Wednesday, December 25, 2019

A person bunkerooed on Christmas Eve

It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas, and it wouldn't be Christmas without a big ol' nasty bunker blast.

Yesterday, I went to an important family gathering. Guess what was detected? An air biscuit. A trouser sneeze. A rock snake. A backdoor breeze.

The scent of a silent-but-deadly briefly loomed. It was initially believed that it had a canine source, but this theory was quickly discarded.

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Have no fear, the January ish is here!

Put your rear in gear and drink some beer, for the January ish is already here!

The January edition of The Last Word talks about all sorts of splendid topics, among them...

• Dump trucks throwing fast food litter around.

• Candy that tastes like borax.

• Wine getting knocked over at Meijer.

• Weird Dungeons & Dragons rules.

• People carving up tables in 6th grade.

• A dumb GeoCities website about bubble gum.

• My high school thinking Wonder Woman was porn.

• A lost Peanuts comic.

• Ridiculous mail order commercials.

So point your pooper here...

https://www.scribd.com/document/440737702/The-Last-Word-1-2020

If that doesn't work, you can find it here...

http://bunkerblast.info/lastword/lw2001.pdf

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Trump impeached

Another historic day falls on the 18th of its respective month - just like the Plop Lecture and my birthday.

Donald Trump got impeached this evening - widening smiles all across the country. You may know this is only the third time in America's history a President has been impeached. In fact, Trump is the first to be seeking reelection at the time of impeachment. I have a feeling that won't end well for him.

Trump's impeachment blasts a Bazooka hole through the Facebook meme that says he can't be impeached because he "won landed holdings" or some bullshit reason like that. Property requirements for voting are unconstitutional. Plus, even if Trump won all 50 states and D.C., winning shouldn't make any difference as long as he committed impeachable offenses.

It's a certainty that Mitch McConnell will intentionally botch Trump's Senate trial. McConnell is an obstructionist.

Presidential impeachments are historically rare, but this is actually the second impeachment during the time I've lived in my current apartment. Some would argue it's because there's been a lot of lousy Presidents in modern times. But Bill Clinton wasn't the worst. Several Presidents committed impeachable offenses but were never even close to being impeached. Articles of impeachment have been introduced against 5 of the last 6 Republican Presidents, but for some of the worst offenders, the effort made it no further.

Some who support impeaching Trump say this is a sad, solemn day. But I'm happy. Trump earned impeachment. During much of this process, Adam Schiff had a look on his face like he was enjoying it. I don't blame him one bit. Trump might not be removed before the election, but impeaching him sure feels great!

Monday, December 16, 2019

Beshear ends Bevin's Medicaid limits

Moscow Matt Bevin had a pretty stupid idea of what Medicaid is supposed to be about. Although Medicaid is not welfare, Bevin tried to institute a work requirement to receive this benefit. Courts laughed in his face repeatedly - because the requirement was illegal.

I knew it would be a moot point the next time an adult became either governor or President. The Trump regime issued an illegal waiver to permit Bevin's work rule, but a real President was sure to revoke the waiver someday.

Now, newly elected Gov. Andy Beshear has revoked Bevin's order. This restores access to Medicaid that the courts hadn't already restored. Not only did Bevin institute work rules, but he also began charging Medicaid patients significant fees for treatment. Bevin even took away dental and vision coverage from many adult patients. Those changes are gone now.

Beshear said at a news conference, "I believe healthcare is a basic human right." This fact never used to be in doubt before the hard freeze of rightism suppressed this view.

Ending Moscow Matt's Medicaid limits is both good politics and good policy.

Friday, December 13, 2019

Nazism against Social Security continues

Social Security's benefits for disabled workers - SSI and SSDI - are always the target for cuts by right-wing politicians. Always. It's been that way for years. I have Google set up so news articles are automatically e-mailed to me every time certain topics are mentioned. One of them is SSDI. In all the time SSDI has been on this list, I don't think there's been any good news at all about it.

Like retirement benefits, Medicaid, and Medicare, SSI and SSDI are earned benefits - which is different from welfare. Even if it was welfare, it would be a moot point for this story. SSDI, however, requires a longer work history. It got even longer when Republicans - out of malice - instituted a rule allowing work credits to expire. Plus, Republicans - again out of malice - have made it harder and harder to qualify for these programs.

Now the Trump regime wants to make it even worse. Fascist members of Congress have introduced bills year after year to cut disability benefits by removing certain criteria and requiring cases to be reviewed more frequently. Because Congress has failed to pass these bills, the Trump thugocracy has now taken it upon itself to try to enact changes like this without even passing a law that allows it.

The proposal would establish a new category for disability beneficiaries called "medical improvement likely." For some of these conditions, however, improvement is not likely. If a person's case is moved to this category, their case will be reviewed much more often. One of the main goals is to make it harder for claimants to complete the huge volume of paperwork, so their benefits are revoked altogether.

Another change would remove factors like age from determining whether a person qualifies. It's as if the government thinks a person is less likely to be disabled as they get older.

These changes wouldn't save money, because more would be spent doing the reviews. It's about meanness. Simply put, those who proposed these changes are bad people. They enjoy harming others. They don't want a system that works effectively or lets people receive the benefits they've paid for. Besides, if they're such budget hawks, why do they squander so much taxpayer money on illegal wars and handouts to big corporations and the 1%?

These changes to disability benefits would in fact be illegal. But Trump does a lot of things that are illegal. With so few resources to fight these new rules, don't count on much being done about it.

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Beshear restores voting rights to 140,000

Today, newly elected Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear restored voting rights to about 140,000 people convicted of nonviolent felonies who have served their sentences. The Democratic governor issued this directive 4 years after Matt Bevin violated a campaign pledge by revoking this right.

Beshear's directive doesn't apply to serial murderers and rapists who have forfeited their right to live freely. It only applies to those convicted of nonviolent crimes who are presumed to have paid their debt to society. In my America, we give second chances to those who are capable of living freely.

The far right is already screaming that Beshear is being soft on crime. That's a mighty thin argument, because it was Bevin who gave full pardons to violent thugs who hadn't completed their sentences. Bevin screwed up a couple times and pardoned a few people who actually deserve it, but many of his pardons are for ruthless criminals with political connections. Bevin's allies have refused to even prosecute serious crimes that were staring them in the face.

Which position shows more leadership and compassion: restoring rights to those who have earned it, or excusing those who won't learn from punishment and can just coast through life on political connections? One of the most basic principles of criminal justice is proportionality - which means the punishment should fit the crime. Why should someone who wrote a bad check to a grocery store 20 years ago be punished more severely than a serial rapist?

Beshear restoring voting rights to those who have paid their debt to society isn't his only act that has angered the extreme right. When Beshear took office this week, one of the first things he did was reorganize Kentucky's board of education, which Bevin had stacked with right-wing hacks who wanted to dismantle public schooling. After this reorganization, Bevin's appointees sued to block Beshear, but the Kentucky Supreme Court promptly laughed them right out of the courtroom.

Politically connected killer pardoned by Bevin

After George H.W. Bush pardoned all those Iran-Contra traitors, we shouldn't be surprised that Matt Bevin has also pardoned so many politically connected criminals.

Bevin, who left the governorship this week after losing re-election in November, made yet another in a series of controversial pardons as one of his last acts in office. Bevin pardoned Patrick Baker, who had been sentenced to 19 years in prison for reckless homicide and other major charges stemming from a Knox County home invasion. Thanks to this pardon, Baker served only 2 years.

It turns out that Baker's brother had hosted a huge campaign fundraiser for Bevin. The event raised over $20,000. Baker's family also gave another $4,000 to the Bevin campaign.

The prosecutor who put Baker on trial said he believes he was pardoned because of his political connections. The case was tried by Judge David Williams, the Republican candidate for governor in 2011. Even he said of the case, "The evidence was just overwhelming." This shows even some Republicans have grown tired of Bevin's antics.

But not the party's leaders - who have a history of being soft on crime.

(Source: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2019/12/11/bevin-issued-hundreds-pardons-and-commutations-final-day)

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Bevin pardons Tea Party activist for drug trafficking

Those who deny that people who have a lot of political clout get let off easy can shut their damn noisemaker now.

Remember John Roth, the Tea Party activist from Campbell County who was convicted of 2 felony counts of drug trafficking?

As one of his final acts in office, Matt Bevin granted Roth a full, unconditional pardon. Roth had been sentenced to 15 years in prison. But - thanks to Bevin's pardon - he served 3.

Let me repeat: He was sentenced to 15. He did 3.

In the pardon statement, Bevin said Roth "made a foolish decision a few years ago and broke the law." Well, yeah. That's why he went to prison. If anyone else had committed a crime like this, do you think they'd be out in only 3 years? If Roth had been a model prisoner, he would have been eligible for parole after 20% of his sentence, so he'd be out now without his cronies having to pardon him. Instead, he has friends like Bevin who thumb their nose at the justice system.

In Kentucky, the revolving door of corruption never runs out of energy.

(Source: http://www.fortthomasmatters.com/2019/12/jr-roth-receives-unconditional-pardon.html)

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Lawmaker creates idiotic conspiracy theory about sonogram photo

Where do people come up with nonsense like this?

Far-right Kentucky State Rep. Savannah Maddox "represents" a rural area of northern Kentucky. Over the past couple days, she's come up with a bizarre conspiracy theory.

WLKY-TV in Louisville ran a story about a Kentucky anti-abortion law that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court despite being unconstitutional. Maddox promptly claimed the story includes a sonogram of a gorilla at the Louisville Zoo. Maddox said this is part of a "Pro-Abortion message" of WLKY.

WLKY is owned by Hearst Television, so it's pretty conservative. But more importantly, I watched the clip on WLKY's site. The gorilla sonogram does not appear anywhere in it.

Nowhere. It simply isn't there. It's that simple. I don't know what else to say about it.

What the hell is Savannah Maddox talking about? Nobody else is claiming that WLKY included this picture in the clip - except the right-wing droids on Facebook who replied to Maddox's post.

This is a conspiracy theory based on something that didn't even happen!

It's hard to see which part of this story is the silliest. Is it Maddox's claim that the clip includes an image that it clearly doesn't include? Is it her claim that WLKY has a "Pro-Abortion message"? Is it her followers picking up her claims and talking to themselves about it? This has got to be one of the dumbest things to happen in northern Kentucky politics since Lloyd Rogers walked around town brandishing his gun because his campaign sign got damaged. And that says a lot.

Saturday, December 7, 2019

The Faircloth Amendment: the most fascist law you've never heard of

If you really needed any more proof that congressional Republicans have deliberately tried to harm the public, now you've got it.

In 1998, far-right Sen. Lauch Faircloth (R-North Carolina) wrote a law that capped the amount of public housing available nationwide. This law - called the Faircloth Amendment - says the government cannot fund construction or operation of new public housing units if it would result in a net increase in the amount of public housing.

This law is pure evil. Who is it designed to serve?

The country's population has increased by 50 million since then - and right-wing policies have only made poverty worse. Yet the Unfaircloth Amendment remains on the books.

Very few Americans have even heard of this law, and there hasn't been much movement to repeal it. It's shocking that a law that was enacted with such evil intent remains on the books without a prominent effort to repeal it.

One of the solutions to America's housing crisis has to be building more and better public housing. But the Faircloth Amendment prevents it. Congress has thus far failed to repeal it, so how can our leaders fight it?

Hopefully, as soon as we get an adult as President, they will use their executive power to render the Faircloth Amendment unenforceable - as it seems to be an illegal limit on the government's interest in ensuring the public's well-being.

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Right-winger who wanted to ban feeding homeless about to lead homeless agency

The Trump regime has an EPA that wants to destroy the environment, a Department of Education that wants to wreck our schools, and now this.

After the Trump thugocracy ousted Obama appointee Matthew Doherty from the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, the White House has tapped Robert Marbut to replace him. Marbut has a long history of regressive policies towards the homeless. He is a "consultant" who has encouraged cities to prohibit charities from feeding the homeless. He has also criticized housing programs that fight homelessness.

A right-wing activist since the age of 11, Marbut likes to brag of his experience at working with our cities. But he hasn't learned shit in all these years. In recent years, he got the city of Clearwater, Florida, to ban charities from donating food to the homeless, and he urged that city to get police to crack down on minor offenses instead of real crimes. He also worked with the sheriff's department to create a "shelter" that actually kicked people out instead of bringing them in.

Cruelty is a hallmark of the Trump regime and the rest of the Far Right. A lot of our public officials cause homelessness and poverty on purpose. We have public figures who enjoy causing harm to people. If you suspect that some public policies might have been designed to inflict maximum harm, then guess what? You're right.

(Source: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-12-04/homeless-robert-marbut-interagency-council-executive-director-trump)

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Highland Heights enacts fairness ordinance

My hometown is finally in the news for something positive!

Last night, Highland Heights became only the 16th city in Kentucky to enact a fairness ordinance - which forbids discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity for employment, housing, and public accommodations. City Council's vote in favor of this ordinance was unanimous.

This should be the law nationwide. I said Highland Heights should adopt this law over 25 years ago. That was even before any other city in Kentucky did. It was only fair. To treat everyone equally is a basic value. At the time, however, things were going in the opposite direction thanks to America's hard freeze of rightism - which hit northern Kentucky and Cincinnati particularly hard.

Fact is, years before then, some federal agencies took a dim view of unfair discrimination. It used to be that people could complain to the Federal Housing Authority or the National Labor Relations Board. The Reagan regime dashed all of that.

It's taking a long time to rebuild what the authoritarian Right has torn down, but who would have ever thought Highland Heights would be at the forefront of progress?

(Source: https://www.rcnky.com/articles/2019/12/03/highland-heights-adopts-fairness-ordinance-third-campbell-city-year)

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)

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Have no fear, the November ish is here!

When an ish is here, you should have no fear, so go and pop open another beer!

This will be a November to dismember, as The Last Word's November issue is pub, and it's a beaut!

This edition talks about the rejection of a local gentrification boondoggle, cops and judges talking about bubble gum, Dungeons & Dragons tantrums, my high school's failure to offer foreign languages, people having valuables lost by their parents, Storer Cable's hypocrisy on piracy, a street named for a swear word, the vindication of year-round school opponents, and more!

So point your pooper here...

https://www.scribd.com/document/432721841/The-Last-Word-11-2019

Lest that doesn't work, try this...

http://bunkerblast.info/lastword/lw1911.pdf

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

It was a May to dismember in Covington!

Peep. Weep. Oggle-beep. I beseech thee!

I've posted 14 Roads Scholaring photos from northern Kentucky's booming river cities from this past spring!

Know what you're gonna do? You're not only gonna peep and weep. You're also gonna dance around singing, "Shweep-a-beep, shweep-a-beep, shweep shweep shweep-a-beep! Pop!"

http://bunkerblast.info/roadpics/daycov19.html

Bevin is GOP's best hope while national party reels

The national Republican Party is in shambles. Its leader faces impeachment soon, and likely electoral defeat next year. The modern GOP displays a degree of fanaticism, intolerance, and violence otherwise unknown in modern America.

I relish the Republicans' downfall. We need at least 2 major parties, but with one choosing to forfeit its credibility, I will shed no tears if it is permanently vanquished as it richly deserves.

Kentuckians deserve to be so lucky, and polls aren't friendly to the Kentucky GOP either. Kentucky elections lurk next Tuesday, and pollsters portend a long night for Republicans. The average of 5 recent nonpartisan polls gives Democrat Andy Beshear a 12% lead over Moscow Matt, and the margin is only growing. Even a website that also factors in Republican pollsters rates the race as "strong Beshear."

The polls should speak for themselves. But in a state with a history of Russian election interference and other electoral fraud, it's not conclusive.

Am I enamored of all the Democratic candidates? No. Will I enjoy voting for them over the Republicans? You bet! At least now the Democrats are running on real issues instead of trying to be just as bad as the Republicans.

Do the Republicans even have real candidates for Secretary of State and Attorney General?

Even with no new nonpartisan polls with Matt Bevin down by less than 9%, be wary. But national trends are better than Kentucky's. Imagine what a President Warren or a President Sanders might do to Moscow Matt's evil attempts to cut Medicaid or his laughable report that demanded slashing Social Security.

How do you deal with a state where elections are a sham? We only have to live with rigged elections because there's too many damn right-wing liars in our media who never did have even an ounce of ethics. The pirates of the 18th century were on the right track. As ecstatic as I am about the collapse of national Republicans, it's going to get bad for them in their best states too. As a matter of necessity, repression breeds innovation. It's already so bad for the GOP that Bevin is their best hope this year.

(Also, it didn't help Bevin yesterday when he likened pensions to shoplifting milk and bread.)

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Al-Baghdadi kept dying and coming back to life

This is at least the fifth time al-Baghdadi has died and Trump has tried taking credit for it.

On May 28, 2017, al-Baghdadi was said to have been killed in a Russian air strike.

On June 11, 2017, he was said to have died in a Syrian artillery strike.

On June 29, 2017, Iran's leader said he was "definitely dead."

On July 11, 2017, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed al-Baghdadi's death.

Just yesterday he finally appeared to have been killed for good. Trump is of course taking credit for it even though he had nothing to do with it. Just as predictably, the right-wing media is letting him.

Shut up, Donald. You have nothing to do with it.

What is the media going to say if al-Baghdadi somehow comes back to life once again - like he has so many times before? If he doesn't, one of his lieutenants is just going to take his place because Trump is so incompetent at fighting ISIS (like he is at everything else).

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Beshear leads Bevin by 19%

I was starting to worry that Moscow Matt might actually have a real chance at a second term after all, but a new poll by Targoz Market Research has done nothing short of pulverize that possibility.

In the latest poll, Democrat Andy Beshear leads the embattled Republican incumbent by a smashing 55% to 36%. What's even more ominous for the Forehead is that this poll's sample actually has a disproportionate number of Republicans.

If Beshear led by "only" 9% - which was his average before this poll - you could argue Bevin might still have a real chance. Russian meddling in elections goes a long way. But 19%? Forget about it. I can't think of a major partisan election where the polls have been off by 19%.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

More money wasted by Bevin

This story is a good example of Kentucky Republicans squandering taxpayer money on pursuits that are strictly ideological.

So-called Gov. Matt Bevin has just wasted an untold amount of money on billboards all up and down Interstate 57 in Illinois bragging about Kentucky's right-wing laws. The aim of the billboards is to encourage businesses to leave Illinois and move to Kentucky because of the Bluegrass State's cheap labor, union-busting laws, and tax handouts to Big Business.

What good are new jobs when they're allowed to bust unions, underpay workers, and drain state coffers? As the nationwide trend has been towards these jobs, the real employment rate hasn't improved. It appears that workers at these jobs have so little buying power that they don't generate enough business for other companies.

But Moscow Matt's latest boondoggle can be mighty creative when it tries. One of the billboards takes the first 3 letters in the name Illinois to claim that state's tax system is "ill." Gee, Matt, now you can move up to 3rd grade.

(Source: https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-kentucky-billboard-campaign-20191022-ti2rrqscpjawfoiyi2nd5nbqxq-story.html)

Sunday, October 20, 2019

MSNBC = Fox News

More than once, I've had to explain to people that Comcast-owned MSNBC is a right-wing channel not much better than Fox News Channel or CNN. I blackballed MSNBC as a source for this blog as long ago as 2008 because they deceptively edited a Michelle Obama speech.

MSNBC's latest enemy? Bernie Sanders.

Here's some quotes from MSNBC's right-wing analysts...

"Bernie Sanders makes my skin crawl."

"He's a socialist from the 1950s yelling at people in the same screechy voice, without smiling."

"I think he comes off as mean, he's disparaging."

"If you are still supporting Sanders, it's kind of showing your sexism." (What???)

"Bernie Sanders does have a certain problem with women." (What???)


I don't know these analysts by name, because they're such nobodies that I don't recognize these media elites from the video clips. Maybe they're public figures I once admired, but have since sold out. I don't get cable, because I can't afford to pay $90/month to watch this tone-policing garbage from right-wing talking heads who bash America almost daily. But there they are, smirking and grinning and trying to tell the viewing public what to think.

Gee, I'm sorry the Democrats aren't going to nominate Michael Bloomberg or Evan Bayh like they want.

The pundits want a loser. They don't want a winner like Bernie Sanders or even Elizabeth Warren. Media elites would rather impose school uniforms than do something beneficial like expand Social Security.

Be a fucking adult. Accept that the American people just aren't all that into the Third Way thought-policing that has actually helped prop up the Republicans. Cope.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Bevin used state aircraft for right-wing conferences

Why isn't this a really big story? Better yet, how come the media hasn't even put two and two together?

As battered as Matt Bevin is for abusing state aircraft at taxpayer expense, I found something that just leaped right out at me. Recently, Moscow Matt released a "comprehensive list" of state aircraft flights. But this "comprehensive list" completely skips over at least 20 flights just this year involving political events or unknown reasons.

One of the flights that Bevin's list skipped over was to Lynchburg, Virginia - home of the far-right Liberty University. It happened to be on the same day he spoke at the far-right Conservative Political Action Conference there.

Yet media reports that say he spoke there on that day act like it's a mystery why he flew there. They're saying he flew to Lynchburg for legitimate state business, but must have also flown there on a separate flight on the same day at his own expense for the humiliating CPAC spectacle? The moment I saw he flew to Lynchburg, I knew what it was for.

Another flight that his list skipped was to St. Simons Island, Georgia. That was another red flag. Media reports give no suggestion what the flight was for, but the destination rang a bell, because I knew that area was the site of another right-wing conference. Sure enough, it turns out that a secretive conference by the far-right American Enterprise Institute was being held in the area right at the same time as Bevin's flight.

I could figure all of this out in a split second, but the media can't even put any of it together? Even in media circles, there's some understanding that you're not supposed to use taxpayer resources for political purposes, but it doesn't seem like the media grasps just how big this story is. Kentucky has a history of right-wing politicization of everything. And I mean everything. But this is bad even by Kentucky standards. At these events, Bevin didn't so much promote his own election campaign or business interests but rather an entire ideological program - and did so in the name of Kentucky taxpayers. This program has denied Kentuckians personal and economic liberties. People are expected to fall in line behind this program.

That's not leadership.

A person bunkerooed because a person bunkerooed

I just received a very important e-mail about a person bunkerooing.

I'm told that a few days ago, a blast of the bunker variety loomed in the entrance of a condo building. No suspects could be indicted for this violation of the emoluments clause. It lingered for at least an hour.

This e-mail also said an aging Sen. Dianne Feinstein look-alike was sighted at the Atlanta airport (the same airport where a woman took selfies of herself bubblling and laughed uncontrollably about it).

Thursday, October 17, 2019

It was a December to dismember in Newport!

Yesterday, I released the photos from last year's Illinois trip. Now I have a batch of 9 new Scholaring photos from a Roads Scholaring in Newport from last December!

Peep, weep. and oggle-beep...

http://bunkerblast.info/roadpics/newpb18.html

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

It's already getting worse for Moscow Mike

As Michael G. Adams, the embattled Republican nominee for Kentucky Secretary of State, reels after the discovery that he worked for Eric Greitens and organized his bogus dark money "nonprofit", it's already getting worse for him. That is, if the Kentucky media picks up this story (which it probably won't, preferring instead to sweep it under the rug).

Way back last year, Missouri media reported that Adams evaded the rules governing lawyers in the Show Me State. He never paid the fees required to practice law in that state.

Missouri required attorneys from outside the state to pay a $410 fee. Records revealed that he had not paid the fee while he worked on a Greitens ethics case, and that he had not named an associate counsel as required under the rules.

(Source: https://www.hannibal.net/news/20180601/gop-attorney-who-represented-greitens-in-ethics-case-skirted-rules)

Kentucky GOPer was Greitens attorney

Moscow Matt at least has a slim chance of winning. I'm not so sure about Moscow Mike.

If you thought Matt Bevin was bad, Republican Secretary of State nominee Michael G. Adams - replete with his '90s helmet hair - is a complete joke. Early last year, far-right Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens was forced to resign because of a scandal and felony charges. One lawmaker even called the Greitens campaign "a criminal enterprise from its inception." It turns out that Adams was Greitens's attorney throughout this humiliating scandal. Adams's law firm is still being paid by the Greitens campaign.

In fact, Adams is still secretary and treasurer of A New Missouri Inc. - a dark money corporation founded by Greitens poobahs in 2017. Legislators accused A New Missouri Inc. of being created to illegally evade donation limits and hide the identities of donors who were not allowed to contribute to campaigns.

Adams was also involved in a settlement between the Greitens campaign and the Missouri Ethics Commission over the misuse of a veterans' charity donor list for fundraising. Officials for this charity testified that Greitens illegally took this list.

This man wants to be in charge of Kentucky elections? And you know what? The media will let him. That's the worst part of it. I wouldn't trust Michael Adams with an election for kindergarten class president - let alone any Kentucky election.

(Source: https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article236253053.html)

It was a November to dismember in Springfield!

You may recall that last November, I went on a fact-finding mission to Springfield, Illinois. Now I have 88 Roads Scholaring photos up, and you're gonna peep 'em until your face flies off in public...

http://bunkerblast.info/roadpics/spril18a.html
http://bunkerblast.info/roadpics/spril18b.html
http://bunkerblast.info/roadpics/spril18c.html
http://bunkerblast.info/roadpics/spril18d.html

How the nation's most unpopular governor can still win

Guess what, Moscow Matt, you're still in it. Barely. We cannot protect Kentucky election integrity when money is allowed to rule.

So-called Gov. Matt Bevin of Kentucky has been consistently ranked as the most unpopular governor in America by Morning Consult and other pollsters.

Moscow Matt has gutted teachers' pensions, abused state planes, repeatedly lied about the state's economic standing, raised taxes to give handouts to the 1%, tried to slash Medicaid (only to be rebuffed by courts), dumped his own lieutenant governor, put out a report demanding cutting Social Security, politicized Kentucky's higher education system and various state boards, and turned the state into a nationwide laughfest. In even his best poll - which is only a tie - he loses independent voters by 8%. That's not his worst poll, which has him losing by 15% overall.

Don't count Moscow Matt out. The embattled Republican has a better chance of winning than the Bengals do of making the playoffs. As Bevin himself might say: No question about it.

It isn't just because Kentucky is a state with a history of Republican election fraud and Russian electoral interference. It isn't just because each right-wing fake news item becomes a "mainstream" media talking point within minutes. It's because Bevin has money.

The most recent campaign finance report shows Democrat Andy Beshear actually outraised Bevin - $771,000 to $673,000. But that's only from people other than the candidates themselves. Bevin plunked down $900,000 of his own money. This gives him a smashing advantage of $1.58 million to $628,000 in cash on hand. There isn't any doubt that Beshear will win more votes per dollar. When do the Democrats not win more votes per dollar? If elections only counted votes per dollar, the Republicans wouldn't even be a serious party.

I know Trump's looming impeachment is hurting Bevin. The idea that it's helping him is laughable. It might not hurt him enough, because our media is a joke, and not just regarding this election. There have been several recent incidents where right-wing fake news sites have made up items out of thin air, and the "mainstream" media ran with them. It's as if the media is just throwing up its hands and saying, "Alright, we're not going to argue with these fake news sites anymore."

However, for Bevin to win, he'd have to outperform every poll. In 2015, Kentucky media outlets banded together to permanently blacklist pollsters that showed him losing. In most countries, polling is used to ensure the election results are accurate. Republican thugocracies get it backwards. If the media blackballs all the pollsters that have him losing now, there won't be any left except a few partisan outfits.

Google funds climate crisis deniers

Google has made what is described as "substantial" donations to at least a dozen national think tanks that deny the climate crisis and are campaigning against stronger climate policies.

This includes far-right groups like the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the American Conservative Union. The CEI has not only said the climate crisis is a myth but has also opposed antitrust enforcement.

The donations are reportedly an effort to get legislators to keep part of the far-right 1996 Telecommunications Act that shields companies like Google from being held responsible for the content posted on their systems.

Who's surprised, after Google yanked our AdSense account because of our politics?

(Source: http://www.canindia.com/google-heavily-paid-groups-that-defy-climate-change-report)

Monday, October 14, 2019

I got hit by a car but do you expect anyone to do anything about it?

Stories like this are why The Last Word was started in the first place, so I should wait until the next issue before writing about it. But I won't, because the Nazis don't deserve another break - because everyone else gives them a break anyway.

Today, after I scouted out sites for next May's Cincinnati roadmeet, I parked a Red Bike at the stand on Ward in Bellevue and walked across the street. Right when I got to the other side of the street, a black car coming down the street ran me off the road, and I flew onto the sidewalk, scattering groceries everywhere. Then the car turned onto Fairfield towards Dayton.

There were witnesses. Several people saw me with the bags of groceries all around.

It was deliberate. Nobody in the car said anything, but I know it was intentional, because there's a history of it. But they made a dumb mistake by leaving visible injuries. I thought they learned a long time ago not to leave any visible injuries. That way, they can claim every assault is a "hoax" - and the media is always happy to help. I guess they're even dumber than I thought. Either that or they know that under Trump they'll get away with it no matter how much evidence there is (as if they've ever been punished before).

I posted photos of all the bruises and cuts on Facebook and Twitter. That's kind of a smoking gun. What's their defense now? Mark my words, it'll probably be one or more of the following:

1) It's a "hoax" and all the witnesses are lying (despite the photos of the injuries).

2) It's not all that serious.

3) "Kids will be kids" (even though they're almost 50).

4) I did something to deserve it.

5) I didn't look where I was walking (even though pedestrians have the right of way).

6) It wasn't them.

7) "Their poo also voted."

What's the excuse this time? I'm waiting.

All of this obscures the fact that even if I wasn't specifically targeted, they still committed a hit-and-run.

I didn't report it to the police, because whenever I did, I was always the one to be treated like a criminal. Someone on Facebook said there must be a business or home nearby that had a video camera that caught the entire incident. Do you seriously think even that would be enough?

Wouldn't it be terrible if I posted the names and addresses of people who have done this before?

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Queens KKK members cheer homeless shelter arson

The Far Right's long-running demonization of those less fortunate can be deadly. Why society tolerates it is a mystery.

This week, there was a public hearing in Queens about plans for a new homeless shelter. The Ku Klux Klan flooded the hearing and shouted down local residents and public officials who favored the shelter. When a woman said she supported burning down the shelter, KKK members cheered.

This hearing came only a few days after 4 homeless men were bludgeoned to death in Manhattan.

The vitriol was initially cheered on by right-wing City Council member Robert Holden. Later, he said he was "disappointed with how this meeting is being portrayed" because of it - but it was partly his fault for having encouraged it. The meeting deteriorated so much that members of a tenants' union who supported the shelter had to be escorted out by police for their own safety.

On the other hand, if you want to fight homelessness, shelters aren't as effective as affordable housing. But everyone knows damn well that those who oppose the shelter would be the first to oppose affordable housing too.

(Source: https://gothamist.com/news/angry-queens-residents-shout-down-plans-for-homeless-shelter-i-hope-someone-burns-it-down)

Trumpthug points gun at Warren supporter over bumper sticker

With new polls suggesting Elizabeth Warren is now the frontrunner for President, and with a scandal-tarred Donald Trump's impeachment lurking on the horizon, Trump cultists are doubling down.

In Moorhead, Minnesota, a man aimed a loaded handgun at a young woman after seeing her Warren bumper sticker. The man pulled up alongside her vehicle while driving down the street, began yelling, and brandished the weapon. Joseph Schumacher, 27, of West Fargo, North Dakota, was then arrested on suspicion of felony terroristic threats while he was eating at a nearby shopping center.

The only thing missing is Heavy.com chiming in 2 days later and claiming Schumacher is some big progressive.

(Source: https://www.kvrr.com/2019/10/07/west-fargo-man-enraged-by-bumper-sticker-arrested-for-terroristic-threats)

Monday, September 30, 2019

Marianne condo plan dead

Good news, good news, Boss!

Remember that ridiculous plan to turn the Marianne Theater in Bellevue into luxury condos? It's dead. Deader than a dinosaur. After a firestorm of criticism by local residents, the developer has withdrawn the proposal.

With the glut of luxury housing all over greater Cincinnati, the last thing we needed was more high-end condos to artificially inflate housing costs.

(Source: https://www.rcnky.com/articles/2019/09/30/developers-withdraw-proposal-bellevues-marianne-city-moves-forward)

Supreme Court case may force states to fund religious education

Taxpayer funding of religious schools is banned under the Constitution's safeguard of separation of church and state. This little factoid is often overlooked by our scuzz-a-luzz gaslighting media and right-wing jurists.

Taxpayer-funded vouchers to attend religious schools? The Constitution says they're illegal. Period. End of story. It shouldn't even be subject to debate, because the Constitution means what it says.

But now the Far Right wants the Supreme Court to give free Toy Money to private religious schools even if the state and its voters don't want to. Not long ago - in the case of Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue - the Montana Supreme Court ruled that it violates the Montana Constitution to underwrite religious education with taxpayer funds. That was Montana's decision.

Petitioners laughably argue that the U.S. Constitution not only permits the government to fund religious schools but also requires it. They say they're being "discriminated" against because Montana won't give religious schools money.

Don't laugh too hard. This is a serious matter. The Supremes rightly ruled over a decade ago that states were allowed to limit funding religious schools in programs like this. But the Supreme Court has shown growing disregard for constitutional law in the years since. That's why petitioners are instead citing the court's outrageous 2017 ruling in Trinity Lutheran v. Comer - in which the state of Missouri was forced to buy a playground surface for a church. Even then, the petitioners don't seem to have a case - unless of course a rogue Supreme Court once again makes up its own laws.

Another example of "sates'' rights for me, not for thee."

(Source: https://www.scotusblog.com/2019/09/symposium-stripping-church-state-separation-to-the-bone-the-supreme-court-considers-mandatory-government-funding-of-religious-education)

Saturday, September 28, 2019

A person wore a Trump cap to Kroger

After Donald Trump's awful, no-good, horrid week, who would want to humiliate themselves by wearing anything Trump-related in public? I don't think I've seen anyone wearing Trump gear in 2 years, but now that he's been disgraced worse than ever, I guess his cultists are doubling down.

Today, I goed to the friendly commune Krogie-Wogie, and there was a man wearing a red Trump cap shopping in there. When I walked past him, I made a funny noise that sounded like a gag mixed with a belch. He got really mad and scowled!

Friday, September 27, 2019

Have no fear, the October ish is here!

The coming of October means the October issue of The Last Word is pub, and it's a big one!

This ish talks about a looming gentrification disaster, a trip to Shenandoah National Park and the accompanying bonfire, a person spitting out gum at Oktoberfest, wastage and filth at Chick-fil-A, a dine-and-dash at Big Boy, the cable company blaming sunspots for its own incompetence, a photo album ruining baseball cards, a person running records through a dishwasher, antique Christmas ornaments and wedding china being destroyed, the Franklin Mint's bad instructions for its coin sets, and more!

So point your pooper here...

https://www.scribd.com/document/427647334/The-Last-Word-10-2019

If that doesn't work, bubble over here...

http://bunkerblast.info/lastword/lw1910.pdf

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Impeachment inquiry makes right-wing media look dumber than ever

A few weeks ago, when the latest allegations against dictator Trump were coming out, analysts said that if they appeared to be true, Congress would jump right into impeachment - and Trump would be removed. But this talk was quickly swatted down - supposedly because too few people were making the allegations - and any journalist who dared to report on them was forced by their bosses to get down on their knees and retract them.

Those were the days, huh?

Because of this groveling, impeachment may be less likely than it would have been, but at least an impeachment inquiry was finally announced yesterday. If Congress follows this process to its condign end, it will be yet more egg on the face of the media, which has cheered right-wing public figures and causes for at least as long as I've been old enough to care.

Monday, September 23, 2019

People bunkerooed at Kroger

Today at the friendly commune Krogie-Wogie, I detected the hilarious audio of 2 - count 'em, 2 - LAP bunker blasts.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Water bottles, beer cans, Pepsi, oh my!

Folks, it's finally happened...



Today, I went to Oktoberfest in Cincinnati, and - in response to years of people putting things in toilets - that sign had been posted in at least one of the portable restrooms.

Not like it stopped the fun! In fact, Ploptoberfest was a total bore except for the fact that the sign was ignored.

The first restroom I used didn't have this sign, but I noticed 5 - count 'em, 5 - ploppings in the same toilet bowl. The toilet contained a water bottle, a Pepsi bottle, 2 beer bottles, and a beer can. When I used a different portable outhouse later, it did have the sign - but somebody had plopped a big plastic bag.

Other than people putting things in toilets, the festival was dead. Crowded (because they packed it into a smaller space), but dead. Ploptoberfest was killed off when the city moved it away from 5th Street to appease 3CDC's incessant crying.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

When you return, it's the same old place...

Today, I returned home from a brief fact-finding mission to Shenandoah National Park. After reading that the Bevin dictatorship has appointed Tea Party favorite Charlie Coleman to the board of directors of Gateway Community & Technical College, now I know I shouldn't have returned.

This proves once again that the whole Kentucky higher education system isn't worth shit.

If you want to read about all the celebrity look-alikes and instances of flatulence I detected on my Shenandoah trip, the next issue of The Last Word isn't far off. Wilford Brimley, Jim Hightower, Don Imus, Paula Abdul, and Terry Bradshaw look-alikes were seen.

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Elizabeth Warren wants bold plan for expanded Social Security

Of the entire field of Democratic presidential candidates, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are wiping the floor with the others in terms of policy and effectiveness. I know the right-wing media will cry and whine if they form the national ticket, because they think the President and Vice-President can't be from adjacent states (even though they were just fine with George W. Bush and Dick Cheney both residing in the same state). As far as I'm concerned, that's too damn bad.

Notice that the Republicans' response to every situation is always the same: cut Social Security. A gnat gets in your house? Cut Social Security. Your TV acts up during your favorite show? Cut Social Security.

For years and years, it's always been cut, cut, cut Social Security. They've done it too, and it's still not enough for them. It sure would be nice to have legislators who do their fucking jobs. Plus, many recipients rely on Social Security as their only source of retirement income, and the situation is only going to get worse because of stagnating wages for today's workforce.

But polls show a vast majority of Americans support increasing Social Security. This includes not just for retired seniors but also disability payments like SSI and SSDI. Now Elizabeth Warren wants to expand Social Security payments to fight rising costs of basics like healthcare, food, and housing.

Warren's plan would immediately increase Social Security benefits by $200 a month. It would allow even more increases for low-income workers and the disabled. It would have a fairer method of computing cost-of-living increases. It would ease the backlog that prevents applicants from receiving the benefits they've paid for. And it would reverse Trump's illegal order that turns administrative law judges into political appointees. It would accomplish the increased payments by making the richest 2% pay their fair share into the program.

In the long term, Warren's plan would reduce the federal budget deficit by over $1 trillion in 10 years.

With a media and ruling party that have done nothing but cut this vital program for 30 years, it would be mighty refreshing if a plan like Warren's was enacted. Hopefully, whoever defeats Trump next year will enact something like it.

Comcast files frivolous suit over Maine cable law

Comcast - the hated cable TV giant that has a monopoly on service in many regions - has teamed up with network muckety-mucks to file a federal lawsuit against the state of Maine because of a new state law regulating cable.

This law requires cable companies to offer a la carte access to channels. This saves viewers from having to pay for garbage like Fox News Channel. When a cable company claims you get 500 channels when all but 10 of them are home shopping and right-wing propaganda channels, it's price-gouging.

Comcast and the cable industry are laughably arguing that the law violates the First Amendment. That's like saying newsstands have a First Amendment right to collude and not let you buy the New York Times unless you buy the Washington Times too. The suit also argues that federal law preempts state laws like this. No, it cannot, as that would be unconstitutional under the Tenth Amendment.

It's not surprising that Comcast would cry that the law violates the First Amendment. Any time the Far Right can't cause as much grief as possible, they always claim it's a First Amendment issue.

Comcast thinks Baskin-Robbins should be required to sell Neapolitan ice cream to customers who only want strawberry and force them to throw away the chocolate and vanilla layers they're allergic to.

The FCC appears to be on Maine's side. The FCC once issued a statement that says there's no federal law prohibiting a la carte cable pricing. That doesn't mean some right-wing activist judge won't make up their own law and gut Maine's regulations. The Supreme Court makes up its own laws all the time.

(Source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/09/comcast-tv-networks-sue-maine-to-stop-law-requiring-a-la-carte-channels)

New York City caves to right-wing hate group

The Alliance Defending Freedom is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. That didn't stop the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod from teaming up with it to write a legal guide for its congregations. But a right-wing hate group the ADF is.

Now City Council in New York City plans to repeal its ban on harmful conversion therapy - all because the ADF told it to. The ADF is suing the city over the ban - though the ADF has no case.

By repealing the ban, New York City Council is now officially on record as being antigay. If City Council had any guts, they'd tell the ADF to fuck off. Would they cave to the Ku Klux Klan too? New York has a state law against conversion therapy - but it's not as broad as city law.

It's mind-boggling that hate groups are allowed to commandeer public policy. It's as mind-boggling as hate groups teaming up with churches to write legal guides - though given the growing hatred by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod's leaders, I'm not surprised by that. The ADF commits legal terrorism. The group has also been responsible for legal cases forcing public tax dollars to fund religious activities and gutting Obamacare's birth control coverage. The ADF even sued Arnold Schwarzenegger!

A leading ADF attorney in New Hampshire was convicted of federal charges for talking her own 14-year-old daughter to Canada to have sex with an adult man.

It's time to say, "Hasta la vista, baby," to the ADF's hate.

(Source: https://www.politico.com/newsletters/new-york-playbook/2019/09/12/nycs-conversion-therapy-ban-to-be-repealed-mold-cleanup-lags-citywide-assaults-against-mta-workers-soared-476799)

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Theater may be ruined by luxury condos

There goes the neighborhood!

The Marianne Theater is an old movie theater that has served as a Bellevue landmark for almost 80 years. As recently as the late '90s, it was still showing movies, though by that time it was mostly just Spice World and the like. It certainly did not show first-run movies by then.

The city purchased the building some years back and solicited proposals from developers for a new use for it. Now a developer has stepped forward and is threatening to fill it with - are you ready for it? - yet more luxury condos.

City officials are expressing disappointment, because they wanted the Marianne used as a public space. Then don't approve the condos. It's that simple.

But do you really expect the city to not rubber-stamp this project? Nah, Bellevue would never rubber-stamp a useless development that serves only developers and the 1%. That's just a myth. Just joking! They would.

Why is this plan so bad? There's several reasons. This plan is yet another element of gentrification - a process that not only directly steals affordable housing but drives up housing costs. The condos would also generate traffic on already strained roads. And, by changing the city's character, it would weaken the political voice of the poorest residents. That's not to mention the fact that there's not even an actual need for more luxury housing. There is however a need for more public space.

Bellevue needs to welcome the 99% - not continue to roll out the red carpet for developers.

(Source: https://www.rcnky.com/articles/2019/09/10/proposal-marianne-theater-calls-condos)

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Someone put a Kroger bag in the toilet

We don't call it Ploptoberfest for nothing!

Today, I went to the Covington Oktoberfest. We call it Ploptoberfest, because of the long-running tradition of people clogging toilets in the portable outhouses with various household items. I don't think it'll ever match the greatness of Cincinnati's Ploptoberfest of perhaps a decade ago, when people used to put pants and phone books in the toilets. But I did notice today that someone put a plastic grocery bag from Kroger and a Reese cup wrapper in the toilet. The Kroger logo bobbed up and down in the abysmal depths of the dumper.

That plastic bag is gonna do a number (like 5) on the toilet cleaning equipment. Toilets are designed to accept pee and poo - not plastic bags. It's no different for a portable outhouse than it is for a latrine at a fixed location.

I left Ploptoberfest early because it was boring. But some woman was in a festive enough mood that she bubbled. Also, A Person Chewed Gum And Thought It Was Funny. But that's Last Word material, not really 'Pail material.

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Dayton approves climate crisis resolution

Dayton, Kentucky, is utterly thumping other local communities lately - but it's not much more than empty words unless the city truly clamps down on the long-running Manhattan Harbour disaster.

In a 5 to 1 vote, Dayton City Council has just approved a resolution supporting policies to fight the deadly climate crisis. The resolution noted that Dayton was at special risk from climate change because of its proximity to the Ohio River.

During discussion of the measure, it was noted that Manhattan Fubar's construction trucks continue to drag mud and dust through the city and damage its streets. This comes after the discovery that the construction was polluting the city's water.

But this resolution doesn't do much good unless Dayton holds the developers and contractors accountable for the project's ongoing environmental damage. If that means canceling the rest of the project, so be it.

(Source: https://www.rcnky.com/articles/2019/09/04/dayton-council-approves-resolution-supporting-climate-change-policies)

Sunday, September 1, 2019

Pepsi smuggling, blocked cellphone networks, fights, oh my!

For years, Riverfest has had a rule prohibiting people from bringing beverages (no matter how G-rated) into this outdoor street festival. A few years ago, I saw them hassling someone about it. This is a stupid rule, so I violate it year after year. This year, I smuggled in Pepsi.

I've been breaking this rule for years, but as late as last year, everyone acted shocked that I'd do this. I think now it's finally sunken in that I'm serious about it.

This year's Rip-off-fest had other notable events too! Once when I was growing up, around 1980, we went to see the fireworks, and there was a group of teenagers or young adults right behind us arguing the whole time. It was hilarious! This year, something just like that happened. But instead of arguing about the blankets and pillows like the other time, they argued about what appeared to be a broken smartphone - for hours on end! Best all, unlike the incident some 40 years ago, there was a lot of cussing!

Remember about a year ago when some kid threw a profanity-filled tantrum at Kroger? Think what that kid will be like when he's 20, and that's what this argument was like.

It turns out though that the smartphone wasn't broken. The entire cellphone network had been shut down for the event. Cellphone networks were never shut down back when the only people with cellphones were yuppies who used them to show off, but now that normal people have cellphones, they shut down the network. Because it was shut down, an important text blast I sent out was delayed.

When I was walking home, a fistfight ensued! A luxury SUV almost hit a group of people, and the people in the SUV jumped out and began fighting them. It was brutal!

Also, during the fireworks, some woman was in such a festive mood that she bubbled.

Saturday, August 31, 2019

Have no fear, the September ish is here!

Ba-de-ya! The Septermber issue of The Last Word is now pub, and it's pooping a hole plumb through your panatloons!

This ish talks about my public takedown of a local right-wing politician, airlines thinking they own everything, Mister Rogers swearing, Wikipedia fake news, people intentionally ruining comic books and baseball cards, prank 911 calls, bubble gum ruining a pair of mittens, and more!

So point your pooper here...

https://www.scribd.com/document/423827128/The-Last-Word-9-2019

If that doesn't work, bip your way over here...

http://bunkerblast.info/lastword/lw1909.pdf

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

A person bubbled at the bike shop

Today at the bike shop, some man bubbled.

Friday, August 16, 2019

A bunch of people bubbled in a commersh (Bubble Gum Weekend)

There is hope for the world yet!

You never see commercials for gum anymore, but Bazooka - which never advertised in my day - actually has a new ad. Best all, it has a slogan that uses "bubble" as a verb...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGIa-rvs7iM

That new commersh features a catchy jingle and evokes the feel of an '80s advertising campaign. It touts the size of bubbles you can blow with this brand of bubble gum - much like the gum ads of old. And people bubble in the ad to demonstrate Bazooka's bubble kerpowin' capabilities. Several teenagers take selfies of themselves bubbling and send them to their friends.

Most noteworthy though is the slogan: "Share, bubble, have fun!" Sort of like, "Think. Do. Be." At least that's better than, "Hoard, don't bubble, be miserable!"

Thursday, August 8, 2019

Bevin now trails by 15%

"Asked if the election were held today, 51% said they would vote for Beshear and 36% for Bevin."

Bye, Matt.

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Sean Hannity runs his big Nazi mouth

The "right" of a very few people to openly carry a military-style assault rifle and fire it indiscriminately isn't supposed to outweigh the rights of millions to gather peacefully and be free of warrantless searches.

But far-right commentator Sean Hannity thinks it is. And he wants a fascist police state to remind us of it.

The Second Amendment is the law of the land, and Americans have a right to own and possess weapons of defense. But nobody has a right to hoard weapons of offense and use them in an unreasonable way. However, the Bill of Rights does protect the right to peaceful assembly and freedom from unreasonable searches. Now Hannity wants to gut those rights just to please the few who worry about their assault rifles being taken away.

Hannity proposes filling America's schools and shopping malls with armed guards - as in a police state. The perimeter of each school would be surrounded by guards, and each school would be full of metal detectors.

Does this also mean guards would also be posted outside all food festivals and places of worship? These venues have also seen recent mass shootings. Then there's the important issue of how zealous guards might react to situations that pose no threat at all. Someone pointed out that they might mistake a balloon popping for gunfire and start shooting.

I don't want to live in a police state. If we must restrict high-powered assault rifles from the very few people who want one, that's the price of protecting the right of all to move about freely and be secure from warrantless searches and heavy-handed policing. In no way, shape, or form am I advocating taking defensive weapons from those who have them to protect themselves and their families.

Much more helpful than an assault weapon ban though would be using the anti-gang laws to go after hate groups, and banning hate group members from having any kind of gun.

(Source: https://www.alternet.org/2019/08/hannity-mercilessly-mocked-for-proposing-armed-guards-in-us-schools-and-shopping-malls-after-shootings)

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Dayton passes anti-discrimination law

Until tonight, there were only 11 cities in Kentucky that had their own fairness ordinance - a law specifically prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation for things like employment and housing. Covington and Maysville were the only cities in northern Kentucky with such a law.

But now Dayton has rightly joined these other cities. Tonight, city council members in this working-class Campbell County city voted 5 to 0 to enact this ordinance.

Unlike when Sarah Palin claimed to be able to see Russia out the window of her home, it's actually true that I can see Dayton out my window. I'm right next to the window of my home office and can see houses in Dayton just hundreds of feet away. The more important point is that - once again - a working-class city like Dayton is more forward-thinking than rich suburbs that refuse to pass progressive laws like this. It isn't only on economic issues, but also social issues like this.

Wealthy suburbs need to get with the program and learn something from the working-class cities and towns that have approved progressive ordinances.

CNN lies about Antifa and Ohio massacre

CNN has become the latest fake news outlet to be blackballed as a source by this blog.

Dayton, Ohio, gunman Connor Betts not only made pro-Trump Twitter posts, but some of his former high school classmates said he had extreme right-wing views. After this was revealed, Heavy.com - a so-called news aggregator that accepts submissions from unvetted sources - claimed Betts had actually supported progressive causes and candidates on his Twitter feed. But there is no real evidence of it. All Heavy.com provided was what it claimed were screenshots of the feed.

Heavy.com is not a reliable source. Think of what one of those checkout lane tabloids would be like if it didn't have its own writers practicing yellow journalism and blindly accepted items from outside writers instead.

Later, the website of a certain cable channel had an article with a headline blaring, "The Dayton shooter had an extreme left Twitter feed." The article also referred to what it called "the violent protest group Antifa." It cited the debunked Heavy.com piece as its only source.

What right-wing cable channel ran this discredited garbage? Fox News? CNBC? Nope! It was CNN. CNN actually ran a made-up story that not only claimed that a right-wing mass shooter was actually a leftist but also that Antifa is a "violent protest group." This despite the fact that Antifa has never initiated any violent confrontations. They ran this story even after people who knew the shooter provided information that completely contradicted it.

However, CNN's article goes on to say of Betts's Twitter feed, "The account is no longer active." Gee, ya think? Weird how nobody can verify what's on an account that no longer exists.

CNN used to have much higher standards than this, but I never placed all my faith in CNN anyway. Even in the 1991 Gulf War, when CNN was widely praised for its coverage, the channel scrutinized its coverage to appease political leaders who bullied the media into suppressing negative information about the war. Hiding negative stories isn't what journalism is supposed to stand for, but a lot of media outlets were guilty of it.

Plus, I don't know any leftists who make lists of classmates they want to rape, or kill family members because they associate with people of another race.

This is like how the media claimed the Unabomber was a progressive activist - even though his rambling manifesto repeatedly attacked "liberals."

The media lying about Antifa and various news events shouldn't be a big focus of this blog - but it is, because the media keeps lying. Nobody else calls them out, because they're the media, dammit. Yep, the same media that claims Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction in 2003 and that we have the best economy in 50 years. That media.

Now other media outlets are actually claiming that El Paso shooter Patrick Crusius is a leftist. This claim is even easier to debunk than the media's idiotic claims about Betts, because it can be verified that Crusius posted a manifesto expressing white supremacist views and echoing Donald Trump's stances against immigration. Plus, it turns out that the gunman in the recent shooting in Gilroy, California, promoted a favorite far-right book - a fact that has been almost completely ignored by the media.

Mass shootings are a right-wing phenomenon. End of story.

Fuck off, CNN.

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Ohio gunman made right-wing Twitter posts

There's been some coverage of the El Paso shooter's right-wing motives, but Connor Betts - the gunman responsible for the mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio - appears to have had similar motives.

It's been revealed that Betts was an admirer of Donald Trump who made right-wing Twitter posts.

Meanwhile - because some of the El Paso victims were Mexican citizens - the Mexican government is quite rightly proposing that the El Paso gunman should be extradited to Mexico to face terrorism charges. This is certainly fair, because the U.S. refuses to charge him with terrorism.

Friday, August 2, 2019

Trumpthug throws punches outside Cincinnati rally

Donald Trump held one of his KKK rallies in Cincinnati last night, and - to the surprise of nobody - one of his thugs started a fight with a counterprotester. This is even less surprising than the fact that Trump made a racist comment at the rally.

Dallas Frazier, 29, of Georgetown, Kentucky, is being charged with assault after he jumped out of his pickup truck and repeatedly punched a 61-year-old man who was protesting against Trump. The incident was caught on video. The victim of the assault had to be taken to the hospital.

Trumpthugs reportedly started another fight inside the coliseum where Trump was speaking.

According to witnesses, Frazier drove around the block about 5 times in about 20 minutes and kept yelling at the protesters before he got out of his truck and punched the man.

(Source: https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/kentucky/article233433342.html)

Thursday, August 1, 2019

Have no fear, the August ish is here!

August! It turns me upside-down! And we all know that August wouldn't be August if the August ish of The Last Word didn't fall from the sky and slime you!

This issue discusses a contractor being let off easy for violating local ordinances, the return of bubble gum to Kroger, a Magic: The Gathering card getting ruined, the wastage of bananas and milk, lost hits, credit score fail, and more! It's not sold in any store!

So point your pooper here...

https://www.scribd.com/document/420390636/The-Last-Word-8-2019

If that doesn't work, point it here...

http://bunkerblast.info/lastword/lw1908.pdf

LG&E launches illegal land grab in Bullitt County

Get off our land, LG&E!

Only in a corporatist police state can a big corporation seize private individuals' land to be used for their own projects. Sadly, these days, that's become the norm. Louisville Gas & Electric - which has a monopoly on electric and gas service in the Louisville area - is suing folks in Bullitt County, Kentucky, to take their land to build a natural gas pipeline.

It's not only individuals who are being targeted. Bernheim Forest is being sued too, threatening a conservation project there. The utility recently filed at least 9 condemnation suits in Bullitt County. LG&E is going ahead with the project even though it hasn't even secured an important permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Meanwhile, a natural gas pipeline owned by energy giant Enbridge in Lincoln County has exploded - killing one person and seriously injuring at least 5 others. Flames shot 300 feet into the sky and could be seen all over the county and even showed up on weather radar.

There is no legal basis to allow utilities or any other private corporation to condemn land. People across the political spectrum should be able to agree that this is one of the most basic facts of a free society. The Constitution requires just compensation if public entities take land. Where does it permit private companies to take land at all?

(Source: https://www.wdrb.com/in-depth/lg-e-sues-to-condemn-bernheim-other-bullitt-county-land)

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Hate group posts stickers in Fort Thomas

A right-wing hate group has been posting stickers in Fort Thomas - but it might be folly to say enough is being done to investigate this group.

In recent days, stickers promoting an organization called the Patriot Front have been appearing on lampposts in that local suburb. The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that the misnamed Patriot Front is a "neo-Nazi hate group." Even Wikipedia calls it a white supremacist organization.

Patriot Front stickers have also been found around the Cincinnati Reds stadium. The group has spread flyers in other cities.

The city of Fort Thomas is reportedly taking action. It's not clear exactly what action they're taking, and considering local governments' past record, we can't just assume it's enough. Kenton County Fiscal Court, for example, approved a resolution supporting white supremacy early this year. Many local officials support the Tea Party - also a hate group.

Would we tolerate Al-Qaeda posting stickers on lampposts? What about a gang like MS-13? Domestic hate groups like Patriot Front should be treated like terrorist groups or criminal gangs.

(Source: https://www.fox19.com/2019/07/31/stickers-with-hate-messages-found-light-poles-nky)

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Ohio probes psychiatric facility for abuse

Anyone who still thinks psychiatric prisons for teenagers are free of abuse is to zip their lip now. I've tried to expose the abuse at CPH for a long time, and the right-wing media continues to sweep it under the rug. A similar facility in Ohio, however, is finally facing some media exposure.

Sequel Pomegranate is a privately run psychiatric lockup for teens in Columbus, Ohio. This is where Columbus area teenagers are sent if they dare to disagree with their school about anything. WBNS-TV in Columbus now reports that this facility is being investigated by the state for reports of violence and sexual assaults.

WBNS found that there have been substantiated cases of sexual assault at Sequel Pomegranate. There have also been reports of other violence, which was committed by staff - and even by some of the teens. Former detainees and their parents have also come forward.

Now the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services has been directed to tour the facility as part of the state probe.

There's no guarantee that anything will be done about it. Remember when Ohio refused to shut down Kids Helping Kids? It only closed because public protests put it out of business. But a Sequel facility in Utah recently closed because of violence and sexual abuse there. And that's Utah - a state known for harboring a glut of abusive teen programs.

Plus, a former employee of a Sequel facility in New Jersey says staffers offered detainees "incentives to corroborate false narratives about reportable incidents." A Sequel "academy" in Iowa faced complaints about illegal restraints.

(Source: https://www.10tv.com/article/dewine-orders-tour-columbus-psychiatric-facility-teens-after-reports-violence-sexual)

Friday, July 26, 2019

Massie opposes animal cruelty bill

How out of touch is our right-wing congresscritter Thomas Massie?

The U.S. House has just approved a bill titled the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act. This commonsense bill passed by a smashing 333 to 96.

I can't possibly figure out why anyone would oppose this bill, and in fact, Democratic members voted 233 to 0 in favor. This bill would fight against the cruel and indefensible practice of soring horses. Soring often involves applying caustic chemicals like kerosene or sticking sharp objects in horses' hooves to produce an unusual gait. This ghastly practice has plagued horse shows for years. It creates severe pain and permanent injury for horses.

Yet Massie opposed this bill. So did all other Kentucky Republicans in the House - as well as a few Tea Party extremists from other states.

The bill has a Senate companion that already has 40 sponsors. The PAST Act may pass by a veto-proof margin.

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Kentucky launches court-ordered voter suppression

If Matt Bevin manages to survive the election even though he's trailing by 10%, now we'll know why.

Kentucky is being forced to remove 250,000 "inactive" voters from its rolls. This is in response to a settlement resulting from a frivolous lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch, a far-right group that has sued climate scientists and has made numerous false claims that have been picked up as media talking points.

Judicial Watch falsely claimed that Kentucky had more voters on its rolls than citizens who were at least 18. This is untrue. The group also claimed that failure to remove voters violates the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. That too is a lie, for this law actually limits voters from being removed.

California must remove 5 million voters from its rolls.

It's unclear how these states are being forced to remove all these voters, for Judicial Watch doesn't have an army. This sounds like yet another case where public officials are caving to irrational right-wing bullies who have a megaphone.

(Source: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2019-07-16/kentucky-to-remove-up-to-250-000-inactive-voters)