SHUT UP! I am not Fat!

— Greg Kelly (@gregkellyusa) April 28, 2021

Business Insider: “Can a cable news host amass such a large influence among conservatives that he becomes too big to cancel? Fox News’ Tucker Carlson has generated massive controversies before – losing as many as 70 advertisers in less than a year – but his Monday night segment on how parents forcing their children to wear masks in public should be reported for ‘child abuse’ seemed to result in a new level of criticism for the host. The network is betting big on Carlson and his crusade against ‘cancel culture’ as a catchall term, adding two streaming shows to his portfolio this year as part of a new deal with the network where he reportedly makes $10 million per year.”

“His 8 p.m. show is the network’s most watched, and the host owns the record for the highest viewership of any cable news show in US history. Carlson has weathered waves of ad boycotts and outrage from various constituencies, mainly over segments promoting – either implicitly or explicitly – white supremacist ideologies such as ‘white replacement theory,’ which he embraced in plain terms on-air earlier this month. What’s new this time is his call to action from his millions of viewers. According to the latest Fox News earning report, revenue from cable fees more than doubled that from advertising, which explains, in part at least, why the successive ad boycotts have not resulted in the network canning Carlson’s primetime show. Unlike advertising revenue, cable fees are more guaranteed and split among channels carried by providers like Comcast or Spectrum. Those proceeds for Fox come from cable subscribers regardless of whether they ever tune in. While cable fees continue to fall as more Americans cut the cord, Carlson is at the center of the network’s streaming strategy with his new talk show ‘Tucker Carlson Today’ and longform documentary series ‘Tucker Carlson Orignals,’ both of which are behind a paywall on the FOX Nation app. Perhaps most importantly, Carlson still has the support of the Murdoch family, which founded and controls Fox News.”

Liz (never ending wars) Cheney is apparently mulling a 2024 presidential run… LOL, president of what? Her home owners association??? My full thoughts https://t.co/RVjgJNa0Wv

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 28, 2021

“Former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory acknowledged reality in 2020: former President Donald Trump lost. He then explained why – and objected to Trump’s baseless effort in Congress to overturn the election. Now a candidate for Senate, McCrory is facing the same threat as other Republicans in key races: a primary against challengers who vigorously defended Trump’s actions in the runup to the January 6 insurrection and backed Trump’s Big Lie that he actually won reelection. It’s a dynamic that is consistent in races across the country – whether it’s Trump defender Mo Brooks’ Senate bid in Alabama or Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s reelection effort after repudiating the then-President’s role in the deadly Capitol Hill riot. Candidates like Brooks who aligned with Trump’s endeavor to subvert the will of the electorate – and continue to do so – are likelier to win over his coveted endorsement that could set them apart from their GOP primary foes. And in the high-stakes North Carolina primary, McCrory is trying to reconcile his criticism of Trump from his radio program, telling CNN he backed ‘almost all’ of the former President’s policies, supported his reelection effort and opposed both times Trump was impeached by the House, including on a charge of inciting the Capitol insurrection.”

“Yet since Election Day, McCrory has at times offered unsparing criticism of Trump in candid comments on his radio program, according to a CNN review of his remarks. McCrory dismissed that there was ‘something devious’ leading to President Joe Biden winning the race, saying that Trump’s name-calling, ‘disastrous’ first debate performance and personality cost him the election, turning off ‘soccer moms’ in the suburbs. He said the then-President’s legal team ‘failed miserably,’ saying it was Trump’s ‘fault’ for bringing them on board – and said his pressure campaign on Georgia officials to find enough votes to reverse Biden’s win raised ‘some possible legal issues'” – CNN.

NBC News: “India passed 200,000 Covid-19 deaths Wednesday, becoming only the fourth country to do so, as it battles a devastating second wave of infections. The surge in new infections has stretched hospitals across the country to a breaking point, with widespread shortages of medical oxygen and beds. Patients and their loved ones desperately search for hospitals with intensive care units that can make room for them, turning to social media to find access to vacant beds and oxygen online. Increased infections are not only overwhelming the hospitals, but also crematoriums which are running out of space. Funerals are held in parks, parking lots and other temporary cremation grounds – images of bodies burning on rows of funeral pyres have been seen worldwide.”

“India, the world’s second most populous country, reported 360,960 new Covid infections on Tuesday, again breaking a record for the highest single-day figure globally, according to data from the Indian Ministry of Health. Overall India has recorded 17.9 million cases, second only to the United States with more than 32 million cases. Tuesday was also India’s deadliest day of the pandemic so far, with 3,293 deaths. Experts fear the official tally vastly underestimates the real death toll in a nation of over 1.35 billion people.”

The image accompanying the tweet from Pittsburgh-area CBS affiliate KDKA’s article “Measure Passed By Pittsburgh City Council Seeks To Lower Speed Limits On City Streets”.

“The U.K.’s Electoral Commission on Wednesday announced an investigation into allegations that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had Conservative Party donors ‘secretly pay’ for a renovation of his apartment at No. 11 Downing Street. It’s unprecedented for a sitting prime minister to face this kind of investigation, which could result in a fine of up to £20,000 and a referral to police if the violations are serious, according to The Times of London.”

“‘We have been in contact with the Conservative Party since late March and have conducted an assessment of the information they have provided to us,’ the Electoral Commission said in a statement. We are now satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence or offences may have occurred. We will therefore continue this work as a formal investigation to establish whether this is the case'” – Axios.

Politico: “One hundred days into the Biden administration, the White House is a tight ship defined by insularity, internal power centers and top down micromanagement – interviews with nearly two dozen people across the administration, including senior White House officials, reveal. The result is a unit that doesn’t leak (at least not that often) and that stays on script (most of the time). But it is also one where there is competition to show proximity to the boss and occasional difficulty in moving agenda items along in a timely manner. ‘Everybody feels driven to get things right and do right by Joe Biden,’ White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in an interview. ‘Some of that comes from the fact that there are a number of people here who have worked for him for decades. There’s a personal loyalty and a desire for him to be successful at a gut level, as Americans, but also as people who love him.’ Still, some aides complain Biden is kept in too much of a bubble, one where few people can get his ear outside of a cadre of loyalists he’s cultivated for decades. Exhaustion is setting in amid a punishing – and relentlessly serious – remote work regimen, with little opportunity for the levity breaks of past White Houses. Others concede that the heavy-handedness is mucking up the works.”

“By and large, however, it is working. Biden has befuddled critics and pleased progressives. He’s taken myriad actions, big and small, using executive orders, the bully pulpit and Congress. He’s done it in a way so drama-free, it couldn’t be more antithetical to his predecessor. There’s little infighting or even signs of internal disagreement. ‘They used to say ‘no drama Obama’ but honestly this White House is even more devoid of that,’ said one White House official who also worked in the Obama administration. ‘Part of Biden’s promise during the campaign was to lower the temperature and not treat the presidency like a reality show and that’s a promise he’s delivered on,’ said Ben LaBolt, a former Obama official who is also close to the Biden White House. ‘I think here you see people who are 100 percent focused on addressing a national crisis and not professional positioning. They’re focused on results.'”

https://youtu.be/9c8NQSJ4Svk

“Meningitis, for example, kills a fair number of people every year but we don’t require everyone to start a regimen of antibiotics before they returned to work,” says Carlson, dismissing the effectiveness of proactive treatments like vaccines.

Obviously, there are a number of problems with people’s claims:  Antibiotics are not preventative drugs, and people who are exposed to people with certain types meningitis *are* given antibiotics as a course of treatment on the chance they caught.

“President Joe Biden will call for free preschool for all three- and four-year-old children, a $200 billion investment to be rolled out as part of his sweeping American Families Plan being unveiled Wednesday in an address to Congress. The administration said the historic investment would benefit 5 million children and save the average family $13,000. It calls for providing federal funds to help the states offer preschool, with teachers and other employees earning a minimum of $15 an hour,” reports the Associated Press.

“President Biden’s address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday will be noteworthy not because of the COVID-restricted audience but because he’ll stand before two women in the House Chamber. The joint address is not a State of the Union speech, though it will have the usual trappings: an announcement of the president’s arrival, and clapping as he walks down the aisle.”

“Almost everything else will be different. There are 535 members of Congress and usually 1,600 people in the chamber. On Wednesday, the number will be capped at 200 – and no guests allowed. Some Republicans are furious about the skinny guest list. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) told Axios she will be in attendance anyway. ‘I’ve requested an invitation and I haven’t heard back,’ Boebert said last week. ‘I’m showing up'” – Axios.

Daily Beast: “Former President Donald Trump is one step closer to testifying in a New York lawsuit filed by a group of protesters who claim his bodyguards assaulted them in 2015. As The Daily Beast previously reported, the activists had gathered outside Trump Tower to protest the Republican candidate’s derogatory comments on Mexican immigrants. On that September day, soon after the demonstrators assembled on Fifth Avenue outside the skyscraper, several members of Trump’s security team allegedly ‘violently attacked’ them and destroyed their protest banners before a crowd that included reporters. While president, Trump had tried to quash a subpoena that would force him to testify at the civil trial in the Bronx and sit for a videotaped deposition beforehand. In 2019, his lawyers appealed a judge’s order denying his request.”

“On Tuesday, the state’s Appellate Division dismissed Trump’s appeal as moot. ‘This appeal concerning the proper standard for determining whether a sitting President may be compelled to give videotaped trial testimony about unofficial acts in a civil action against him or her is moot given that the rights of parties will not be directly affected by our determination,’ the court said in its ruling, ‘and that there will not be an immediate consequence of the judgment.’ Benjamin N. Dictor, an attorney for the protesters, said: ‘We are pleased with the Appellate Division’s decision and look forward to presenting Mr. Trump’s testimony at trial, as would be expected from any adverse party in litigation.’ Lawyers for Trump could not be reached for comment.”

“Drone autonomy is getting more and more impressive, but we’re starting to get to the point where it’s getting significantly more difficult to improve on existing capabilities. Companies like Skydio are selling (for cheap!) commercial drones that have no problem dynamically path planning around obstacles at high speeds while tracking you, which is pretty amazing, and it can also autonomously create 3D maps of structures. In both of these cases, there’s a human indirectly in the loop, either saying “follow me” or “map this specific thing.” In other words, the level of autonomous flight is very high, but there’s still some reliance on a human for high-level planning. Which, for what Skydio is doing, is totally fine and the right way to do it.” reports IEEE Spectrum.

The Kamala Harris story — an incorrect story I was ordered to write and which I failed to push back hard enough against — was my breaking point.

— Laura Italiano (@Italiano_Laura) April 27, 2021

The Federal Aviation Administration is proposing $63,000 total in fines for three airline passengers who disrupted flights on US carriers in January, reinforcing its directive to punish unruly passengers on planes, USA Today reports.

Two of the passengers were on a January 5th Jetblue flight from Haiti to Boston.  One, who was fined $31,750, drank alcohol he brought on board the flight, grabbed two flight attendants on the flight, and required the crew to reseat other passengers to isolate the man.

A second man on the same flight, who was fined $16,750, also drank alcohol he brought on board, shouted obscenities and “made motions to strike a flight attendant.”  The crew called ahead to Boston, where police escorted the men off the flight.  It is unknown if the two men knew each other or were traveling together.

Here’s yet another statement from the Orange God Emperor: “Liz Cheney is polling sooo low in Wyoming, and has sooo little support, even from the Wyoming Republican Party, that she is looking for a way out of her Congressional race. Based on all polling, there is no way she can win. She’ll either be yet another lobbyist or maybe embarrass her family by running for President, in order to save face. This warmongering fool wants to stay in the Middle East and Afghanistan for another 19 years, but doesn’t consider the big picture – Russia and China!”

Newly uncovered footage of a 2013 safari National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne Lapierre and his wife took to Botswana to film a self-serving promotional documentary was never shown, largely due to Lapierre’s unskilled use of the weapons he was given, the New Yorker reports.

Lapierre had his guides on the safari to track down an elephant for him to kill.  Once found, Lapierre arrived on the scene and fired a shot from a rifle that incapacitated the animal but did not kill it.  Moving closer to the elephant, Lapierre took three additional shots to try to finish off his target, but missed the “kill spot.”  Finally, one of the guides approached the animal and put the animal out of its misery with one shot.

Lapierre’s wife, Susan, proved to be more adept at killing.  After guides found another elephant for her, she arrived on the scene and took one shot to fell the animal.  She then cut the tail of the elephant, proudly displaying it to the camera and declaring, “Victory!”

“The link to the nonsense New York Post story about the Harris book is no longer working; it now just redirects to their home page. (Again, this was their cover story – that flatly asserted Harris’s book was being given out ‘illegally’)” reports CNN’s Daniel Dale.

One gun store in Gary, Indiana has been identified as the sales point for more than 850 guns found at crime scenes in Chicago, just 30 miles north, according to a lawsuit filed by the city of Chicago, USA Today reports.

Westforth Sports, Inc. has “engaged in a pattern of illegal sales that has resulted in the flow of hundreds, if not thousands, of illegal firearms into the City of Chicago,” according to the lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Indiana has more lax gun sales laws than Chicago or the state of Illinois, so people seeking to purchase guns find it easier to go to Indiana to purchase weapons.  Gary has become a mini-mecca for gun buyers, with a number of gun shops in the town, a point that gun control advocates point to a flaw in local gun laws.

https://youtu.be/nteVU0yVWyk

In his quest to become the new chair of the South Carolina Republican Party, election denier (and person who thinks tags saying don’t use a toaster in the bathtub limit his freedoms) L. Lin Wood confronted current state GOP chair Drew McKissick at an event Monday in Hampton County, South Carolina.

Wood tells McKissick, “I know all about you and Lindsey,” apparently referring to South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and hinting at some sort of untoward relationship the two men have, saying “It’s all going to come out.”

McKissick responds with his own out-of-the-blue claim that Wood supports “Chinese pornography.”