Idiocracy

Hemant Mehta reports at the Friendly Atheist: The 2024 Cookeville-Putnam County Christmas Parade in Tennessee is going to be a huge event. Huge enough that the local PBS affiliate will carry the parade live on December 14 because, as one of its leaders previously explained, it’s “one of the community’s most beloved traditions.” If there are local groups interested in …

USA Today reports: The price for a shot to be a multimillionaire is about to rise. Starting in April, Mega Millions tickets are going to cost $5 per play, the lottery game announced. The increase marks the second price change in the game’s history, following the shift from $1 to $2 in 2017. The ticket adjustment comes as Mega Millions …

Religion News Service reports: As pet lovers gathered in a church garden here Saturday (Oct. 5) with dogs and photographs for the annual Blessing of the Animals, they were greeted with an assurance unlike any in years past. “I say: Bring your pet. Bring your dog and cat. I am a Haitian, and I am not going to eat them,” …

Florida Politics reports: Did striking dock workers get back to work because they knew Ron DeSantis wouldn’t back down from their demands? The Governor isn’t saying no, telling a friendly radio show host that he used his “megaphone” to effectuate desired results when it came to the recent work stoppage from the International Longshoremen’s Association. “I knew we would be …

The Michigan Advance reports: At approximately 10:20 a.m. outside of the line of more than 1,000 attendees for the rally at the Ryder Center for Saginaw Valley State University’s campus in University Center, a group of men who were selling Trump memorabilia got in a physical altercation where two vendors stood above one vendor punching him in the head. The …

TMZ reports: The footage is going absolutely viral, showing a white-haired dude grabbing a hammer and going full demolition mode on the autographed guitar — after dropping $4,000 on the instrument. According to the Ellis County Wild Game Dinner organization, the guitar was donated to the auction before Taylor Swift ever made her Harris endorsement. A certificate of authenticity confirms …

Variety reports: After a confusing turn of events on Sunday, reps for Janet Jackson tell Variety that an unusually worded “apology” for the singer’s ill-informed comments about Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ racial background was made by a person who is not the singer’s manager, as he had claimed, and thus was not authorized to speak on her behalf. The …

“Continuing to dump on Trump because of the ‘eating cats’ issue will create blowback on Nov. 5. Haitian voodoo is in fact real, and to dismiss the story out-of-hand rather than listen to the citizens of Springfield. Ohio confirms in the minds of many voters the stereotype of Democrats as smug elite jerks who think they’re too smart to listen …

The Associated Press reports: Americans were duped out of more than $5.6 billion last year through fraud schemes involving cryptocurrency, the FBI said in a report released Monday that shows a 45% jump in losses from 2022. The FBI received nearly 70,000 complaints in 2023 by victims of financial fraud involving bitcoin, ether and other cryptocurrencies, according to the FBI. …

Philadelphia’s NBC affiliate reports: New ads have appeared around Philadelphia that claim Vice President Kamala Harris is the “official candidate of the Philadelphia Eagles.” The team told NBC10 that the ads are counterfeit and they are working to have the ads removed. The ads also link to Philadelphiaeagles.com/vote — which is a real site that the team has set up …

Tesla owners site Teslarati reports: Elon Musk sent a Tesla Cybertruck to former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, as detailed in a review of the electric vehicle (EV) from Carlson’s social media channels this week. Carlson released the video with the Cybertruck on his YouTube and X channels on Monday, saying that he had reached out to Musk to see …

Jalopnik reports: Somehow in 2024, people are still destroying products made by companies they feel have “gone woke.” Youtuber Columbia War Machine recently destroyed his Harley Davidson for YouTube views, due of course, to wokeness. “This is one of the backbone companies of America. Even saying the name Harley Davidson makes you think of the American flag. It’s patriotic. But …

Politico reports: Musk on occasion tried to steer Trump into more broadly appealing territory, suggesting that not all illegal immigrants are criminals or mentally ill; that climate change is not in fact a hoax, even if oil-and-gas companies get blamed unfairly for it; and that Trump would do well to create a blue-ribbon commission on government efficiency. Trump instead returned …

The Christian Post reports: Prosperity gospel preacher Kenneth Copeland thanked Jesus for a dying man’s seed offering of a Bentley with a Breitling clock, which he had given in the hope that it would bring healing. At Kenneth Copeland Ministries’ annual Southwest Believers’ Convention in Fort Worth, Texas, held from July 29 to Aug. 3, the 87-year-old televangelist regaled attendees …

The Hill reports: Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) on Monday said he is not running for office in the wake of speculation that he would pursue the Democratic presidential nomination after President Biden dropped his reelection bid on Sunday. “I’m not running for office,” Manchin told “CBS Mornings” on Monday. “I’m not going to be a candidate for president,” he added. …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: Florida spent $60,000 on new highway welcome signs that feature a campaign slogan used by Gov. Ron DeSantis in speeches and on merchandise. Signs welcoming visitors to “The Free State of Florida” now stand at 24 locations along highways and at two welcome centers, said Michael Williams, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Transportation, in …

Semafor reports: The attempted assassination of Donald Trump lifted his political fortunes — and his actual fortune. Shares of Donald Trump’s media company surged after the weekend’s assassination attempt, lifting Trump’s 60% stake in the company by nearly $800 million. Stocks seen as winners in a second Trump administration also spiked: gun and bullet manufacturers, prison operators, cryptocurrency companies, and …

Axios reports: Amazon shoppers drove a 192,400% increase in sales of a t-shirt emblazoned with the now-iconic photo of former President Trump moments after an assassination attempt. That it’s being used in pro-Trump merchandise confirms many photographers’ fears that the photo would become propaganda for Trump. The “Donald Trump 2024 Survived Shot At Election Rally T-Shirt” listing on Amazon was …

The New York Times reports: For more than two decades, Elon Musk has focused SpaceX, his rocket company, on his lifelong goal of reaching Mars. Over the last year, he has also ramped up work on what will happen if he gets there. Mr. Musk told SpaceX employees in April that he now expects one million people to be living …

The Washington Examiner reports: The House passed measures preventing the Energy Secretary from enforcing energy efficiency standards for various kitchen appliances, an effort by Republicans to portray the Biden administration’s regulations as a war on consumers. The two bills, which would bar the Energy Secretary from enforcing energy conservation standards for refrigerators, freezers, and dishwashers that are not “cost effective …