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Post by mhbruin on May 12, 2023 7:30:54 GMT -8
Why do the French eat snails? They don't like fast food.
What Kind of a News Organizstion Instructs the Audience How to Act at a Political Event?
The backlash against CNN for their disastrous Town Hall, where they capitulated to obscene demands, has been tremendous. The demands included stacking the audience with sycophantic supporters and using a format to prevent fact-checking, which turned it into a mini-Trump rally. Yet selling out journalistic integrity should have at least meant a boon to CNN for ratings.
About that…
At a time when CNN has been struggling to turn around viewership decline, the telecast proved to be a ratings disappointment, with Nielsen reporting just 3.1 million viewers overall. That was a big boost over CNN’s typical 8 p.m. telecast, but a smaller audience than CNN’s town hall with President Biden last summer (3.7 million) and six previous Trump town halls carried by Fox News — calling into question both CNN and Trump’s drawing power.
Ouch. CNN didn't even win the ratings for the day, when people tuned out after the debacle ended. The sad thing is that even though the audience was stacked with Republicans for Trump, many weren't happy with the performance. One Republican audience member at the Town Hall said many were “disgusted” and “bewildered” by the spectacle but were instucted by CNN staff not to boo—only applaud.
Bartlett claimed that, while many in the audience applauded and cheered the former president, “there were also people that sat there quietly disgusted or bewildered.” He estimated that while around half of the audience expressed vocal support for Trump, the other half sat in silence.
Bartlett also alleged that Trump repeatedly “lost the audience” when he spoke about topics like January 6 or the results of the 2020 election, despite the appearance on CNN that the audience was consistently on his side.
Then There is The Hollywood Reporter
TV Ratings: CNN Gets Big Boost With Trump Town Hall
Though widely criticized, the telecast draws the network's largest primetime audience in months.
The 3.31 million viewers on Wednesday is the second largest audience for any single-candidate town hall on CNN since 2016.
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Post by mhbruin on May 12, 2023 7:33:50 GMT -8
Why is CNN Jumping Into This Big Pile of Excrement?
Follow the money. CNN’s new corporate overseer is Warner Bros. Discovery Inc, whose CEO is David Zaslav.
Zaslav has been pushing Licht to reposition CNN to be a network preferred by “everybody … Republicans, Democrats.”
The leading shareholder in Warner Bros. Discovery is John Malone, a multibillionaire cable magnate. (Malone was a chief architect in the merger of Discovery and CNN.)
Malone describes himself as a “libertarian” although he travels in right-wing Republican circles. In 2005, he held 32% of the shares of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. He is on the board of directors of the Cato Institute. In 2017, he donated $250,000 to Trump’s inauguration.
Malone has said he wants CNN to be more like Fox News because, in his view, Fox News has “actual journalism”. Malone also wants the “news” portion of CNN to be “more centrist.”
The Cato Institute is the Creation of Charles M. Koch, Who Wants to Abolish All Funtions of Government Except Protecting Property. No FDA. No Public Schools. No EPA. No Income Tax.
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Post by mhbruin on May 12, 2023 7:47:05 GMT -8
The Russians Are in Full Panic Mode
And the Offensive Hasn't Started Yet
As reported by the BBC, Zelenskyy noted that the Ukrainian military is “ready” after months of training. However, more equipment continues to arrive “in batches.” Perhaps the best reason to wait at the moment is that at least 80 Leopard 1 tanks are expected to be delivered between now and the first of June. Zelenskyy appears set on making sure that Ukraine has everything it needs not just to break through Russia’s frontline defenses, but to liberate a significant area, hold onto the territory it gains, and do so while losing a minimum number of troops.
"With [what we already have] we can go forward, and, I think, be successful," said Zelenskyy, “but we'd lose a lot of people. I think that's unacceptable. So we need to wait. We still need a bit more time."
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Post by mhbruin on May 12, 2023 7:49:51 GMT -8
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Post by mhbruin on May 12, 2023 7:54:52 GMT -8
Hell is the Costco Parking Lot Before Christmas and Being a Server on Mother's Day.
Mother’s Day is one of the busiest days for the American restaurant industry. It also has a reputation among waiters and restaurant staff as one of the most grueling days on the calendar.
“Every server knows that working on Mother’s Day is hell. In fact, if I die and go to hell, I completely expect it to be Mother’s Day. 365 days a year,” wrote Darron Cardosa, in his book “The Bitchy Waiter: I’m Really Good at Pretending to Care.”
What’s so bad about it? From big groups that show up in waves (“most of us are here!”), to food-fussy kids and grandmas to splitting the check dramas and coffee-cup lingerers, restaurants hate this holiday. This year is expected to be particularly challenging as high inflation and rising menu prices give some restaurant-goers an extra sense of entitlement.
“The anticipation alone can make you anxious,” said Joe Haley, an abstract artist who works as a server at a Quincy, Massachusetts, Italian-American restaurant. It gets “jam-packed. People are calling at the last minute for a reservation, there are other people who made multiple reservations so Mom could have her pick and they never cancel… people who take out their mother once a year tell you ‘Nothing can go wrong!’” he said.
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Post by mhbruin on May 12, 2023 7:56:13 GMT -8
This Ain't 2011
The country could run out of cash to keep paying its debts as early as June 1 according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. The biggest difference between 2011 and now is the pace of negotiations, said Neil Bradley, chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
“I’m much more scared now,” Bradley, a former aide to McCarthy and deputy chief of staff for former House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., during the 2011 negotiations, told USA TODAY. “Negotiations in 2011 went right up to the 11th hour (but) it was very clear that both sides understood that default is not an option.”
Today, it is difficult to see if that sentiment still rings true. For both their parts, McCarthy and Biden have said default is not an option, but it still remains uncertain when and how the two parties will come to an agreement.
“Everyone was at the table” back then, Bradley said.
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Post by mhbruin on May 12, 2023 7:58:28 GMT -8
Wrenlee?? Really??
Dutton and Wrenlee are on the rise but they're no match for champs Liam and Olivia as the top baby names in the U.S. last year.
The Social Security Administration released the annual list Friday. The agency tracks baby names in each state based on applications for Social Security cards, with names dating to 1880.
It's Liam's sixth straight year as No. 1. Olivia has reigned since the name unseated Emma four years ago. Emma is No. 2.
Coming in third for girls' names is Charlotte, followed by Amelia, Sophia, Isabella, Ava, Mia, Evelyn and Luna. For boys' names, Liam is followed by Noah, Oliver, James, Elijah, William, Henry, Lucas, Benjamin and Theodore.
Luna is the only newcomer in the Top 10, booting Harper.
The agency has been compiling the list since 1997, often revealing the impact pop culture has on baby naming trends. The smash hit “Yellowstone” has clearly influenced new parents. The neo-Western starring Kevin Costner debuted in 2018, with characters surfacing among baby names ever since.
Dutton moved up the Social Security list to 835, a change of 986 spots from 2021. It's the last name of the fictional family featured on the series, and it counts Costner's John Dutton in its ranks. Dutton is the fastest rising name in the Social Security rankings.
Another Dutton name follows actual Dutton as a star with a bullet among baby names. Kayce, as in Kayce John Dutton on the show, moved to the 587th most popular name, up from 1,077 the year before. Luke Grimes plays Kayce.
Rip, also from “Yellowstone,” has grabbed some naming attention, but it didn't crack Social Security's top 1,000. Cole Hauser's Rip Wheeler is Dutton adjacent as the son-in-law of John.
Other names rising fast for boys: Chosen, Khaza, Eithan. For girls, Wrenlee is followed by Neriah, Arlet, Georgina and Amiri.
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Post by mhbruin on May 12, 2023 8:00:06 GMT -8
The Man Taking Bribes Doesn't Like the Law Against Taking Bribes
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — who accepted lavish gifts and luxury vacations from a billionaire for years — signed off on a Supreme Court opinion Thursday arguing that a law prohibiting taking bribes is too vague to be fairly enforced.
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in a concurring opinion — on which Thomas signed off — that a federal anti-bribery law wasn't clear enough.
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Post by mhbruin on May 12, 2023 8:01:16 GMT -8
DeathSentence Does Dirty Deeds in the Dark
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law Thursday that would hide records about his past and future travel, as well as powerful people he meets with, at a time when he's widely expected to be on the cusp of announcing he'll run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
DeSantis signed the bill into law unceremoniously on Thursday afternoon, among more than 35 other bills. His office sent an email to the press that listed the bills that were now law.
Under the new law, details about the governor's trips — whether on state planes or private, chartered flights — will be retracted, including names of staff and family members that travel with DeSantis. Visitor logs to the governor's mansion and his office also will be hidden.
The retraction will shield information not just from journalists but from DeSantis's political opponents, who would likely compile droves of research to use against the governor for public scrutiny. Chief among these could be instances in which DeSantis traveled with lobbyists or others who might have been trying to curry favor with him.
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