I meant to post this spoof ad from this weekend’s Saturday Night Live yesterday.
The folks at SNL have been wondering how White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders manages to sleep at night after sharing lie after lie in defense of Donald Trump.
The answer, it seems, is “HuckaPM,” an over the counter sleep-aid that contains “Melatonin, Extra Strength Quaaludes, and what Michael Jackson’s doctor called ‘One and Dones.'”
Props to Aidy Bryant for her excellent physical comedy here.
Rocker Axl Rose has reached out to his 1.23 million Twitter followers asking them to vote Republicans out of power, who he says are “doing r nation a disservice.”
I’d imagine the bulk of Guns N Roses fans are conservative/Republicans, so it’s quite the move to take such a vocal stand.
Good on him.
As far as I’m concerned anyone can enjoy GNR 4 whatever reason n’ there’s truth 2 the saying “u can’t choose your fans” n’ we’re good w/that.
Having said that my personal position is that the Trump administration along w/the majority of Republicans in Congress n’ their donors that support him 4 their own agendas r doing r nation a disservice.
We have an individual in the WH that will say n’ do anything w/no regard for truth, ethics, morals or empathy of any kind, who says what’s real is fake n’ what’s fake is real.
Most of us in America have never experienced anything this obscene at this level in r lifetimes n’ if we as a country don’t wake up n’ put an end 2 this nonsense now it’s something we definitely will all pay hard 4 as time goes on.
Earlier this week, the governor of Tanzania’s most populous city, Dar es Salaam, called for an anti-gay ‘witch hunt’ in an effort to arrest and prosecute homosexuals in the East African country.
“Give me their names – My ad hoc team will begin to get their hands on them next Monday,” demanded Commissioner Paul Makonda.
According to The Guardian, in one day he received over 5,700 messages with more than 100 names.
In Tanzania, a conviction for having homosexual relations is punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
The country has seen a crack down an anti-LGBT sentiment since President John Magufuli came into power in 2015.
Now, the United States embassy is warning Americans who may travel to Tanzania to be cautious.
A notice posted on the State Department’s website warns U.S. citizens to “employ sound security practices” which would include monitoring both local and international news.
As there are reports that Makonda is employing a 17-member committee to find gay individuals on social media, the U.S. State Department also says Americans should review their “internet footprint and social media profiles.”
“Remove or protect images and language that may run afoul of Tanzanian laws regarding homosexual practices and explicit sexual activity,” the embassy warns.
The embassy also informs Americans that, if arrested, Tanzanian officials are obligated to alert the American Embassy but “this is not consistently done.”
For the first time ever, TV data tracking service Nielsen has begun to report the television viewing habits of LGBTQ Americans.
Working in conjunction with GLAAD, Nielsen is now measuring the viewing habits of households with same-sex couples, whether they are spouses or unmarried partners.
The first results show that what we watch varies a bit from the general television viewing audience.
For instance, the top four shows for all viewers for the week ending September 30, 2018, were:
1. Manifest (NBC) 2. The Big Bang Theory CBS) 3. NCIS (CBS) 4. This Is Us (NBC)
But, for same-sex households, the top four shows were:
1. Murphy Brown (CBS) 2. Manifest NBC) 3. American Horror Story (FX) 4. This Is Us (NBC)
S0, there’s some crossover in the Top 4s with Manifest and This Is Us, but things diverge from there.
The cast of ‘Manifest’
When it comes to the Top 20 shows preferred by same-sex households, eight shows don’t appear at all in the general viewers’ Top 20: Murphy Brown, American Horror Story, Modern Family, Mom, 9-1-1, Rachel Maddow Show, Grey’s Anatomy, Empire and Law & Order: SVU. It’s easy to see why many of those are of interest to the LGBTQ community. Modern Family, American Horror Story, Empire and 9-1-1 all have gay leading characters. And Rachel Maddow is openly lesbian.
Conversely, some of the most popular shows on television like Blue Bloods, Bulland NCISdon’t show up in our Top 20.
According to USA Today, the new data collection is only including households with same-sex couples, not individuals, out of sensitivity to “privacy concerns.” Nielsen hopes to incorporate individuals eventually.
Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD’s president and CEO, said in a statement, “We are at the highest levels ever reported for LGBTQ inclusion on television, and it’s important that we know American audiences are connecting with these characters and shows.”
“We appreciate Nielsen’s commitment to ensuring that LGBTQ people wherever they live and consume television are being counted, and that those numbers are being reported,” she added. “GLAAD is proud to work alongside them as they continue to expand and enhance their capabilities.”
Here are the Top 20 television shows watched by households with same-sex couples for the week ending September 30, 2018 (via USA Today):
1. Murphy Brown (CBS) 2. Manifest (NBC) 3. American Horror Story (FX) 4. This Is Us (NBC) 5. The Big Bang Theory (CBS) 6. The Good Doctor (ABC) 7. Modern Family (ABC) 8. The Big Bang Theory (special) (CBS) 9. The Voice (NBC) 10. Young Sheldon (CBS) 11. Mom (CBS) 12. 9-1-1 (Fox) 13. 60 Minutes (CBS) 14. The Voice (Tues) (NBC) 15. Young Sheldon (special) (CBS) 16. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC) 17. Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) 18. New Amsterdam (NBC) 19. Empire (Fox) 20. Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
What do you think, readers? Are your favorite shows in this Top 20? (h/t USA Today)
Far-right extremists are packing up their guns, coolers, tents and more to form their own ‘caravan’ to the Mexican border where they say they’ll ‘prove themselves’ after hearing Donald Trump’s ‘call to arms’ regarding the group of traveling migrants in Central America moving through Mexico.
The news has local landowners worried, and U.S. military planners see potential dangers in the armed groups.
“We’ll observe and report, and offer aid in any way we can,” said Shannon McGauley, a bail bondsman in the Dallas suburbs who is president of the Texas Minutemen. McGauley said he was preparing to head for the Rio Grande in coming days.
“We’ve proved ourselves before, and we’ll prove ourselves again,” he said.
McGauley and others have been roused by the president’s call to restore order and defend the country against what Trump has called “an invasion,” as thousands of Central American migrants advance slowly through southern Mexico toward the U.S. border. Trump has insisted that “unknown Middle Easterners,” “very tough fighters,” and large numbers of violent criminals are traveling among the women, children and families heading north on foot.
The Texas Minutemen, according to McGauley, have 100 volunteers en route to the Rio Grande who want to help stop the migrants, with more likely on the way.
“I can’t put a number on it,” McGauley said. “My phone’s been ringing nonstop for the last seven days. You got other militias, and husbands and wives, people coming from Oregon, Indiana. We’ve even got two from Canada.”
Asked whether his group planned to deploy with weapons, McGauley laughed. “This is Texas, man,” he said.
These citizen militia must not feel the 5,000 U.S. troops Trump sent along with the entire Border Patrol is enough to handle the estimated one or two thousand migrants who might arrive at the border in a month or two.
The recently ordered U.S. troops will join over 2,000 National Guardsmen who are already at the border, meaning upwards of 7,000 American forces will be mobilized to stop the Central American migrants that are weeks away from arriving in the US.
According to the Associate Press, the ‘caravan’ of migrants, made up of primarily women and children walking on foot, is about 1,000 miles from the U.S. border.
President Trump started with a distinct advantage with a workforce of 145.7 million, 9% larger than when President Obama took office. If the workforce were to only grow by 2%, that would add just over 2.9 million jobs a year or 243,000 per month. Over the course of 10 years, there would be over 29 million jobs added.
Additionally, over President Obama’s last six and five years in office after the economy had recovered from the Great Recession, the average employment gains were 2.42 and 2.48 million jobs per year. Pretty much on track to add 25 million over 10 years. So it appears that Trump can reach his 25 million job growth goal even if the economy continued to grow at the pace under Obama .
To provide a monthly comparison, the average employment gain in Obama’s last six years in office (after getting out of the recession’s impact) was 201 thousand. And the average for his last five years was 207 thousand, essentially the same as the 208 thousand for the first nine months this year.
The second graph that shows the U.S. unemployment rate continues on essentially the same path even with a slightly higher GDP growth rate (based on trailing four quarters growth).
A child can see that the trends for both job creation and unemployment are continuing in pretty much a straight line.
Trump hasn’t achieved some incredible ‘turn-around.’
He’s managed to not screw up what President Obama put in motion.
