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Floriduh! Woman Or Cat Blogging? You Make the Call

by 9:14 pm. It has 30 Comments.

We report, you decide!

Obligatory:

Open Thread!





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Late Night Cheap Speculation Open Thread: Who *Does* Fund The Federalist?

by 2:45 am. It has 5 Comments.

Admitted plagiarist and general internet nuisance Ben Domenech is the founder, editor, and biggest booster of a left-twitter punching bag known as The Federalist. Since I am not the only person who thinks of The Federalist as a kind of wingnut-wurlitzer sink trap, watching its public face throw a nutty on twitter is always mildly entertaining…

… The path of conservative media has largely mirrored the challenges of digital and print news operations broadly over the last decade, with wild experimentation in form and content, waves of consolidation, and a series of high-profile collapses…

And others have adapted to [Trump’s] rise and his style. The Daily Caller went populist, amplifying Trump’s anti-immigrant politics. Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire remained skeptical of the president but drew a huge following “owning” his liberal enemies. The Federalist followed a version of this second path.

The site launched in 2013. In a post introducing the outlet, publisher Ben Domenech compared its mission to that of the original Time magazine, which “aimed to cover and distill the news of politics, economics, world affairs, and culture for the nation’s rising middle class.” The site published a wide-ranging group of writers on a variety of political and cultural topics. Over the years, it has adapted to the Trump moment by criticizing perceived excesses of his detractors in the media and relentlessly questioning the Russia investigation.

Unlike some peers and more like Breitbart, which only revealed its ownership structure under pressure from a committee from which it was seeking congressional press credentials, the Federalist has been resolutely opaque about its finances. The site is owned by a private company and doesn’t have to disclose its ownership or funding structure; its parent company, FDRLST Media, was incorporated as a limited liability company in Delaware in 2016. And the omertà on the topic has prompted a considerable amount of speculation in the political media world, with the phrase “Who funds the Federalist?” becoming a recurring meme, often tweeted at the site’s top brass. The Federalist has winked at the controversy, selling at one point an “I Fund the Federalist” T-shirt.

Despite the air of mystery, publicly available information does shed some light on some of the Federalist’s financials, though it’s not necessarily the full picture — or anything that explains why the secret has been so closely guarded…

I personally assume Ben’s mother-in-law Cindy McCain is using her personal $200 million fortune to keep Domenech busy and out of her basement, because hell, given the option, wouldn’t you?





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Not Safe For Work Delivery: Floriduh! Man Edition

by 9:27 pm. It has 87 Comments.

What did BettyC know and when did she know it?

The Pensacola News Journal has all the details:

Escambia County Commissioner Doug Underhill is fuming after a box labeled “industrial strength dildos” arrived in the mail at his county office Thursday.

Underhill showed the box to reporters following the County Commission meeting on Thursday, saying it demonstrated how far the level of civility has fallen in Escambia County.

“There’s no way this is even remotely appropriate in the way that we conduct business here in Escambia County,” Underhill said while pointing to the box. “We have staff members, young people, who have to handle the mail here. I’m a sailor, you’re not going to offend me with anything, but this kind of garbage, and this is the kind of garbage put out by the same kinds of people, the same lies, the same hate, the same anger that they bring to every single issue.”

The box itself appeared to be a practical joke box and was only filled with paper and a packing slip billing for the package that included the email address of the sender.

The email address belongs to a Perdido Key resident named Scott Anderson, who told the News Journal he had no idea about the box being sent to Underhill or how his email address ended up on the packing slip.

“I’m totally stunned by all of this,” Anderson said.

Anderson said he’s only interacted with Underhill a few times on the Nextdoor website over what he said was a lack of maintenance at the Perdido Key Dog Park.

“I suppose I could’ve irritated maybe an Underhill supporter,” Anderson said. “That’s the only thing I can think of.”

Despite the box appearing to be a joke, it was no laughing matter for Underhill.

Underhill regularly comments in local Facebook groups and often takes a combative tone with people with whom he disagrees.

Underhill said laughing at the antics of his dedicated critics only makes it worse because the time and energy spent on dealing with his critics is time not spent tackling issues that matter such as funding for public safety.

Underhill pointed to the meeting on Thursday as an example. On Thursday, members of Save Pensacola Beach protesting the county’s move to remove language approved by voters last year in a non-binding referendum.

During the discussion, Underhill said he compared the group and its founder Dianne Krummel to antifa, short for anti-facists, the name given to far-left protestors who often wear masks and engage in violent attacks during protest.

“Dianne, at some point you’re going to have to trade in that yellow shirt for a black mask if you keep this up,” Underhill said.

While speaking to reporters, Underhill blamed the press for feeding what he said was “radical activism” of the group and argued that the County Commission chambers should be a place of civil discussion.

When asked if his own speech, especially online, was uncivil, Underhill rejected the idea.

“I don’t think I’m uncivil online at all,” Underhill said. “I engage the adversary. The adversary is the lies, the untruths. The reality is if we as your — especially as conservative elected officials — do not push back against the spending, if we don’t push back against the corruption, if we don’t push back against the lies that are said here, then who will?”

He seems nice.

No word on when the lube is scheduled to be delivered.

Also, The Industrial Strength Dildos are my New Wave Fem Punk cover band.

Open thread!

 





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I Have Many, Many Questions: Cosmetic Surgery Gone Awry Edition

by 10:54 pm. It has 121 Comments.

I realize that mine was done as part of a religious ritual when I was 8 days old, but I would think that if you’re chatting with the nurses and technicians while getting botox and you notice that they’re not giving you any injections in your face, but they are manipulating other tender portions of your anatomy, you might ask what exactly is going on!!!

A pensioner circumcised by mistake after going to a hospital for a procedure involving botox has been handed £20,000 compensation by the NHS.

Terry Brazier was given the procedure after medics at Leicester Royal Infirmary mixed up his notes.

Mr Brazier claims he was so distracted chatting to nurses he didn’t realise he was getting a different procedure until it was too late.

Speaking to the Daily Star he said: “I went in the surgery for some Botox and they ended up circumcising me.

“They didn’t know what to say when they found out they’d done it, they said they can’t send me back to the ward and they needed to talk to me.

“The nurse was at the side of me and we were talking so I didn’t know what was going on.

“It was a real surprise.”

Andrew Furlong, Medical Director at University Hospitals of Leicester, said: “We remain deeply and genuinely sorry that this mistake occurred, and I would like to take this opportunity to once again apologise to Mr Brazier.

“We take events like this very seriously and carried out a thorough investigation at the time to ensure that we learnt from this incident and do all we can to avoid it happening again.

“Whilst money can never undo what happened, we hope this payment provides some compensation.”

“When they found out they’d done it?”

What is that even supposed to mean? He got circumcised because the medical professionals working on him were undertaking sleep surgery? Because they went on break for a cuppa and a mohel just happened to walk by, had his bris kit with him, and decided to undertake an unscheduled bris?

I guess this could have been much, much worse given the area they actually wound up operating on, but really?

Remember to mark your body parts pre-op or risk an unhappy ending!

Open thread!*

* This is, indeed, an open thread. However, we would like you to not attack each other over the correct or incorrect application of insults to politicians, reporters, and/or other commenters. Also, please no correcting the grammar, syntax, and/or spelling in this post or any of the comments. Complaining about the weather is also off limit. In fact, just to be safe, we’d like you to just talk about puppies and kittens. Thanks, the Management





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Dildos for Ireland Or the Ivory Phallus of Trallee: Operation Ireland’s Dildo Is a Go!

by 10:19 pm. It has 72 Comments.

Welcome to Balloon Juice After Dark!

You don’t see this every day! (h/t: Charles Pierce, who should definitely be hired to moderate a one of the Democratic primary debates!)

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