
By David Futrelle
Another day, another batch of atrocities and embarrassments, from Donald Trump challenging his secretary of state to a public IQ-test bakeoff to the release of a vomit-inducing tape of Harvey Weinstein demonstrating his, er, pickup technique.
Let’s start with that one, huh, because it’s somehow even worse than it sounds — so much so that you may want to think twice before listening to it.
Weinstein, in conversation with Gutierrez, admits to groping her. Here’s the audio: https://t.co/zSQbK5NV0c pic.twitter.com/vmrrSUp43w
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) October 10, 2017
You can’t help but wonder how many dozens if not hundreds of times Weinstein has had similar, er, conversations with young, vulnerable women.
In other Harvey Weinstein news:
NYT: Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie say Harvey Weinstein sexually harassed them when they were young actresses. https://t.co/1n7FgrNmoW
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 10, 2017
Share some truth. Do your part. Retweet. Get loud. Push back. Bring it down. https://t.co/mEnjP7cOHy
— Rose McGowan (@rosemcgowan) October 9, 2017
Weinstein’s team issues statement saying he’s entering “counseling” to “pursue a better path,” right on cue from the ole rapist playbook
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) October 10, 2017
In non-Harvey Weinstein News That is Not Actually From The Onion, No Really, This is the World We Live in Today:
NEW: Trump proposes ‘IQ tests’ face-off with Tillerson after secretary of state calls him a ‘moron.’ https://t.co/kuCOSALDUl
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) October 10, 2017
How long before Trump tweets a screengrab of an online IQ test.
— Jemaine Clement (@AJemaineClement) October 10, 2017
I challenge Donald Trump to a public Buzzfeed "Tell Us Your Food Preferences And We'll Reveal Which Instagram Cat You Are" quiz showdown.
— David Futrelle (@DavidFutrelle) October 10, 2017
Still have not heard back from the White House on this one.
More news from the alternate reality we’re now stuck in: Melania Trump is feuding with Ivana Trump (yes, Ivana, not Ivanka) over who is the true First Lady.
https://twitter.com/BenjySarlin/status/917450380044390400
Blurgledsvgpo4qwbwd.
Henry Kissinger is definitely alive and absolutely not being Weekend at Bernie’s-ed pic.twitter.com/xdYNUlrwdC
— Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) October 10, 2017
https://twitter.com/pattymo/status/917583613918695424
My thoughts exactly, Los Angeles Times pic.twitter.com/oIUmHz7KsF
— Erin Antifa Plane Ryan (@morninggloria) October 10, 2017
https://twitter.com/lyssfame/status/917127717820153856
Now, cats:
— ねこばす (@neko_bus2010) October 9, 2017
https://twitter.com/MeetAnimals/status/917260879430811648
Ok, some dogs too:
this made my day https://t.co/RGo8FjZEiR
— Dog and Kitty (@dognkitty) October 9, 2017
https://twitter.com/awwcuteness/status/917244228836691969
Ok, bye.
@TheKND
@theKND: omggggg <3! That was perfect.
I also agree with JennyWren about this filter, i really don’t like it.
Thirding the dislike of the Weinstein filter.
Cybersix is an example of a show where the main character designs are actually better looking than the original source material. But I do have to note that the episode “Hashimoto, Private Eye” has pretty problematic character designs for the character Hashimoto and his little sister. They both have weird buck teeth and often squinty eyes, although they talk and act no differently than the rest of the characters. Pretty strange for a show that was a co-production with a Japanese animation studio.
“John D’arc, you mean like the French pronunciation of Joan of Arc?”
“No. Not in any way”
(Imagine this being said by Joan trying to fake a male voice )
Way way back in the 1980s, secret government employees, dug up famous guys and ladies, and made amusing genetic copies…
I saw over on shakesville that there is a casting couch statue on top of a mall??
What is even the hell, there??
I had forgotten about those character designs, @tim gueguen. It is a weird choice for a japan coproduction to make. But then, who designed the characters? The preproduction work could have been done in Canada…? Maybe? I know the voices were recorded here, but not much else.
About animated designs that look better than the source… I find that Invader Zim is way more appealing than what Jhonen Vasquez typically draws.
Also the concept art for Reboot, wowwww that was unappealing. I was going to buy the book at a convention, until i looked through it. I bought a Guardian key chain instead. XD
(I’m a huge animation nerd, soooorryyyyy)
JFK: “Just add some er s and ahs in there!!”
The raisin episode? With songs???
ALSO i just finished season one of one punch, and i loved it. One punch!!!
Policy of Madness says:
Good for you. Also, if your niece can think of and articulate all those ways that living with you would help her, then she’s perfectly capable of thinking up ways to help herself that don’t involve taking advantage of you.
@Shartheheretic
In my opinion, for the most part you have to be presentable and attractive to be with an attractive women. Lets not use HW as an example. He got women through greed, abuse of power, lies and probably blackmail. I have 1000000 more respect for Incels (The NONE MYSOGINISTIC ONES) and undateble men than that manipulative piece of shit
Getting laid through scumbag behaviour and manipulation is fuck all to be proud of
Bit more background on that warrant against Deandre Harris. It’s literal Nazis.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/harold-ray-crews-league-of-the-south-deandre-harris-warrant
@Rhuu – oh, I forgot about One Punch Man!
That’s a shame… we talking the new Reboot or the classic Reboot? Cuz classic Reboot was also one of my faves… although I wasn’t as big a fan of it’s darker turn. To me, it was best as episodic lighthearted adventure.
Rewatching the second episode of Clone High with the student election… definitely seeing a lot of parallels with current politics.
[campaign commercial voice over] “Abraham Lincoln. Honest Abe. Or so he’d have you believe. Last year, Abe said he was fifteen years old. Now he claims to be sixteen. Which is it, Abe? Better keep your story straight. He’d also like you to believe that he’s not a baby eater. He’s never gone on record saying he isn’t. Maybe he’s too busy eating babies.
[Abe Lincoln on video]: I can’t wait to eat this– [obvious cut] Baby? [cut to video of Lincoln eating spaghetti]
[campaign commercial voice over]When’s it gonna stop, Abe? Not voting for Abe. It just makes sense.”
I’d also be remiss not to give a shout-out to Metalocalypse. Just a pitch-perfect parody of celebrity/rock star excess and fandom at the same time. The band’s inability to accomplish the most basic of everyday tasks always leaves me in stitches.
Nathan: Alright, here’s the deal: we have to do our own shopping so we can make our own dinner like regular jack-offs do. Now you’re all in charge of putting together one dish. AND DON’T JUST BUY BOOZE! That ain’t food!
Murderface: What do you mean, “booze ain’t food?” I’d rather chop off my ding-dong than admit that!
The Charlottsville authorities had better withdraw that warrant for Deandre Harris.
I’ve seen the videos. There isn’t a black person even involved in Crews altercation. This is targeted harrassment by those assholes.
@Gussie Jives: I don’t know quite where your distinction is of ‘classic’ and ‘new’, haha. I know it was cancelled (I was super upset!) but then came back (hooray!), so I assume that is where it is divided?
I don’t remember if they had art from the third on seasons in there, but they might have? I just remember looking at Enzo and thinking ‘thank god they got something as appealing as they did out of this image!’
I definitely liked the darker turn. XD
I rewatched a couple of season 3 episodes over the long weekend with my room mate, and all I could say was that they were such NERDS. HUGE NERDS. It was amazing!
(There is a reboot costume group happening at my two room mates work, I am jelly that they didn’t tell me before I chose my costume!)
Also, how did I forget Metalocalypse???? It was really fun! Much more violent than I would usually watch, but “We’ve figured out how to go forward in time at the speed of real time” cracks me up every time I think of it. And their phones! That was a great recurring gag.
I remember Home Movies being fun, especially after season 1 when they got rid of the ‘squiggle vision’. I haven’t watched it since it was on TV though, don’t know how it aged.
@dreemr: I had almost avoided it? Then my room mate was like “… Come on.” After the first episode, I was hooked. It is so good!
@Alan Robertshaw
That’s the band member who confused the word ‘sexy’ with ‘sexist’, when their album cover got nixed because US stores wouldn’t stock it.
It’s a funny movie. I think it’s too slow-moving for today’s audiences.
That Charlottesville arrest… I have nothing to say.
https://globalnews.ca/news/3798900/harvey-weinstein-speaks-out-rehab/
I can’t even.
@ dormousing_it
“What’s wrong with being sexy?”
It is a great movie and, as anyone who’s worked in the business will confirm, scarily accurate. There’s a similar mocumentary about a rap band called Fear of a Black Hat. That’s also brilliant.
And in other news:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/u-s-citizens-killed-by-police-miscount-1.4351545
And:
https://globalnews.ca/news/3799296/donald-trump-speak-at-anti-lgbtq-value-voters-summit/
But yep…he’s an ally all right…*eyeroll*
O/t I guess
Anyone see that the Women’s Convention is having Bernie be the speaker opening night? Am I way off base or is it really fucking annoying that they couldn’t fill that spot with a woman? Maybe a fresh perspective?
@Jesalin: :C All of those stories are sad stories.
@booburry – nope, it is Really. Fucking. Annoying.
In other O/T news, there’s this lovely bit of nonsense.
Apple’s new VP of Diversity and Inclusion feels that a room full of blue-eyed white guys = diversity.
My God, that was horrifying. I love cute, furry animals as much as the next person, but how can anyone focus on anything but that audio tape?
Screw his brother and their dumb company, how is he not in prison?
@peak182
“Wow, I thought it was the incels that were mainly the ones to watch out for. Turns out powerful rich men can also be fucking freaks with no respect.”
/s, I hope?
@Rhuu
Oh, I was under the impression that the book you were looking at was for the planned reboot of Reboot. According to Wiki, they’re in the filming process:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReBoot:_The_Guardian_Code
Not sure how they’re going to swing it without Tony Jay. He was Megabyte. At least we got the old series.
@Jesalin
*sigh* Those are sad stories. The more this whole Weinstein story grows, the more it lays bare just how effin’ clueless men are to what women deal with. We’ve got Chris Cillizza and his ilk using the story as another rock to throw at Hillary Clinton, we’ve got Hollywood a-holes like Matt Damon who helped quash the Weinstein story in the past, meanwhile everyone else is trying to save face by condemning Weinstein despite having sexual assault allegations against them in the past (looking your way, Ben Affleck).
I’m getting flashbacks- to that scene in Spotlight where Billy Crudup is confronted by Michael Keaton to release his list of clients:
Robby: We’ve got two stories here. We’ve got a story about degenerate clergy and we’ve got a story about a bunch of lawyers turning child abuse into a cottage industry. Now, which story do you want us to write? Cause we’re writing one of them.
And Crudup’s only response is:
Eric MacLeish: I already sent you a list of names.
Robby: What are you talking about? To whom?
Eric MacLeish: The Globe. Years ago. After the Porter case, I got plenty of calls. I had 20 priests in Boston but I couldn’t go after them without press. So I sent you guys a list of names and you buried it.
As the Catholic Church was in Boston, so the studios are in Hollywood.
The only solace I have is the cultural reckoning might be one step closer. As celebrity-obsessed as our culture is, if this is the event that keeps famous women coming forward, it might become the watershed cultural event that ripples through all strata. Keyword being might; institutional forces are resistant to change and will fight accepting culpability as the Church did, but I can only live and hope.
Side note: Spotlight is one of those movies that contains a thousand and one teachable facets. Not just about journalism and the Catholic Church hierarchy, but also about local culture, politics, the interconnectivity of power, the cycle of abuse, the effects of sustained abuse and institutional failure. Whenever I have to explain the concept of rape culture to somebody, I often find myself referencing the film for context of how it operates. I cannot recommend it enough for any Mammotheers who haven’t seen it, but I do warn those who haven’t that the heavy subject matter won’t leave you with a cathartic finale. If anything, it’ll have you wanting to hit a pillow. But if you’re in the right state of mind, it’s worth a watch.
The magistrate’s warrant is enough to indict Harris and have the police arrest him, but the DA (who, IIRC, is a Democrat) still needs to decide that there’s enough evidence to pursue the case. It looks like it’s a bullying tactic to lower the likelihood that Harris will cooperate with the investigation in the case against his attackers.
Well that’s the end of Weinstein’s career. Hollywood just won’t countenance that sort of thing.
http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/articles/arts/culturebox/2014/02/140210_CBOX_PolanskiAllen.jpg
White nationalists are probably worried that a lot of members of so-called “non-violent moderate” white nationalist organizations could end up being convicted of serious violent felonies. That would open the door for groups like the SPLC to sue those organizations for tolerating an environment that encourages violence. They’re probably doing whatever they can to make sure the charges get dropped.
The great Digby from Hullabaloo had a prescient take on the long-term ramifications men like Trump and Weinstein have on women that I thought was worth sharing: https://digbysblog.blogspot.ca/2017/10/its-not-just-donnie-and-harve-folks.html
Seconding the recommendation for Spotlight. It’s not an easy watch, but it’s an important film and I’m glad it was made.
Re: Jesalin’s first link about Weinstein’s departure for ‘rehab’ (I mean, what does rehab for sex abuse even look like? No doubt it’s a fuckin’ resort, but I’m side eyeing the rest) Van Nuys airport is a good-sized regional airport with no major airlines serving it; it’s all private jets, high-end air shuttles and privately owned small aircraft. I grew up very close to it.
Not that it’s terribly salient to the story, but it seemed like they were making it out to be a regular commercial airport in the article.
@Gussie
That was depressing as all hell, mainly because it’s 100% true.
It’s the height male privilege that Weinstein was already assuming he’d be forgiven and invited back after “therapy” when he should be in prison. Or somewhere far away from women. I just can’t fathom the mindset.
There’s no “rehab” for sex offenders that will “cure” people after 6 months. Weinstein is 65, so he’s probably not going to change his learned behaviors.
@booburry:
“But I always got away with it before! Why should people suddenly start caring now?”
In some ways, it’s a lot like what happens with a lot of thieves who get caught because they figured they’d always gotten away before and got arrogant. In other ways, of course, it isn’t: there’s rarely this much cultural support for theft (unless you’re only stealing from people who don’t have anything anyway).
There’s a video.
Of Crew’s assault.
There is not a black person near him.
There is no fucking case against Harris.
None.
They can drop that warrant.
They need to.
Now.
Weinstein – you’re a raging pustule on the arse of humanity.
A mistake is when you put salt in your tea instead of sugar.
You don’t mistakenly put your penis inside someone who doesn’t want it. You don’t accidentally threaten, bully and cajole women into coming to your room when they obviously want to get away.
You don’t harass, assault or rape people by mistake. They are always deliberate and calculated acts. Your disingenuous non-apology is a result only of you being exposed and caught for the abusive predator that you are.
Fuck.
Off.
Andy Signore, the “Honest Trailers” guy (I’m not sure if he’s the person who narrates the videos), was fired by Defy Media only after the sexual assault and harassment allegations against him were made public: http://www.businessinsider.com/honest-trailers-creator-andy-signore-fired-sexual-abuse-allegations-2017-10
History Nerd said
Pretty much what I thought. He’s going to a resort in Arizona where he’ll have a bit of talk therapy to make him feel better.
I’m probably going to have to have a break from things for a week or so. Our beloved Catbeast is going to be put down tomorrow as his kidneys seem to have shut down suddenly. He’s gotten a couple of shots to keep him comfortable till then. I don’t want to preside over any more deaths for, well, ever.
So it seems that Twitter gave Rose McGowan a temporary ban for her comments on Weinstein. You know, the company people had to basically beg for them to enforce their own TOS against actual Nazis. But boy were they ready to silence her.
Since this was on Facebook News it also showed some rando’s thoughts on this, which was two very stupid points;
1. Twitter is a private company and can do what they want with their platform. *Points at my comment above to show why that’s so fucking problematic*
2. This person then, I shit you not, said “I don’t remember anyone complaining when Milo Y. was banned on Twitter!”
Son, if you don’t remember the uproar that happened when Milo’s Frozen Peaches were taken away by the SJW Twitters, you might wish to see a doctor about your memory problems.
Yeah, I’d guess Weinstein’s “treatment” is talk therapy that helps him feel better. The vast majority of people who attend sex offender treatment or batterer intervention programs voluntarily (not as part of being sentenced to treatment for a criminal conviction) drop out after a few sessions.
@Schnookums
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL re: point 2
@Hambeast
OMG, I’m so sorry!
@Hambeast
I’m so sorry to hear about Catbeast.
@Hambeast,
I’m so sorry about Catbeast. Everyone here will be aware of how much you love him.
As our vet nurse said to us when our BooBoo had heart failure, “They’re never with us for long enough.”
Oh, @Hambeast, I am so sorry about Catbeast. Take your time.
Oh, Hambeast, I am so, so sorry. My sincerest condolences. 😢
@Hambeast
I’m so sorry. Losing our cat friends is always heartbreaking. I hope he can at least go peacefully.
@repdavebrat @repmobrooks @repkenbuck @reptedbudd @repstevechabot @kycomer @warrendavidson @desjarlaisTN04 @repseanduffy @repjeffduncan @repjohnduncanjr @reptomemmer @virginiafoxx @reptrentfranks @repgallagher @RepTomGarrett @RepBobGibbs @replouiegohmert @RepGoodlatte @RepGosar @RepMGriffith @RepAndyHarrisMD @rephensarling @CongressmanHice @RepFrenchHill @repholding @RepRichHudson @repmikejohnson @repwalterjones @Jim_Jordan @RepTrentKelly @repdavidkustof @RepDLamborn @RepJasonLewis @reploudermilk @repkenmarchant @RepThomasMassie @RepMarkMeadows @RepLukeMesser @repalexmooney @repmullin @repkristinoem @RalphNorman @USRepGaryPalmer @RepStevePearce @repscottperry
These are the members of the United States House of Representatives that voted AGAINST relief funds for Puerto Rico. Shameless, craven ghouls.
I am so very, very angry right now.
@Hambeast
I’m so very sorry. You’re doing the right thing, of course, but it still hurts a lot.
Take all the time you need to recover from this blow.
Bon voyage, Catbeast. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
@Hambeast so so sorry.
I’m sat here with our beloved (16yo, blind, doddery) Spyro on my lap. Think I’ll delay getting ready for work for a few more minutes.