Via TMZ:

On the heels of Dr. Seuss being muzzled for racist depictions in a few books, another beloved childhood memory is also being called problematic … one Pepe Le Pew.

The Looney Tunes character fell into the crosshairs of NYT columnist Charles M. Blow — who wrote an op-ed titled “Six Seuss Books Bore a Bias” … where he argued racism is deeply embedded into American culture (especially pop culture) and fed to kids at a young age.

He brought up cartoons like Speedy Gonzales and Mammy Two Shoes — the former being another LT character he says pushed racist stereotypes against Mexicans and the latter being a Tom & Jerry character portrayed as a heavyset Black maid who speaks with a caricaturized voice. You usually just see her legs/feet … but her full figure was depicted too.

Those two examples specifically address his race concern, but he threw in Pepe as well as another ‘toon that telegraphed the wrong message … saying the French skunk normalized and perpetuated rape culture. Of course, a lot of people had very different reactions — some agreeing, and others lambasting Blow for suggesting a drawing could sway real-life behavior.

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Oy vey…

#MeToo is now #MeFour…

Via Business Insider:

A fourth woman has accused New York Governor Andrew Cuomo of inappropriate behavior, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Ana Liss is also the third former aide to allege that Cuomo acted inappropriately at work. Liss, who worked as a policy and operations aide from 2013 to 2015, told the Journal that Cuomo asked if she had a boyfriend and called her “sweetheart.” Liss also said the governor touched her on her lower back and one time kissed her hand.

Last week, two other former staffers accused Cuomo of unwanted sexual advances.

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Imagine paying $300,000 for the autograph of a grown ass man who wears a nose ring…

Via Reuters:

March 5 (Reuters) – “just setting up my twttr” – the first ever tweet on the platform is up for sale after Twitter boss Jack Dorsey listed his famous post as a unique digital signature on a website for selling tweets as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The post, sent from Dorsey’s account in March of 2006, received offers on Friday that went as high as $88,888.88 within minutes of the Twitter co-founder tweeting a link to the listing on ‘Valuables by Cent’ – a tweets marketplace.

Old offers for the tweet suggest that it was put for sale in December, but the listing gained more attention after Dorsey’s tweet on Friday.

NFTs are digital files that serve as digital signatures to certify who owns photos, videos and other online media.

Dorsey’s 15-year old tweet is one of the most famous tweets ever on the platform and could attract bidders to pay a high price for the digital memorabilia. The highest bid for the tweet stood at $ $2 million at 04:47 GMT on Saturday.

The updated offer was made by cryptocurrency pioneer Justin Sun, who won an auction for Warren Buffett’s charity dinner.

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Via MSN:

(Bloomberg) — Venezuela said it will introduce new large-denomination bolivar notes as hyperinflation renders most bills worthless, forcing citizens to turn to the U.S. dollar for everyday transactions.

The country’s central bank posted a statement on its website Friday saying it would begin circulating the new 200,000, 500,000 and 1,000,000 bills to “fulfill the current economy’s requirements” without providing further details. The 1,000,000 note — the largest in the nation’s history — is worth only $0.53 cents.

As Venezuela’s economy shrank for a seventh straight year in 2020, the government turned a blind eye to a growing number of dollar transactions, kick-started by rolling power outages that prevented credit and debit card purchases and fostered the use of cash. About 66% of transactions across the country are estimated to be made in foreign currency, according to Ecoanalitica.

While the dollar has gained ground, Venezuelans continue to rely on bolivar bills for public transportation and to purchase subsidized fuel. The Caracas subway recently issued an electronic payment system after it routinely stopped charging passengers due to cash shortages.

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Sigh….

Via APNews:

PLAINS OF UR, Iraq (AP) — Pope Francis walked through a narrow alley in Iraq’s holy city of Najaf for a historic meeting with the country’s top Shiite cleric Saturday, and together they delivered a powerful message of peaceful coexistence in a country still reeling from back-to-back conflicts over the past decade.

In a gesture both simple and profound, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani welcomed Francis into his spartan home. The 90-year-old cleric, one of the most eminent among Shiites worldwide, afterward said Christians should live in peace in Iraq and enjoy the same rights as other Iraqis. The Vatican said Francis thanked al-Sistani for having “raised his voice in defense of the weakest and most persecuted” during some of the most violent times in Iraq’s recent history,

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Jussie Smollett 2.0

A security guard tailed me on my walk home tonight. He demanded if I lived there because “you look suspicious.” I showed my keys & buzzed myself into my building. He left, no apology. This is the reality of black girls: One day you’re called an icon, the next day, a threat. https://t.co/MmANtQqpBs

— Amanda Gorman (@TheAmandaGorman) March 6, 2021

Via TPM:

Many Republicans’ theories that are a little bit “out there” have been lumped together under QAnon. Now, people can do the same for people on the other side of the political fence by calling them “Blue Anon”.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we did it.” the tweet reads, referring to the fact that the term “Blue Anon” has been officially entered into Urban Dictionary. Urban Dictionary is the number one go-to site for researching slang terms in the English language.

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Via The Sun:

Pictures show people packed together in the sun, maskless and partying.

Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber told WSVN he thinks “we’re expecting a larger than typical spring break.”

Experts have warned against people traveling to Florida or other places as states work desperately to roll out vaccines and get as many people as possible the protection against the virus.

“We understand there’s a lot of angst to get out and enjoy our beautiful weather and our beautiful beach, but we’re just asking for cooperation from our college students that do decide to come to Fort Lauderdale,” Frank Sousa, the area’s Police Assistant Interim Chief told WSVN.

Raul Aguila, Miami Beach’s city manager, said during a city council meeting that people heading to Florida “with an anything-goes party attitude” should “change your flight reservation now and go to Vegas,” The Wall Street Journal reported.

Some Florida beaches are shutting down early, with curfews meant to help dampen possible virus spread.

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Via Page Six:

Palace staff nicknamed Prince Harry “the hostage” on the eve of his wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018, according to reports.

The revelation comes amid palace leaks last week that Markle bullied palace aides, leaving many in tears. The couple, who have been stripped of their royal duties after they moved to Los Angeles last year, are scheduled to appear tomorrow in a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey on CBS.

The “hostage” moniker surfaced after Markle was furious that the tiara she had planned to wear for the wedding could not be loaned out for a hair appointment, according to reports.

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HT Jack

tough but fair…

Via WSJ:

India’s government has threatened to jail employees of Facebook Inc., FB 2.58% its WhatsApp unit and Twitter Inc. TWTR 0.30% as it seeks to quash political protests and gain far-reaching powers over discourse on foreign-owned tech platforms, people familiar with the warnings say.

The warnings are in direct response to the tech companies’ reluctance to comply with data and takedown requests from the government related to protests by Indian farmers that have made international headlines, the people say. At least some of the written warnings cite specific, India-based employees at risk of arrest if the companies don’t comply, according to some of the people.

The threats mark an escalation of India’s efforts to pressure U.S. tech companies at a moment when those companies are looking to the world’s second-most-populous nation for growth in the coming years.

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Tobacco products had to change packaging because critics claimed they were marketing to kids.
But shiny rainbow estrogen packaging is somehow different. pic.twitter.com/v4L2TZpaL6

— Cat Hyde (I'm just here for my ban) (@KBoomhauer) March 5, 2021

pic.twitter.com/laBRiPt33u

— Siraj Hashmi in Gitmo (@SirajAHashmi) March 5, 2021

Via Fox News:

A writer for the liberal news outlet Slate is not rushing to judgment when it comes to the sexual harassment allegations against Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but had quite a different attitude toward the misconduct claims against now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.

In a piece published on Wednesday, Dahlia Lithwick declared: “Maybe it’s a good thing Andrew Cuomo is still governor” as calls for his resignation and impeachment continue to grow.

“I am a journalist myself, and I am wholly in favor of a sober and serious probe into Cuomo’s alleged conduct,” Lithwick explained. “It’s not a terrible thing to allow an independent investigator to gather all the facts and arrive at a formal conclusion before calling for his immediate ouster.”

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No biggie. She said she believed the women who accused Biden* and she still ran with him right?

Via NY Post:

Vice President Kamala Harris will not condemn Andrew Cuomo amid his sexual harassment scandal until an investigation into the claims are complete — despite urging former Sen. Al Franken to resign amid similar accusations — the White House said Friday.

Speaking at the daily White House media briefing, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Harris supports the investigation into the claims by New York Attorney General Tish James, despite her not speaking out against Cuomo’s alleged actions.

“I think the vice president’s view is she believes a woman should be treated with respect. Their voices should be heard. They should tell their story,” Psaki said.

She was responding to a question by Fox News reporter Kristin Fisher, who highlighted the fact that Harris said, “sexual harassment should not be allowed by anyone and should not occur anywhere” when Franken faced allegations of sexual misconduct.

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Via Fox Business:

Sen. Bernie Sanders’ effort to insert a $15 minimum wage provision into the massive coronavirus spending bill failed in the Senate Friday.

Sanders faced bipartisan opposition with just 42 Democrats siding with him and 58 senators voting “no” as of the vote count by 1 p.m. The official tally had not yet been announced, but it was clear Friday afternoon that Sanders’ effort to boost wages fell short of the 60 votes needed to be included in President Biden’s signature stimulus legislation to fight the pandemic and boost the economy.

Unlike the House, the Senate version of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill does not include an increase to the minimum wage due to a ruling by the Senate parliamentarian.

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Via NBC:

The creator of a series of deepfake Tom Cruise videos that garnered more than 11 million views on TikTok said he never wanted to trick people.

But since he has, he’s hoping the sudden influx of attention can help bring greater awareness to the continued evolution of the technology that can create incredibly realistic fake videos of people.

“The important thing is, we didn’t want to fool people at any moment,” Chris Ume, 31, the Belgian visual effects artist behind the viral deepfakes, said in an interview. “If I can help in creating awareness, or even work on detection in the future, I would love to.”

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Via NPR:

The FBI has arrested a former mid-level State Department aide in the Trump administration for allegedly assaulting police officers while storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Federico Klein, who also worked on the 2016 Trump campaign, was taken into custody on Thursday in Virginia. He is facing several charges, including obstructing an official proceeding, obstructing law enforcement and assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon.

A State Department spokesperson said Klein served as a political appointee in the department from 2017 until his resignation effective Jan. 21, 2021. He worked as a special assistant in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs and as a staff assistant with the transition team, the official said.

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Via MSN:

The bill is one of several initiatives the island’s new governor is pushing at home and in Washington aimed at finding long-term solutions to the myriad problems facing the U.S. territory.

Pierluisi took office Jan. 2 at a time when the island is facing multiple crises: the pandemic, multibillion-dollar debt, a series of earthquakes still rattling the island, as well as ongoing recovery from Hurricane Maria, which killed thousands and demolished critical infrastructure.

In his first month, the governor declared two states of emergency: one to combat gender violence and another to address Puerto Rico’s steep fiscal bind.

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