Feeling: Happy

Last night I beat the game, Digital: A Love Story.

• Still only surface details about the whistleblower have been leaked by White House staff. They're claiming that the person who reported severe corruption by Trump making an obscene promise to a foreign leader involves the nation of Ukraine. Ukraine has been in the news since 2014 when Russia invaded and conquered a part of the nation. Based on his past, we can probably assume that Trump's back-room deal was not only terrible for the USA, but also highly illegal. In fact, his personal lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani is once again making a mess for Trump, getting caught up in his own lies, and implied that he and Trump asked Ukraine to get dirt on Joe Biden.
• I have no love of our nation's wasteful military spending, and I would prefer to see the entire military budget cut to less than one tenth its current size, but I can still critique Trump's hypocrisy. Despite all his claims that he's in favor of the US military, his priorities are always about himself. Case in point, he is pulling funding from the rebuilding of US military bases that were destroyed in the hurricane and using that money to build his useless border wall.
• Don't trust pundits, Elizabeth Warren is kicking ass!
• Trump nominated Republican billionaire Darrell Issa to be the Director of the US Trade and Development Agency, but, like everyone else Trump nominated, he has a background of crime and corruption that is making it hard for him to pass his background check.
• Republican Robert O'Brien is just another criminal work for the Criminal and Chief.
• Brett Kavanaugh could have respected the office of Supreme Court by demanding a full investigation of his past, but that's not typical behavior for a sexual predator.
• Trump is bombing the hell out of Middle Eastern civilians, but he has yet to bring the nation into full-scale war, so I guess that's one incredibly low bar he's passed.
• Climate change is a serious problem, and even Republicans used to see reason, but they're bought and paid for by old rich white guys who will be dead before the really bad stuff hits.
• Republicans do not care about state's rights.
• Republicans have been complaining about voter fraud for years, so it seemed rather odd that "Moscow" Mitch McConnell was doing everything in his power to stop a bill that would prevent voter fraud. Of course, if you're paying attention, you know why. When Republicans say "voter fraud" they mean, non-white voters, and the election security bill would primarily prevent hackers (who are mostly foreign white people) from infiltrating voter machines. Just like with the bill to cover the health care of 9/11 first responders, it took a lot of public shaming before Moscow Mitch finally caved and agreed to fund the voter protection bill.
• Yes, the founders of the nation deserve respect for putting together a complex system of government, but that doesn't mean we should deify them.
• Colt has ceased manufacturing of their AR-15 assault rifle for civilians claiming there isn't enough of a market for them anymore. Good to hear.
• Our tax dollars were spent to pay Sean Spicer to lie to us every day. No amount of terrible dancing can fix that.

We won't be colonizing Mars any time soon, but for rather strange reasons.

Are vegans more likely to die than meat eaters? Only if you manipulate the data.

Feeling: Happy

I began a page for the popular Christian argument: liar, lunatic, lord.

• Someone in the White House made an official whistleblower complaint to the about Trump saying that he promised a foreign leader something awful. Republicans are currently doing everything in their power to keep the complain unknown, so nobody yet knows what Trump promised or who he promised it to, but, whatever it was, it was so bad that his own staff freaked out about it!
• White supremacists are terrorizing black people and their families so much they're causing them to drop out of political races. Daniel McMahon, of Brandon, Florida, has been arrested for his terrorism, but the damage has been done.
• My current favorite Democratic candidate for president is Elizabeth Warren. I like how well-prepared she is, I like most of her proposals, and I like her many years of experience.
• Republican Ted Cruz doesn't like his Facebook feed to be polluted with facts, and Facebook bends over backwards to make sure you also don't get to see the facts he doesn't like.
• Trump's plan to win the upcoming election is to simply convince all the people he called drug dealers and rapists to vote for him.

Trying to stop deadly mosquitoes by introducing a genetic disease into the population might -sound- like a smart idea, but what happens when they evolve and become even more genetically robust?

The Clergy Project, an organization that helps preachers find new jobs after leaving the church, is celebrating it's 1,000 member!

Olympic runner Caster Semenya was temporarily banned from her sport because her body naturally produces a lot of testosterone, but, despite what that infomercial selling Cambodian testosterone tells you, simply having more testosterone won't make you a better athlete. In fact, for several sports, it's actually better to have less testosterone!

No, you can't turn tear gas into a solid by putting it into a cup of liquid nitrogen.

Feeling: Happy

I added a page for video games which feature a playable female character.

• America-first Trump is ready to take the USA into a war in the Middle East just as soon as Saudi Arabia tells him to, because he's a puppet. When every US intelligence organization said in agreement that Russia had purposely and covertly interfered with the US presidential election, Obama placed sanctions on the country. Shortly after being sworn in, Trump lifted those sanctions. Now, Iran is being accused of being responsible for bombing a Saudi Arabian oil field, but the evidence it scant. So, Trump is imposing sanctions against Iran.
• Once again, Republicans are using their federal authority to eliminate state's rights. In this case, California has instituted anti-pollution laws that are a little more strict than the EPA, but Republicans are taking away the state's right to do this. All my life, Republicans have claimed they were against big government and in favor of state's rights, but their actions are always contrary.
• Republican Mike Folmer has been caught with child pornography.
• More details about how Republicans prevented the FBI from investigating Brett Kavanaugh's multiple sexual assault allegations.
• Republicans are cutting back on USDA inspections of pork. Hope you guys don't mind getting a tape worm.
• Republican Sean Spicer, who famously resigned after being unable to keep up with the non-stop lies he had to tell in order to protect Trump, also believes his god has nothing better to do than keep him on a reality TV dancing show.

Catholic priest Arthur Perrault is finally seeing the inside of a prison after living most of his life a free man despite raping several children.

Feeling: Happy

I finished reading Richard Leakey and Roger Lewin's book Origins: What New Discoveries Reveal About the Emergence of Our Species and Its Possible Future.

• Republicans say they want legal immigration, but they're actions prove they don't want any immigration at all.
• It's important to keep talking about the fact that Republicans still voted in favor of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh even after knowing he had been credibly accused of sexual assault by multiple women, and then offered congratulations to all the people who help defend him, while simultaneously smearing his victims.
• Every single one of Trump's appointees have either been found guilty of corruption or are currently being investigated for corruption, and Secretary of Transportation, Republican Elaine Chao is no different.
• It has been estimated by Moody Analytics that Trump's various trade wars have lost the USA around 300,000 jobs.
• Arizona's Supreme Court has just been given two new Republican justices, and they've legalized discrimination, but only for religious people.
• Most of the world is freaking out that the Amazon is burning, but US Republicans are helping to actively light the fires.

I used to like Bill Maher's in-your-face say-it-like-it-is attitude, but, the more I watched him, the more I realized, he's garbage. He's an antivaxxer, but doesn't know anything about science, he talks about how he should be allowed to say racist slurs without any negative feedback because of "freedom of speech," and, his latest screed was straight-up fat-shaming. Fat people know they're fat because they are constantly shamed by people like him about it, and one thing we know doesn't help people lose weight, is shaming them because of it, especially under the guise of tough-love when it's clear that there is not love to be had. James Corden made a fantastic response.

Mega Man would have an easier time if Rush acted like a real dog.

There are several ways to combat climate change, and one really bad way to just give up.

The entirely true story about how New York and New Jersey fought over Staten Island and decided it with a fully legitimate boat race.

Defending the argument that white supremacy is intrinsic to Mormonism.

Feeling: Happy

I've created a page for multi-genre video games.

• Republican Brett Kavanaugh openly lied to a congressional panel and ranted and cried about how unfair it was that the allegations of sexual assault made against him by Christine Blasey Ford were allowed to be discussed. Of course, Republicans still confirmed him, despite his breakdown, and now, to add insult to injury, Republicans are awarding the Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service to those lawyers who defended him. Republicans thought that giving a parade to a sexual predator would help his image, but it has only brought forth more allegations of sexual assault. Deborah Ramirez, a former Yale classmate of Kavanaugh's, also accused him of sexually assaulted her back in college, but the FBI is refused to investigate the list of witnesses, but now another woman has come out against Kavanaugh with a similar story and new calls for his impeachment are being made! As a fellow sexual assaulter, Trump continues to defend Kavanaugh saying it's not the women he assaulted, but Kavanaugh himself who is the real victim.
• More details about the Bolton/Trump fiasco show Bolton offered to resign, then Trump lied about firing him. This all happened in part because Bolton wasn't being nice enough to Trump's buddy, North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un. But don't worry about nothing getting done at the White House because Trump keeps firing everyone. There are plenty in line because it's so much fun to work for Trump, or so he believes.
• Why Trump just won't let his mistake about Alabama die.
• Despite their disagreements, pretty much all of the Democratic hopefuls are beating Trump in the polls.

Purdue Pharma has filed for bankruptcy to protect the assets of the owners who were responsible for the opioid crisis. The problem here is, the business has been destroyed, along with all the jobs of the people who worked there, but the people who caused the problem are not being punished. Similarly, the Catholic diocese in Rochester, New York is filing for bankruptcy because of their role in protecting child-rapists.

The United Auto Workers Union has gone on strike against GM after they failed to reach a contract agreement. GM claims they just can't afford to give union members health care, yet the company made $11,800,000,000 in profit last year, and the CEO, Mary Barra, was paid just shy of $22,000,000, which is 281 times the average GM employee. Did she do 281 times the work?

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been tracking the number of high-impact storms since 1980, and what they've discovered is they have been steadily rising and doing more damage, and human-caused climate change is to blame.

Another small victory as a public school stops illegally forcing Christianity on students and families.

Feeling: Happy

I saw Seth Andrews give a lecture last night while volunteering with CFI.

I've added a page for the Youth Group song, TJ.

• Most of Trump's businesses hired illegal immigrants for labor, and Trump and his family knew all about it.
• The lone black Republican who showed up at a Trump rally and was called out by Trump as "my African American," has quit the party because he doesn't like Trump's "white superiority complex."
• When a war monger isn't despicable enough to work for Trump, you know you have a problem.
• Republicans are comparing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to a genocidal maniac in their latest smear campaign which blames socialism for the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia, which is odd, since they were Communists.
• Donald Trump continues to shamelessly use the presidency as his own personal checkbook, and all Americans are footing the bill.

Whether it was created specifically to help slave owners or just had the side-effect of helping slave owners, the electoral college certainly helped slave owners.

Feeling: Happy

I've created a page for works of media which have a strong female character, and the opposite, a damsel in distress.

• While trying to defend his firing of John Bolton, Trump tried to paint himself as the voice of reason, which is a horrifying thought.
• North Carolina Republicans didn't attend a 9/11 memorial so they could secretly change a budget law that they previously lost. Why was this possible? Because Democrats were honorably attending the 9/11 memorial ceremony. Democrats weren't entirely caught off guard by this, they knew Republicans were itching to perform a secret election, and Republican David Lewis even gave his word to the Governor that they would never do something so despicable as to deface the death of American citizens and first responders with something so sordid as a budget vote. Then, they did it anyway.
• Republicans dismiss the fact that white supremacists are a major cause of terrorism in the USA, and they frequently blame Democrats for causing mass shootings, even when the shooters are saying Trump talking points verbatim. But don't take my word for this, Republicans say so themselves. And while universal background checks are a good start, if we really want to reduce mass shootings in this country, we have to take the same common sense approach used by all the countries who have far fewer shootings, require gun owners to undergo education and licensing.
• The many, many lies Trump has told about 9/11.
• Republican Jason Rapert installed an illegal ten commandments monument at the Arkansas State Capitol, and then had to defend it in court. His deposition was recorded, but he doesn't want anyone to have access to it because he's afraid his own words will make him look bad.
• How many times does Trump need to "joke" about violating term limits before it stops being a joke?
• Republican Matt Seely made a post online claiming that The Squad is proof that America has forgotten 9/11. Just like with North Carolina, Republicans have no decorum when it comes to using the deaths of innocent civilians for their political beliefs. Seely is not only grouping liberal Muslims with the fundamental Muslim terrorists who carried out 9/11 (which is as bigoted as saying liberal Christians are the same as the Westboro Baptists), but strangely includes Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the criticism despite her Judeo-Christian heritage. This is expected of Seely who, last year, also made an online post mocking women who don't accuse Republican men of sexually assaulting them within a length of time he deems appropriate.

Another day, another cop arrested for kidnapping and raping women.

Science is less about a lone genius and far more about a collaborative effort.

Most of the arguments in favor of trophy hunting are BS.

Feeling: Happy

I beat the Game Gear and Master System ports of X-Men: Mojo World which was especially bad.

• Just prior to the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Trump invited the Taliban to the USA.
• Trump made a mistake when he claimed Hurricane Dorian was going to hit Alabama. The NOAA publicly contradicted him, not to be spiteful, but in order to prevent a state-wide panic. But Trump is such a petulant baby, he can't deal with anyone contradicting him, even when he's objectively wrong, so he made a huge deal over it, even altering a map with a black marker to make it look like the NOAA agreed with him. Afterward, Republican Wilbur Ross threatened to fire anyone at the NOAA who disagreed with Trump and then lied about it. We've seen this before dozens of time. Trump's cronies rush to his rescue, and up losing their credibility and reputation defending his lies.
• After another bad report on the US economy, Trump said the Federal Reserve should offer negative interest rates to refinance debt, which I guess means he wants the US government to pay people for going into debt.
• Republicans once again prove they are all in favor of big-government when there is a paycheck. The tobacco lobby has been attacking the vaping industry ever since it began, and Republicans are about to give them the law they so desperately crave. Remember, smoking is responsible for around 400,000 deaths in the USA each year, vaping has been linked to fewer than 10 death since it was invented, but Republicans are trying to ban vaping.
• Crissy Teigen makes Trump look like a PresidentPussyAssBitch on Twitter.
• UK judges have rules that Boris Johnson's Parliament shut down is illegal, but it appears to continue anyway because Conservatives never abide by laws that are inconvenient. Also, Theresa May's xenophobic law which kicked foreign students out of the UK shortly after graduating has been reversed.

Meet the Christian church in California that was busted by the FBI for kidnapping homeless people and turned them into slaves.

The lies Muslims tell ex-Muslims when they try and re-convert them. No surprise, they're very similar to the lies Christians tell ex-Christians.

The 8-bit Guy discusses how music worked in the 8-bit and 16-bit eras.

Feeling: Happy

I beat the Master System port of Mickey's Ultimate Challenge. Terrible game!

• Trump promised Mexico would pay for his useless border wall, and now he stealing the money from the US military and US disaster relief.
• Another one bites the dust! Trump's unqualified pro-war anti-foreigner National Security Advisor, Republican John Bolton, is out of the White House. Bolton says he offered his resignation because Trump is so difficult to work with, while Trump claims he fired Bolton for not agreeing with him enough. The departure is especially embarrassing for Republicans who now have to find a -fourth- replacement for yet another job that won't get done.
• Remember when Trump stupidly claimed that Alabama was going to be hit by Hurricane Dorian, and then wouldn't admit he made a mistake, and then Republicans threatened to fire anyone who said he was wrong? And now he's going full-on nationalist and refusing to help Bahamian hurricane victims calling them very bad gang members and drug dealers. Yeah, that's how he is all the time.
• The only reason we know that Russia attempted to hack Florida voting machines just prior to the 2016 presidential election is because of a US veteran and military translator, Reality Winner. Republicans were trying their best to keep the Russian digital invasion a secret in order to protect Trump, but Winner heroically and selflessly acted as a whistle-blower to make the Republican cover-up known to all. Sadly, Winner has just sentenced to over 5 years in prison for her brave deeds.
• Benjamin Netanyahu, is seeking reelection as the Prime Minister of Israel, and he made the extremely shocking claim to invade and conquer large sections of Palestine with the cooperation of Trump and the US military!
• Under Republican control, the EPA has stopped enforcing rules that protect children against lead paint.
• Republican Kerry Roberts thinks America's problems can be solved by simply banning colleges and universities.
• The UK government failed to allow Boris Johnson a new vote and it is now officially shut down for over a month. Their Parliament is protesting, and now Johnson either has to go back to the EU with his tail between his legs and beg for more time or do something drastic to get a no deal exit which would be a serious blow to the UK. So, just like in the USA, the ultra-conservative party is hell-bent on ruining everything because they really hate foreigners.

A massive list of names of child-molesting priests has been compiled from various sources and listed by state and dioceses. If your children have any chance of ever being involved in a Catholic event, you may want to check the list.

The reality of the Pokémon economy.

Maybe the Senate could get something done if they got rid of the filibuster?

Feeling: Happy

Over the weekend I took out a ground wasp nest and beat the Master System port of Castle of Illusion. I've also greatly updated my list of candies.

• US military intelligence had to extract one of our highest-ranking spies out of Russia in part because they believed Trump's reckless blabbering of top secret information to the public, and especially to Russian diplomats, would get him discovered and tortured to death. The spy is now safely out of Russia, but the US has lost one of its most important informants into their regime, all because Trump can't keep his fat mouth shut!
• The Republican White House is so openly corrupt right now that companies aren't even trying to hide the fact that they're willing to donate to Trump in order to eliminate keep safety watchdogs at bay.
• After enough people complained about Trump's obvious corruption with using the position of President to traffic business to his hotels, even when they're 180 miles away from the intended destination, the Air Force is performing a review. Nothing will happen because of it, but it's nice to see the illusion of accountability.
• Trump is even forcing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to agree with his bonehead Alabama hurricane mistake.
• No matter how much Republicans deny it, climate change is a serious threat, and only the Democrats seem prepared to address it. Meanwhile, the Amazon burns.
• The bright future for those who have been forced to resigned from Trump's regime.

Feeling: Happy

Last night I beat both the Game Gear and Master System ports of Aladdin. I also created a page for the Game Gear.

• Trump just can't let it go and continues to lie about hurricane Dorian hitting Alabama.
• Like rats leaving a sinking ship.
• Republican Mike Pence, staunch LGBT hater, and US Vice President, went to Iceland where the people greeting him with a whole bunch of gay-pride flags!
• If universal background checks were enforced, the Texas shooter wouldn't have been able to buy his gun.
• It's nice to see the UK is fighting back against their ultra-Conservative leader. Let's just hope he doesn't ruin the country on his way to the bottom.

Drew Brees explains that he doesn't hate LGBT people shortly after staring in a commercial for a Christian hate group that actively abuses LGBT people.

There are still many places in the world where you can be executed for offending people's religious beliefs, and even so-called "free" nations help silence dissenters.

Feeling: Happy

I added a page for the secular humanist perspective on death.

• After looking like a complete imbecile once again, by endless lying about never hearing about a category five hurricane, and assuring America that Dorian will hit Alabama. Trump could have simply said, "oops my mistake," but, he chose the path of the psychopath and added his own projection to a map to include Alabama!
• Republicans once again tried to take away the press pass of a journalist, and a federal judge once again said what they did was illegal.
• Republican Joe Balash used his government position to push for more Arctic oil drilling. Immediately after resigning, he was hired by an Arctic oil drilling company. It's almost as if Republicans are selling out their country.
• After is came out that lenders were using predatory tactics to trick students into loans they could never hope to pay back, Congress created the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. However, since those in charge are the same people who own these predatory lenders, people like Republican Betsy DeVos, they're doing everything in their power to ruin the program including denying loan forgiveness to 99% of the applicants!
• Ultra-Conservative Boris Johnson is messing up the UK government so badly, his own brother has resigned!

The nerds who study the size of raindrops.

Understanding what it means to be secular.

Feeling: Happy

I also beat the Game Boy Color game Babe and Friends and added a category for video game tie-ins.

• The US military has far too much money anyway, but at least they could have used it for something like taking care of soldiers, but, no, Republicans collaborated to take $3,600,000,000 from them to waste on a border wall.
• The inverted yield curve has predicted an impending recession accurately for every recession in the last 50 years, and, with Trump destroying the economy, it's no surprise we're seeing one now. But what exactly is an inverted yield curve?
• A UK judge tells the UK Conservative party, you can't just shut down the government to get what you want. If only American judges had the gumption to do the same thing!
• Full Frontal's recap on climate change and the Republicans who refuse to even acknowledge the existence of scientists.
• Trump once again disagrees with an entire field of science by claiming he knows more about hurricanes than all meteorologists.

Let that be a lesson to the rest of you! Google just lost $170,000,000 for mining and selling the private data of children.

How a neo-Nazi police officer named Logan Woodzell successfully got a reporter fired for merely reporting the fact that Woodzell was photographed at a white power rally hugging Nazis.

Hong Kong protesters win a minor victory forcing the withdrawal of a bill that would allow China to extradite Hong Kong prisoners to China where they would be subjected to various human rights violations.

Valdemort's assistant explains why he keeps losing to a bunch of kids.

McKrae Game, founder of a homophobic gay conversion program that tortured countless LGBT people, just came out as gay.

How Aerogel acts as an amazing insulator.

Feeling: Happy

Over the weekend I beat the Game Boy game Double Dragon II.

• Trump once again inadvertently revealed top secret US military secrets to the entire world. This time, he posted images from a secret US surveillance satellite, one that the US public is not supposed to know anything about, and certainly US adversaries aren't supposed to know anything about, but now they know a great deal!
• There was yet another mass shooting. No, not the 17-year-old who injured 10 people when he opened fire at an Alabama football game, not the 14-year-old boy who murdered all five members of his family. No, I'm referring to the Texan who injured 22 people and killed seven more, including a toddler who he shot in the face. Texas Republicans responded by voting to weakening eight different gun control laws. Republican Matt Schaefer, who religiously opposes any form of gun control, even preventing violent criminals from having guns, blames the shooting on a lack of thoughts and prayers.
• Republicans are so openly-corrupt, they're going well out of their way to stay at Trump's hotels in order to make him money at the taxpayer's expense.
• Randy Rainbow sings Cheeto Christ Stupid-Czar.
• Part of me is happy to see the UK continue to crash and burn over Brexit because it means the US isn't the only country with ignorant bigots, but then I remember that two collapsing super powers isn't exactly a good thing for global stability.

Racist Christians are still trying to prevent white people from marrying black people.

What would it take to surround your home with a lava moat?

Principal Philip Todd Wilson fought to ban all books with any LGBT content out of his schools because he considered them pornographic. He has just been arrested on 15 counts of child pornography.

Understanding the flow of fluids with the Navier-Stokes equations.

Carroll County, Maryland just lost $125,000 of taxpayer money fighting to keep their meetings filled with bigoted Christian-only prayers.

Using artificial clouds to see cosmic rays.