Donald Trump Loses It More Than Ever On Twitter

Donald Trump is the world's most obnoxious tweeter, we know that.

And what's with the millions of Twitter bots that he or one of his minions appears to have purchased. (You can purchase fake Twitter followers to make it look like you have a lot more followers than you do.)

Anyway, this tweet from The Donald went up early this morning, and stayed up for a few hours. Don't know where he was going with this:

If you click on the copy of the tweet I've put in this post to make it bigger and easier to read, Trump gave us this bit of profound wisdom: "Despite the constate negative press, covfefe."

Not sure what "covfefe" means, but I'm sure we can come up with some good definitions, right?

Was Trump Operating A Disco In The White House? No, But The Idea Is Fun

What was the deal with the red lights in the White House
windows Sunday night?

In a web cam that's always trained on the White House, there was a bit of a spectacle Sunday night.

It looked like there was a red strobe light going off in the second floor residence of the White House.

You could see the flashing lights in two of the windows.  

What was going on?

As always, social media had a lot of fun with this.

Michael Hicks wrote on Twitter, "Everybody relax. The flashing red lights coming from inside the White House are just a simple code being transmitted to Russian overseers."

Trey Lucas speculated: "Looks like a rave, where are my globe sticks?"

Another theory: "He probably pulled the fire alarm because his Diet Coke button didn't work."

The real explanation for the lights was much more tame, as real explanations tend to be.  Due to a medical emergency unrelated to the White House, a DC ambulance was parked on a street nearby for 17 minutes.

What people saw in those windows was the lights of the ambulance reflected in the White House windows.

Oh. Too bad. Wish the other theories were true, as they'd be more fun.

Angry Pedestrian Having A Bad Day

How's your day going?

Better than this guy? Let's hope so!

New Music Videos For Old Elton John Classics Are Awesome

A scene from the brilliant new music video for the
Elton John classic, "Rocket Man."

The early hits in Elton John's extensive, awesome, Captain Fantastic music catalog came before music videos were a thing.  

As Rolling Stone reports, Sir Elton John and his lyricists Bernie Taupin rectified that situation by working with YouTube for a global competition to get music videos up for three great, iconic early 1970s hits:

The songs are "Bennie And The Jets," "Tiny Dancer" and "Rocket Man."

John and Taupin revealed the winning videos recently at the Cannes Film Festival recently. The videos are awesome and are viewable below. (You might have to click on "Watch on YouTube" to actually seem them.

All the videos are awesome, but I'll show them below ranking them from my least favorite to favorite. (Although my least favorite one is pretty awesome.)

The first one is "Bennie and the Jets"

In this one, Director Jack Whitley and choreographer Laura Brownhill, imagine the protagonist in the song, Bennie, forming the members of the Jets, her band. Rolling Stone says the pair were inspired by Busby Berkeley's old Hollywood musicals and "Metropolis," the memorable 1927 Fritz Lang movie.


The second video is for "Tiny Dancer." I have to say this is one of my favorite road songs and every time I hear it, I have an image of me driving around on a sunny, gorgeous spring afternoon.

In this video, Director Max Weiland creates a series of compelling mini-stories of eclectic people in Los Angeles driving around and singing along to "Tiny Dancer." You only get glimpses of all these people, but you really end up caring about them by the end of the video, and want to know more about them.



The best video, in my opinion, is Majid Adin's animated video for "Rocket Man."

I totally agree with Rolling Stone's review of this video:

"(Adin) brilliantly re-contextualizes Taupin's lyrics about a lonely astronaut with a visual tale that draws on his past experience as an Iranian refugee traveling to England.......Taupin's words take on a more melancholy spin in this vivid setting, particularly the line, 'I think it's gonna be a long, long time,' repeated as the protagonist dwells on his uncertain future."

I could not take my eyes off this "Rocket Man" video and I want to watch it again and again:

You Can't Get Two Same-Flavor Scoops of Ben & Jerry's In Australia Until There's Same Sex Marriage

 

Do you want two scoops of the same flavor of Ben & Jerry's ice cream in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney or anywhere else in Australia?  

You're out of luck, at least for now.

Australia is struggling with the question to allow same-sex marraige (the country is behind the times on this issue).

Activists there are bucking for same-sex marriage, and the reason for the Ben & Jerry's ban is part of that effort.

NBC News says that Ben & Jerry's declared that "love comes in all flavors" and in protest of Australia's lack of same sex marriage, they're banning ice cream cones with one flavor of ice cream.

You want two scoops? You must have two flavors.

Vermont-based Ben & Jerry's said the point of the scoop protest is to get people to imagine "how furious you would be if you were told you were not allowed to marry the person you love.

So, we are banning two scoops of the same flavor and encouragig our fans to contact their MPs to tell them that the time has come - make marriage equality equal."

For the uninitiated, "MP" stands for "member of parliament."

Polls indicate a majority of Australians support same sex marriage.

NBC said last November, the national Senate rejected a national referendum on same-sex marriage. Both liberals and sympathetic conservatives said the vote would have been just a delaying tactic.

Parliament could just change the law and allow same sex marriage.

The Ben & Jerry's scoop protest won't have a huge impact: There are only 26 Bem & Jerry's outlets in the entire country of Australia.

Assault On Reporter By Republican Candidate Gianforte A Campaign Boost

Republican Greg Gianfonte, in a special Montana Congressional
election today, is accused of assaulting a reporter Wednesday
evening. Will that help or hurt him?

Everybody is talking about Republican Greg Gianforte today this morning.

He's up for a special Congressional election today against Democrat Rob Quist in a closely watched race.

Of course the reason all the talking today is going on is because Gianforte assaulted a reporter who fairly aggressively questioned him about the Republican repeal and replace of Obamacare, which would kick 23 million people off health insurance, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Yep, Gianforte is charged with misdemeanor assault for body slamming Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs the night before the election.

Many people rightly condemned the assault. Montana newspapers withdrew their endorsements of Gianforte. Many people are now hoping he loses the election, which had been tightening anyway due to revulsion over some Republican proposals.

If Gianforte loses, that would be something, as his Congressional district is normally reliably Republican.

Don't count on him losing, though.

There's a large subset of the worst of the Republican base who are thrilled that Gianforte punched a so-called obnoxious reporter, especially one from the left-leaning Guardian.

Gianforte's macho moves might lead hard-core Republicans to come out and vote for him in droves today.

After all, the Trump campaign and his administration has made literally bashing journalists - not just criticiziing them - a popular move among the Republican wacko caucus.

As CNN notes:

"Senior Huffington Post media reporter Michael Calderone pointed to the arrest earlier this month of a West Virginia reporter who shouted questios about health care reform at Health Secretary Tom Price and the manhandling by security gaurds of a Washington reporter at the Federal Communications Commisson headquarters."

All this led Modern Family Executive Produer Danny Zuker to tweet, "It's a sad fact that in this climate I have no idea if assaulting a reporter hurts Gianforte or helps him."

That is sad.

But people really are applauding the assault. Brent Bozell, the president of the conservative Media Research Center, tweeted, "Jacobs is an obnoxious, dishonest first classs jerk. I'm not surprised he got smacked."

If Jacobs is an obnoxious, dishonest first class jerk, does that justify assaulting him? To Bozell, the answer is yes.

Of course, Bozell might still have sour grapes because Jacobs broke a story about suspicious financial dealings by the Media Research Center.

Reports from Montana polling places this morning are not encouraging.  CNN National Correspondent Kyung Lah offered the following tweets from Montana this morning:

"MT GOP voter to me just now, knowing I work for @CNN. 'That audio made me cheer.' She smiled as she walked in to vote for Gianforte."

And:

"MT  GOP voter, upon learning we're from @CNN: 'You're lucky soeone doesn't pop one of you.'"

Sigh.

 By the way, Jacobs also got Gianforte pissed off in another respect

The assaulted reporter - Ben Jacobs - had previously broken a story about Gianforte's investments in Russian companies and we all know how controversial that type of thing is under the Trump administration.

It was telling that Gianforte's statement after the assault blamed Jacobs, saying he was a liberal reporter being aggressive. I guess that's grounds for body slamming, I guess.

Also, how can anyone run for office if they can't stand reporters asking tough questions and shoving tape recorders in their faces? That's what life is like for all politicians, liberal and conservative.

Today's election in Montana has turned into a referendum on which is better: Civility, or the natios continued decline into an acceptance of mob "justice" or the rule of law.

Car Split In Half In Crash, Driver Somehow Survives

This car was split in half lengthwise in a recent California
crash, but the woman driving it somehow only had minor injuries

The video at the bottom of this post is probably the scariest auto wreck I've seen.

The scene is the aftermath of a crash on Highway 101 in California in which an SUV driven by Kevin Fenty, 27, drifted across the highway into the opposite lane.  

In that opposite lane was Apol Lansang, 26, who was driving a Chevrolet Impala and was hit by Fenty's vehicle.

The crash tore Lansang's car in half lengthwise down the middle. Amazingly, she suffered just minor injuries and was treated and released at a nearby hospital, says the Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Fenty had more serious injuries but is expected to recover.

"The scene was, it was pretty intense.....It was definitely one of the most severely damaged cars I've ever seen," said CHP Sgt. Jason Bahlman.

In a follow-up interview with the Press Democrat, Lansang said when the crash was about to happen, she closed her eyes and hoped for the best.

When the crash subsided, she saw what appeared to be another car involved in the crash resting against an embankment. She later realized it was the passenger side half of her car.

Police said Lansang might not have survived had she not been wearing a seatbelt. Fenty had more serious injuries because he was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from his vehicle. He's been charged with DUI.

Here's the video:












“The scene was, it was pretty intense,” said Sgt. Jason Bahlman, who has been with the CHP for 16 years. “It was definitely one of the most severely damaged cars I’ve ever seen.”

Working At White House Has Become Worst Job Ever

Working for Donald Trump has to be very rough on
anyone's mental health. 

It used to be that if you got a job in the White House, that was prestigious. If you got such a job, your elderly relatives whisper to each other about how sharp you are.

Having worked at the White House looks awesome on a resume, at least it used to. At parties, flattering friends probably pepper you for insights on what the president is really like.  

Now, not so much. We all know what our president is like.

Working for the explosive, infantile, attention-span-of-a-puppy with ADHD, narcisstic, throw-everybody-under-the-bus Donald Trump has to be the worst job in the world. 

Of course, a lot of what we hear is from anonymous sources, and not everything we read about or see on TV is necessarily true. But the missives coming from the bowels of the White House sound like hell. Except less friendly than hell.

Even so, there's all these details that leak out.

Like how staffers in the White House turned up the TVs as loud as they could go as Steve Bannon, Sean Spicer and other top officials screamed at each other. The staffers with the TVs are kind of like terrified children whose parents are in a violent relationship.

Trump's favorite thing to do, apparently is throw others under the bus. He does something stupid, the staff tries to spin the White House out of the mess Trump creates, then Trump goes ahead and contradicts everything the spinners say.

As the Washington Post reports:

"....some aides have 'moved to angry,' frustrated with a president who demands absolute loyalty but in recent days has publicly tarnished the credibility of his team by sending them out with one message - only to personally undercut it later with a contradicting tweet or public comment."

Nothing like building morale by basically yelling to the world that your staffers are stupid.

The staffers, of course, end up looking like fools. Why do you think Melissa McCarthy mocks Sean Spicer so relentlessly on Saturday Night Live?

Speaking of massaged egos,  it turns out that the briefings Trump gets are Playskol versions, and even then, the only way to hold the president's attention when he is reading the briefs is to mention his name as often as possible.

According to Reuters:

"Conversations with some officials who have briefed Trump and others who are aware of how he absorbs information portray a president with a short attention span. 

He likes single-page memos and visual aids like maps, charts, graphs and photos. 

National Security Council officials have strategically included Trump's name in as many paragraphs as we can because he keeps reading if he's mentioned.' according to one source, who relayed conversatios he had with NSC officials."

 Of course, the media, and much of the general public - never mind late night comedy show hosts - have not exactly been massaging Trump's ego the way he likes.

That has led Trump to be dark and brooding and scary and even weirder than he usually is.  Which makes life for his aides even more dire,

The New York Times had this to report on Trump's state of mind:

"And his own mood, according to advisors who spoke on condition of anonymity, has become sour and dark, and has turned againts most of his aides, even his sonin-law, Jared Kushner - describing them as "incompetent," according to his advisors."

The incompetent one is, of course, the president. Aides have to babysit Trump during official meetings. The New York Times  says General McMaster "has tried to insert caveats or gentle corrections into conversations when he believes the president is straying off topic or onto boggy diplomatic ground."

Trump also thinks McMaster talks too much and "is a pain."

In any event, working in the Trump White House has seriously got to be a danger to one's mental health.

The Washington Post again: 

"For many White House staffers, impromptu support groups of friends, confidants, and acquaintances have materialized, calling and texting to check in, inquiring about their mental state and urging them to take care of themselves."

We don't know what will happen to the Trump administration or how long it will last, but I hope there's an army of PTSD counselors ready for any and all staffers that eventually leave the Trump White House.

They'll need it.

Sinkhole At Trump's Mar-A-Lago Is Entertaining Millions Today

Today's little sinkhole in front of Mar A Lago. 

A four-by-four foot sinkhole opened up on a street in Palm Beach, Florida, today, which normally wouldn't make the news.

Of course, the sinkhole formed in front of Mar-A-Lago, Donald Trump's ritzy resort and "winter White House," so that made the whole thing a lot of fun.  

It's the ultimate metaphor for what many of us see as a sinking ship, amid the, how shall we say, hiccups in the Trump presidency.

When the Palm Beach Post tweeted out the story of the Mar-A-Lago sinkhole, with a "Breaking News" headline, somebody responded via Twitter: "Breaking: God Sends Really Obvious Sign."

Another wag on Twitter, Elizabeth Schwartz said, "Surely, this is somewhere in revelations."

Somebody named John Maguire imagined on Twitter Trump's reaction to the sinkhole this way: "But it is a beautiful sinkhole. The best sinkhole in history. A model sinkhole for all future sinkholes."

Several people brought up that bizarre photo from over the weekend in which President Trump was seen holding a glowing orb with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Journalist Jonathan Chait said, "This is because of the orb, isn't it?"

Another observed: "The sinkhole formed right after the orb was touched."

Somebody out there want to write a great science fiction plot about this?

Quite a few other people suggested the sinkhole is the swamp draining.

Don't we wish.

Sweet Internet-Age Revenge On Rude Coffee Shop People

Some guy named Kahlil Sehnaoui was annoyed at a coffee shop recently, because the group of people  at a table next to him were loud and rude.  

They were especially mean to wait staff, and got even louder when they were told to keep it down.

Then Sehnaoui overheard the group agreeing to a name for their new business. Yay!

Sehnaoui got sweet revenge. He quietly went on his laptop and bought the domain name for the business.

And that, my friend, is how you exact revenge in the Internet age.

Worst Date Ever Involves Texting During Movie; Lawsuit, Accusations

I've gotten into the weird habit of watching "First Dates" on TV occasionally on Friday evenings. 

A first date at this movie was probalby the worst ever,
and ended with a small claims court lawsuit. 

It is a "reality show" in which people go on first dates and see if they establish a connection. It's oddly entertaining. 

Some couples seem to hit it off. Some dates are terrible. The guilty pleasure is watching how people looking for love find connections. 

However, the worst date ever wasn't on this TV show. It was in Austin Texas, when, according to the Austin (Texas) American Statesman, Brandon Vezmar, 37, of Austin took a 35 -year-old woman on a date to see a 3D showing of the movie "Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2"

Veznar said the woman kept texting during the movie, and he got annoyed. "This is, like, one of my biggest pet peeves," Veznar said. 

Yeah, texting during a movie can be annoying, but what Vezmar did next was a little over the top. He's suing the woman for $17.31, the cost of the movie ticket.

He was particularly peeved that she got annoyed by Veznar's texting scolding, so she left, leaving him without a ride home. 

When the Austin American-Statesman informed the woman she was being sued by Vezmar, she said, "Oh my God.....This is crazy."

Well, yes. 

Sometimes, two annoyinig people can make magic together. However, in Austin, an obnoxiously texting woman and a litigious man couldn't make it work. 

How sad. Or not. 

On the bright side, the CEO of another Austin theater, the Alamo Drafthouse, has offered a $17.31 gift certificate to settle the lawsuit.  

Flint Water Crisis: City Threatens To Evictions Of People Who Wouldn't Pay For Undrinkable Water

The water has been undrinkable in
Flint, Michigan for three years now,
but people there are being told to pay
their water bills, or else.

For years now, Flint, Michigan has been struggling with a water crisis, in which people unwittingly drank water highly contaminated with lead. 

The water crisis was caused by a series of boneheaded moves by state officials, who wanted to prove their "conservative" cost saving ways by switching water systems to something cheap and unsafe.

Who cares if a bunch of kids get sick if the move proves your conservative GOP credentials, right?

While Flint has been slowly working on a fix for this problem, the city also did something horrible, but again, state GOP officials have culpability here too:

The city is threatening to foreclose on and evict up to 8,000 residents because they refused to pay their water bills. Why pay for something you can't use and is unsafe, right?

According to NBC 25 in Flint:

"City leaders say they are in a bind and need the cash.

'We have to have revenue coming in, so we can't give people revenue, I mean excuse me, give people water at the tap and not get revenue coming in to pay those bills,' said Al Mooney, City of Flint Treasury Department."

If people do not pay up by May 19, their water bills go to the tax department, which starts the process of putting properties up for tax sales, and eventual foreclosures."

Got that? Pay for something dangerous and pay for a service that was not provided or lose your homes. Ain't America great?

The state of Michigan had been offering credits up until February, when the state decided the water was fine in Flint now, so everything's totally back to normal.

Except it isn't, of course.

Thousands of homes still have aging pipes that put people at risk for lead poisoning and those pipes have to be replaced. Expensive job for sure.

Few of the residents who received the tax liens expected them, and people have little time to save money to pay the bills or prepare for the notices. If people don't pay within nine months, they risk losing their homes.

Some politicians are still on Flint residents' side. "Flint families should not have to pay for water that they still cannot drink, and they certainly should not lose their homes over the ongoing water crisis that was caused by the callous decisions of state government," said Rep. Daniel Kildee in a written statement.

But, corrupt people who poison the citizenry have got to get their money from somewhere. Let's just soak people they've victimized even more, I guess.

This Lady In Ad Wishes Mom's A Great $%&F*#$ Mother's Day

For those who like Mother's Day ads, here's a pleasant nice wish from a woman representing Kraft Macraroni And Cheese who wishes you a F*Y$&%*** Mother's Day:

"Spicey" Seans Spicer On SNL About To Disappear? Drama Erupts!

"Sean Spicer" hiding in the bushes on SNL last night. 

As promised, Melissa McCarthy did her Sean Spicer bit on SNL again last night.

As is fitting with the Trump administration, it had all the hallmarks of elementary school drama, with maybe a little "Godfather" thrown in.

If you missed it, here it is. And below that, a bonus if you missed it, too: It's SNL's take on Trump's unhinged interview with NBC's Lester Holt.

Looks Like "Spicy "aka Melissa McCarthy Is Coming Back To "SNL" Be Prepared!

UPDATE

This story just got a lot more fun.

Sean Spicer, er, I mean Melissa McCarthy dressed up as Sean Spicer, was seen this morning driving his/her motorized podium down 58th Street in New York this morning.

"Sean Spicer" in his usual angry way, drove the podium down the street, aggressively yelling at people to get out of the way. This was fun!!!!

Here's the video. (Previous discussion/video is below this new video in this post:




PREVIOUS DISCUSSION:

Apparently, White House Spokesman/Comic Punching Bag Sean Spicer is going to get another whacking from "Spicy" Melissa McCarthy.

This teaser came out Wednesday:

Ryanair Incident Starts Ominous, But Things Change

This passenger on a recent Ryanair flight was confronted by flight
attendants for something he brought on the plane. But this
didn't end the way many recent ugly airline incidents did.

Usually, when an airline doesn't like what you're doing, or you interfere with their efforts to make maximum profits, they abuse you and possibly beat you up.

Ryanair doesn't have the best reputation in the world, but at least in this case, what they did to a passenger who brought on a possession that was maybe a little too big for their tastes looked ominous at first. 

Two flight attendants on a Ryanair flight come up to a passenger and demand to know what's in a large case he's holding.

It turns out to be an accordion. wasn't all that bad. The French passenger in the video below doesn't understand English with an Irish accent, so he gets help from a fellow passenger.

The flight attendents do end up having a demand:  "What us this? An accordion? This is an Irish company and you h ave to play the accordion," one of the flight attendants instructs our guy.

So, the man plays "Dirty Old Town" by the Pogues, and what had initially looked like one of those ugly airline incidents we've seen so much of lately turned out wonderfully.

Here's the video. I wish all issues on airplanes ended like this:

Weirdest Video Of The Year: Dancing Pikachu Deflates: Special Agents Rush In

A Pikachu deflates in South Korea, and agents
move in for the kill. 

There they were, all these Pikachus at the World Pikachu Festival in Incheon, South Korea, dancing to "Uptown Funk"

If that isn't weird enough, it gets worse. One of the dancing Pikachus starts to deflate. Literally deflate.

Emergency!!

Luckily, dark suited special agents rush in and forcibly remove and detail our errant Pikachu away, leaving the rest of our gleeful Pikachus to keep dancing, very badly at this festival.

The fun part is at the 1:12 point in this video.  After the disturbance, the video is just more strange Pikachus dancing. If you're into that sort of thing.

Watch it if you dare:

Would You Swim In This Glass Bottom Pool, 42 Floors Up

There's a very nice brand new luxury apartment building in Houston, Texas that has one great feature.

A swimmer's view through the bottom of a glass bottomed pool on the side
of the 42-story luxury apartment buidling in Houston, Texas

A swimming pool.

Yes, I know. Lots of expensive apartment complexes have swimming pools.

This one, though, is 42 stories up on the side of the building. And hangs over the edge. And has a glass bottom.

Watch the video at the bottom of this post and see if you would use it.

Part of the video was taken by someone walking across the pool in the water, looking down through the bottom of the pool at the street more than 500 feet below.

Yikes!

I doubt you'd fall through, given the pool has an eight-inch thick plexiglass floor, but then again, accidents can happen, can't they?

The pool extends outward ten feet from the side of the building. I hope the braces that hold it in place are strong.

They must be. Imagine the insurance pay out if the pool failed.

I still don't know if I'd try swimmig in this pool. Would you?

By the way, you probably can't swim there. It's a private pool, open only to residents of the building.

Here's the video:

Just In Time For Mother's Day, Kentucky Fried Chicken Offers Romance Of Sorts

Who knew?

A KFC bodice ripper for your mom
om Mother's Day.

It turns out Kentucky Fried Chicken's sales increase markedly on Mother's Day.

I get it that dutiful families don't want mom to cook on Mother's Day, but really? Kentucky Fried Chicken? Whatever.

It gets even weirder.

This year, KFC has issued of all things a romance novel to keep mom entertained on her big day a week from Sunday.

The 92-page novel is called "Tender Wings Of Desire."

The cover image, which is unfortunately in this post, shows a ripped Colonel Sanders in a sleeveless shirt carrying a woman in his arms, who has a purse around her shoulder and a chicken wing in the other hand.

A big bucket of KFC chicken is nearby, in case our loving couple get even hungrier.

You can get this novella on Amazon for free. The story tells the tale of Lady Madeline Parker in Victorian England who needs to choose between a loveless marriage and Colonel saners, a supposed sailor who might not be who he seems.

If you love bad prose, this is totally for you. Here's an excerpt:

"He was the most handsome person she had ever seen; een his beard made him look more manly than unkempt. 

''I've never seen a sailor who wore glasses before,' she said suddenly. He grinned.

'Neither have I. Then again, I don't often look in the mirror,' he replied.

She felt her cheeks blush a flame red, and she retreated to the kitchen to stop them from blushing further."

It probably gets worse than that, but I'll let you figure that out if you go to Amazon, if you dare, to pick up this bodice-ripper.

This Video Shows Why Computer-Written News Copy Is Still Horribly Bad

I encountered a news video of a fatal house fire in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts recently.

An elderly man recently died in this Massachusetts house
fire, and an insulting computer generated "news" video
just made the situation even worse. 

The insulting, off the rails report of the fire showed that automation does not work when it comes to reporting on the news.

An outfit called World Today posted the video of the house fire, which was probably lifted from legitimate television news stations who were covering the fire.

The intro features some really bad dance club music, as if a tragic fire was an occasion to party.

The World Today video had an automated, computer generated voice that described the death in the house fire this way: "Police affirmed small time who lived in the house kicked the bucket thus of the fire."

Huh?

We also learned, "A working fire task was struck when firefighters touched bases as the house was immersed in blazes."

When the fire got too big for firefighters to work inside the house, the World Today video reported, "Firefighters were requested out of the building not long after arriving and are just battling the fire all things considered."

What do you mean "all things considered?" I don't even want to guess.

In reality, the fire was tragic. An 86-year old man's lawn mower caught fire, then caught his clothes on fire, and burned down his house. The elderly man died, and the house was destroyed, legitimate news station CBS Boston reported. 

Here's the horrible, cringe-inducing video, but you gotta see and hear it to believe it:

GOP Says Ill People Who Are Poor Should Just Die Already

Jimmy Kimmel tearfully explained his newborn son's
health crisis the other night on his show and pleaded
with lawmakers not to literally kill poorer children
in the same situation through their Obamacare
repeal efforts

I was among the many this week who was struck by the contrast between late night television host Jimmy Kimmel's heartfelt on-air description of his newborn son's health crisis and some members of the GOP, who apparently would like ill children like Kimmel's to just get out of the way and die already.

Kimmel's son Billy was born last week and it quickly became apparent he had a heart defect and needed immediate surgery.

Terrifying for any parent, for sure.

A tearful Kimmel said Billy pulled through, but waiting out the surgery was the longest three hours of his life

Kimmel's rich and has got resources and insurance to cover things like this. But, like most people, he thought about others who aren't so monied and what they'd do without health insurance.

"We were brought up to believe that we live in the greatest country in the world, but until a few years ago millions and millions of us had no access to health insurance at all, Kimmel said. 

"You know, before 2014, if you were born with congenital heart disease like my son was, there was a good chance you'd never be able to get health insurance because you had a pre-existing condition. You were born with a pre-existing condition and if your parents didn't have medical insurance you might not live long enough to even get denied because of a pre-existing condition. 

If your baby is going to die and doesn't have to, it shouldn't matter who much money you make."

Kimmel added: "Whatever your party, whatever you believe, whoever you support, we need to make sure that the people who are supposed to represent us, people who are meeting about this right now in Washington, understand that very clearly."

Of course, those GOP members that what to repeal Obamacare don't really represent their constituents. There's no money in that. They represent the insurance companies and such that keep the money flowing to these Congress creatures.

Just contrast what Kimmel said with what Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama said about health care, as just about every media outlet did on Tuesday.

Basically, many GOP Congress creatures want to let insurance companies charge anything they want to people with pre-existing conditions. In other words, people with such conditions who are not zillionaires will not be able to afford insurance.

You'll never catch any of these GOP members saying this out loud, but what they're telling us is people with pre-existing conditions just aren't profitable, so they need to die and get out of the way

Brooks came close to saying this when he told CNN's Jake Tapper:

"My understanding is that it will allow companies to require people who have higher health care costs to contribute more to the insurance pool.....thereby reducing the cost to these people who lead good lives. "

Brooks said people with pre-existing conditions just aren't being fair to people who are healthy: "They're healthy, they have done the things to keep their bodies healthy and right now those are the people who have done things the right way and are seeing costs skyrocket."

I guess Kimmel's son Billy didn't do things the right way. However, my guess is little Billy Kimmel didn't acquire his heart condition by chain smoking and constantly munching on Cheetos during the nine months or so he spent in his mother's womb.

Brooks did concede that some people have health conditions through no fault of their own, but didn't explain what we should do to help these people afford health insurance. Even if it's not their fault, ill people should just go away, apparently.

I get it that government programs can't and shouldn't do everything for everybody. However, health care, as most industrialized nations already know, should not be fully a matter of free markets.

If you're poor, it's OK to not be able to afford a unnecessary item like, say, an Alfa Romero. But literally causing the deaths of people who can't afford health care, like what some in the GOP want to do, is just pathological.

But I guess the zillionaires have to watch out for one another. Or something.

Conservative pundits piled on, too. Media Matters cited several, including Charles Hunt in the Washington Times, who said Kimmel gave a "slobbering wet kiss to federal bureacracy."  and called him a "dirty self-absorbed narcissistic exhibitionist."

The real problem here, being, that Kimmel called attention to the issue and we are supposed to shut up about it so as not to raise public anger at the GOP's efforts to kill poor people.

Media Matters also noted that Cheryl Chumley said Kimmel continued the left's "uncomfortable habit of slinging around tears to get what it wants."

She missed the point entirely when she said hospitals don't kick people out who need treatment. True, but without health insurance, people do not get the help they need, don't see doctors when they must, don't get life saving medication, and thus die, or at least go bankrupt

And the GOP is forging ahead. House Republicans say they have enough votes to do their Obamacare repeal and will take a vote today. These are terrible people.

Conservative Pundit Erickson Says Noncomforming Gay People Should Get Beaten Up.

Snowflake Erick Erickson wants everybody to look and act like
him because those who don't are so icky that it weirds him out

Erick Erickson, to use the term so often bandied about by conservatives, is a total snowflake.

It turns out that he finds people who are obviously different, especially gay people who don't dress and act like he wants them to, are totally icky and he Just. Can't. Stand. It.

Why can't people look and act like he wants them to? Why does he have to suffer through the torture of seeing guys who aren't as macho as he is? Why can't everybody just make him happy like he deserves? Or something.

This all started when, last week, Republican Senator Mike Enzi spoke to a group of middle and high school students in Wyoming and one of the students asked what he was doing to impro e the life of the LGBT community in Wyoming.

Part of Enzi's response was this:

"In Wyoming, you can be just about anything you want to be, as long as you don't push it in somebody's face."

Then he went on: "I know a guy who wears a tutu and goes to bars on Friday night and is always surprised that he gets in fights. Well, he kind of asks for it. That's the way he winds up with that kind of problem."

No, the problem is solved when, if you see a guy in a bar wearing a tutu and you don't like that fact, you ignore said guy in the tutu.

To Enzi's credit, he apologized for the inartful comments and called the guy who wears the tutu, who reports they had a productive conversation.

Well, pundit Erickson was NOT happy with Enzi's apology.

He responded by writing a column titled, "You Will Get Punched and Others Have Rights Too."

Erickson's column collapses in its very first paragraph, which is:

"You know, I'm really damn tired of all the people running around making other people extremely uncomfortable then screaming about their rights and priveges when called out. If you want to go around making people uncomfortable, you've got the problem, not the the rest of us."

Um, actually, you've got the problem Erick! If you fall apart because some guy is wearing a tutu in the same room as you, that makes you a total snowflake.

And you're the worst narcissist ever. It's not everybody else's job to make you comfortable and happy. You're not the center of the friggin' universe.

Again, the solution is so, so easy: Ignore the people you don't like.  You don't get to punch people who you believe are aesthetically displeasing.

Erickson goes on:

"I know liberals in the coastal bubbles of homogenized whiteness and skinny jeans think everyone has to be think like them - not does, but has to - but the reality is we don't. We are a culurally heterogeneous nation with diverse cultural norms."

Um, since when does anybody think you have to like their point of view and their skinny jeans. Nobody is making you do anything, Erick. You get to think what you want. And if skinny jeans give you the vapors, they you're really a wimp.

Erickson demands in his column that everybody he thinks are icky should "get over themselves." No, Erick, you need to get over yourself.

You don't get to dictate how others look and act. Just like me or anybody else has no right to demand that you act or look a certain way.

Sure, we can criticize you, and you can criticize anyone you want.

But don't go around justifying beating up people you think are weird.

Frankly, Erick, I think you're weird, but I don't want to beat you up and I don't want anybody else to, either.

Just chill.