in the tech industry is jumping into the game just a little bit too late. Im talking about the company that gave us the iPhone, Siri, and cutting edge advertising in 1984 Apple. Yes, Apple launched a massive new update for iOS, along with a product refresh of its top of the line iPad models. And the commercial that resulted was well, you could say a bit of a mixed bag.

An ad for Apple's new iPad lineup that shows a massive hydraulic press crushing the artifacts of human and digital culture from beautiful musical instruments to arcade video games has triggered an online outcry in the 24 hours since its release.

The big picture: Creative professionals and artists one of Apple's key constituencies already fear AI's impact on their jobs and our culture. The ad, many felt, made the company look both callous and brutal.

Driving the news: The ad, named "Crush!," shows cans of paint, cameras, phonographs, sculptures and many other cultural products and tools getting squashed.

When the room-size press lifts at the end, the mess is gone and in its place sits a gleaming iPad.
"The most powerful iPad ever is also the thinnest," the voiceover announces.
https://www.axios.com/2024/05/08/apple-ipad-2024-ad-ai-outrage

Yeah Ive seen this movie! At this point, this is where the T-1000 travels back in time to save John Connor so he can live to warn humanity about whats coming! So its only natural to be concerned if you do anything even remotely creative that AI is going to take your jobs. While Elon and Jensen are two mega-billionaires arguing over whose AI bot is more woke than the other guy, Apple basically gave the finger to anyone who uses their computers for the arts. And this coming from the company that gave us the original Mac ad that changed advertising. Man, talk about a huge drop off in quality!

Earlier this week, Apple took the wraps off of a thoroughly leaked iPad Pro refresh with a 1 minute and 8 second ad spot wherein a gigantic hydraulic press comprehensively smushes a Turdet, an arcade cabinet, a record player, paint cans, a piano, a TV, sculptures, a bunch of emoji, and plenty of other tools that one might loosely categorize as "artistic implements."
At the end of the ad, the press lifts away to reveal a somewhat thinner, somewhat faster version of Apple's iPad Pro. The message of the ad, titled "Crush!" and still available via Apple's YouTube channel and CEO Tim Cook's Twitter account, is obvious: look at all of the things we've squeezed into this tablet!

"Just imagine all the things it'll be used to create," wrote Cook.

But it's the apparently unintended subtext of the ad that has caused problems. Yesterday afternoon, the company issued a rare public apology for the ad following a social media uproar. Critics were upset both about the destruction of the objects themselves (whether those objects were physical or computer-generated or some mix of the two isnt clear), and about the symbolism of a Big Tech company destroying art and the things used to create and consume art.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/05/apple-apologizes-for-ad-that-crushes-the-sum-total-of-human-artistic-endeavor/

Yeah sure, it may take a few generations for Skynet to become fully self aware, but we havent seen any time traveling cyborgs yet! The company that gave us PCS that are mainly used for the creative arts is basically telling a large part of its user base to f*ck off! Imagine all the things it can be used to create, my ass! Come on, Tim, this is 2024, the post Turd era. You know that this technology wont be used for any sort of good. sh*t, Elon bought a social media platform so he could make butt plug jokes at your expense, Apple! Yeah that happened! Well, as you can imagine, Apple is taking the PR damage control machine into hyper drive.

From its pop-art iPod commercials to its celebrity-led Mac vs. PC campaign, Apple hasn't had many marketing missteps to its name.

But a controversial ad for the company's latest iPad model has critics railing against the tech giant for what they say is a slight against artists and the creative community a demographic once drawn to Apple products.

The ad, titled "Crush!", shows an array of creative objects among them musical instruments, art sculptures, typewriters, a record table and a vintage arcade machine being slowly pulverized by a hydraulic press.

(You know, the thing that David Letterman frequently used to crush bowling balls for fun. Similar videos now dominate TikTok feeds everywhere.)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/apple-ad-backlash-hydraulic-press-1.7198704

Yeah so maybe destroying creative instruments with a bulldozer probably not the best idea. We have often said that too much technology will probably result in computers populating dumpsters. And this is coming from a traveling podcast, by the way. So heres the thing is the new Apple ad a metaphor for the end of the world like so many have predicted? Well, probably. But one thing that AI cant rule out is human creativity. No matter how creative the machines are, they cant match human intelligence. That is, unless you hang out at Mar-A-Lago, where they play Phantom Of The Opera as a backdrop for mermaids. I mean come on, play Weezers Island In The Sun, something that at least has an island theme!

Apple apologized on Thursday for a new iPad Pro ad that shows a giant hydraulic press crushing a Turdet, piano, guitar metronome, cans of paint and other creative tools. The imagery generated swift and largely negative reactions, with critics hurling slams like tone deaf, ghoulish, heartbreaking and comically stupid.

Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad, Tor Myhren, Apples vice president of marketing communications, said in a statement obtained by AdAge on Thursday. We missed the mark with this video, and were sorry.

Apple titled the spot Crush, reflecting the slang use of the word, meaning to do something extremely well. Apple intended to symbolize a simulacrum of artistic tools getting compressed into one device. But many creatives didnt appreciate the imagery.

Why did Apple do an ad that crushes the arts? Tech and AI means to destroy the arts and society in general, actor and filmmaker Justine Bateman wrote on X, formerly Twitter. The ad comes as the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence prompts passionate responses among artistsfrom excitement about its creative potential to fear it will steal jobs, and possibly alter the nature of art itself.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lesliekatz/2024/05/09/tone-deaf-new-apple-ipad-pro-ad-sparks-major-arts-backlash/?sh=423cd8c02694

From: Idiots #16-11

Welcome back to our segment that attempts to explain the unexplainable, Conspiracy Corner! Of course conspiracies exist when people simply dont want to read the article past the headlines and just flat out make sh*t up. We of course are coming to you live from our underground doomsday shelter from deep within the New Mexico badlands. Undisclosed location, of course! Let me just adjust my trusty tin foil hat for maximum government interference. Ah, there we go! They are trying to read yours and my thoughts after all! Look, ladies and gentlemen, weve spent the last 8 years being told by MAGA and MAGA propagandists like Sean Hannity and Alex Jones, that we shouldnt question the right wing and their ties to Russia. But this week, those looking to expose the MAGA ties to Moscow were given a gift by Russian State TV. Which seriously, this would make a great campaign ad. So naturally of course those in Greenes inner circle are rushing to do some major damage control. So yeah MAGA has been beating us over the head by saying that we shouldnt question their ties to Russia. And now Russian State TV goes and does something ridiculously stupid and gives a shout out to the loudest, dumbest, craziest, and most obnoxious person ever elected to Congress in American history.

A top Kremlin propagandist gushed over Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene on state TV, calling her a "beauty."

Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Russian state-controlled media organization RT, made the remarks while speaking on TV channel Russia-1 alongside host Vladimir Solovyov, one of the most prominent figures in Kremlin-backed media.

The Daily Beast's Julia Davis shared an excerpt of the broadcast on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday. Newsweek reached out to Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment via email.

"Meanwhile in Russia: head of RT Margarita Simonyan praised Marjorie Taylor Greene as 'a real beauty,' who wears white coats and furs. Simonyan asserted that only Russia can stop this war and it will do so only after Moscow achieves whatever it wants," Davis wrote in a post accompanying the video.
https://www.newsweek.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-russia-state-tv-margarita-simonyan-1892691

Thats right, folks! Its our old buddy Marjorie Three Names, aka Marjorie sh*t For Brains! When youve attracted the attention of Russian State TV in a positive light, nothing good can come of it, right? Well, yes youre right. But you know the fact that so many of our Congressional representatives mainly those on the right are cozying up to Big Daddy Vladdy and his evil Kremlin empire, doesnt the desperation to stay relevant just reek? Of course it does! But even the increasingly small number of sane republicans who havent been replaced with MAGA bootlickers arent taking Moscow Marge seriously. I mean who would?

Former Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) went after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) for her anti-Ukraine position in an interview on CNN Friday.

Moscow Marjorie has reached a new low, Buck said in an interview on CNNs Erin Burnett OutFront with anchor Erica Hill. You know, during the Russian Revolution, [Bolshevik Revolution leader Vladimir] Lenin talked about American journalists who were writing glowing reports about Russia at the time as useful idiots.

And I dont even think that Marjorie reaches that level of being a useful idiot here, Buck continued. She is just mouthing the Russian propaganda, and really hurting American foreign policy in the process.

During a House Oversight Committee meeting Wednesday, Greene noted news stories and displayed photos she said showed neo-Nazis in Ukraine. She brought up her concern over how it is seen as misinformation to discuss the Nazis in Ukraine and their recruitment efforts that go all around the world.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4608004-buck-takes-swing-moscow-marjorie-mouthing-russian-propaganda/

OK lets think about this here for a minute. The people of Ukraine didnt ask for war and now theyre fighting back against a bloodthirsty Kremlin regime thats out for world domination and knocking off once democratic-leaning or neutral countries like Argentina and Hungary to the fascist-verse one by one, and somehow THEYRE the Nazis in this equation? Give me a f*cking break. Putins basically emulating Hitlers playbook, only on a much larger scale! And in case youre wondering if Putins ministry of propaganda has infected Congress? Easy answer to that question: YES!!! But its far more complicated than a simple yes or no.

Earlier this month, Republican Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, the head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Puck News that Russian propaganda had infected a good chunk of my partys base. Several days later, another Republican, Rep. Michael Turner of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said he agreed. Anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor, Turner told CNN, are directly coming from Russia.

It was a notable momentand a telling one, as the House gets ready for a contentious vote on aid to Ukraine. The vote is being loudly protested by far-right politicians including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is pushing to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson from his role over the issue.

Its not the first time Republican lawmakers have accused their colleagues of essentially being Russian pawns. But as far-right rabble-rousers in the Republican Party have increasingly advocated against continued support of Ukraineand even some mainstream Republicans no longer interpret Russian aggression as a ruthless threat to democracy and the international orderthe most extreme lawmakers appear to be mirroring the Kremlins own propaganda.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/04/ukraine-russia-congress-johnson-republicans-marjorie-greene-putin-propaganda.html

Yeah so if you want to know where the crazy propaganda is coming from, dont look to the left or the right. Instead, look half way around the world to Russia. But what we dont want to hear from MAGA is that theres no ties to Russia. That ship sailed years ago! And theres no more saying the quiet part out loud. Marjorie is really saying what 30% of our country is saying, and shes got a megaphone and access to right wing propaganda channels to echo it. Seriously, its insane to think that the people who call themselves the silent majority are often times the loudest, dumbest and most obnoxious in the room and yes, its the one who wears fur, screams at Joe Biden during the State Of The Union, and calls the people of Ukraine who are fighting back against Putin, Nazis.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has just won herself some new admirers.

The GOP congresswoman was painted in glowing terms during a broadcast on Russian state television on Sunday.

"Marjorie Taylor Greene, you've just shown is a beauty. She is one of a few members of the US Congress who is trying to look like a person in an old-fashioned sense of the word," Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT, said of Greene.

"She is a blonde, who wears white coats with a fur collar. She is demonstratively heterosexual," Simonyan continued.
https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-state-tv-marjorie-taylor-greene-fur-wearing-beauty-2024-4

From: Idiots #16-10

Hey everyone, I dont know about you, but I could really use a drink!

Of course, you know that the idea behind this segment is that we have some drinks, and while we are drinking, we talk about literally anything in the news as long as it doesnt relate to politics. Because I dont know if youve been paying attention or not, but theres a lot of really dark sh*t in the news right now, so usually we feel the best escape is to belly up to the bar and have a cold one or two and turn off reality for a bit. And dont worry, my sober brothers and sisters we got you covered, too! Just grab a glass of your favorite coffee, tea or energy drink and come get wired with us! Only rules we got in this bar no fighting, no cussing, and no politics. Some mild swearing is allowed, as long as its never at someone, only with. This week, the story on the table is Red Lobster. How many people have ever eaten at a Red Lobster? OK a lot of you have! Well, after their latest promotion went absolutely off the rails crazy, Red Lobster might be filing for bankruptcy. So tell me bartender, what goes well with a story about Red Lobster? Shrimp co*cktails? With actual booze? Ah Ill just stick to my usual Jack Daniels mixed with Jack Daniels. I call it the Double Jack. Well, in this country, where Americans love their food in some cases a little too much, is an all you can eat promotion really the best thing to do? In retrospect, were going to say no. But Red Lobster went ahead and did it anyways, and now its going to come back to bite them in the ass hard!

Red Lobster is considering a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, according to news sources.

The restaurant chain is considering filing for bankruptcy amid growing debt, sources with knowledge on the matter told Bloomberg.

The restaurant has been finding it difficult to make money with their current leases and labor costs, and are currently seeking advice from commercial law firm King & Spalding in order to figure out how to restructure to cut costs, the outlet also reported.

The sources said that Red Lobster still hasnt made a final decision when it comes to whether or not to file for bankruptcy, but noted that it would help the business continue to operate while they figure out their next plan, which may include renegotiating some leases and removing some contracts.

Red Lobster did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment.
https://people.com/red-lobster-is-considering-bankruptcy-partly-due-to-11-million-loss-from-endless-shrimp-deal-report-8635031

So come on, when youre in dire straits, and you need to bring in income, is an all you can eat promotion really the best idea? Look, I dont know a lot about restaurant management, but I do know that youre not exactly going to break even there! But look, we get it the restaurant industry was totally decimated because of COVID-19 and its taken a couple of years to rebuild, and some parts of it may never fully recover. We get that. But when bringing your customers into the restaurant nearly bankrupts you, you probably got to place your failures on something other than the promotion itself.

Seafood restaurant chain Red Lobster is reportedly considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after significant financial blows, including an $11 million loss on endless shrimp.

The national restaurant chain, best known for its famous cheddar biscuits and seafood entrees, has been in talks with law firm King & Spalding to discuss Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection that would help it shed some long-term contracts and renegotiate a swath of leases, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Sources, who were not named, told Bloomberg that while Red Lobster has not decided to file for bankruptcy yet, the move could help the chain continue business operations while it works on a debt-cutting plan.

Earlier this year, Thailand-based seafood company Thai Union Group PCL announced its plan to end its investment in Red Lobster following low financial gains in 2023. In a statement, Thai Union Group cited the pandemic, rising interest rates, material and labor costs as some of the major financial hurdles Red Lobster has faced.
https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/red-lobster-considers-filing-bankruptcy-19412558.php

Yeah well digging deeper, you know were seeing this a lot with some really big companies lately theyre not paying their bills! So what happens when you dont got no money? Well, as were seeing with some major chains and even some large distributors like EVGA, theyre in a very slow free fall and its crazy whats happening right now. At some point well predict that the alarm will be sounded on the financial crisis in this country and around the world. But again, we dont want to get into politics no politics at the bar! Thats our one rule here! However, dont blame the shrimp. Never, ever blame the shrimp.

Red Lobster has seen it's share of struggles since the original Lakeland, Florida, restaurant opened in 1968, and perhaps none have been more imposing than its current situation. After 55+ years in business and more than 700 worldwide locations, the once family-owned enterprise may have reached a tipping point amidst a growing accumulation of unpaid bills. Current owners Thai Union Group are potentially on the road to bankruptcy protection, according to Bloomberg News, with the company receiving debt restructuring advice through the law firm King & Spalding.

Thai Union Group has long been feeling the pinch from economic factors such as labor costs and burdensome leases, but now its creditors are suffering as well. Vendors such as Paint Folks, a commercial painting company who spruced up about 40 Red Lobster locations in 2023, report nonpayment of roughly $500,000 of work, which carried out-of-pocket costs for them personally. They're apparently not the only ones; data from Creditsafe shows an increasing trend of late payments, almost doubling from 26-day delays in January to 48 days behind in March.

It's hardly surprising given Red Lobster's reduced overall sales of 8% in 2023, as reported by Technomic data. By February 2024, Thai Union Group was writing down the equivalent of U.S. $500 million of investment losses tied to its Red Lobster holdings.

Look we get how business works. Its no secret that Red Lobster is a large corporation. They have hundreds of restaurants and hundreds of products and a massive supply chain with a huge distribution network. But when you dont pay your bills, thats when things go south quickly. So is the great Endless Shrimp Disaster fixable? Its possible. But it would take a truly massive undoing. But one thing you definitely shouldnt do if youre blaming the shrimp for your losses, maybe dont try the same promotion with one of the most expensive meats you can use. You know the old saying fool me once, shame on you. Fool me, you wont get fooled again. I heard a guy on TV say that once!

Red Lobster is in trouble. Its solution: all-you-can-eat lobster, just months after an endless shrimp promotion led to deep losses that the company is still trying to dig out of.

In celebration of its annual Lobsterfest, Red Lobster is giving 150 winners an Endless Lobster Experience, a two-hour complimentary feast of unlimited lobster, two sides and Cheddar Bay Biscuits.

The Florida-based chain is hardly the first retailer to use these kinds of stunts to get attention. But the Endless Lobster Experience comes at a tumultuous time: Red Lobster reported a record $12.5 million operating loss in the fourth quarter of 2023.

And in January, minority investor Thai Union Group announced its intent to exit Red Lobster, citing a $19 million loss from Red Lobster across the first nine months of 2023. The Covid-19 pandemic, high interest rates, rising costs and industry headwinds ultimately caused Red Lobster to have negative financial contributions to Thai Union and its shareholders, said Thiraphong Chansiri, the CEO of Thai Union Group, in a January 16 statement.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/21/business/red-lobster-endless-lobsterfest-price/index.html

From: Idiots #16-1

Welcome to part 1 of our 4 part series Road To The Primaries! Yes, its the rematch that nobody asked for or wanted. And you know what? For the sake of this being a sequel, and all sequels have terrible subtitles, lets call this one: Road To The Primaries 2024: Primary Harder. Nah, it needs more zing. How about: Road To The Primaries 2024: This Time Its Personal! Love it! Well now that the dust has settled from the first round of primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire, lets see where we are at as it is looking increasingly more like Orange Turdblossom is going to be the nominee. Yeah please save your boos for later because its going to get worse, believe me! This feels like its going to be the longest year ever and we are definitely going to make it somewhat more bearable. But holy sh*t, did we really need a rematch between Trump and Biden? I mean the last time we were all locked in our homes and Biden couldnt go out in public. And Trump held rallies where people died after attending. Yeah good times! But that is not going to happen in the 2024 election, oh no, were past COVID and the kid gloves are coming off! So what did we learn in Iowa? Well for one thing we learned who still supports Trump after all of the sh*t he's put us through.

As expected, former President Donald Trump was the clear winner of the Iowa Caucuses with a landslide victory on Monday night. The result is the first step towards setting up a rematch with President Joe Biden in November.

The former president dominated in the state where the Republican electorate is deeply conservative, taking over 50% of the vote and tightening his hold over the party. In the hours after his overwhelming victory, the BBC spoke to voters across the political spectrum and asked them what they made of Mr Trump's electoral return.

While some Republicans - seemingly the majority of the party based off the Iowa results - think Mr Trump is the only one who can "save this nation", others fear the billionaire will lose once again to President Biden in the presidential election.

As for Democrats, some find it hard to imagine the majority of Americans would choose "to go back to chaos" and elect Mr Trump.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67994816

Yeah not this year for sure! And heres the really ironic and f*cked up thing Trumps base are white evangelical males. Yes, the godliest among us support the least godly man thats ever dared to call himself a leader. You know, when we first started this program, we compared Trump to the Joker from the Dark Knight. Hes an agent of chaos. He took plans and turned them on themselves. He peeled back the layers and showed you who really supports the GOP and theyre as big of assholes as he is. But the real takeaway here is that the Evangelicals showed the world who they really are.

Despite the best efforts of the mainstream media to portray the Republican Iowa caucus as a real competition between Donald Trump, former Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina, and Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, the result was exactly what anyone reading the polls expected: A massive win for Trump. It usually takes at least an hour to call the Iowa caucus, but the state was called by the Associated Press in fewer than 40 minutes after the caucuses began. Despite all the hype about Haley's last-minute gains, or the possibility that the weather might tilt the outcome (Monday's was the coldest caucus ever), the result was what all statistical odds showed: Trump walked away with it. He more than doubled the support he got in the Hawkeye State in 2016's caucus.

....(snip)....

Over the past 8 years, we've all watched as evangelicals have grown ever more fanatical in their love of Trump, a thrice-married adulterer who bragged about committing sexual assault. Still, many pundits cling to this fantasy that American evangelicals are morally upright people who actually mean all that talk about chastity, charity, and Christian values. It was always a silly notion, of course, as the evangelical movement has long shown itself more interested in right-wing politics than in feeding the poor and healing the sick. But the romantic fantasy about an American heartland replete with simple but good people had powerful sway over the imaginations of the chattering class.

....(snip)....

Forget Jesus. The real lord of the evangelical movement has shown his grimacing orange face to the world, and it is a nasty one. There's a temptation among pundits, who want to retain their view of the humble Iowa evangelical, to write this alliance between Trump and the Christian right as purely transactional: He gets votes, they get their anti-choice/anti-gay policies so long as they just ignore the stuff they supposedly don't like about Trump.
https://www.salon.com/2024/01/16/with-donald-iowa-landslide-evangelicals-reveal-they-really-are/

And if theres one thing that we learned from the New Hampshire primary is that the competition against Trump are dropping out like flies because they know they cant touch him. Just look at Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley both vocal opponents of Trump, they dropped out and endorsed him like the things he said are no big deal. Nothing to see here! Please disperse! And it looks like the billionaires and oligarchs and other undesirable assholes that be want this conflict, because they profit while America suffers. And for that they can go get f*cked.

Donald Trump has won New Hampshires GOP primary, delivering a setback to rival Nikki Haley, who is running out of time to establish herself as a viable alternative to him.

It was his second straight victory in his quest for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. He won Iowas leadoff caucuses by 30 percentage points.

Allies of President Joe Biden, meanwhile, are hoping their write-in campaign on the Democratic side is successful. Polls closed statewide at 8 p.m.

Look, heres what is so troubling about this. Trump is in the news 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, and all of it is bad. What really bothers us here is that these primaries more than any other seem like theyre faker than fake. Like the undesirables that be wanted this from the beginning, because theyre going to attempt to steal the election like they did in 2000 and in 2016. Its not going away any time soon. But there was one small gleam of hope that maybe, just maybe well be able to outsmart Fox and finish Trump once and for all this year. But again we have independent thoughts here, and theyre what the undesirables that be dont like.

President Biden won the New Hampshire Democratic primary on Tuesday, an unusual race that he skipped after his party changed its rules in favor of seeing South Carolina hold the first nominating contest of the year.

As a result, Biden wasn't on the printed ballot. But Biden won regardless, according to a race call by The Associated Press.

The victory comes after a grassroots campaign urged Democrats to write in his name and a super PAC raised about $1.5 million to back the effort.

The outcome is more symbolic than anything. The Democratic National Committee broke with tradition this year and chose South Carolina to hold its first primary of the year, on Feb. 3. But New Hampshire has a law requiring it to go first, so it went ahead with its vote anyway.

As a result of the dispute, New Hampshire's delegates won't be seated at the Democratic National Convention in August, and the results won't count toward Biden's official nomination.

https://www.npr.org/2024/01/23/1225663027/joe-biden-wins-nh-primary-results

[font size="4"]Next Week: [/font]

Next week its a recap of the South Carolina primaries and a look at Bidens new ad strategy!

[font size="4"]And Now This: [/font]
[font size="4"]The Hives[/font]

Folks, my next guest has a great new album out called The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons. You can see them right here at our home venue, the Observatory OC in Santa Ana on August 8th and then opening for the Foo Fighters at BMO Stadium on August 9th. Playing their song Rigor Mortis Radio, give it up for The Hives!

Thank you Aspen! This was a lot of fun! Well be back again soon! Were off to the ABQ, Albuquerque, New Mexico next! See you next week!

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Top 10 Conservative Idiots Best Of #31: The Best Of Season 16 Edition (2024)

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