WTF!
 

For off-the-chart stories, in the news, from around the world. Usually about infuriating people and deeds that make you want to fly out of your chair.

Costco dumping good peanut butter, that could be given to food banks, into a New Mexico landfill (because of a supplier bankruptcy) for openers.:blink: WTF!

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/m...exico-23094422

When Locksmiths Pick Pockets
 

Fake Online Locksmiths May Be Out to Pick Your Pocket, Too

Maybe this has happened to you.

Locked out of your car or home, you pull out your phone and type “locksmith” into Google. Up pops a list of names, the most promising of which appear beneath the paid ads, in space reserved for local service companies.

You might assume that the search engine’s algorithm has instantly sifted through the possibilities and presented those that are near you and that have earned good customer reviews. Some listings will certainly fit that description. But odds are good that your results include locksmiths that are not locksmiths at all.

They are call centers — often out of state, sometimes in a different country — that use a high-tech ruse to trick Google into presenting them as physical stores in your neighborhood. These operations, known as lead generators, or lead gens for short, keep a group of poorly trained subcontractors on call. After your details are forwarded, usually via text, one of those subcontractors jumps in a car and heads to your vehicle or home. That is when the trouble starts.

The goal of lead gens is to wrest as much money as possible from every customer, according to lawsuits. The typical approach is for a phone representative to offer an estimate in the range of $35 to $90. On site, the subcontractor demands three or four times that sum, often claiming that the work was more complicated than expected. Most consumers simply blanch and pay up, in part because they are eager to get into their homes or cars.

“It was very late, and it was very cold,” said Anna Pietro, recalling an evening last January when she called Allen Emergency, the nearest locksmith to her home in a Dallas suburb, according to a Google Maps search on her iPhone. “This guy shows up and says he needs to drill my door lock, which will cost $350, about seven times the estimate I’d been given on the phone. And he demanded cash.”

The phone number at Allen Emergency is now disconnected.

It is a classic bait-and-switch. And it has quietly become an epidemic in America, among the fastest-growing sources of consumer complaints, according to the Consumer Federation of America.

For the full NY Times article, click here.

Why Joseph Fiennes Thinks He Can Play Michael Jackson!!
 

http://www.bet.com/news/celebrities/...el-jackson.jpg

Yesterday, Twitter exploded over news that a white, British actor named Joseph Fiennes (little bro of actor Ralph Fiennes) had been cast to play Michael Jackson in a film about a fictitious post-9/11 road trip he takes from New York to Los Angeles with Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor.

Now, Fiennes has addressed the backlash and says he's surprised by it, considering the film is a fantastical farce to start with. He also offered the worst reason ever for why he's qualified to play the King of Pop.

“I’m a white, middle-class guy from London,” the 45-year-old actor told Entertainment Tonight about being cast in the role. “I’m as shocked as you may be.” He continues, “[Jackson] definitely had an issue — a pigmentation issue — and that’s something I do believe. He was probably closer to my color than his original color.”

I don't even know where to start with this one, it's sooo wrong on so many level. WTF!!!!!!! :|

Kale: The Silent Killer.

From the web site Delish (16/07/5) titled "People Are Getting Seriously Sick from Eating Kale" subtitled ("Find out why this superfood is actually super-poisoning) that urged readers to "lay off the kale...":

"Kale is heralded for its ample supplies of calcium, magnesium, potassium, Vitamin K, and various healthful phytochemicals and anti-oxidants. But the superfood is hiding a nasty secret: dangerous levels of heavy metals.

In a recent study, molecular biologist Ernie Hubbard found that kale—along with cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and collard greens—is a hyper-accumulator of heavy metals like thallium and cesium. What's more, traces of nickel, lead, cadmium, aluminum, and arsenic are also common in greens, and this contamination affected both organic and standard produce samples."

The articles cited a 7 July 2015 article published by Craftmanship magazine; written by Todd Oppenheimer:

"Oppenheimer profiled the work of microbiologist Ernie Hubbard, whom, he explained, has a "background in biochemistry and genetics and "[worked to] explore a range of tests and treatments not often found in traditional doctor’s offices" such as "bio-impedence' analyzers that measure cellular energy and 'chelating' formulas like ZNatural, which aim to stimulate the body to release toxins...."

The article explained how Hubbard settled upon kale as a possible agent of dietary destruction:

To test this link [to residual thallium levels in kale as a toxin], Hubbard started playing a little game. Whenever the clinic would send him someone with the kind of chronic problems associated with thallium, or any other complaints that were hard to pin down, Hubbard would scribble kale on a little note-card and turn it face-down on his desk. After a short work-up, he’d ask the patient to list his or her favorite vegetables. Over and over, people would mention the crucifers, especially kale. Hubbard would nod, say he expected as much, then show them the note-card on his desk to prove it..."

I'd put my tongue in my cheek but there's a wad of kale in there.

The CIA and the Pentagon Are Shooting at Each Other

Not so very long ago, Dick Cheney announced with his bare face hanging out that the vice president's office was not part of the executive branch of the federal government. He coughed up this preposterous hairball because he didn't want to give his official papers to the National Archive, as is required by several federal laws.

On that blissfully innocent June day in 2007, I believed that we as a nation had summited the Mount Everest of assholery, planted Cheney's flag in a gritty crust of snow and watched as that bloody banner fluttered in the air-starved breeze.

This was the nadir, the final insult, the single silliest bark I've heard from a high public official since "If the president does it, it's not illegal" and "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?" It had to be, right? The vice president, who sits one missed heartbeat away from the big round room, isn't part of the executive branch? Also, clouds aren't part of the sky, water isn't wet and bears don't poop in the piney woods.

Such was my age of innocence. I believed with my whole heart that the arc of ridiculous had kissed the very ceiling of the sky. I was comprehensively wrong.

You may want to sit down for this one. Here be some foolishness of such raw and ponderous weight that it might cave in the solar system entirely. Ready? Here goes: There are currently two militias duking it out in Syria, in the shaved and shattered death zone between Aleppo, Marea and the Turkish border, and the US government is funding them both simultaneously.

The Knights of Righteousness (yeah, seriously, that's their name) recently got their asses kicked up between their shoulder blades by the Syrian Democratic Forces, who at least have the decency to try not to sound like a band of Marvel Comics superheroes. Nothing new here on the surface; Syria is an abattoir the world will be dealing with for several generations to come.

No, here's the fun part: The Knights of Righteousness (yeah, that really is what they call themselves) have been armed and funded by -- wait for it -- the Central Intelligence Agency. Their opponents, the Syrian Democratic Forces, have been armed and funded by the Pentagon. Ergo, based upon the most recent battle in Marea, the Defense Department went to war with the CIA half a world away.

Once upon a time, during the "good old days" of the Cold War, we fought proxy wars against the Soviet Union and their allies. Now, we fight proxy wars between various departments of our own federal government, using your tax dollars to buy the bullets and the bombs. Thunder has more sense. Newborn kittens are more clever. Stones at least have the wisdom to sit still.

This? This reeks of the most prolonged and expensive blunder in the modern history of the North American continent, and that's one hell of a statement. Even after 25 years of war in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, we weren't giving weapons to our people so they could shoot our people. After another 25 years of war in Iraq, that's exactly where we are. The "news" media enjoys soft-shoeing this elaborate disaster as some kind of organic phenomenon, another chapter in the ongoing ersatz biopic of Us. vs. Them. The truth? They did this for money, and most of the bodies biting the dirt over there fall at the hands of American weapons we abandoned or sold outright because a small group of people you'll never meet were handsomely paid for the privilege.

In the face of all this, of the lethal blowback that includes bombings in Brussels and Pakistan and again in Iraq, where is the rudder of our national discourse steering us? The New York Times tells the gruesome tale: "Donald J. Trump and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas traded insults on Easter Sunday morning over recent smears against their wives, while Mr. Trump ruled out creating internment camps for American Muslims and said he would study a proposal to allow delegates to bring guns to the Republican National Convention."

Ow. My brain.

It was once wisely said that some people create their own storms and then get upset when it rains. That adequately describes US foreign policy and politics today, but for the plain fact that they are pleased and not at all dismayed by this current and ongoing turn of events. The rain, in this case, is cash by the bushel followed by fearful fodder fobbed off to frighten enough people so these "leaders" can inject themselves into elected office with the cold compliance of the media. It is a frictionless machine lubricated with innocent blood.

The CIA and the "Defense" Department are shooting at each other in Syria. Maybe they'll wipe each other out, and the Pentagon along with the CIA's George H.W. Bush headquarters can be transformed into affordable housing for all the people who have been subjected to the cruelty of this nation's seemingly bottomless talent for self-destructive folly. That would be fitting indeed.

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/ite...-at-each-other

How would anyone know where to start? It demonstrates such bad judgement, on the part of everyone involved with the film. Why? Why? Why? A white man to play Michael Jackson? Fiennes is a great actor but that is irrelevant here. He is going to play a black man's experience??

It makes me feel embarrased as a white woman.

There are not enough talented black men or biracial men available to play the role? Really?

WTF indeed.

I can't wait to hear the explanation that the producers/director/money people will offer about the choice of a white man in the role of Michael Jackson.

http://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/...eroin-addicts/



I think doing this leads to a slippery slope and could open a whole Pandora' box!

Town & Country apologizes to Monica Lewinsky for pulling invite after Bill Clinton RSVP'd.........


Town & Country magazine apologized to Monica Lewinsky on Thursday, over uninviting her to an event after former president Bill Clinton decided to attend.

"We apologize to Ms. Lewinsky and regret the way the situation was handled," the magazine tweeted Thursday morning.

OF course they regret the way it was handled because no one stopped to think of the power social media draws these days!

WTF Was Roseanne thinking......:seeingstars:

I've come to the conclusion this is perhaps the dumbest idea ever!

I feel so bad for the cast of Roseanne ~

Chris Christie calls NBC's Chuck Todd 'the most pretentious know-it-all on network news'


OMG isn't this the pot calling the kettle black.......:sunglass:


Former New Jersey governor and 2016 Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie joined The Late Show With Stephen Colbert live following the second Democratic presidential debate on Thursday, and he did not hold back in sharing his feelings about one of the debate’s hour-two moderators, Meet the Press host, Chuck Todd. It was evident that Christie’s words were spoken with true disdain and not in good fun.

R E A L L Y ? You're proud someone served in the administration that let a sex trafficker get off with a mere slap on the wrist?

Collins was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996. She was re-elected in 2002, 2008, and 2014.


Never forget if she runs for re-election in 2020, she voted to confirm Kavanaugh

Why is this headline news? "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Paid $300 for a Haircut and Highlights" Is it just because she's female?

The only time I remember a headline about a male's 'do' was "Bill Clinton Held Up LAX Air Traffic for Haircut".

Liar Liar pants on fire.....

Hair is expensive! I bet even more so in DC. Is she supposed to cut her own hair? Do the men?

Exactly. This is the same shite they used on Hillary Clinton. Femaleness is the problem. Just like when we were 13 years old. Anything, and every single female thing, about us is mockable.

When I was young and had long hair I paid around 125 dollars once. That did include more than just a haircut, however that same work today would probably cost what she spent if she went to a salon, if not more. True she doesn't have to go to a salon but then think about it, none of us really have to go anywhere to get our hair cut. Just stick a bowl on our head, trim around it and there you go. The cost of some scissors and the bowl to set you up for the rest of your life. Well depending on how young, how clumsy you are, you might have to replace the scissors, or get a new bowl if you drop and break it, didn't think to use a plastic one. My mother has a pair of scissors passed down from her grandmother that she used to sew my oldest son clothes, wedding dresses, many things for numerous women, all sorts of stuff. They were well used by the time my mother got them, well used after. If things are well made and you take care of them you don't have to replace them all the time. Like you have to do with a lot of the cheap crap that's brought in from other countries today. Stuff pretty much designed to fail so you have to keep buying more and more. Anyhow if we all just stuck with bowl cuts that would probably be the cheapest way to go, fair and square, for everyone.

And you know, how Trump talks about women, if she didn't keep up a nice appearance he'd most likely bash her for letting herself go..........

So, we were having a lovely meal at a nice lakeside restaurant on the north shore last evening. I happened to glance over to my left at one point and noticed a woman (in her 70's) sitting next to an even older woman. The younger of the two made a knuckled fist and HIT the older woman in her face!

Oh My God! I could not believe what I was observing. Immediately, the younger woman reached over again and grabbed the older one roughly by the wrist and yanked! My dinner mates asked what was wrong (the expression on my face must have been one of horror.) I told them and a nearby server what had transpired. All she said was they would keep an eye on the situation.

This woman had absolutely no qualms being in a public place and abusing the older woman. She never glanced around to see if she was being watched. I wanted to make a big deal and call the police, but my companions talked me out of it and the wait staff assured me they were watching. BUT! the damage was already done. Right?

Questions linger this morning. Did the older woman live with the younger one? Are they related? Does the older one live in a nursing home?

I am imagining the torture that is happening when not in public. Sad and upset beyond words.

At the risk of beating a dead horse, it's her money! She should be able to dispense it as she deems necessary........

Doubtless, the price would come down if costs were applied universally. The real problem is that the trolls would mock her anyway. She's photographed a great deal and she often appears on television. She would be a fool to look less than perfect every day, and that does cost extra money. If her hair looked sub-par they would attack her with even greater zeal.

PS: I pay $200 to get my hair done. AOC's hair is much longer than mine, and no one is taking my picture these days.

It's sad that the main focus is a haircut. Who cares.

Secondly while our country is going downhill where some people cant afford a haircut or are homeless, these huge politicians are spending a huge amount of money on bs and yes that includes Trump.

When will there be term limits and when will politician's start to live like real people?

It is fortunate that in some cities like Albuquerque, one can have breakfast at one shelter, walk across the to pick up groceries at the free foodbank (which also has some clothes), and walk across the street again for a haircut and use of the washer/dryer and a hot shower. Ain't Saturday wonderful downtown?

That is so scary. Very WTF!

maybe they were related or not ~ or maybe the younger of the 2 could be stage 2 alzheimers where they can start to get physical or just violent cause she is mean ~ I'm hoping for the first scenario that she has some sort of brain dementia. I'm soo sorry u had that scene instilled in your memory.

Some cities not all function this way. Alb is fortunate yes.

But really term limits need to be put in place is my main concern.

ABQ is fortunate, in addition you can get to income based healthcare and addiction services including needle exchange.

I realize that ABQ is a model city in many aspect of homeless or struggling residents, it's shelters often are overcrowed. Too bad other cities don't take notice of the good aspects of ABQ.

Sure glad I was there for my months of difficulty. A person can go from being a RN earning 45 an hour with housing to unemployed without a place to live within a few days.

If you're referring to the President, FDR started an amendment ratified 2/27/51. The Twenty-Second Amendment limits a President from serving more than two terms.

I tried to get something going to repeal it, but with Trump in office, glad it got nowhere.

Terms limits for house, Senate, etc.

Why on earth didn't someone (medical) have the balls to stand up and say injecting disinfectants was not only a horrible but a deadly idea as well, yesterday during that briefing!?

NYT: The Trump Administration Is Reversing Nearly 100 Environmental Rules. Here's the Full List.


Completed

1. Weakened Obama-era fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards for passenger cars and light trucks.

2. Revoked California’s power to set stricter tailpipe emissions standards than the federal government.

3. Withdrew the legal justification for an Obama-era rule that limited mercury emissions from coal power plants.

4. Replaced the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, which would have set strict limits on carbon emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants, with a new version that would let states set their own rules.

5. Canceled a requirement for oil and gas companies to report methane emissions.

etc......lots more


In progress

20. Submitted notice of intent to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement. (The process of withdrawing cannot be completed until November 2020.)

21. Proposed relaxing Obama-era requirements that companies monitor and repair methane leaks at oil and gas facilities.

lots more.....

Drilling and extraction

completed

29. Lifted ban on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

30. Rescinded water pollution regulations for fracking on federal and Indian lands.

31. Scrapped a proposed rule that required mines to prove they could pay to clean up future pollution.

35. Revoked an Obama-era executive order designed to preserve ocean, coastal and Great Lakes waters in favor of a policy focused on energy production and economic growth.

36. Permitted the use of seismic air guns for gas and oil exploration in the Atlantic Ocean. The practice, which can kill marine life and disrupt fisheries, was blocked under the Obama administration.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...rollbacks.html

This list just goes on and on.....

This motherfucker can NOT be frogmarched out of the WH fast enough. He is pure evil, there is not one ounce of good.

15,000 mink died from coronavirus in U.S. since August; Denmark prepares for nationwide cull

More than 15,000 mink in the United States have died of the coronavirus since August, and authorities are keeping about a dozen farms under quarantine while they investigate the cases, state agriculture officials said.

Global health officials are eyeing the animals as a potential risk for people after Denmark last week embarked on a plan to eliminate all of its 17 million mink, saying a mutated coronavirus strain could move to humans and evade future COVID-19 vaccines.

The U.S. states of Utah, Wisconsin and Michigan – where the coronavirus has killed mink – said they do not plan to cull animals and are monitoring the situation in Denmark.

“We believe that quarantining affected mink farms in addition to implementing stringent biosecurity measures will succeed in controlling SARS-CoV-2 at these locations,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Tuesday.

The USDA said it is working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, state officials and the mink industry to test and monitor infected farms.

The U.S. has 359,850 mink bred to produce babies, known as kits, and produced 2.7 million pelts last year. Wisconsin is the largest mink-producing state, followed by Utah.

Sick mink in Wisconsin and Utah were exposed to people with probable or confirmed COVID-19 cases, the USDA said. In Michigan it is still unknown if the mink were infected by humans, according to the agency.

In Utah, the first U.S. state to confirm mink infections in August, about 10,700 mink have died on nine farms, said Dean Taylor, state veterinarian.

“On all nine, everything is still suggesting a one-way travel from people to the minks,” he said. Coronavirus testing has been done on mink that die and randomly on the affected farms, Dr. Taylor said. Like people, some mink are asymptomatic or mildly affected, he said.

The CDC said it was supporting states' investigations into sick mink, including testing of animals and people.

“These investigations will help us to learn more about the transmission dynamics between mink, other animals around the farms and people,” the CDC said. “Currently, there is no evidence that animals play a significant role in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 to people.”

Coronavirus is thought to have first jumped from animals to humans in China, possibly through bats or another animal at a food market in Wuhan, although many outstanding questions remain.

In Wisconsin, about 5,000 mink have died on two farms, state veterinarian Darlene Konkle said.

One farm is composting the dead mink to dispose of the carcasses without spreading the virus, Dr. Konkle said. Authorities are working with the second farm to determine how to dispose of the mink, and dead animals are being kept in a metal container in the meantime, she said.

“They are basically in a metal container, a roll-off type container, that is sealed off at this point,” Dr. Konkle said.

Michigan declined to disclose how many mink have died, citing privacy rules.

U.S. authorities are urging farmers to wear protective gear such as masks and gloves when handling mink to avoid infecting the animals.

State officials said they are working with the USDA to determine whether farmers can sell the pelts of infected mink. The pelts are used to make fur coats and other items.

WTF
 

OMG 15,000 mink have died from c. virus and 2.7 have been farmed for pelts and this is within months or a year. Other animals farmed are foxes, chinchillas, racoons for coats and other items. NONE of these animals are eaten. Wild animals are hunted by licenced hunters for coats etc. are bobcats, beaver, lynx, sables and weasels only beaver parts are eaten by some. My WTF is that the world at large complains about the hunting of seals (no whitecoats have been hunted for many many years). These animals are clothing as well but also food for a good few people of Eastern Canada and Northern Canada and the northern USA. Most complaints are from people who have never seen a live seal in the wild or eaten any. (I have, it is delicious). This hypocritical nonsense boils my blood. P.S. I have eaten beaver too and not fussy about it.

I believe the point of the article was to discuss animal / human virus transmission . The mink being a possible example in North America.

Also while it might be fine to eat seal meat, it's preferable not to eat corona virus riddled mink or seal.

No one here was being hypocritical.