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Steve Harvey is crazy. There isn't much else to say really. I mean, this guy has some serious balls to get on television and say the things he does, especially considering a very large majority of his target audience are two groups he offends the most, that being women and black people. Steve Harvey had been working the comic circuit for years before he rose to prominence; this is understandable, considering that rising to prominence in performance is quite difficult for most people. However, his brand of comedy remained unappealing to most people because well...it was old. Harvey even admits this in his act, frequently referring to himself as "old school", as if that were some kind of excuse. He must not have known that actors like John Witherspoon, who was about 30 years older than Harvey, had been using that act for years, while at the same time honing their skills for a newer audience, exactly what you are supposed to do as a comedian, and the reason John Witherspoon remains a beloved figure in entertainment after his passing. Steve Harvey fails to realize that saying you are "old school" is pretty meaningless while you have a new iphone in your hand. You have to change with the times or you become irrelevant, which is exactly what happened to Steve Harvey before his rise to stardom. Steve had fell off and fell off hard. Enter Spike Lee, who directed the now critically acclaimed King's of Comedy, featuring D.L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, and Bernie Mac. The performances is Kings of Comedy were so great that all the stand up comedians who starred in the show would receive a ton of offers for shows and movies. Bernie Mac got his own show. The Hughleys were also born from this movie. And Cedric the Entertainer was in every movie involving black people for almost a decade. The movie also showed a lighter side of Spike Lee, and made his work more accessible to the general public. The movie was a smash hit. But what to do with Steve Harvey? Steve had already starred in his own show on the WB prior to ever hosting the Kings of Comedy. Steve did a few movies here and there, but didn't really get as much acclaim as the other performers. His standup was much less topical than the other performers and he just didn't really get as many laughs as the others. So, the movie did nowhere near as much for him as he probably would have hoped. Steve ended up hosting a morning radio show on KBLX; this, not the KIngs of Comedy, is what really solidified him in the daytime talk show host community. However, Steve Harvey was not really the funny one on the show. The show was a success because of Tommy "Nephew" Miles, Harvey's nephew, which is where he gets the stage name. I used to listen to the Steve Harvey morning show all the time, but I clearly remember hoping that Steve would shut the hell up and let Tommy do his thing. Miles was great at impressions, so great that a whole segment was devoted to Tommy's prank calls because that was the funniest segment on the show. Tommy Miles is a true talent, and way funnier than Steve has ever been. Harvey spent most of his time on the radio show plugging his latest book, the title of which I don't remember or care to know. It was basically a book on how to get women that he dressed up as some guide to being a man. Women on the show would call in looking for help for real problems and Steve would give them awful advice. The show remained popular because of Miles. Then Steve basically ghosted on his nephew when he started getting offers for daytime television. Now he hosts the family feud and also appears on various talk shows, making the rounds and spreading his false gospel on how to be a man. Well, Steve, you have to be a man before you can give advice on being a man. Real men can obviously separate their sexual urges from everyday life. I am about as straight as you can get. Most of my friends are women, and I have never had sexual contact with any of the women that I call friends. 

In this episode I take a look at the not so shocking news that Scott Rudin has stepped down from whatever position he held on Broadway. I don't really know what his position was, though I have read it several times by now; it does not really matter to me because no one knows your name unless you are a big shot on Broadway. That is the way the people who created Broadway designed it. It is an exclusive club that only the "best" actors have access to, never mind the fact that so many talented actors go completely unnoticed; Broadway says who is best, and that is simply all there is to it. I had always found processes like method acting and even, to a certain extent, realism to be extremely cult like when put into practice. The idea of using emotional trauma from one's past to evoke an emotion in a scene someone will most likely watch while changing a child's diaper has always seemed a bit extreme to me. However, this is what is expected; this is how you prove you are a good actor in the modern theater. It is not enough to simply be a hard worker; you can't even just be talented. You have to have the right look at the right time for the right producers and designers. Obviously they do not even come close to making the best choice for the roles. How could they? They all think alike because they want to make a quick, easy profit. It's the George Lucas model, but for the stage. Why waste your time with quality acting when you can slap together some CG and call it a day? The computer graphics on stage are human bodies, and they are treated as such. They must look perfect in particular lighting. Actors are often criticized for their appearance, especially when they stray from the hulk of flesh they were originally cast as. You are nothing more than eye candy when you are an actor, and the Broadway elite make that more than apparent with their almost offended gawks every time you are the wrong skin color for whatever role you are auditioning for, forced to swallow yet another one of their bitter lies: lies about future opportunities, lies about how wonderful they think you are, lies about how they hope you will try out next time...There is always a next time with such people. There is always some excuse as to why whatever you did failed to satisfy them. It's amazing that the audience has no say in such decisions. It is downright perplexing that Broadway keeps making the same boring shows with the same actors. It, however, makes perfect sense that Scott Rudin was the abusive wretch that he has finally been exposed as. Taking vulnerable people and putting them into situations where they are forced to compromise their dignity for their job is just despicable on pretty much any level you could think of. I don't care if some conservative takes this as a leftist institution crumbling because there is nothing leftist about Broadway. It is the same work till you get sick, suffer and die attitude that permeates the rest of America. The idea of some the theater being some carefree place for communist is just a right wing fantasy. Leftists like me have no one fighting for us in Broadway. Even the actor strikes do not bring any change because the strikes only deal with unions, and union actors get everything they want. That is always the way. That is why they intentionally make it too expensive to obtain for people like me, to keep people like me off of Broadway. But the people who make it, ironically, are treated no better. They are abused and torn down, broken like some sort of wild mare, and with just the same amount of cruelty. The allegations against Rudin and people like him are disturbing, including reports of physical, mental and sexual abuse. It is high time we become more critical of the people hiding behind the scenes of beloved institutions such as Broadway. We all know that absolute power corrupts, yet we do not seem to think that this seeps into entertainment and media, even as these companies continue to monopolize. 

Terrorist is not a term I would ever use lightly. After the nine eleven terrorist attacks I protested the Patriot Act while other Americans were busily singing its praises. I also was very much against marginalizing Muslims because I knew that most Muslim people, the ones that I knew anyway, kept their religion to themselves and had no interest in sacrificing their lives to glorify their religion. But the wiz kids at fox news had different ideas about the supposed Muslim threat to this nation, and proceeded to employ scare tactics about radical Islam that eventually led to the faced Muslim travel ban that took place during Trump's presidency. I also have stated repeatedly that I am against authoritarian measures in general, not only because I find them reprehensible, but also because they are notoriously ineffective in the long term. Authoritarians never really solidify their rule because they are constantly fighting off political dissidents. Most people, of course, side with the dissidents; it is just a matter of defining who is who. So, in America we should ask ourselves who is playing the role of the authoritarian so that we can identify, and discredit them. This is the only to truly combat ignorance in a proactive manner. Big tobacco did not get taken down because of friendly moderate discussions. An anonymous whistleblower tipped off government higher ups to take down the tobacco companies. Up until that point big tobacco was allowed to fund countless studies in the name of science, often distracting people with outlandish studies, and furthering the spread of disinformation. So, you see, big tobacco and Tucker Carlson have a lot in common. For fox news it is all about the profit margin. They don't care what you fantasize about at Fox as long as you commit to vote red until your dead. It's an embarrassment of an organization, but you already know that. Tucker is much the same; he could care less if you knew the actual truth. He is only interested in how much money he will acquire from his deadly game. You see, Tucker Carlson gets paid to tell people what they want to hear. Sure, maybe you don't want to hear his mad rants about the perils of "wokeness", which is not a word by the way, or the horrors of sex being taught in school, but many people do, probably many more than you would imagine. As we saw with pizza gate, people follow right wing news like members of a cult; they set out to discredit everything you stand for, while indulging in fantasies about their self-proclaimed enlightened capabilities. But Tucker's dimwitted rants are protected by freedom of speech...to an extent anyway. He very clearly crossed that line when he encouraged bitter Trump fans, who recently organized a coup and nearly overthrew our government, to report us to child protective services if we dare go outside with a mask on our child's face. This is terrorism. You all remember the idiotic sovereign citizens movement that had its season during the Obama administration, don't you? Do you remember how willing those idiots were to completely abandon any semblance of respect for the law simply because a police officer asked them a question? Yeah, those are the "blue lives matter people" by the by. They are the same people minimizing the capitol attacks in one breath, and questioning whether or not they ever even happened in the next. They think they should be excused for killing police officers. So, you see, the demand for a domestic terrorist evangelist such as Tucker Carlson is already there. He's been here this whole time, waiting for the moment that he could motivate his gang of violent reactionaries to attack us once more. He is going to continue to do this until he has completely ruined this country, whether that is his goal or not is superfluous because that is exactly what he has done. When you insight people to violence, you are indeed a party to said violence. I want everyone to understand his treason clearly.   

It is interesting that the definition of the word fraudulent in many dictionaries is often followed by a description containing the word "taxes", as in "to behave in a fraudulent way to evade paying one's taxes"; however, if you understand American conservatism in the slightest, you will understand that tax fraud is music to the party's ears. As you read this former president orange turd is currently under investigation of tax fraud. Further, the only real thing of note any republican after Eisenhower has accomplished is to cut taxes, generally leading wider belts for a few, and smaller bellies for most of us. The party's base is essentially a bunch of failed businessmen looking to replenish the wealth they have splurged over their years of grandiose behavior. If you know conservatives well enough, you will quickly realize their hypocrisy when it comes to anything having to do with money. They wholeheartedly believe that we should fund every aspect of their religion, and their various political movements; however, we do not get this luxury. Anything available to people who don't spend their whole day with a bible in one hand and an AR-15 in the other is forced to live the lift of a recluse living in the mountains all because conservatives want a new car. Well, guess what? You mess with my ability to feed my family and get ahead, then you're not getting that new car. It's called equality. Most people don't seem to understand that equality works both ways. If you take something from someone, something shall be taken from you. That's not god talking. That is me talking, and you better believe that I am serious. This recall is based of falsehoods and fairy tales, as if with all things republican. These liars seriously want me to believe we should fire our secular governor and replace him with a theocratic leader? Do they actually believe that I am stupid enough to fall for identity politics after their party single-handedly ruined the nation by cutting social services, specifically targeting liberal states like California, as opposed to southern states that trend republican? Guess what assholes? That means that you are the ones responsible for my suffering, not Gavin Newsom. Your republican policies nearly caused my five year old child to starve to death, and it led to the hospitalization of a loved one of mine, not to mention my financial ruin. But I am supposed to believe that everything will be fine now because republicans are going to cut even more taxes for the wealthy, and leave me with the bill yet again. Republicans must be racist; they have to be to believe I am such an idiot. I don't care who is running on the republican ticket. I don't care how many celebrities you throw at me. I already extremely dislike most celebrities anyway, and you couldn't even find an entertaining one to throw up there this time. What is Caitlyn Jenner good for other than having an annoying family that likes to take pictures of themselves and screw up the political system? Are you serious? This is an insult to all intelligent people everywhere. It's a slap in the face, a complete dismissal of the needs of anyone other than the rich and christian. California has championed the transgender rights movement. I have been demanding LGBTQIA rights far before Caitlyn Jenner showed up. Did you know that there was a bill proposed by republicans in California to limit the LGBTQIA rights, and that Caitlyn Jenner did absolutely fuck all to stop it? Where was she then? Doesn't she live here? There wasn't a peep from one of her children either. What of the transgender people who have been brutalized by the police? I have been tweeting about this problem frequently, and not once did I hear Caitlyn Jenner say anything about these incidents, not once. Perhaps the skin color of the trans black women who were murdered because of their race does not appeal to Caitlyn Jenner. After all, when you run with republicans you have to tow the party line. 

(I always refer to substitute teachers as teachers. That is what they do after all. This episode focuses on the looming substitute teacher crisis. Retirement went up in some districts and down in others.) Empty phrases such as "proud to be an American" or "American made" were used by everyone, and very few had the guts to mocks the for the hallow declarations of exceptionalism that they really were. It was not that people did not know that these phrases were meaningless. It was much more that some kiss ass would freak out and report you to Homeland Security if you so much as made a joke about their paranoid delusions of American made products manufactured with parts from China or mocked their "proud to be an American" bumper sticker after they just made an argument to expand the meaning of the second amendment to include home made pipe bombs. You just kind of learned to avoid these people. You thought to yourself, or at least you were told, that these were just "right wing nuts" and that they didn't really matter in the "real political world". Generic phrases abound in both political parties in America, leaving us without a clear understanding of what is really taking shape. One issue that got passed around the political street corners was this idea that average Americans cared about education more than the people in charge of education did. The experts had ruined the public school system with all of their rules about vaccines and teaching science instead of praying for illness to go away. What's more, these experts had also filled our children's heads with liberal ideologies that were sure to make every American child a gang of homosexual communist ne'er do-wells. Every intellectual was challenged, every teacher was criticized, every method was called into question, vast amounts of money was spent, but the grades never improved. In fact, they got worse. It turned out that not listening to the experts probably wasn't the best idea. Now, who could have seen that coming? Probably the experts. Why didn't they warn us? Those bastards! This failure continued and continued until conservatives stood up one day and decided that they didn't want to even pay teachers a living wage anymore. They then proceeded to engage on a whole campaign discouraging evangelical christains and patriots from attending the public school system. This caused a large amount of republicans to either demand creationism be taught in their school or to pull their child out of school and home school. This drained the teachers' salaries even more, and eventually led to gig workers picking up the slack, doing three times the amount of work that they were actually being paid for in most cases. All of this was already causing teacher retention rates to be low; about eight percent of teachers quit teaching in 2019. After the pandemic, that number shot up to a whopping twenty five percent quitting after the 2020 school year. Teachers cited various reasons for this, including the lack of access to technological devices. However, much more common reasons were that the teachers either felt unsafe due to covid-19 or the pay was just too low for them to risk their lives. This means that the problem we had always complained about, that we simply were not getting what we paid for when it came to our children's educations, is about to get a whole lot worse. Class sizes will undoubtedly shoot up because of the severe lack of teachers. This will cause more of likelihood for the pandemic to surge once more. Remember that there are currently new variants arriving in this country; we simply do not have enough data to conclude that the vaccine will work on said variants. If there is another surge, you will certainly see even more teachers quit. So, what exactly is the goal here? Are we trying to destroy the public school system we pretend to care so much about? Are we actually going to ensure that our teachers are well paid and safe or are we just wasting time? 

Everyday when you commute to San Francisco, California from San Jose, California, you will undoubtedly run into a few homeless people. The amount of people in poverty that you see along the way will no doubt depend upon your mode of transportation. I estimate that, during my four hour commutes to the city, I likely saw about six homeless people a day on average during the entire trip to and back from San Francisco. That's certainly a lot, and I don't want to take away from the seriousness of the homeless situation in the city one bit. San Francisco has definitely failed so far in its fight to end poverty, and there is just no denying that. However, I am not going to spend a lot of time bad mouthing San Francisco because the media does quite enough of that on its own. The reason that San Francisco is frequently maligned in the media is because it is an easy target. For all it has to offer, San Francisco is a surprisingly tiny part of California. Even its famed baseball stadium is smaller than many newer venues of the same age. What is much more shocking than San Francisco's poverty issue is that of Los Angeles. Los Angeles is one of the largest cities in the world, and it boasts some of the highest poverty numbers in the America today. Thus, behind all of Hollywood's high fashion and constant partying, there exist a populace that is slowly starving to death. There are so many people living out of their cars in Los Angeles that entire parking lots are devoted to providing the homeless with cars a place to park. One homeless lot I saw housed no less than twenty five mobile tenants, complete with a makeshift coffee area, and car seat bedrooms. Perhaps visions of needle ridden sociopaths pop to mind when I describe such a scene, one that was written and produced by celebrities who have likely never known a homeless person. But this was not the scene I witnessed in that parking lot at all. What I saw was quite different. All of these homeless people had jobs. One man in particular had been a computer engineer before he fell ill; he collected unemployment for the six months he qualified, and was subsequently terminated. He tried to meet the demands of his jobs, but he just could not make a full recovery. So, he ended up sleeping in his car. It happened that quickly. Imagine, all you have ever worked for, wiped away in six months. Is this the grace Christian nations love to preach about? Then there was the woman who was dumped by her husband; her lover grew tired of her and told her to leave. She got a job cleaning houses to support herself, but she couldn't manage to get enough hours to afford the always increasing cost of rent. So, out on the street she went. There were so many stories like this: a missed payment here, an illness, a bout of depression, whatever it may be...Everyday in this nation people are cast out on the street like dogs for making mistakes. This is America, and all of it happens in the home of Hollywood, the place where dreams come true. It is a cruel irony to have the wealthiest and the poorest live so close to each other. It almost seems intentional, as if the wealthy believe that the smell of their filthy wads of cash will motivate sick people to be instantly cured or disenchanted husbands to magically return. Hollywood is the king of feel good movies; it is unfortunate that automobiles do not come fitted with flat screen TVs and a netflix app. It might comfort a freezing LA citizen on a winter night to know that miracles can really happen, that there are angels in Hollywood's outfield. But cars aren't like that at all. I remember sleeping in one in 2008, right before I lost my mind. Right before I fell into a seizure and woke up with several bruises, I remember thinking to myself, "how could I have gotten here? What did I do to deserve this? No one deserves this." Thankfully, I woke up in a warm house. The reality is that most people in that situation may not ever wake up again. Pic: Engin Akyurt