Mar A Largo really is a Magical Place

ESPN returns Emmys and disciplines staff after submitting for awards under fake names

ESPN returned dozens of Emmy statues and “disciplined” employees after an investigation disclosed Thursday found that the sports network had submitted fake names to the awards organization in a bid to secure trophies for on-air personalities who had been ineligible to receive them.

The apparent fraud stretched back to 1997, ESPN said in a statement, acknowledging that members of its team “were clearly wrong” for concocting the scheme.

“Some members of our team were clearly wrong in submitting certain names that may go back to 1997 in Emmy categories where they were not eligible for recognition or statuettes,” an ESPN spokesperson said in a statement. “This was a misguided attempt to recognize on-air individuals who were important members of our production team. Once current leadership was made aware, we apologized to NATAS for violating guidelines and worked closely with them to completely overhaul our submission process to safeguard against anything like this happening again.”

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/us/espn-returns-emmys-and-disciplines-staff-after-submitting-for-awards-under-fake-names/ar-AA1mPjse?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=cd7d6caf571b49bdfc7ad41456787719&ei=94

According to the article the story was first posted in the athletic

https://theathletic.com/5193316/2024/01/11/espn-emmys-fake-names-college-gameday/

From the athletic

That request was one of many ESPN made of some of its biggest stars last year after the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS), the organization that administers the Emmys, uncovered a scheme that the network used to acquire more than 30 of the coveted statuettes for on-air talent ineligible to receive them. Since at least 2010, ESPN inserted fake names in Emmy entries, then took the awards won by some of those imaginary individuals, had them re-engraved and gave them to on-air personalities.

Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Chris Fowler, Desmond Howard and Samantha Ponder, among others, were given the ill-gotten Emmys, according to a source briefed on the matter, who was granted anonymity because the individual is not authorized to discuss it publicly. There is no evidence that the on-air individuals were aware the Emmys given to them were improperly obtained.

The ultimate guide to Cockney rhyming slang

Many of us know that "brown bread" is Cockney rhyming slang for dead, "china plate" for mate, and "bubble bath" for laugh. But how many know the meaning of the phrases? The historic native wit of this east end community (and its followers from around the world) often has an interesting logic to its phrases. Rather than simply a rhyming association, the slang reflects meaning in the expressions themselves. Here's a guide to the most commonly-used Cockney rhyming slang:

"Apples and pears" (stairs)
To the Cockney, the phrase "steps and stairs" describes the idea of gradation. Every good costermonger has skill in displaying the front of his stall. The selected samples of fruit and vegetables are expertly graded in "steps and stairs". Apples and pears, when in season, are common on each barrow and, when polished, create an arresting display.

snip

"Cut and carried" (married)
Applying only to the wife who is cut off from the parental support and carried (provided for) by her husband.

snip

"Lion's lair" (chair)
Referring to the risk caused in disturbing the father of the household when he was taking his afternoon nap in an armchair "of a Sunday".

snip

"Rats and mice" (dice)
The appearance of dice rolling is similar to rodents running.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jun/09/guide-to-cockney-rhyming-slang

Donald Wildmon, the founder of the American Family Association, is dead

He was 85 and died from complications from dementia.
From where I sit he's always been demented

Luke Combs helping a fan who almost owed him $250,000 for selling unauthorized merchandise

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Country singer Luke Combs is making amends to a disabled Florida woman who sells tumblers online after she was ordered to pay him $250,000 when she got snared in a crackdown his lawyers launched against companies that sell unauthorized merchandise with his image or name on it.

Combs in an Instagram video posted Wednesday said he told his attorneys to remove Nicol Harness from a lawsuit they filed in an Illinois federal court and that he was sending her $11,000. She had sold on Amazon 18 tumblers she had made with his name and likeness for $20 each, grossing $360.

The singer, who recently topped the country charts with his remake of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” also said he would start selling his own tumbler with the proceeds going to pay Harness’ medical bills — she has heart disease and was recently hospitalized. He also said he would fly Harness and her family to an upcoming concert so he could meet her.

He said his lawyers were only supposed to go after big companies that sell unauthorized goods, not fans who have a little business on the side. Most of the 45 other sellers sued appear to be large operations in Asia, court filings show. Under U.S. copyright law, sellers of unauthorized goods can be hit with stiff penalties and have their assets seized. They can also face criminal charges.

https://apnews.com/article/luke-combs-lawsuit-unauthorized-merchandise-fan-6c58df6889a207236381f68065e12525

Paraguayan official sacked after signing deal with fictional country

A high-ranking political official in Paraguay has been forced out of office for dealings with an imaginary country made up by a man on the run from sexual assault charges.

Armando Chamorro was required to resign from his post as chief of staff of Paraguay’s agriculture minister on Wednesday after signing a ‘memorandum of understanding’ with representatives of the United States of Kailasa.

The fictional country had been presented to Mr Chamorro as a real South American island by Swami Nithyananda, a self-declared Hindu mystic on the lamb from rape and sexual assault charges in India going back to 2019.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/paraguayan-official-sacked-after-signing-deal-with-fictional-country/ar-AA1kT98N?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=a9562c977e1549ad887c7e9945c0b7c0&ei=43

'Cheaper than beer': Laos meth prices plummet as Myanmar chaos fuels trade

Front-line workers say methamphetamine pills are now being sold for as little as $0.25 each as traffickers flood the country with unprecedented amounts of drugs.

Vientiane, Laos – Keo remembers the day he consumed so much yaba that he “lost his mind.”

The 37-year-old from Laos took more of the drug – a potent combination of methamphetamine and caffeine – than he had ever done before.

snip

In Laos, the poorly-resourced police are facing a deluge of narcotics as the country has become a vital trafficking corridor in Asia’s drug trade. The surge has pushed prices down to record lows, with front-line workers saying pills are now being sold for as little as $0.24 cents each –cheaper than most basic necessities like food and water and making the drug affordable to all in one of Asia’s poorest countries.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/7/cheaper-than-beer-laos-meth-prices-plummet-as-myanmar-chaos-fuels-trade

So good of the Sharks to start the season as a total disaster

Now we don't have to worry about them pulling a late-season or post season collapse

10-1 to Vancouver.
God are the Sharks terrible

From Dickens to the 21st Century. We have the boy and it is named MAGA

“They are Man's and they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance and this girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased.”

The Republicans helped to create them both, and continue to nurture both Want and Ignorance. One only need to look at Iowa and Indiana to see Want grow more desperate. And through their promotion of charters and home schools, and Hillsdale College programs in places like TN and FL, and their right-wing networks Ignorance becomes more so.

They really need to stop blaming Matt Gaetz

Though Matt Gaetz is obnoxious and annoying, and he may have the most punchable face in the House, they (Republicans and Media) need to stop blaming Matt Gaetz for what is happening in the House. To listen to Republicans, and many in the media Mc Carthy was a beloved figure around space and time, and had it not been for the evil machinations of this one guy from Florida, Mc Carthy would still be Speaker.
The majority of the blame rests on Mc Carthy and the Republican Party. They (Republicans) embraced (Trump) a nihilistic, self-centered, vain, incompetent anarchist who appealed to people's demons, instead of their angels, because he brought them tax cuts, and unqualified judges who would outlaw abortion, all the while he played his petty anarchistic terrorist card every chance he got.

It was Mc Carthy, not Gaetz, who was so desperate to get that gavel that he made the bargain, where the 21st century version of Newt Gingrich's more evil, odious and obnoxious twin was able to wield the Sword of Damocles like an eight year old, swinging it around the room without any adult telling the little boy to stop -- because there are no adults in their room, thus providing him the opportunity to bring SINO Kevin down. SINO Kevin (Speaker In Name Only) made that deal thinking (though I doubt he thought that long, and certainly not hard, about it) that he could control the dragon. Instead of recognizing that caving to a terrorist just emboldens them to be demand more. In fairness to Gaetz, that's what Republicans have been doing since the 90s; threatening to tear everything down if they don't get what they want.
So see? Gaetz is a Republican
And even with Gaetz's call to vacate, there were other Republicans who voted to unseat SINO as well. So Gaetz could have called to vacate the Chair, sat in the corner holding his breath, his face turning a deep purple, and it wouldn't have mattered had the rest of the caucus held firm. That the leadership was surprised that Rep Mace voted against Mc Carthy shows how little their leadership really understands their membership, or what a horrible crank Mace is -- or both.
That their second choice, Scalise, was a guy who compared himself favorably to David Duke is not Gaetz's doing. Scalise is a well- thought of, well-respected member of the Republican House caucus. Their leadership proudly claims a member of the most secret of House caucuses, the Klan Caucus, as a leader of their Party. Gaetz didn't put him there. I don't know if Gaetz wants him there, or not. But even if he did, he's still just one member with one vote.
That their next choice, Jordan, was an individual so vile that about half of his own caucus loathed him, again is not because of Gaetz's brilliant Dr No-like genius. They did this to themselves. It was painfully laughable to hear the only person who is less of a team player than Gaetz cajoling his colleagues to pull together to for the good of the country. That from a man who wouldn't have voted with his members if it meant saving his best friend's life without demanding tax cuts, or kicking the poor down the stairs. Jordan's new found emphasis on team is laughable and pathetic coming from a guy who was a coach of a university sport.
Jordan's other biggest failing; you know other than he is a loud-mouthed, self-centered, non-team playing, incompetent jerk who has collected a paycheck for the last dozen years without actually having accomplished anything close to passing a single piece of legislation (not even a post office in someone's name), is that he's a poor fundraiser. Because... well... people hate him. SINO Kevin may have sucked, but he does know how to raise a lot of cash.
Gaetz just gets the attention because the Republicans and the media (you know, the liberal media) will not acknowledge the mess that is the Party disembowelling the House -- though, in fairness, Gaetz does seem to like the attention.
But we can all take heart that some guy in his first term in the House has announced that he's running for Speaker.
Oh... and Trump doesn't want the guy from Minnesota to have the Speaker's Chair because he said early on that Biden won.
So there we are
And none of that is because of Matt Gaetz.
And yes Matt Gaetz does suck and is horrible and is responsible for a lot of ignorant and stupid things. Just not this