What's in the News? 2.0

[Skynet]

I feel that an in-depth discussion on the man would be best served by showcasing the environment around him, like his occasional use of leftist rhetoric to tap into legitimate grievances against failures in the capitalist economy and how billionaires aren't held down by the same laws as the rest of us, but then directs that energy to placing the blame on victims and the powerless instead. Or the broader scope of American fascism which enables his popularity and is also informed by Fox News and the Republican Party's rhetoric.

[Blythe]

There's also not a lot to talk about, on the other hand. He's pretty much defined by the horrid nonsense he vomits out - take that away and he's about as generically uninteresting as its possible to be.

His employment history interests me more than his views, honestly. He's worked for a variety of media outlets (the early 2000s are probably his most interesting time, in particular his dust-up with Jon Stewart), and his evolution over time is...something.

Still morbidly fascinated that he worked for PBS years ago, tried to shift them further right politically, and then left employment while saying PBS was the 'least bad' use of government spending he'd seen.

Carlson is probably a fairly good case study for how neo-fascists become prominent. It's not that the man is interesting exactly, it's moreso that you could replace Carlson at any point, insert any sufficiently hard-right conservative in his place, and the end result would...probably be the same.

Carlson himself isn't particularly special, but the circumstances around his evolution into media success do seem to be.

[Beorning]

Bizarrely enough, Polish president Andrzej Duda has recently given an interview to Tucker Carlson. Making Carlson the only US journalist that interviewed Duda...

... not sure what that means, to be honest. Just saying.

Speaking of Poland - the humanitarian crisis at Polish-Belarusian border is something the international community should really pay attention to:

https://notesfrompoland.com/2021/09/21/the-crisis-on-the-polish-belarusian-border-explained/

I'm honestly ashamed that my country is doing this... and that, apparently, the majority of Poles are okay with it. 

If you wanted any proof how our government approaches the subject, here's something from today - a press conference on the subject by the Minister of Interior:

https://notesfrompoland.com/2021/09/27/poland-publishes-terrorist-content-and-child-porn-from-border-crossers-phones/

Apparently, we can't let these refugees / migrants in, because they could be terrorists, sexual predators and zoophiles!

Seriously, the sight of government officials presenting a photo of a man having sex with a cow on a big screen... is something else. I thought PiS couldn't sink lower that Kaczyński's comments (made during the previous migrant crisis) on how the migrants carry "parasites and protozoa"... but today they just did.

If you wanted some more, uhm, interesting news from Poland - the Polish anti-vaxxer movements grows even stronger!

https://notesfrompoland.com/2021/09/27/anti-vaccine-movement-founded-in-poland-with-support-of-ruling-party-mp/

On less political side of things, the first post-WW2 Polish cannibalism trial concluded today:

https://notesfrompoland.com/2021/09/27/man-sentenced-for-killing-and-eating-victim-in-polands-first-postwar-cannibalism-case/

This case is pure WTF 

[Oniya]

Bizarrely enough, Polish president Andrzej Duda has recently given an interview to Tucker Carlson. Making Carlson the only US journalist that interviewed Duda...

... not sure what that means, to be honest. Just saying.

I'm not sure it's a feather in either of their caps.

[Lustful Bride]

It is now time for the Oath Keepers to be outed for the garbage that they are.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-oath-keepers-reportedly-get-their-emails-dumped-for-the-world-to-see/ar-AAOSDR6?ocid=msedgntp

[TheGlyphstone]

On less political side of things, the first post-WW2 Polish cannibalism trial concluded today:

https://notesfrompoland.com/2021/09/27/man-sentenced-for-killing-and-eating-victim-in-polands-first-postwar-cannibalism-case/

This case is pure WTF 

How many pre-WW2 Polish cannibalism trials were there?

[Beorning]

How many pre-WW2 Polish cannibalism trials were there?

That's actually an interesting question, I wondered about it myself. I think I'll do some research on this issue...

[Oniya]

That's actually an interesting question, I wondered about it myself. I think I'll do some research on this issue...

There was this guy who had one incident of gnawing on a fellow sailor's severed leg (in addition to some other disturbing eating habits.  Click at your own risk, even though it is Wikipedia).  There is some question about whether he was Polish or Prussian, and he wasn't charged with it as a crime.

[Beorning]

There was this guy who had one incident of gnawing on a fellow sailor's severed leg (in addition to some other disturbing eating habits.  Click at your own risk, even though it is Wikipedia).  There is some question about whether he was Polish or Prussian, and he wasn't charged with it as a crime.

I've heard about him, although it seems to me that he wasn't an actual cannibal (like, say, Shia LaBeouf... *ducks*, but more of a guy with a medical condition who would eat *anything*.

[Beorning]

Yuck. Sorry for the messed-up post. Could any of the mods edit and fix it?

[Annaamarth]

Beorning, I appreciate you for providing the window into your homeland.  Thank you.

[Beorning]

I only wish it was a window into a nicer place...

BTW. Remember that governmental press conference from yesterday? The one where our Minister of Interior presented (among other things) a photo featuring human-cow sex, supposedly found in a migrant's phone?

Today, one fact-checking website announced they identified the "photo" as a still from an old porn movie, easily available on the Internet...

You'd think that this kind of information would be a shot against the Minister's credibility? Naaaah... One acquintance of mine, a devoted PiS voter, still claims that this doesn't mean the Minister was lying. According to her, there is no proof that the unnamed migrant didn't grab this still from that porn movie... The idea that the whole thing might be bogus and that this still didn't come from any migrants' phone? It just doesn't register with her.

She also keeps claiming that this still is nothing surprising, because the migrants are Muslims - and, according to her, Islam is okay with bestiality. So, it's perfectly normal for people from that culture to have sex with animals! And that's why we can't let them in - they just "won't mesh with us". Aaaagh! 

[Beorning]

One more bit about that awful press conference... In case you wondered what it looked like, here's a screen cap I found on Twitter:

Removed

The tall guy is Polish Minister of Defense. The smallish guy is Polish Minister of Interior (also the overseer of all Polish special services and intelligence agencies). And it's not a photo manip, these guys really are solemny presenting that, uhm, image...

Also, Polish state TV? They have displayed that... photo... for two days in a row. In their main news programme at 7.30 PM. Which underage kids can easily watch. It's actually *illegal* according to Polish anti-porn laws... but hey, it's the state TV, right? The government's de facto propaganda machine. So, apparently, obscenity laws don't apply to them...

Seriously, what kind of country am I living in...?!?

[Lustful Bride]

Cherokee Nation Reaches $75 Million Settlement With Opioid Distributors after an investigation that they were flooding reservations with provenly ultra addictive medications.

https://www.npr.org/2021/09/28/1041206034/cherokee-nation-75-million-settlement-opioid-drug-distributors

[Oniya]

Now, in 'Exactly What's on the Tin...

An artist, who was paid $84,000 to make a contribution to a work-themed exhibit delivered two blank canvasses, entitled 'Take the Money and Run.'

[clonkertink]

There's probably a whole bunch of artists face palming and going, "Why didn't I think of that one?"

[Mechelle]

There has been a very disturbing case in Britain where Wayne Couzens has been sentenced to a whole life sentence for the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard. It's particularly disturbing, because Couzens was a serving police office who "arrested" her (for his own purposes, not following procedure) in front of witnesses for supposed infringements of Covid regulations, when he handcuffed her and basically kidnapped her.

There had been doubts about  Couzens'  behaviour too, in the past. There were a couple of alleged incidents of indecent exposure before, one very shortly before the murder, and it has been claimed that his nickname in the police force was "The Rapist," although the police have denied this. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick is once again under fire, as so many incidents have occurred under her watch, and the heavy-handed policing of the vigil in honour of Sarah Everard.




https://news.sky.com/story/sarah-everard-murder-the-four-questions-the-police-still-need-to-answer-about-wayne-couzens-12421848

[Beorning]

Now, in 'Exactly What's on the Tin...

An artist, who was paid $84,000 to make a contribution to a work-themed exhibit delivered two blank canvasses, entitled 'Take the Money and Run.'

This man is brilliant.  It doesn't beat Banksy's self-shredding painting, nevertheless...

[Oniya]

If you read the article, the museum is still exhibiting it.  With the fact that this is hitting the Internet, they'll probably make back the money in admissions/gift shop sales.

(He's also apparently a well-known artist - I'm not up on the current art scene.  I know about Banksy, but my knowledge mostly stops in the surrealist period.)

[Annaamarth]

My understanding is that the 84k is actually supposed to be paid back to the museum after a period of time.  It was an advance, not an upfront payment - so yeah, the museum is in on the bit.

[Annaamarth]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jens-haaning-take-the-money-and-run-blank-canvases-kunsten-museum-modern-art-denmark/

So, less in on the bit than I thought after research, but in on the bit.

The money wasn't an advance or payment at all - it was effectively a model for the contracted art piece, a model loaned to the artist. The museum didn't get the piece expected - but they did get a topical piece appropriate to the exhibit.

[Oniya]

Alex Jones has been found liable for damages in three defamation suits, brought by the parents of children who died.  Jones claimed the parents were faking their kids deaths, prompting harassment from his InfoWars fanboys.

[Beorning]

Alex Jones has been found liable for damages in three defamation suits, brought by the parents of children who died.  Jones claimed the parents were faking their kids deaths, prompting harassment from his InfoWars fanboys.

Finally. These kinds of people need to be punished for the lies and hate they spread...

[TheGlyphstone]

What are the odds he's actually going to pay up, though?

[Oniya]

What are the odds that he even has the money?  He's been banned by at least three social media platforms, which has got to take a chunk out of his wallet.