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#111415

What’s new? Talk about current news here.

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  • #122462

    As we proceed…

    Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was arrested and charged with sex trafficking. Here’s how the news unfolded

    The thing with these arrests of pop stars doing dirty things is, there are a lot of stars still around that fooled around with kids back in the 60s and 70s and 80s. Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, Iggy Pop, Anthony Kiedis, probably many more, they were not too bothered about the age of consent. Could be white privilege, but there is also an attitude change.

     

    In the Netherlands this changed in the 90s, I think the Dutroux case had something to do with it. People were so outraged that afterwards there was a strong demand to prosecute sex offenses with children.

  • #122479

    Disgusting:

    Marcellus Williams executed in Missouri woman’s murder amid strong innocence claims

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  • #122483

    I think the snippet is from some Atlantic article. I’ve seen mentions of this case in the main stream news, so it isn’t just some covid conspiracy bullshit.

    Oh yeah, it’s definitely actual news, it’s just one of those cases where a right-wing “alternative” media hack uncovered it. Which doesn’t mean the issue isn’t real. Clocks being right twice a day and all that.

    I think he title of “vilest of the vile” should be reserved for people like Trump who told everybody that COVID was nothing to worry about and that we don’t need to wear masks or maintain social distancing, and who actively insulted and denigrated people at his rallies and other appearances who actually wore masks.

    Well, he did give us that bleach advice, on the other hand.

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  • #122529

    Disgusting:

    Marcellus Williams executed in Missouri woman’s murder amid strong innocence claims

    3 users thanked author for this post.
  • #122553

    A Dutch newspaper did a big article about Wim Hof, exposing him as a domestic abuser. Pretty gruesome stuff.

  • #122672

    Garth Brooks accused of rape, sexual assault by former makeup artist: Lawsuit

    Who’s next?

  • #122824

    This dude was walking around with an automatic weapon and shooting at homes in my home town yesterday. Probably a crime thing, not terror related. Still scary.

     

  • #122838

    I’ll say. Bloody hell.

  • #123671

    Mattel apologises after Wicked movie dolls mistakenly link to porn website on packaging

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  • #123753

    The Onion has bought InfoWars

     

    No, seriously.

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  • #123755

    Is the original version of the site still up and running? If so, it’d be interesting to see if any of its regular readers noticed the change to the Onion running it as a parody.

  • #123757

    If so, it’d be interesting to see if any of its regular readers noticed the change to the Onion running it as a parody.

    Hopefully they won’t notice, and will continue to believe everything they read there. Small victories!!

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  • #123758

    Is the original version of the site still up and running? If so, it’d be interesting to see if any of its regular readers noticed the change to the Onion running it as a parody.

    The original site is down right now and ownership is not visible on whois.

  • #123759

    The Onion has bought InfoWars

     

    No, seriously.

    This is so fucking awesome and hilarious!

    No joke: The Onion wins bankruptcy auction for Alex Jones’ Infowars

    The Onion, the satirical news company that repeatedly spoofed conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, has won the bankruptcy auction for control over his media empire — most notably Infowars, the far-right, conspiracy-minded website that served as Jones’ primary online platform.

    Jones announced the sale on X on Thursday morning.

    “I just got word 15 minutes ago that my lawyers and folks met with the U.S. trustee over our bankruptcy this morning and they said they are shutting us down even without a court order this morning,” Jones said.

    “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m going to be here until they come and turn the lights off,” he added.

    The Onion plans to shutter Jones’ Infowars and rebuild the website featuring well-known internet humor writers and content creators, according to a person with knowledge of the sale. About an hour and a half after the announcement of the sale, Infowars’ website was shut down.

    Jones, 50, one of the most-high profile and financially successful alternative media personalities, built a small empire off a radio show-turned-internet video operation centered around the Infowars brand that focused on false and often bizarre claims about grand conspiracies and government wrongdoing.

    Details of Wednesday’s auction, including how much was offered for Free Speech Systems, the parent company of Infowars, and related assets, were not immediately known. Funds generated from the sale are meant to satisfy Jones’ estate creditors, largely families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting to whom he must pay damages in defamation verdicts.

    Sandy Hook families filed lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas claiming Jones defamed them on his show and inflicted emotional distress by repeatedly suggesting the shooting, in which a gunman killed 20 first grade children and six adults, was a hoax.

    Juries found Jones liable for defamation and awarded the families nearly $1.5 billion in total in their lawsuits, but they have been unable to collect anything from Jones, who claimed he can’t afford that massive a sum. He filed for bankruptcy in late 2022, and a judge in June allowed him to liquidate his personal assets to help pay off the verdicts.

    The sale had the backing of several of the Connecticut families of the Sandy Hook shooting who were part of the lawsuit.

    “Our clients knew that true accountability meant an end to Infowars and an end to Jones’ ability to spread lies, pain and fear at scale,” Chris Mattei, attorney for the Connecticut families, said in a statement. “By divesting Jones of Infowars’ assets, the families and the team at The Onion have done a public service and will meaningfully hinder Jones’ ability to do more harm.”

    The anti-violence organization Everytown for Gun Safety said it will be the exclusive advertiser in The Onion’s new venture as part of a multiyear agreement.

    John Feinblatt, the group’s president, said in a statement that he hopes to “reach new audiences ready to hold the gun industry accountable for contributing to our nation’s gun violence epidemic.”

    Since April, The Onion has been led by chief executive Ben Collins, who previously covered disinformation and conspiracy theories for NBC News, a beat that often meant covering Jones. Collins has introduced several changes meant to monetize the business, including subscriptions, organized live events, and bringing back physical copies of the paper and its television parody, the Onion News Network.

    In June, Collins answered calls from followers online that The Onion purchase Infowars with a meme “looking into it.”

    Those interested in acquiring Jones’ media company had submitted their final offers to federal court-appointed trustee Christopher Murray, who was tasked with picking a best bid, but not necessarily the highest.

    The identities of potential buyers were secret as they had to agree to nondisclosure agreements in order to receive bid materials.

    The auction firms running the sale said that there are “no restrictions on the use of any acquired property in the bankruptcy order,” and that the winner has the choice of whether to continue Infowars’ operations.

    On his show this week, amid pleas for listeners to buy subscriptions and the nutritional supplements he sells, Jones painted a picture of his potential buyers, describing one group of anonymous bidders as friendly backers who would allow his show to operate as normal. Others, he said, were “bad guys” who would shut Infowars down.

    While he said he would continue to broadcast via an alternative channel if ordered to shutter by a new buyer, Jones noted he would be hampered by the loss of his brand, website and equipment, among other necessities.

    “All you leftists celebrating the end of Alex Jones and Infowars, you’re fools,” he said. “Just watch.”

    Up for grabs at the auction were Infowars production rights and materials, the Infowars store, domain names, production equipment and other assets — including a Terradyne armored truck and a Winnebago motor home — that can be purchased in their entirety or in parts, according to the firm, ThreeSixty Asset Advisors. Jones broadcasts from the Austin, Texas, area.

    The auction is part of Murray’s “orderly wind-down process” under the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, which has overseen the latest phase of the case against Jones, stemming from the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Connecticut.

    In fitting form for the satirical website, The Onion’s news release announcing the sale was written in the voice of a CEO of Global Tetrahedron, a fictional evil company created by Onion staff. Former tech executive Jeff Lawson took on the name Global Tetrahedron for his real company that acquired The Onion from G/O Media in April.

    “Through it all, InfoWars has shown an unswerving commitment to manufacturing anger and radicalizing the most vulnerable members of society—values that resonate deeply with all of us at Global Tetrahedron,” the release said.

    Jones founded Infowars, which operates under Free Speech Systems, in 1999. The company itself held about $6 million in cash and $1.2 million in inventory, according to previous court filings from June.

    The families in Texas and Connecticut have sparred in court over the liquidation process, with concerns over how the money will be distributed. Still, they have said, Jones’ loss of his company brings some accountability for his past words.

    At his trial in Texas in 2022, Jones generally blamed “corporate media” for twisting his words and misportraying him, but didn’t specify how.

    While Jones also testified that he believes Sandy Hook was “100% real,” he has used the ongoing litigation to galvanize his listeners as he faces the loss of Infowars.

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  • #123809

    Well, the problem is that it is impossible to make parodies of conspiracy theorists, since the things they already believe are far sillier than anything you can make up.

    3 users thanked author for this post.
  • #123816

    A bunch of them on social media have been taking stuff poasted from the Onion’s fictional CEO’s accounts as if they’re true.

    Jones has filed some sort of legal action to try and block the sale, but The Onion’s actual owner seems to think it’s of no concern.

    1 user thanked author for this post.
  • #123821

    the things they already believe are far sillier than anything you can make up.

    And these people are everywhere.

    I actually like the ‘flat-earther’ at work, but I’m just not going to engage.
    Very curious, and want to so bad, but what if you’re at a low point and having that shit rattle in your brain is the beginning of insanity?
    Also, they seem intent on not listening to reason so at best its a headache.

    I mentioned to someone else that I’m one of those people that was very confused when I heard the news report on Nelson Mandela, and any excuse wasn’t good enough.
    But thats it, the end.
    Well fuck, I’ve been invited to meetings where they’ll explain how the world copied itself and we’re living in an alternate timeline (my words, I’m not fucking going) and on it goes.

    Fuck sakes! And these people have the right to vote! They can bring a child into this world!

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  • #123826

    Well fuck, I’ve been invited to meetings where they’ll explain how the world copied itself and we’re living in an alternate timeline (my words, I’m not fucking going) and on it goes.

    Ohhhhh I kinda want to go to that!

    Honestly, I think the best you can do is, if you like them, to keep engaging these people on other levels so they won’t become isolated from mainstream society. That’s when the true descent into madness begins. As long as you’re not going there, I don’t know man. Personally, believing in religions doesn’t seem any less crazy to me than the other shit.

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  • #124152

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/americans-just-t-feel-sympathy-143819239.html

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  • #124153

    As a current United HealthCare customer, I understand this sentiment, as sad and pathetic as it sounds.

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  • #124267

    https://news.sky.com/story/haiti-gang-massacres-around-180-people-over-witchcraft-fears-13270436

     

  • #124373

    Luigi Mangione Good Fellas Edit

    https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDdgyodRRn4/?igsh=MXR6NTVoNm8yaWFobA==

    • This reply was modified 2 months, 3 weeks ago by Sean Robinson.
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  • #124483

    51 evil rapist bastards are headed to the slammer in France.

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  • #124493

    It’s stuff like the Pelicot case that makes me wonder whether we shouldn’t just get rid of men altogether.

    I mean, with genetic engineering and artificial insemination and everything, we don’t really need them for much longer anymore, do we? Maybe we should just strive to be the last generation of humans with a Y-chromosome and with that fucking testosterone coming out our ears.

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  • #124494

    The details of that case are grim beyond belief. It’s tempting to wonder what is wrong with them, but that just lets them off. They’re an evil bunch of bastards.

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  • #125070

    Regarding the LA fires, a lot about the LA situation has surfaced including the prison labor used, budget cuts, and so many homes and neighborhoods lost. Media attention (of course) mention all the celeb homes gone and some finger pointing to the governor and Karen Bass who isn’t even mayor of the other areas affected.

    Fwiw, this posting might give more insight:

     

    • This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by Al-x.
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  • #125867

    Apparently, Mayor Adams met with 45 and 45 went to the DOJ to drop the corruption charges against Adams.
    NYC… It’s a mess. At least six prosecutors, including the acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan, have stepped down over the DOJ order to dismiss corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.

    Now there is news about farmers who voted MAGA are about to lose their farms because their government contracts/funding are frozen by executive order and will expire. And the contracts were by the Dem administration.

    Regarding the executive orders: Before it was MAGA voters who ended up voting for their own deportation, then a few teachers were shocked at how much was instantly defunded/gutted in their school district, and now some MAGA voters just voted for their own foreclosure.

    • This reply was modified 3 weeks, 1 day ago by Al-x.
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    • This reply was modified 2 weeks, 6 days ago by Al-x.
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  • #125965

    As NYC turns – The mayor is now seen as “compromised” by everyone in the city over the huge break he got from the POTUS.
    Demonstration downtown for Hochul to remove him.

    https://pix11.com/news/morning/protesters-to-demand-gov-hochul-remove-nyc-mayor-adams-from-office/

    And… Four of Adam’s deputies have resigned already.

    • This reply was modified 1 week, 6 days ago by Al-x.
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  • #125986

    It’s stuff like the Pelicot case that makes me wonder whether we shouldn’t just get rid of men altogether.

    Then I identify as a woman

  • #125987

    Fair!

    I do honestly wonder what would happen to all aggression in the world if testosterone suppressants would globally be introduced into our drinking water.

  • #125988

    Fair!

    I do honestly wonder what would happen to all aggression in the world if testosterone suppressants would globally be introduced into our drinking water.

    Hey, don’t give RFK Jr any ideas!!

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  • #125989

    Sidenote, I’m going to see Armando Iannucci’s stage adaptation of Dr. Strangelove at the weekend.

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  • #126059

    Well, that’s that then. Could’ve been better, could’ve been worse, but it’s pretty much what the polls beforehand said.
    Germany has a conservative government again, like we have almost all the time really. Merz is no Merkel of course. He’s closer to the economic lobbies (especially the finance sector, having worked for Blackrock) and he’s radically anti-immigration, to the extent that he invited the radical right to vote with him on that matter recently. But he has to form a coalition with the SPD (labour party), so that’ll mitigate the worst hopefully. That coalition is the only option really, and there is little doubt that both sides will go through with it, even if it’s pretty much suicide for the SPD.

    On the bright side, the FDP – traditional liberal party, but these days mainly laissez-faire capitalists, and the ones who sabotaged our last center-left-green coalition – are out. Good riddance, motherfuckers; hope you never come back.

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  • #126062

    Yep, scary that AFD got 10m votes but that mess can hopefully be contained.

    Are we now free of nervous elections for a while?

  • #126064

    Are we now free of nervous elections for a while?

    Couple of years until the next scheduled French presidential election, which could be a worrisome one.

  • #126065

    I’ll take two years, the way things are currently that’s an eternity.

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  • #126070

    Are we now free of nervous elections for a while?

    That depends; how are things going in South Korea these days?

    Hmmmm…

  • #126092

    The federal layoffs have affected national parks like Yosemite. Now, for anyone planning to go visit, expect it to be severely understaffed, poorly maintained, long lines, and so on. Here are some of the laid off hanging the flag:

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  • #126103

    This graphic is regarded as the demographic breakdown:

    It’s a mess now. Seeing experienced staff be let go in favor of much lesser qualified ie. four star generals fired and this:

     

    On social media, there were some attacking Kamala Harris for not speaking up right now when she already did all she could in running as an emergency fill in for Biden, and she repeatedly warned about 45 and Project 2025 throughout her campaign.

    Black Americans voted blue 92 and 78 respectively and there are messages that they will sit out the demonstrations, and other groups are angry at them sitting out now. They retort that they will not be used as human shields/buffers for police batons.

    There is a lot of frustration, especially from MAGA voters who felt nothing applied to them:

     

     

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  • #126109

    The scary thing here is the crash has to happen, it has to hurt a lot of people but, after the impact, the same hurt people will then claim it wasn’t that bad and continue supporting the very people who hurt them so badly! This has happened with Brexit backers, it’ll happen with Trump voters.

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  • #126120

    the same hurt people will then claim it wasn’t that bad

    Or alternatively, they’ll manage to blame the Deep State, immigrants, whoever. Just not the people actually doing the harm.

    There’s still hope that if they fuck up badly enough though, they actually will suffer the repercussion. That’d be a day, wouldn’t it?
    Certainly looks possible right now, with the extent of sheer incompetence/dumbness and brazenness.

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  • #126123

    the same hurt people will then claim it wasn’t that bad

    Or alternatively, they’ll manage to blame the Deep State, immigrants, whoever. Just not the people actually doing the harm.

    There’s still hope that if they fuck up badly enough though, they actually will suffer the repercussion. That’d be a day, wouldn’t it?
    Certainly looks possible right now, with the extent of sheer incompetence/dumbness and brazenness.

    If the massive government layoffs happen, a lot of Trump voters will be affected. There are Medicaid cuts in the proposed budget, and that will fuck over a lot of supporters.

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  • #126130

    From some of the posted videos and messages, they are starting to feel the pinch. “This is not what I voted for, not what I expected”… Some who live in the somewhat rural areas and dependent on, say, a local hospital, local market, suppliers, etc. will be hurt even more when it is all gutted/defunded, subsidies and contracts they didn’t realize they needed are all gone, rising costs and cuts in healthcare.

    Yet, where will all that frustration go? Some cultist behavior (MAGA has been called a cult) is a disbelief that they were betrayed and screwed over by the source. Anger and regret that they can’t (or refuse) to place at it’s very source. That Brexit situation mentioned is interesting.

    • This reply was modified 1 week ago by Al-x.
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  • #126156

    And now Trump’s policies have crossed the line:

    Craft beer prices impacted by tariff on aluminum

    Who’s ready to march with me?!

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  • #126158

    And now Trump’s policies have crossed the line:

    Craft beer prices impacted by tariff on aluminum

    Who’s ready to march with me?!

    I am afraid I will sit this one out. 🤣

    Besides, My strongest drink is Coca Cola anyway…

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  • #126177

    Yet, where will all that frustration go? Some cultist behavior (MAGA has been called a cult) is a disbelief that they were betrayed and screwed over by the source. Anger and regret that they can’t (or refuse) to place at it’s very source.

    That sunk cost fallacy thing is veeeeeeeery powerful.

    There are a lot of people out there who can’t admit to being wrong about Trump at this point. I mean, where would they go with that?

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  • #126235

    Sunk cost fallacy along with cognitive dissonance.

    Just to get back to the deportation issue: The Temporary Protection Status has ended, and the birthright citizenship status is under attack. If that is gone, being born in the US won’t make you a legal citizen. It all started with “Dealing with the illegal immigrants taking jobs away and being criminals” and then it just might spread to indiscriminately deporting people born in the US already. Scary…

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  • #126236

    More like deport anyone who isn’t white enough.

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