Seth Meyers looks at the latest example of Donald Trump’s deep-seated racism and also his relationship with John Bolton.
Mano Singham
Just another Freethought Blogs site
Seth Meyers looks at the latest example of Donald Trump’s deep-seated racism and also his relationship with John Bolton.
He examines all the arguments traditionally given in favor of it and finds them unconvincing, and concludes that the benefits o getting rid of it outweigh the risks.
On the latest episode of his show Patriot Act, Hasan Minhaj explains why the many cases in which police kill unarmed mostly black people and escape any punishment is not only due to the specifics of each case but that it is encouraged by a system in which the training of police encourages immediate violent action and the unions and the laws are designed to give police immunity from the consequences of their actions, however egregious they might be. In other words, this is a systemic problem that cannot be blamed on a few ‘rotten apples’.
If there is an unofficial good will ambassador for the US, it may well be late night talk show host and comedian Conan O’Brien. On an occasional series on his show called Conan Without Borders that can be seen on Netflix, he has gone to places that have been demonized by the US over a long period (such as Cuba) as well as those that have been brutally exploited by the US and more recently insulted by Donald Trump (like Haiti and Mexico) and in his interactions with the people and his description of the country shows Americans how mistaken these views are and that we would be a lot better off having good relations with the people of those nations.
[Read more…]
I have long been a fan of comedian Zach Galifianakis’s online sketch show Between Two Ferns where he passive-aggressively, and sometimes outright insultingly, interviews celebrity guests. Here is one sketch where he interviews Ben Stiller.
It appears that they have made a film version of it that will be released on Netflix on September 20.
It is often the case that sketch comedy does not translate well into the long form version, so we’ll have to see how this turns out.
But here’s the trailer.
The UK parliament has passed the third reading of the bill to ban a no-deal Brexit by a margin of 327-299 and it now goes to the House of Lords for approval before it can be signed into law by the Queen. In response to this second major defeat in the two days he has been in parliament as prime minister, Boris Johnson has called for a new general election to be held on October 15. But under a law that was adopted during David Cameron’s period as prime minister, parliament needs to vote by a two-thirds majority to be dissolved before its scheduled five-year term ends, which means that Johnson needs opposition support for the move. The rules also say that at least 25 days must pass between dissolution and the election. But Johnson’s motion for dissolution only garnered 298 votes, well short of the 434 needed, thus handing him his third consecutive defeat.
[Read more…]
People seem to like going on cruises since it is apparently a rapidly growing business, despite some recent horror stories of norovirus outbreaks on the boats. From what I can tell from the advertisements, these things are a floating combination of hotels and amusement parks. But in the latest episode of his show Patriot Act, Hasan Minhaj says that underneath all the gaiety and laughter, the business model of these companies is based on ruthless exploitation of labor, dumping of waste into the environment, and a massive amount of greenhouse gas emissions, combined with careful avoidance of any responsibility for anything that might go wrong on board, including sexual assault.
Given my slightly introverted nature, I think I would not find cruises enjoyable. Being constantly surrounded by large numbers of people who are determined to have a good time 24/7 and get the maximum benefit from the limited time on board would wear me out pretty quickly. I would likely retreat to my cabin for long periods of time, which would defeat the purpose of going on a cruise.
Because Conan knows people who can give good advice on buying real estate.
Cartoonist Ruben Bolling describes the terrible difficulty that investigators are having finding a common link connecting all the terrorist acts we have seen recently.
