Hysterical Headlines (Funny or Absurd) for January 12th
Bottom Line: These are the daily doses of nonsense in the media and my hot takes on them...
So, Mr. President, would you say South Florida is a ‘shithole’ too? - Miami-Herald
Trump called Haiti a ‘shithole’ country — now South Florida lawmakers are not holding back - Herald
Trump slams protections for immigrants from ‘shithole’ countries - AP
Excerpt: Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate’ s No. 2 Democrat, explained that as part of that deal, a lottery for visas that has benefited people from Africa and other nations would be ended, the sources said, though there could be another way for them to apply. Durbin said people would be allowed to stay in the U.S. who fled here after disasters hit their homes in places including El Salvador, Guatemala and Haiti.
Trump specifically questioned why the U.S. would want to admit more people from Haiti. As for Africa, he asked why more people from “shithole countries” should be allowed into the U.S., the sources said.
The president suggested that instead, the U.S. should allow more entrants from countries like Norway. Trump met this week with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg.
Hot Take: This is equal parts wtf?, a political gotcha moment, salacious and fictitious - if true as originally reported.
The wtf, that's obvious. This just in. Calling any country, a hole isn't going to sit well with a bunch of people. It's possible that many people from a given hole might agree with the characterization of the country – hence the coming here in the first place.
The political gotcha moment is also evident. This was a private meeting in the oval office with two US Senators – Lindsey Graham and Dick Durbin. If true, it appears that Durbin and his team raced to reporters with this material for all of the obvious reasons. What's more is that the leaking would likely be illegal given it was a private meeting in the oval office (but don't expect the media to pick up on that minor detail).
Salacious? You bet. Contrast majority black countries with a lily-white one like Norway (despite it being top of mind from the previous day's events) and you've got all the makings.
The fictitious part? Take the second headline from the Miami Herald. First, it's possible (though unlikely) that this isn't true which would make all of this BS. However, if you embrace the premise as presented he never called Haiti a hole. That would have applied to unspecified African countries making that headline and many more characterizations false reporting that's slanderous.
This is something we've seen before. The President steps in it. Media jumps on it. And when they're done everyone looks like they've been visited by Mr. Hanky. It's one big pile of poo.
Florida wants to remove virus-excreting wild monkeys - Palm Beach Post
Excerpt: Human cases of the virus have been rare, with about 50 documented worldwide, and there have been no known transmissions of it to people from wild rhesus macaques in Florida or elsewhere. However, the researchers say the issue has not been thoroughly studied.
The findings, published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, prompted the researchers from the universities of Florida and Washington to warn Florida's wildlife agency that the infected monkeys should be considered a public health concern.
Hot take: Add that to the list of things I didn't expect to contend with today. When out and about beware of the wild excreting monkeys...And it's about to cool off again so remember stiff iguanas could fall out trees. The pigs aren't flying yet at least.
Until tomorrow...