Saturday, November 30, 2019

Facebook censors news because Singapore told it to

Fake news is a threat to democracy. But it's no more so than right-wing regimes that define what fake news is as an excuse to censor media outlets that accurately report news.

Singapore has one of the most vile dictatorships on the globe. Recently, it passed a law titled the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation law. Its stated intent was to combat fake news, but everyone knew that was a mound of shit. The law empowers the government to force online platforms to remove news items. It imposes prison sentences of up to 5 years on those who don't comply. It also imposes a heavy fine and 10 years in prison for those found guilty of using false accounts to spread what is deemed fake news.

If fake news was the real target, the first parties busted under this law would be right-wing fake news mills that hoard sockpuppet accounts and post reams of bogus stories as often as they dare. Instead, Singapore went after a news site that reported on the bottomless right-wing corruption that plagues the Singaporean government.

Under the new law, Singapore told Facebook to label posts from that site with a "correction notice." Naturally, Facebook went right ahead and did it. Of course it did.

Singapore had accused the censored site of making "scurrilous accusations" about the city-state's election process.

Singapore has also ordered an opposition politician to correct a Facebook post that questions the independence of state investment funds.

That's because Singapore is a police state. It's a police state that has been supported by Republican regimes in the U.S.

America needs to pass a law to punish sites like Facebook that comply with censorious diktats of authoritarian governments like that of Singapore.

(Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50613341)

Friday, November 29, 2019

A person bunkerooed on Thanksgiving

Yesterday, at an important Thanksgiving family gathering, the hilarious bouquet of an SBD bunker blast briefly wafted. Cries of accusation sprang up throughout the room, but there were insufficient votes for an impeachment inquiry.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

When the Georgia GOP unleashed a child molester in Fort Thomas

Why do child molesters support Republican Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia (who won because of voter suppression and Russian interference in the 2018 election)?

It's because his administration released a convicted rapist and child molester from prison not long ago. A few weeks ago, the child molester was released from Rogers State Prison while serving a life sentence.

Guess where he promptly ended up? Fort Thomas, Kentucky.

Why? Let's be clear here. His release was no accident. I don't give a shit what the Kemp administration claims, given its history of lying. It's hard to see how anyone could make a mistake that stupid. And why was the child molester sent to Kentucky? Well, this was only a week before a pivotal election. Republican officials released him just so they could blame "liberals" when he ended up in another state.

They deliberately released a child molester so they could make it an election issue.

And trust me, some did blame "liberals" - even though it was the Kemp administration that released him.

The child molester was recaptured in Fort Thomas, and Matt Bevin was defeated. But other Republicans may have won because of this incident. Anyone who lived in 1988 knows you can't trust the media to tell the truth when something like this happens. That was when the right-wing media blamed Michael Dukakis for William Horton escaping on furlough - even though the furlough program was instituted by a Republican predecessor and was abolished by Dukakis.

Republicans have a history of being soft on crime - unless it's a minor crime that offends them personally. They've become the party of violent criminals.

Meanwhile, as one of his final acts in office, Bevin himself has just pardoned an inmate who was serving life in prison after being convicted of molesting his own 6-year-old stepdaughter.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Have no fear, the December ish is here!

About the December ish of The Last Word: It's pub!

This ish talks about Kentucky's Far Right having a no-good horrible month, people stealing gum from a store they worked at, another old scare film featuring records getting ruined, people ruining rare stamps by writing on them, more Domino Rally foibles, and more! It's not sold in any store!

So point your pooper here...

https://www.scribd.com/document/437119179/The-Last-Word-12-2019

If Scribd doesn't work for you (because it's poopy), you can find the latest Last Word here...

http://bunkerblast.info/lastword/lw1912.pdf

Saturday, November 23, 2019

An observation about right-wing extremism in America

On average, every 7.2 years since 1980, America has experienced a surge of right-wing extremism. It's almost like clockwork. It can be as little as 6 years or as much as 8, but it's usually very close to 7.

Each time, the Far Right gets more shrill and more violent than before.

Don't believe me? Do the math.

Friday, November 22, 2019

A person bubbled at Kroger

Today at Kroger, some woman bubbled.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

8 photos from a June Scholaring!

As we gear up for next May's Cincinnati roadmeet, I've posted 8 Scholaring photos from this past June! So point your pooper here...

http://bunkerblast.info/roadpics/cinne19.html

GOP jailer accused of "sexually hostile" behavior

Another scandal in the Republican Party of Kentucky? You gotta be kidding me!

Lincoln County Jailer Robert Wilson is being accused of "sexually hostile" behavior towards employees of the jail. The 8 workers - 7 women and one man - are suing Wilson, saying he committed sexual harassment and requested sexual favors. The suit says Wilson's conduct has worsened in recent months.

The plaintiffs have also asked for a restraining order against Wilson because of the fear of "physical battery and potential physical harm." The alleged harassment dates all the way back to 2015.

Among other creepy behavior, the suit accuses Wilson of basing promotions on sexual favors.

Media reports do of course fail to mention that Wilson is a Republican - leading readers to play another enthralling game of Guess the Party Affiliation.

(Source: https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/article237488929.html)

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Bellevue unanimously enacts fairness ordinance

With Matt Bevin's defeat, this has been a rough month for the Far Right in Kentucky. And it just got even worse for these bigots.

Tonight, Bellevue became the 15th city in Kentucky to enact a fairness ordinance - protecting residents from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Best all - as in neighboring Dayton - it passed unanimously.

With this bold step towards progress, hopefully the trend continues. The next steps for Bellevue should be to become a sanctuary city and to increase the minimum wage.

(Source: https://www.rcnky.com/articles/2019/11/13/bellevue-adopts-fairness-ordinance-becomes-kentuckys-15th-city-do-so)

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Bevin lost younger voters nearly 2 to 1

This entry uses the words gloat and fusty, so don't skip over it!

This story has got to hurt the Kentucky GOP. But instead of mourning the downfall of a major political party, we should be sticking out our tongues as if to gloat - because after all, it's the Republicans, who haven't contributed a damn thing positive in years.

An exit poll by Centre College and other institutions says voters under 40 voted against Moscow Matt by a much larger spread than his losing margin. Andy Beshear carried this group 62% to 34%.

That group goes all the way up to age 40 - so it's not just the very youngest, who are even more opposed to the Republicans.

The GOP is in a mind-blowing death spiral. The Republicans are seen as so extreme that most of its remaining support is from fusty talk radio listeners.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Far Right hiding library books in Idaho

Far Right bullies are a clear and present danger as long as we don't stand up to them. They seem to have backed down from their plan to override the Kentucky election, because people started talking about how idiotic their plan is. But in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, their book burning can't be allowed to continue unabated.

At the public library there, right-wing agitators have been intentionally misplacing and losing books because they disagree with the books' content. The lost books often criticize Donald Trump. The books end up in areas of the library where patrons will never find them.

Whoever has been hiding the books has been leaving notes taunting the library. "I am going to continue hiding these books in the most obscure places I can find to keep this propaganda out of the hands of young minds," they wrote in a note for the library director. "Your liberal angst gives me great pleasure."

This isn't even the first time something like this has happened in Coeur d'Alene. Some years back, somebody was losing books that dealt with human rights, gay-related topics, and other subjects. This forced the library to lock the books under a glass case.

Whoever is hiding the books is cultivating malice against the gain of knowledge.

To fight this evil right-wing censorship, the author of one of the lost books plans to visit Coeur d'Alene to leave 10 copies of his book hidden about the library for people to find.

It's time to close the book on whoever is losing the books. Every so often, we read about something like this somewhere in America. Often, a right-winger will borrow a book from the library and then refuse to return it. That's why we need stronger laws against intentionally depriving libraries of their items.

(Source: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/11/10/1898474/-Somebody-s-Hiding-Books-Away-In-the-Couer-D-Alene-Idaho-Public-Library)

Friday, November 8, 2019

Bevin leads by 6% in new poll

A pre-election poll by Republican pollster Trafalgar shows Moscow Matt with a 6% lead. The problem for the New Hampshire Forehead though is that the poll wasn't released until after the election, which he lost.

Tough toilets, Matt.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Antigay Bevin appointee humiliates herself at election party

A bizarre scene unfolded last night at Matt Bevin's election party.

Alyssa Dara McDowell is a local Tea Party activist who ran for Mayor of Covington in 2012 to fight what she called "the homosexual agenda." In 2016, she drew further ridicule when she announced she was running for President.

Because Moscow Matt hates gays, he recently appointed McDowell to Kentucky's Consumers' Advisory Council. This was one of many ideologically driven appointments by Bevin.

Last night, as the New Hampshire Forehead was cruising to defeat, McDowell showed up at the Republican election party at Galt House in Louisville. Twenty minutes after the governor's race was called for the Democrats, McDowell stormed the stage and declared that Bevin was in fact the winner. "Hey, we just got word that Matt Bevin has won!" she declared.

The Republican crowd believed her and cheered. But then a man tried to escort McDowell off the stage, and her microphone was cut as she spoke to the crowd.

Best all, she was chewin' bubble gum! She didn't bubble. But she was chewin' bubble gum!

As McDowell was being escorted away, a woman in the audience can be heard saying, "A crazy woman just ran on stage." But the rest of the crowd continued to cheer McDowell.

I've actually gotten in arguments with McDowell on Facebook, like when she falsely claimed that I posted a profile photo in which I brandished a gun.

Today, McDowell claimed Bevin's loss is a "coup" because he won more rural areas. Uh, landed holdings don't vote, Alyssa. People vote.

(Source: https://www.rcnky.com/articles/2019/11/06/nky-woman-disrupts-gop-event-false-announcement-about-bevin-win)

Kentucky legislators threaten to overturn election

After Matt Bevin lost handily, he's refusing to concede, and Republican sore losers in the Kentucky legislature are threatening to vote to overturn the election result.

If they did, it would be a coup unprecedented in modern America. Does this mean Democrats can retroactively award Kentucky's electoral votes in 1988 to Michael Dukakis? That would make more sense.

Mainstream media probably should have just ignored Republicans' tantrum, because it just lends a voice to the right-wing noise machine and makes lawmakers' complaints appear more legitimate - even though they have no case.

The polling average was 8 points off from the results - which is not a record, by the way - but the election was still decisive enough that it was called by 10 PM. The Republicans' argument seems to be that the election was close enough that it shouldn't really count. Well, we can argue that Republican votes that resulted from the media favoring them shouldn't count either. If our side dodged a bullet, so did theirs. Would it have been so hard for the media to have not repeated right-wing propaganda all these years?

You can make similar arguments about your own life. You can say I narrowly missed having my life destroyed by an incompetent shrink when I was 13. But the other side narrowly missed not being able to put me in that situation in the first place. You can say I narrowly missed not making only $800/month instead of $1,000. But the other side narrowly missed not depriving me of opportunities I would have otherwise had, where I'd be making a lot more. In fact, my home growing up was only a mile from a school district boundary, so the other side narrowly missed not forcing me to suffer under an inferior school system.

So it all balances out.

About Moscow Matt

He lost.

Amelia votes to disband

In a stunning vote yesterday, voters in Amelia, Ohio, voted to disincorporate the town. The vote seems to have been whipped up by opponents of a 1% earnings tax.

So I guess that means the state of Kentucky should dissolve too because of its 6% sales tax, right? (At least Bevin's defeat will help stave off Republican plans to raise it to 9%.)

A few smaller Ohio towns have disincorporated in recent years because statewide Republicans have cut off so much funding to municipalities.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Beshear defeats Bevin

Ladies and gentlemen, Kentucky's long national nightmare is over.

Brand loyalty dies hard, but Republican voting habits weren't enough to save America's most unpopular governor. Gee, it's almost like unpopular and incompetent public officials don't always get re-elected or something!

As the log on the GOP's shit sundae, Bevin is even losing Campbell County by 5% - a 17-point swing from 2015.

Whatever else may happen tonight, I'll take this! Let it sink in. Savor it. Nothing is as satisfying as a Republican incumbent in Kentucky losing - especially because "butbutbut trends." In many other states, it wouldn't even be this close, which shows how weak the national GOP is.

With Moscow Matt gone, now we can finally start the task of rebuilding Kentucky from Republican ashes. Our work isn't over. It never is, thanks to the Far Right being cheered on by the media, but this is a start.

Ohio GOPers charged with distributing phony sample ballots

Republican election fraud is strutting its stuff in Marion, Ohio, today.

Two local GOP officials have been charged with distributing fake sample ballots. These phony ballots are campaign handouts designed to resemble sample ballots - a big no-no under Ohio law.

Those charged included a city candidate and a county party official. The handouts are prominently labeled, "Paid for by the Marion County Republican Party." So it isn't just a few rogue officials. It's the whole county party that's responsible, since they put their name on it.

(Source: https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/possible-election-fraud-investigated-in-marion)

Sunday, November 3, 2019

ClassX returns to Cincinnati radio

Rare as it is, some radio stations have now switched away from a religious format.

Up until this past spring, a group of noncommercial and low-power stations in the Cincinnati suburbs simulcast a classic rock format called ClassX. These stations didn't reach into the cities but covered many surrounding areas. But then they switched to a format of "Christian classic hits."

Now 5 of these stations have abandoned that format and returned to ClassX. However, one of them - WKCX in Crittenden - has been sold to a religious broadcaster and is adopting a preaching format.

I don't think most of the radio industry will recover from its self-inflicted wounds any time soon.

(Source: https://radioinsight.com/headlines/181493/six-months-later-classx-returns-to-cincinnati)