Courtesy of the LA Times:
On Sunday’s “Last Week Tonight,” John Oliver noted that Jones’ status as a Sandy Hook "truther" qualified him for an Easy Pass to “hell’s version of the champagne room.” But he spent most of his time on a relatively overlooked aspect of Jones’ conspiracy empire -- the wide range of products that he sells in order to fund it.
According to Oliver, Jones spends nearly a quarter of his airtime plugging InfoWars-branded merchandise, including Wake Up America Patriot coffee to Combat One Tactical Bath Wipes and a powder called Caveman True Paleo (made from “chocolate and domesticated bird corpses,” Oliver joked).
As the comedian pointed out, it just so happens that many of the products Jones sells, often at a significant markup, purport to address the conspiracy theories with equally wild-eyed zeal. Think: water filters to remove chemicals that supposedly turn frogs gay or vitamins to boost your immunity and ward off germs from allegedly disease-ridden refugees.
Jones even has his own in-house “expert,” Dr. Edward Group, with dubious qualifications (and equally questionable hair) to back up his various outlandish claims.
InfoWars is essentially a “QVC for conspiracy,” Oliver argued.
My favorite line: "Current Russian Ambassador to the United States Donald Trump."
That almost made me blow chardonnay out of my nose.
Showing posts with label Last Week Tonight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Last Week Tonight. Show all posts
Monday, July 31, 2017
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
John Oliver challenges Donald Trump's ability to keep his promise to bring back coal jobs and it is glorious.
Courtesy of the LA Times:
Setting aside the "fact that [coal] is environmentally catastrophic," Oliver argued that Trump is less concerned with helping coal miners than in bolstering the coal industry -- two groups whose interests do not always align. With assistance from a giant talking squirrel, naturally, he focused on "the divide that can exist between a coal company’s interests and those of its workers."
Oliver conceded that while coal jobs declined under President Obama, it was merely the continuation of a decades-long decline caused by a number of factors, including declining use and mechanization.
These jobs have been disappearing "at roughly the same rate as careers in the zeppelin industry and babies named Adolf."
Oliver has done some amazing segments on The Last Word, but I have to say that this was one of his very best.
Made even more so by the fact that he was threatened with a lawsuit by coal mining CEP Bob Murray telling him not to air it.
Once again Oliver delivers solid journalism interwoven with genuinely funny jokes a to tell a complicated story in an interesting and entertaining manner.
Excellent job and I cannot recommend it enough.
Setting aside the "fact that [coal] is environmentally catastrophic," Oliver argued that Trump is less concerned with helping coal miners than in bolstering the coal industry -- two groups whose interests do not always align. With assistance from a giant talking squirrel, naturally, he focused on "the divide that can exist between a coal company’s interests and those of its workers."
Oliver conceded that while coal jobs declined under President Obama, it was merely the continuation of a decades-long decline caused by a number of factors, including declining use and mechanization.
These jobs have been disappearing "at roughly the same rate as careers in the zeppelin industry and babies named Adolf."
Oliver has done some amazing segments on The Last Word, but I have to say that this was one of his very best.
Made even more so by the fact that he was threatened with a lawsuit by coal mining CEP Bob Murray telling him not to air it.
Once again Oliver delivers solid journalism interwoven with genuinely funny jokes a to tell a complicated story in an interesting and entertaining manner.
Excellent job and I cannot recommend it enough.
Monday, February 13, 2017
John Oliver comes up with perfect way to troll, and educate, Donald Trump.
Courtesy of NBC News:
Comedian John Oliver's politically-charged HBO series "Last Week Tonight" returned to the airwaves for the first time this year on Sunday night — and the show seems to have discovered a creative new way to troll President Donald Trump.
On the show, Oliver highlighted just how much the president appears to absorb and parrot information he gets from early morning cable news broadcasts, and other, even less reliable sources.
So Oliver and his staff came up with a potential way to capture the president's attention (since, the host conceded, Trump doesn't watch "Last Week Tonight," which has been on hiatus since the Sunday after the election).
They bought ads, in the style and tone of medical catheter commercials which frequently air on networks like Fox News, meant to "educate" the president on crucial issues like the nuclear triad.
"And that little fellow there is what we call the clitoris."
Damn did I miss this show!
And this idea of the ads is perfect, because not only do we KNOW for a fact that Trump will see them, but he might actually learn something which might help to keep us all safe.
Comedian John Oliver's politically-charged HBO series "Last Week Tonight" returned to the airwaves for the first time this year on Sunday night — and the show seems to have discovered a creative new way to troll President Donald Trump.
On the show, Oliver highlighted just how much the president appears to absorb and parrot information he gets from early morning cable news broadcasts, and other, even less reliable sources.
So Oliver and his staff came up with a potential way to capture the president's attention (since, the host conceded, Trump doesn't watch "Last Week Tonight," which has been on hiatus since the Sunday after the election).
They bought ads, in the style and tone of medical catheter commercials which frequently air on networks like Fox News, meant to "educate" the president on crucial issues like the nuclear triad.
"And that little fellow there is what we call the clitoris."
Damn did I miss this show!
And this idea of the ads is perfect, because not only do we KNOW for a fact that Trump will see them, but he might actually learn something which might help to keep us all safe.
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
John Oliver takes on charter schools.
Courtesy of The Inquirer:
Last Week Tonight host John Oliver turned his attention to charter schools and their shortcomings on Sunday night, using Pennsylvania laws and Philadelphia schools as examples of why he believes the institutions are something of gamble when it comes to education.
“Charter schools unite both sides of the aisle more quickly than when a wedding DJ throws on ‘Hey Ya,’ ” Oliver said to kick off his piece, further noting that the first charters emerged 25 years ago as a way to explore new approaches to education.
Now, about 6,700 such schools exist in the United States. But, as Oliver pointed out Sunday, “around the country, there have been charter schools so flawed, they don’t make it through the school year.”
It is certainly no secret here that I have absolutely no use for charter schools, and believe that if that money were kept in local school districts that public education could be vastly improved.
Interestingly enough Oliver did not bother to get into comparisons of which is better, charter schools or public schools, and instead just dives into the problems with charter school themselves.
Which as it turns out is pretty damning.
Last Week Tonight host John Oliver turned his attention to charter schools and their shortcomings on Sunday night, using Pennsylvania laws and Philadelphia schools as examples of why he believes the institutions are something of gamble when it comes to education.
“Charter schools unite both sides of the aisle more quickly than when a wedding DJ throws on ‘Hey Ya,’ ” Oliver said to kick off his piece, further noting that the first charters emerged 25 years ago as a way to explore new approaches to education.
Now, about 6,700 such schools exist in the United States. But, as Oliver pointed out Sunday, “around the country, there have been charter schools so flawed, they don’t make it through the school year.”
It is certainly no secret here that I have absolutely no use for charter schools, and believe that if that money were kept in local school districts that public education could be vastly improved.
Interestingly enough Oliver did not bother to get into comparisons of which is better, charter schools or public schools, and instead just dives into the problems with charter school themselves.
Which as it turns out is pretty damning.
Tuesday, August 09, 2016
John Oliver's take on the state of journalism is perhaps one of the most depressing episodes yet.
And you know the real problem is that there is no simple solution to the problem of newspapers losing revenue and cutting back drastically or closing up shop altogether.
As a political blogger I really worry about losing access to good local journalists, who have the time and resources to cover stories that I simply cannot cover.
Without newspapers, even the online version, political corruption and criminal activities can go on relatively unchecked.
As a political blogger I really worry about losing access to good local journalists, who have the time and resources to cover stories that I simply cannot cover.
Without newspapers, even the online version, political corruption and criminal activities can go on relatively unchecked.
Monday, October 05, 2015
Leave it to John Oliver to drop the truth bomb concerning mental illness and mass shootings.
Damn! This is why Oliver is my go to guy on just about everything involving current events and politics these days.
I like Trevor Noah and he was great last week, and Stephen Colbert has some moments of real brilliance on his new show, but for my money the REAL successor to John Stewart's legacy is my man John Oliver.
And this bit right here sounds like everything that has been bouncing around inside my head for the last several years about mental health and guns. You know, only much funnier.
And that ability to use humor to tell difficult truths to the public at large, is why THIS is our new reality in this country.
I like Trevor Noah and he was great last week, and Stephen Colbert has some moments of real brilliance on his new show, but for my money the REAL successor to John Stewart's legacy is my man John Oliver.
And this bit right here sounds like everything that has been bouncing around inside my head for the last several years about mental health and guns. You know, only much funnier.
And that ability to use humor to tell difficult truths to the public at large, is why THIS is our new reality in this country.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Professor John Oliver educates us about U.S. Territories.
I don't know about all of you but I think I would like Jon Oliver to be the one to teach me everything about U.S. history, policies, and of course racism, from now on.
Monday, February 16, 2015
John Oliver on the tobacco industry's attacks on public health laws in developing countries. Yeah, you need to watch this.
Courtesy of Raw Story:
On HBO’s Last Week Tonight, host John Oliver lambasted American tobacco companies for aggressively suing developing nations that have attempted to create public health laws in order to stem the tide of citizens who become addicted to the their cancer-causing products.
Oliver pointed that the soaring profits are due to tobacco companies aggressive marketing of their products in overseas markets where they have learned to bully governments in the international court system.
Oliver explained that Australia was initially successful in defending their tobacco packaging laws, which replaced tobacco brand names with appalling photos which Oliver described as looking like a “demon eye,” and another featuring a section of diseased lung he compared to looking like “baked ziti.”
However tobacco company lawyers are using trade agreement laws banning government appropriation of company assets to get around laws that would replace tobacco brand names with public health warnings against smoking, stating it would lower the value of their trade marks.
Once again JOhn Olvier knocks it out of the park.
With Stephen Colbert and John Stewart packing it in, I swear John Oliver has never been more important to me.
Let's hope that he has a long and fruitful career on HBO.
On HBO’s Last Week Tonight, host John Oliver lambasted American tobacco companies for aggressively suing developing nations that have attempted to create public health laws in order to stem the tide of citizens who become addicted to the their cancer-causing products.
Oliver pointed that the soaring profits are due to tobacco companies aggressive marketing of their products in overseas markets where they have learned to bully governments in the international court system.
Oliver explained that Australia was initially successful in defending their tobacco packaging laws, which replaced tobacco brand names with appalling photos which Oliver described as looking like a “demon eye,” and another featuring a section of diseased lung he compared to looking like “baked ziti.”
However tobacco company lawyers are using trade agreement laws banning government appropriation of company assets to get around laws that would replace tobacco brand names with public health warnings against smoking, stating it would lower the value of their trade marks.
Once again JOhn Olvier knocks it out of the park.
With Stephen Colbert and John Stewart packing it in, I swear John Oliver has never been more important to me.
Let's hope that he has a long and fruitful career on HBO.
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