#washington examiner

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jack Winstanley at MMFA:

Right-wing media figures were quick to use a video shared by an official Republican National Committee social media account in order to continue their attacks on President Biden over his age and accuse him of “experiencing a serious mental decline.”

An official RNC social media account shared a video purporting to show Biden “freeze” on stage while attending a fundraising event

RNC Research, a social media account of the RNC’s rapid response team, shared a video and claimed it showed Biden “freeze” on stage before being led away. The video was originally captured by The Hollywood Reporter’s Chris Gardner and shows Biden and former President Barack Obama waving and gesturing to a crowd during a fundraising event, with Gardner noting the pair offered “final waves to Peacock Theater crowd as Obama then grabs Biden’s hand to lead him offstage following 40-minute conversation with Jimmy Kimmel.” [Twitter/X, 6/16/24, 6/16/24]

The Daily Beast noted that the video features Biden and Obama “taking in the crowd’s cheers” and that the clip captured by Gardner and posted by the RNC did not include “most of the lead-up to the seemingly innocuous moment.” The publication further noted, “After they wave to the applauding crowd for nearly a minute, Obama reaches out and gently touches Biden on the arm before they walk off stage together.” White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates also pushed back on the RNC’s characterization of the video, claiming that Biden was rather “taking in an applauding crowd for a few seconds.” [The Daily Beast, 6/16/24; Twitter/X, 6/16/24]

The RNC Research social media account has a history of promoting misleadingly presented or edited videos of Biden to push claims that he is in physical and mental decline and unfit to continue serving as president. Notably, within the last two weeks the RNC Research account has shared a misleadingly edited video of Biden during a D-Day memorial event, which they claimed showed him “pooping or sitting on an invisible chair,” as well as a separate video that was reportedly doctored to show Biden supposedly wandering off during a G7 meeting. [Media Matters, 6/6/24; The New Republic, 6/14/24]

Right-wing media outlets and RNC Research once again use a doctored video to renew bad-faith attacks about President Joe Biden’s age and cognitive abilities.

[uboat53]

I think today is a good day to talk about Scott Adams. LONG RANT (TM) ahead.

WHO?

For those who aren't aware, Scott Adams is the creator of the comic strip Dilbert. He's also been in the news previously for comments that veer toward far-right racism.

Recently, on a podcast, Mr. Adams went on a rant, responding to a poll showing that a large amount of African-Americans disagree with the statement that "it's okay to be white". In this rant, Mr. Adams declared that he wanted nothing to do with black people and that "white people should get the hell away from black people". As a result, many major newspaper chains have dropped the Dilbert comic. He is now claiming that he is being "canceled".

THE POLL

So this is where it starts to get interesting. The poll Mr. Adams references was conducted by Rasmussen Reports, a far-right pollster with, frankly, questionable methodology. They polled what they viewed as "anti-white beliefs" and one of the questions was whether or not a person agreed with the statement "it's okay to be white". 72% of respondents agreed with the statement, including 53% of African-Americans.

This result, along with others from the poll, are being reported by Rasmussen as well as other conservative media outlets like the Washington Examiner as somehow being a refutation of "wokism". In reality, the idea that only whites can be racists or that all white people are inherently bad (beliefs examined by this poll) is a straw man concocted by the far-right rather than a true representation of what the vast majority of people who would consider themselves "woke" actually believe, so this result is unsurprising. But that is beside the point.

Mr. Adams, though, took issue with the fact that 47% of African-Americans in this poll DID NOT agree with the statement that "it's okay to be white". He took this to mean that nearly half of African-Americans harbor animus toward whites and that, for this reason, engagement of any sort with African-Americans by whites, including himself, was potentially unsafe.

"IT'S OKAY TO BE WHITE"?

Yeah, let's look at that question, shall we? It turns out there's some "fun" history here.

You see, "it's okay to be white" started off as a trolling slogan among white supremacists on 4Chan in 2017. White supremacist ideas are not the sort of thing that most people feel comfortable expressing openly, so dog whistles like this are the main way that they are expressed in public. In particular, the racist right has shown a propensity to prefer statements that appear innocuous on their face, allowing them to accuse others of anti-white racism if they object to them.

A "dog whistle", for those who don't know, is a seemingly inoffensive statement that is taken by a group and given a more offensive secret meaning. Like a dog whistle, the real message is designed only to be heard by the intended group, the dogs, while leaving others unaware of that message.

AWARENESS OF RACISM

This, I think, is the key to the whole thing, and it's something I'm actually fairly familiar with myself so I'm going to talk from personal experience here.

I'm Jewish. By birth, not religiously. But, being Jewish in any sense, you are made very aware of anti-Semitism, mainly because those people can (and occasionally do!) kill you and people like you. I'm sure I'm aware of many times more information about anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic beliefs than the vast majority of non-Jews are and I'm not even religious!

I should point out that this isn't necessarily because non-Jews are malicious or because they don't care about Jews, it's just that they aren't as directly affected by it. Anti-Semites attack and threaten Jews all the time, but they prefer to do this out of sight and hearing of other non-Jews. If you're not Jewish and you don't put any particular effort into becoming aware of it, it's very easy to live your entire life perfectly unaware of the anti-Semitic harassment and violence that is happening all around you.

In much the same way, I'd bet that African-Americans are far more aware of anti-black racism than whites are. This includes dog whistles; you're far more likely to know that the guy who says things like "globalists" and "it's okay to be white" is secretly racist if your life may depend on it.

In other words, African-Americans probably showed relatively low levels of agreement with that statement in the poll because a reasonably high percentage of them recognized it as a racist dog whistle.

THE CROSSOVER

So why is a "mainstream" right-wing polling organization like Rasmussen asking a question based off of a racist dog whistle from 4Chan?

Well, this is where we have to look at the crossover between the right-wing generally and the racist right. The far right in this country is increasingly racist, but they form a key part of the right-wing base in ever closer elections as the Republican Party loses appeal with other parts of electorate. Because of this, there's a big incentive for the larger right-wing to ignore that racism and even to deny that it is happening at all.

The dog whistles are key to this, by speaking in dog whistles the racist right is able to signal solidarity and express their beliefs while allowing the broader right-wing to deny the truth of their intent by focusing only on the literal meaning of the statement. Those on the more "mainstream" right are also incentivized to try to normalize those statements in order to "prove" that they aren't just secret statements of racism.

This is what Rasmussen is doing here. By pretending that "it's okay to be white" is just a plain statement rather than a racist dog whistle they are attempting to normalize it and demonize those who attempt to point out its nature as a dog whistle for racism.

DUE DILIGENCE

This is where Mr. Adam's racism becomes very clear. You see, on the face of it, I too would be concerned if I saw that a large amount of people of a certain group expressed what appeared to be a racist opinion about my group (note to white people, this is how racial minorities feel just about all the time, but I digress). But the first thing I would do is try to see if there's other context behind that.

And it's not as if the context is hard to find. I just Googled "it's okay to be white" and the very first result I got was the Anti-Defamation League (an anti-racism group) article that I linked above which explains the origins and meaning of this phrase.

Mr. Adams clearly did not even do this one basic thing, he just jumped to exactly the racist conclusion that the white supremacists who created this dog whistle intended for him to jump to. He is, at the bare minimum, racist enough to believe inflammatory things about African-Americans without the slightest bit of hesitation.

BROADER IMPLICATIONS

Here's the thing, though, it would be bad enough if a public figure like Mr. Adams were so committed to racist ideas, one person with his influence can do a lot of damage, but it's not just him.

This type of dog whistle racism is endemic across conservative spaces and has been for some time. It is repeated and accepted as normal discourse in right-wing politics and punditry, particularly among those who support the MAGA movement and the former President, and it is defended even by those conservatives and Republicans who are not otherwise seen as being racist themselves.

The conservative movement in general has a problem when racist ideas are defended and racists are allowed to use dog whistle language to convince others of those ideas. People like Mr. Adams and his turn to overt racism are just the tip of the iceberg that indicates a much deeper problem beneath.

CONCLUSION

Mr. Adam's statements are despicable and he is rightly being condemned for his bigotry, but he's far from alone. There is an entire system of dog whistles, denial of racism, and latent beliefs about minorities which enables people like him and allows these kinds of racist ideas to be brought to those who might otherwise reject them outright.

That's why it's important that all Americans, regardless of your political or racial beliefs, do at least the bare minimum. If you see information that surprises you and makes you feel upset, particularly if it encourages you to think poorly of an entire group of people, find out where it's coming from and what's behind it. The odds are pretty good that you're being manipulated.

The racists are out there and they are growing in influence. Don't sleepwalk into becoming one, learn their codes so that you don't get taken in.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

The lawyers that represented U.S. Representative Madison Cawthorn during a legal challenge to his candidacy in the 2022 North Carolina Primary are now suing the congressman themselves.

The Bopp Law Firm filed a lawsuit on December 1, alleging Cawthorn has failed to pay $193,296.85 in legal fees and costs.

The Indiana law firm has accused the congressman of breaching his contract.

The question over Cawthorn’s legal candidacy arose over his involvement in the “Stop the Steal” rally that occurred just before the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Voters challenged the congressman, citing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment which was designed to prevent congressmen who had fought in the Confederacy during the Civil War from returning to Congress.

The voters challenged that Cawthorn’s participation in the rally disqualified him from running for Congress.

In March, a U.S. District Judge ruled in Cawthorn’s favor and prevented the North Carolina State Board of Election from looking into whether he should be on the ballot for the 2022 Primary in May.

The voters appealed the ruling to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. The appeals court ultimately reversed the ruling and sent the case back to the district court.

According to the lawsuit, Cawthorn’s attorneys moved to have the district court case “dropped as moot” in order to avoid a possible ruling that could affect any of the congressman’s future campaigns.

The current representative of North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District is no stranger to legal woes in 2022.

In April, Cawthorn was cited for trying to bring a loaded gun through TSA at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, police said.

CMPD said Cawthorn admitted the firearm was his and he was cooperative with officers. He was issued a citation for possession of a dangerous weapon on city property, which is a City of Charlotte Ordinance.

Cawthorn has also been cited multiple times for various speeding violations. North Carolina Highway Patrol dashcam video released to QCN in April showed a traffic stop involving Cawthorn after he was pulled over in Cleveland County in March and was charged with driving with a revoked license.

Recently, the House Ethics Committee found he financially benefited while purchasing and promoting a cryptocurrency and had violated conflict of interest rules.

According to a report from the Washington Examiner, multiple watchdog groups said Cawthorn (R-NC) may have violated federal laws when he promoted a “pump-and-dump” cryptocurrency scheme.

Late last year, Cawthorn posed with the main investor behind the Let’s Go Brandon cryptocurrency, James Koutoulas.

In response to the photo, Cawthorn publicly said he owned LGBCoin cryptocurrency.

The following day, the cryptocurrency said it would sponsor NASCAR driver Brandon Brown, whose win at Talladega in 2021 kicked off the anti-Biden rallying cry “Let’s Go Brandon,” for the 2022 Xfinity Series season.

“If we do our job right, when you think of us, and you hear, ‘Let’s Go Brandon,’ you’ll think and feel, ‘Let’s Go America,’” Koutoulas said during the announcement.

LGBCoin’s value spiked by 75% following the sponsorship news, the Washington Examiner reported.

Watchdog groups reportedly told the Examiner that Cawthorn’s Instagram post suggested he may have had advanced knowledge of the deal with Brown and said that, combined with Cawthorn’s statement that he owns LGBCoin, “warrants an investigation from the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission to see if the freshman congressman violated insider trading laws.”

By the end of January 2022, the value of LGBCoin had dropped from $570 million to $0.

After the committee’s findings in December, Cawthorn was ordered to pay $14,237.49 to charity. He was also told to pay $1,000 in late fees on reports filed for his cryptocurrency transactions.

[dragoneyes618]

What if, stay with me, these five men were actually agents responsible for their own reprehensible actions and not merely hapless puppets being manipulated by the invisible hand of inescapable and omnipotent white supremacy?

Thomas Chatterton Williams, The Washington Examiner, January 29, 2023 

[thenewdemocratus]

Don Lemon: 'BLEACH BLOND BAD BUILT BACK AT IT'

Source:Don Lemon now also refers to U.S. Representative Marjorie T. Greene (MAGA, Georgia as the: “Bleach Blond Bad Built” Source:The New Democrat “Hey there Lemon Heads! Join Don at 5pm ET to hear about all the major breaking news stories of today. Tonight, Don is joined by Social Commentator, Singer Songwriter, and @MeidasTouch Contributor Tennessee Brando to dive into all of Marjorie Taylor…

[amprosite]

Have we become a disgraceful nation?

[reading-writing-rebellion]

Queering All the Things

I knew when I clicked on the link Stop Queering Everything that was on my newsfeed I was going to probably be pissed off. Disclaimer: You should know if you decide to click on the link to read the piece it comes from the Washington Examiner, a far right conservative newspaper. It doesn’t go to the Washington Examiner itself, but to a MSN reprint. Just know what you are walking into. That is…

[govtshutdown]

If they elect a speaker today

Congressional Reporter Reese Gorman of the Washington Examiner stated on C-SPAN that if Johnson is elected speaker today, the first action will be to pass a bill condemning Hamas, the second would be to pass a continuing resolution, extending the budget to either January 15th or April 15th. We are 23 days away from the November 17th deadline, so either would be welcome.

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #27

July 12-19 2024

President Biden announced the cancellation of $1.2 billion dollars worth of student loan debt. This will cancel the debt of 35,000 public service workers, such as teachers, nurses, and firefighters. This brings the total number of people who've had their student debt relived under the Biden Administration to 4.8 million or one out of every ten people with student loan debt, for a total of $168.5 billion in debt forgiven. This came after the Supreme Court threw out an earlier more wide ranging student debt relief plan forcing the administration to undertake a slower more piecemeal process for forgiving debt. President Biden announced a new plan in the spring that will hopefully be finalized by fall that will forgive an additional 30 million people's student loan debt.

President Biden announced actions to lower housing coasts, make more housing available and called on Congress to prevent rent hikes. President Biden's plan calls for landlords who raise the rent by more than 5% a year to face losing major important tax befits, the average rent has gone up by 21% since 2021. The President has also instructed the federal government, the largest land owner in the country, to examine how unused property can be used for housing. The Bureau of Land Management plans on building 15,000 affordable housing units on public land in southern Nevada, the USPS is examining 8,500 unused properties across America to be repurposed for housing, HHS is finalizing a new rule to make it easier to use federal property to house the homeless, and the Administration is calling on state, local, and tribal governments to use their own unused property for housing, which could create approximately 1.9 million units nationwide.

The Department of Transportation announced $5 billion to replace or restore major bridges across the country. The money will go to 13 significant bridges in 16 states. Some bridges are suffering from years of neglect others are nearly 100 years old and no longer fit for modern demands. Some of the projects include the I-5 bridge over the Columbia River which connects Portland Oregon to Vancouver Washington, replacing the Sagamore Bridge which connects Cape Cod to the mainland built in 1933, replacing the I- 83 South Bridge in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Cape Fear Memorial Bridge Replacement Project in Wilmington, North Carolina, among others.

President Biden signed an Executive Order aimed at boosting Latino college attendance. The order established the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through Hispanic-Serving Institutions. Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) are defined as colleges with 25% or above Hispanic/Latino enrollment, currently 55% of Hispanic college students are enrolled in an HSI. The initiative seeks to stream line the relationship between the federal government and HSIs to allow them to more easily take advantage of federal programs and expand their reach to better serve students and boost Hispanic enrollment nationwide.

HUD announced $325 million in grants for housing and community development in 7 cities. the cities in Tennessee, Texas, Alabama, Florida, Nevada, New York and New Jersey, have collectively pledged to develop over 6,500 new mixed-income units, including the one-for-one replacement of 2,677 severely distressed public housing units. The 7 collectively will invest $2.65 billion in additional resources within the Choice Neighborhood area – so that every $1 in HUD funds will generate $8.65 in additional resources.

President Biden took extensive new actions on immigration. On June 18th The President announced a new policy that would allow the foreign born spouses and step children of American citizens who don't have legal status to apply for it without having to leave the country, this would effect about half a million spouses and 50,000 children. This week Biden announced that people can start applying on August 19, 2024. Also in June President Biden announced an easing of Visa rules that will allow Dreamers, Americans brought to the country as children without legal status, to finally get work visas to give them legal status and a path way to citizenship. This week the Biden Administration announced a new rule to expand the federal TRIO program to cover Dreamers. TRIO is a program that aims to support low income students and those who would be the first in their families to go to college transition from high school to college, the change would support 50,000 more students each year. The Administration also plans to double the number of free immigration lawyers available to those going through immigration court.

The EPA announced $160 million in grants to support Clean U.S. Manufacturing of Steel and Other Construction Materials. The EPA estimates that the manufacturing of construction materials, such as concrete, asphalt, steel, and glass, accounts for 15% of the  annual global greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA is supporting 38 projects aimed at measuring and combatting the environmental impact of construction materials.

The US announced $203 million in humanitarian assistance for the people of Sudan. Sudan's out of control civil war has caused the largest refugee crisis in the world with 11 million Sudanese having fled their homes in the face of violence. The war is also causing the gravest food crisis in the world, with a record setting 25 million people facing acute food insecurity, and fears that nearly a million will face famine in the next months. This aid brings the total aid the US has given Sudan since September 2023 to $1.6 billion, making America the single largest donor to Sudan.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau put forward a new rule that would better regulate popular paycheck advance products. 2/3rds of workers are payed every two weeks or once a month and since 2020 the number of short term loans that allow employees to receive their paycheck days before it’s scheduled to hit their account has grown by 90%. the CFPB says that many of these programs are decided with employers not employees and millions of Americans are paying fees they didn't know about before signing up. The new rule would require lenders to tell costumers up front about any and all fees and charges, as well as cracking down on deceptive "tipping" options.

[sayruq]

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced on Monday that he is seeking arrest warrants against two top Israeli leaders for crimes in the Gaza Strip. Karim Khan said that he had “reasonable grounds to believe” that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defense minister Yoav Gallant “bear criminal responsibility” for a number of international crimes committed since 8 October, including starvation as a weapon of war, murder, intentionally attacking civilians, extermination, persecution and other crimes against humanity.

While there will be relief that finally Israel’s shield of immunity and impunity is being punctured, Khan also charged several leaders of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas with various crimes. Khan claims that Hamas politburo leader Ismail Haniyeh, its Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar and the chief of its military wing Muhammad Deif are responsible for crimes including extermination, murder, hostage-taking, torture and rape. The political nature of the charges against the Hamas leaders is clear from the fact that Khan has charged more Palestinians with crimes than Israelis. A cynical view might be that Khan only charged the two Israeli leaders that Washington wants to see gone, while letting countless other Israeli political and military officials off the hook – at least for now.

It is notable that while Khan explicitly charged the Palestinian leaders with “torture,” that word does not appear in the charges against Netanyahu and Gallant, even though there are many credible reports of systematic torture against Palestinians on a horrifying scale, including in closed detention camps. Most glaringly, Khan failed to lay any charges against Netanyahu and Gallant under Article 6 of the ICC’s founding Rome Statute – the section that deals with genocide.He only charged them under chapters 7 and 8, which address crimes against humanity and war crimes – the same articles he used against the Hamas leaders. Khan could also have filed charges related to Israeli crimes elsewhere in Palestine, for example Israel’s construction of illegal colonies all over the occupied West Bank – a crime that has been ongoing for decades. By failing to do so, he is feeding the false impression that history began on 7 October 2023.

But this will also be of no surprise to anyone, least of all Hamas leaders, who would have expected to be charged as the price of obtaining some measure of international justice for their people. In January, for instance, Mousa Abu Marzouk, a senior leader of Hamas, wrote, “Since 2015 Hamas has repeatedly expressed its interest in appearing before and being judged by the ICC not on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations and screams but evidence and facts. Israel has not.” Abu Marzouk added: “Hamas stands ready to appear before the ICC with witnesses and live testimony and bear the burden of any judicial finding against it or its members after a full and fair trial with rules of evidence; with examination and cross examination into what we have done or not over the many years of our leadership as a national liberation movement. Is Israel?”

The arrest warrants – which have still to be formally issued by the court’s judges – will have no immediate impact on Sinwar or Deif, whose whereabouts as underground resistance leaders is unknown. Arrest by the ICC is the least of their concerns. As for Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh, he lives in Qatar, which is one of only a handful of countries that is not a member of the ICC and is therefore not legally obligated to arrest him and hand him over. Hamas is already outlawed and subject to sanctions by the United States and across Europe so it is not as if the movement’s leaders would have been moving freely anyway.

And although Khan has pulled his punches, the arrest warrants will have an enormous impact on Israel and its leaders, who now find themselves ostracized and constrained in unprecedented ways. Netanyahu and Gallant will be unable to travel to dozens of countries, including most of Europe, without fear of arrest. European countries, in particular, which purport to uphold international law, will either have to detain them and hand them over to the court, or openly defy their legal obligations. This includes Germany, which provides arms for Israel’s genocide while purporting to be a champion of international law.The damage to Israel’s reputation and its descent into even greater pariah status is assured, despite Khan’s every effort to soften the blow. The United States, Israel’s chief arms supplier and accomplice in the genocide, is also not a member of the ICC, and it will not cooperate with the arrest warrants. But even for a government as heedless of international law as Washington, the leaders of its closest ally being charged by the ICC increases both the domestic and international political cost of supporting Israel unconditionally.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Joan McCarter at Daily Kos:

In an interview Sunday with the Washington Examiner, Donald Trump said he is rewriting his upcoming acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention because of Saturday’s assassination attempt. He’ll be going for unity this time, he promised. “This is a chance to bring the whole country, even the whole world, together. The speech will be a lot different, a lot different than it would’ve been two days ago,” he said. Before that, it “was going to be a humdinger” and “one of the most incredible speeches” against Biden and his policies ever. “Honestly, it’s going to be a whole different speech now.” Sure, Donald. Here he is reacting to the dismissal of the classified documents case by district Judge Aileen Cannon.

[As we move forward in Uniting our Nation after the horrific events on Saturday, this dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts—The January 6th Hoax in Washington, D.C., the Manhattan D.A.’s Zombie Case, the New York A.G. Scam, Fake Claims about a woman I never met (a decades old photo in a line with her then husband does not count), and the Georgia “Perfect” Phone Call charges. The Democrat Justice Department coordinated ALL of these Political Attacks, which are an Election Interference conspiracy against Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME. Let us come together to END all Weaponization of our Justice System, and Make America Great Again!]

Feel the unity. We’ve seen Trump’s idea of “unity,” from the very beginning with his “American Carnage” inaugural address, a dark and ominous speech declaring: “From this moment on, it's going to be America First.” In his America, “A new national pride will stir our souls, lift our sights and heal our divisions.” As long as you’re on his side.

A day after Donald Trump told Salena Zito from the right-wing rag Washington Examiner on how he is rewriting his RNC speech to have more unifying themes, Trump went right back to his normal state of serving up unhinged slop on Truth Social in response to the United States v. Trump ruling issued by Trump-appointed judge Aileen Cannon that gives blessing to his document theft from Mar-A-Lago.

[wilwheaton]

So we have two issues we need to examine here. First, the astonishingly offensive remarks Trump made Thursday night about Jews. His Jewish support should start sinking like a stone. But there’s one Jew who clearly loves him, and other events this week have to make us wonder whether Bibi Netanyahu is trying to start a war with Lebanon and maybe Iran to raise gas prices and screw up the economy (right after Jerome Powell made a move to ensure that doesn’t happen) to help Trump win, but that’s another column, if I get around to it. The second issue is one that must remain front and center in the American political media: Trump is really losing his marbles now. Was that statement about the crowd going nuts for him at the debate a normal Trump lie? Or was it a fantasy of which he has convinced himself? If we hooked him up to a polygraph and he repeated that line, would his pulse quicken? Would he change his speech patterns, avert his eyes, cover his mouth? I doubt it. He wouldn’t even think he was lying. The mainstream media still treats comments like this with diffidence: “Oh, that’s Trump.” No. These are defining comments. They tell us about his mental fitness. They matter. They should be covered. I can’t find evidence that The New York Times or The Washington Post covered those remarks. This sanewashing must stop. Voters need to be informed when Trump makes statements with a tenuous connection to reality at best. He’s disqualifying himself from the presidency every day that he opens his mouth, but much of the mainstream media is ignoring the words coming out.

Donald “Blame the Jews” Trump Is Truly Losing His Sh*t Now

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

You may notice I frequently comment on the assumptions people make about animal facilities based on their branding. Frequently, people assume accredited facilities are inherently better for animals than unaccredited facilities, or assume sanctuaries are inherently more moral / better at caring for their animals than zoos.

I want to show you an example of why I am always, always skeptical of these assumptions.

If you’re in the California area, you might have heard about Hank the Tank - who is actually a Henrietta, btw - the 500 pound nuisance bear from Lake Tahoe who broke into 21 homes in search of food. She was recently captured by wildlife officials and moved to a sanctuary in Colorado. The Wild Animal Sanctuary has three main facilities, two in Colorado and one in TX. To give you some context, it’s the biggest carnivore sanctuary in the country - they advertise somewhere between 300-500 animals, mostly large carnivores, between their properties. It’s where most of the Tiger King cats went. It’s PETA’s preferred placement for confiscated exotic animals. So, obviously, it’s got to be great, right? Except… take a look at what they posted about Henrietta’s arrival.

Here’s their post about Henrietta’s arrival at the Refuge, the large facility in Colorado that isn’t open to the public. Let’s take a closer look at that food trough…

What do we see here? An entire rotisserie chicken that is either blackened or highly seasoned, and a whole ham. Maybe a second chicken underneath the pile, I can’t quite tell. The sanctuary gets the majority of their bear food donated from groceries stores once it’s past the sell-by date, so we know those are older meats and they’re full of a ton of salt. Then, for fruit and veg, there’s a cantaloupe, mango, corn, avocado, grapes, and apples. Maybe a pepper or two, it’s hard to tell. That’s a lot of sugar and not a lot of fiber or roughage.

But… on top of it and to the right… are those Twizzlers?

Yes.

The sanctuary confirmed on Facebook that they fed this recently rescued obese bear what looks like almost an entire pack of Twizzlers.

I don’t know of any world in which it’s appropriate to feed candy to a bear. Maybe a piece or two as a really high value reinforcer for hard behaviors (that isn’t relevant here, it’s openly against this sanctuary’s ethos to do any husbandry or medical training). An entire pack of Twizzlers is just appalling. But it’s not uncommon for this facility! I have a book written about their operations and animal care (that I bought at their gift shop this spring) which openly discusses how the bears get fed bread, doughnuts, marshmallows, and all sorts of incredibly unhealthy food that comes in with the grocery donations.

But hey, this is apparently fine for the bears, according to the sanctuary’s founder. He was quoted in that same book as saying “Bears are the only animal I know of that can eat insane amounts of sugar and it never hurts them. It does not hurt their organs. They do not get clogged arteries. They do not have high blood pressure. In the wild they eat all these sweet berries in the fall, and they convert sugar to fat… so the more sugar they get the better… we would all love to have a system like that!”

Now while it’s true that bears have physiological adaptations that modulate their insulin production and sensitivity in ways that appear to prevent them from from developing diabetes, that does’t mean it’s healthy for them to regularly eat processed carbohydrates, sugar, and general junk food. And remember - Henrietta gained her fame because of how incredibly overweight she already is, and because she was seeking out human food, According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, a healthy weight for a normal adult black bear is between 100-300 pounds. So, obviously, the best thing to do is… continue to feed her candy.

Then, later on in the book, it details how they have to bribe a camel to sit tight for a regular medical examination (since they don’t train for medical behaviors) by letting him drink a can of Mountain Dew each time.

If a zoo was known publicly to be feeding their animals Mountain Dew or a couple Twizzlers - even just once, on a rare occasion - they’d be eviscerated in the media and by public opinion. But feeding out inappropriate junk food appears to be a pretty common practice at this place, and it just goes unscrutinized because everyone assumes sanctuaries are inherently better for animals.

So, long story short, never make assumptions about the quality of a facility based on it’s branding or accreditation. (TWAS is accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries). If you have concerns about the ethics or practices of a facility, always try to put your preconceptions aside, go and see for yourself, and think critically about what you see and what you’re told.

[dailyrothko]

MARK ROTHKO, Untitled, 1969.

Acrylic on paper mounted on canvas.

Photo by Eric Keune @erkitekt

183 × 107 cm.

Collection of Kate Rothko Prizel.

© 2020 by Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko/ ARS

Mark Rothko - Paintings on Paper opens in Oslo!

The Mark Rothko: Paintings On Paper is a stunning exhibition organized by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, in collaboration with the National Museum, Oslo. The exhibition opened at the National Gallery of Art on 17 November 2023, and opens in the National Museum on 16 May 2024. 

This exhibition marks the first major presentation of the work of Mark Rothko in the Nordic countries. The Washington DC presentation of this exhibit was revelatory experience, and I highly recommend it.

This exhibition examines approximately 100 paintings on paper made throughout Rothko's career, from figurative works of the 1930s, to mythological and surrealist works of the 1940s, to works from the 1950s and 1960s painted in the artist’s signature format: soft-edged rectangular fields arranged against monochrome backgrounds. Centering these paintings on paper offers a new view of the development of Rothko’s oeuvre.  

I have always felt a special emotional attachment to Rothko's late period, and the show has many key examples of this. However, don't sleep on the early works, which until recently were often plagued by old, inferior scans. For me, seeing these  in person, especially the watercolors of his "surrealist" period, made me gain an appreciation for how beautifully layered and constructed these paintings really are. The Rothko that we know and love later is present there in his translucent use of color

The exhibition is accompanied by a research-based publication written by Adam Greenhalgh of the National Gallery of Art, and an introductory book about Mark Rothko, written by Karianne Ommundsen and Øystein Ustvedt of the National Museum. 

If you are in the area, do not miss this. 

[reidsdimples]

After Hours

Spencer Reid x Reader

18+🔥

Spencer Reid Smut ‼️ Friends to lovers

You sneak Spence into a public library after hours🫢

“We can’t be here right now,” Spence whispers as he glances around the dimly lit street.

“Shh,” you shush him.

You grab his forearm and urge him to follow you to a small door at the back of the brick building. You furnish a single key and quietly unlock it.

“Where did you get that?” His pushes.

“I know a guy who knew I guy that worked her,” you grin mischievously. “Come on, you know you want to,” you elbow him and push the door open.

The library has been closed for hours and you’re enjoying making Spencer squirm as he wars with the thrill of getting into a library that’s closed and the moral dilemma of trespassing.

“I am only agreeing to this to see those books they keep in the temperature controlled cases,” he sighs and slinks into the small room behind you.

You and Spencer have been friends for a few years, working closely in the BAU, and bonding over your own interest in law and his knowledge in well… everything.

He pushes some strands of hair from his forehead with long delicate fingers and adjusts his shoulder bag. His hair is shorter than usually but it suits him.

“You do know the penalty for trespassing in Washington, DC is a fine and up to 6 months in jail,” he turns to you.

“I think we’ll be alright,” you grin and tap your badge.

After about an hour of roaming the shelves, he finally becomes more relaxed. He’s crouch on the floor, examining a stack of old documents from a filing cabinet. Books are scattered around him chaotically.

You watch for a moment as his fingers work to trace over the text, his brain working exceptionally quick to intake the information instantaneously. You always find yourself amazed at the way his brain works.

The small crush you’ve harbored for him has been tucked tightly away. Keeping things professional is essential in the line of work the two of you share and you won’t jeopardize the friendship. Still, you allow yourself moments to admire him in all of his beauty.

His tongue darts out and swipes his bottom lip like it always does when he’s focused, his brow furrows slightly as he reads, and he mouths words here and there. He rocks back on his heels and sits on the carpet next to a bookshelf.

“Okay brainiac, I have a game,” you bounce into the room hold the stack of books. He looks up at you curiously, his brown eyes like honey in the dim light. You swallow.

“A game?” He asks.

“I found the most random and niche books I could, I’m gonna hold them up and you’re going to give me a synopsis. I’m positive I’ve found one that will stump you,” you smile and sit with your criss crossed in front of him.

“I haven’t read every book,” he starts. You raise your eyebrows at him. “Just most of them,” he shrugs.

You hold up a book about gardening and he gives you a run down of it.

“Why did you read this?” You ask.

“I skimmed it in high school,” he appears please with himself. You hold up another;

“Let me save you some time,” he grabs the other six books. “Lovers during World War Two, the rise of buddhism in western culture, lame romance about a cowboy… who dies at the end…” you snatch the book from his hand.

“You are insane!” You laugh. He smiles and holds up another.

“Julie is married to a man but is in love with his brother and noone has a happy ending,” he gives you a cocky grin but continues. “Inside Richard Ramirez’s life and…” he flips the last book over. “Oh, sci-fi about a journey to the Cigar galaxy,” he finishes.

You snatch it, examine it, and then throw it at his chest.

“What was that for?” He laughs and rubs his hand over the spot you hit.

“You’re too smart for your own good,” you sigh in defeat. He collects the books from around you, his knees knocking into yours.

A spark of heat seems to be exchanged from the touch, his breathing hitching so low that you almost miss it.

He glances up at you for a moment, searching your eyes as a strand of hair falls over his own. You reach out instinctively and push it back.

Your hand lingers in his hair for a moment, your fingertips grazing his scalp. He sucks air between his teeth as though the sensation is shocking to him. You lean forward and push your hand further into his hair, you don’t know why but you feel the need to touch him. He doesn’t protest, he’s staring at your lips.

The two of you gravitate closer, your heart pounding when his hand runs up your arm and entangles your hand further into his hair. He’s urging you to tug, to massage, it feels too good. His hand on yours, laced with your fingers, you oblige and take the control, you push his head closer to yours, overwhelmed by the small noises he’s making in the base of his throat.

His jaw tenses and he’s done with restraint. He drops the books and closes the rest of the space between you, leaning up on his knees to kiss you. You drop your hand from his hair and meet him there, winding your hands into his dark button down shirt, tugging on his loosened tie.

He tastes like mint, like heaven and earth collided, his lips soft and warm. A moan escapes your lips when his hand grips your hip, the other winding into your hair. You can’t believe what’s happening. You don’t want it to stop.

“Spence,” you whimper and pull away to look into his eyes pleadingly. Your grip still from on his tie. He nodded, understanding what you’re asking.

You push him backward, forcing him down onto the floor, a small laugh escaping him. His eyes are wild, his hair tousled, his lips reddened from the kiss, and he’s lying below you allowing you to take control.

Fuck.

You straddle his hips, papers and books being kicked around beneath you. Both of you are panting with need when you kiss him again.

“You’re so beautiful,” he breathes. You pull his shirt open while his hands caress your body, long fingers trailing up and down your spine and hips. It drives you wild, sending heat gathering between your thighs.

That heat builds up so quickly when you begin to kiss his bare chest that you have to grind down onto his growing erection to appease the need.

He tilts his head back, reveling in the feeling of the friction.

“So…” he swallows when you rock your hips again. “So good.”

He pulls your tight sweater up over your head, greedily taking in the view of your breasts in the lace bra. His face is red, he’s burning with need too.

You fumble with his belt and finally pull his cock free, the sight and size mouth watering. You push away the thoughts of Hotch reprimanding the two of you for what you’re about to do. Yet the thought of sinking down onto him is too overwhelming. You don’t care about anything in that moment, but getting him inside of you.

“We’re going to be in so much trouble if someone finds out,” you muse as you tear yourself free of your own pants. He leans up on his elbow and tilts his head as though he hadn’t thought of that yet.

“So no one finds out,” he demands. It takes you off guard when he pushes himself up and takes you to the floor, pinning you beneath him. His eyes darken, his gaze more primal when he leans down to kiss your neck.

His hard cock prods at the entrance of your vagina, your wetness soaking the tip. He slides his cock upward, between the lips teasingly, coating himself in your arousal. Your lips meet and your tongues fight for dominance as he groans. You reach down and grab his cock, stroking it in warning.

“Give it to me Reid,” you bite out.

He smiles but obliges. He pushes himself into you, slowly so that you can stretch around him. You buck your hips up, taking him off guard. He slams his other hand onto the floor to steady himself, the raw pleasure of being seated completely inside of you stealing his breath.

He throws his head back and works himself out slightly before pushing back in.

“Fuck, Spence,” you moan. His shirt is hanging open but you kiss and suck at his chest while he finds his sweet sinful rhythm.

He pushes your legs up and open wider, slamming deeper into you until you’re crying out into the empty library.

“Shhh baby, you’re taking it so good,” he whispers. He doesn’t stop his hard pounding into you, drawing you closer and closer to the edge.

You tighten around him, a warning of your impending orgasm. He smiles knowingly and gives you long slow strokes to ride it out to. Your nails dig into his back as your legs wrap around his hips, greedily taking all of him while you explode around his cock. You pulse around him, squeezing, and practically begging him to cum too.

“Ah-“ he shutters and slows his pace. He doesn’t want to cum yet. He grunts and grabs a fistful of your hair before pushing himself back into you.

He buries his face in your breasts, abruptly biting hard as his hips wind and work his cock in and out of you. He nips at your nipple, causing you to tighten around him. He grins into the soft skin, breathing hard against you. Your hands are in his hair again, holding on as another organs builds within you.

“Reid…” you moan. But he bites you again, thrusting hard as though he needs it more than life, more than oxygen. “Spencer I’m going to cu-“ you don’t get to finish the words.

His hands wind into your hair, yanking your head upward and back and he drives into you with unrelenting speed.

“Fuck,” you swear he groans under his breath.

Your orgasm comes over you without mercy, ravaging your core, blinding you with pleasure, and causing your legs to shake violently around him. He whimpers as you tighten impossibly tight around him and it consumes him.

His hips sputter as he erupts inside of you, pumping you full of him. He slides in and out of you, rolling his hips a few more sinful times as though to enjoy the sensation. As though to solidify the memory of how it feels to be inside of you.

His kisses you deeply and buries his face in the crook of your neck as you hold each other.

Neither of you want to be pulled from the moment, so you lavish in the afterglow in each other’s arms.

[thelibraryghost]

A Young Person's Guide to 18th-Century Western Fashion

unabridged version at blogspot

General info Cox, Abby. "I Wore 18th-Century Clothing *Every Day for 5 YEARS & This Is What I Learned (Corsets Aren't Bad!)." YouTube. May 10, 2020. Cullen, Oriole. “Eighteenth-Century European Dress.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004. Glasscock, Jessica. "Eighteenth-Century Silhouette and Support." In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004. Accessories Banner, Bernadette. "Women's Pockets Weren't Always a Complete Disgrace | A Brief History: England, 15th c - 21st c." YouTube. April 10, 2021. Colonial Williamsburg. "#TradesTuesday: Men's Accessories." YouTube. June 13, 2021. Murden, Sarah. "The Georgian era fashion for straw hats." All Things Georgian. December 6, 2018. Cosmetics & hygiene Cox, Abby. "I Followed an 18th-Century Moisturizer & Sunscreen Recipe & it kinda worked??." YouTube. February 21, 2021. Cox, Abby. "We tried making *5* different 250 year old rouge (blush) recipes || [real] regencycore makeup." YouTube. August 29, 2021. JYF Museums. "Hygiene in the 18th Century | From the Farm to the Army." YouTube. August 21, 2021. Décor Heckscher, Morrison H. “American Rococo.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003. Munger, Jeffrey. “French Porcelain in the Eighteenth Century.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003. Formal wear SnappyDragon. "This dressing gown changed fashion forever : the feminist history of going out in loungewear." YouTube. April 15, 2022. Stowell, Lauren. "The Many Types of 18th Century Gowns." American Duchess. March 15, 2013. Zebrowska, Karolina. "Cottagecore Style Is Much Older Than You Think." YouTube. June 30, 2021. Hair care Cox, Abby. "I made 250-year-old Hair Products Using Original Recipes (and animal fat...)." YouTube. November 7, 2021. Cox, Abby. "I tried a 300-year-old hair care routine for a year & this is what I learned (it's awesome!)." YouTube. January 23, 2022. Cox, Abby. "What's the Deal with 18th Century Wigs? (and why Bridgerton really messed this up)." YouTube. June 1, 2023. Laundry Cox, Abby. "Making 300 Year Old SLIME for Laundry Day." YouTube. June 15, 2023. Townsends. "Historical Laundry Part 2: No Washing Machine, No Dryer, Hit It With A Stick?" YouTube. June 3, 2019. Outer- & working-wear JYF Museum. "Getting Dressed | Clothing for an 18th Century Middling Woman." YouTube. March 18, 2021. Major, Joanne. "The practicalities of wearing riding habits, and riding ‘en cavalier’." All Things Georgian. March 12, 2019. Rudolph, Nicole. "What did Pirates ACTUALLY Wear? Fashion at Sea in the 18th c & Our Flag Means Death Costumes." YouTube. May 8, 2022. Shoes Chin, Cynthia E. "Martha Washington's Shoes." George Washington's Mount Vernon. No date. Murden, Sarah. "18th-century shoes." All Things Georgian. December 15, 2015. Rudolph, Nicole. "Real 18th century Shoes? Historical Shoemaker Examines an Antique." YouTube. December 13, 2020. Textiles Cox, Abby. "18th Century Printed Cotton Do's & Don't's." American Duchess. December 23, 2019. Stowell, Lauren. "Fabrics for the 18th Century and Beyond." American Duchess. June 14, 2021. Townsends. "Oil Cloth - Waterproof Coverings for Your Campsite." YouTube. July 30, 2018. Undergarments Major, Joanne. "Quilted Petticoats: worn by all women and useful in more ways than one." All Things Georgian. November 20, 2018. Rudolph, Nicole. "Making 18th century Stays for the Ideal Body Shape : Historical Undergarments." YouTube. August 12, 2023. SnappyDragon. "RUMP ROAST : Ranking historical fashion's wildest fake butt pads." YouTube. October 27, 2023. Townsends. "Sewing Histories' Most Popular Garment - The Fabric Of History - Townsends." YouTube. September 3, 2022.