All posts filed under: Articles

Blog post: WaPo “breaks” the news about Mandy Cohen

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By Monica Chen The Washington Post “broke” the news about Mandy Cohen being picked to become the next CDC director on Thursday. The story was fascinating for three reasons: The first is that it had three anonymous sources and the WaPo reporters referred to them as “the people,” which is hilarious. The second is how much it goes out of the way to ignore the most obvious thing about Cohen’s career: How despised she is in North Carolina. Cohen is by every measure a failed public servant. But WaPo cannot or refuses to look at the facts, or heck, read the room. It insists on writing about Cohen as if she’s a shining beacon of accomplishment and competence. The result is a very goofy, out of touch news article — at best. It is honestly hilarious at the same time it’s completely despicable. The third reason why this article is fascinating is its timing. More on that later. First, two excerpts from the article here. One on the three anonymous sources: President Biden plans to …

Blog post: The media’s cruelty toward the Covenant School

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By Monica Chen A judge ruled in favor of 100 families at the Covenant School, as well as the school and the church last Wednesday, to give them a say in whether or not shooter Audrey Hale’s manifesto should be released. Although on the national stage, the release of the manifesto seems like a good idea — sunshine being the disinfectant — it has become clear that in Nashville, it would be the opposite. Here are the jaw-dropping arguments that those pushing for the release have been making against the school and families. They are alarmingly, completely inhumane and lacking any sympathy for the school, the kids and the families. Here’s what’s been reported in Nashville news outlets, in The New York Times and The Associated Press: Robb Harvey, the lawyer representing The Tennessean, actually said that: “I submit, Your Honor, that the parents, even the parents of the children who were killed, I say that with respect because I don’t mean to diminish their grief, but they’re not victims of a crime. Their child, …

Carmindy is back!

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By Monica Chen Carmindy Bowyer is back with a new makeup line and it’s full of the tried and true that she’s known for. The makeup artist known for her stunning transformations on “What Not To Wear” launched her new line in November. The first items available? Her popular “I Got You” waterproof mascara, gel eyeliners, eyebrow pencils and eyeshadows. Bowyer launched the line with fun promos on Instagram. Check them out: Bowyer also gives regular “Beauty Tip of the Day” on her Instagram, and sometimes, she’s joined by Stacy London, the fashionista co-host of “What Not to Wear,” for a surprise treat for fans of the show. The makeup line launched on Scent Beauty, home to celebrity fragrances from Cher, Kylie Minogue, Dolly Parton, and Bowyer herself. Remember Bowyer’s amazing work over the years? Here’s a refresher of her game-changing bronzer technique on “What Not to Wear,” her foolproof smoky eye, and her makeup line you’re probably very sorry you missed out on in the late Aughts. We can’t wait to see what Bowyer …

What Russia has uncovered about the biolabs in Ukraine — so far

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By Monica Chen Since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine War, Russia has been outspoken about the presence of biolabs in Ukraine that are funded by the U.S. government. Here’s what they’ve said so far: Shortly after the Russia military went into Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian Mission to the United Nations was raising alarms about the presence of biological laboratories in the country — that they were being used to conduct experiments on Ukrainian citizens with the approval of the Ukrainian government. This was in violation of the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. The presence of these biolabs was also confirmed by the Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland to Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in March 2022: In April 2022, Russia announced it had uncovered horrifying acts by the U.S. government in Ukraine, including experiments on psychiatric patients in the Kharkov region: Throughout the spring of 2022, Russia announced new findings on the biological laboratories in Ukraine and pushed for meetings at the U.N. on these labs. Russia in particular highlighted the role of …

Why has Biden still not visited the Covenant School?!

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By Monica Chen It’s been nearly two months since a deranged shooter killed three children and three adults at the Covenant School in Nashville, but President Joe Biden still has not visited the school and the victims. Why? How can that be? To date, only First Lady Jill Biden has met with the victims, when she visited a memorial vigil at the school that Wednesday. When Vice President Kamala Harris went to Tennessee in April, it was to support the “Tennessee Three.” This has been another painful reminder of how the Biden administration often treats the victims of tragedies as nuisances that are getting in the way of their schedules, or worse, outright spits in the face of their grieving families. Late March was a storm of two disasters. One was the tornadoes that ripped through a part of Mississippi on Friday, March 24. The Covenant School shootings then immediately followed and took place on Monday, March 27. Three children, all 9 years old, and three adults — the headmaster, a substitute teacher and a …

Blog post: FEMA, Biden and Rolling Fork

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By Monica Chen There have already been several major disasters in the country this year. One of them were the tornadoes that tore through a part of Mississippi, primarily Rolling Fork, in March. Looking back at that disaster, a couple things caught my attention. First, did FEMA really tweet about counseling before food, water and shelter? For a disaster that leveled a town and left at least 25 dead? Second, President Joe Biden visited Rolling Fork a few days later. In that speech, he said: “Folks, I know there’s a lot of pain. It’s hard to believe that in a moment like this, this community is going to be rebuilt, and built back better than it was before.” “We’re not just here for today. I’m determined that we’re going to leave nothing behind. We’re going to get it done for you.” He outlined federal disaster assistance for Mississippi. As of late April, FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration already had granted $17.5 million to survivors, according to news reports.

Blog post: NCDHHS late with new report on Durham jail. Why?

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By Monica Chen The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services conducts semi-annual inspections of all county jails in North Carolina. That means the newest inspection report for Durham County Jail, which was last inspected in September, was due in March. It’s now May. Where is it? In April, Sara Maleski, a paralegal at DHHS, sent me the September report. On the newest inspection, she wrote: “An inspection was just conducted but is not yet complete.” OK. That was almost a month ago. How long does it take to finish a report? “The semiannual surveys are unannounced,” said spokeswoman Summer Tonizzo last week when I checked back. You don’t say. But, wasn’t the inspection already conducted and we’re just waiting on the report? What’s the hold up? To give readers an idea of how simple these reports are, this was all the substance the September report had: “This inspection found no deficiencies, no corrective action is necessary, and no further action on your part is required.” The Durham County Jail has been in COVID lockdown, …

Blog post: The N.C. Justice Center and Legal Aid are both officially useless

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By Monica Chen Oh boy, I did not know how much the N.C. Justice Center and Legal Aid NC have changed, and not in good ways at all. The N.C. Justice Center used to be a better-equipped version of Legal Aid. The kind of organization that could help with legal matters beyond the local level. At least that was my impression. Not so much anymore. Same goes for Legal Aid, which is supposed to help poor and vulnerable residents. Both organizations seem to have changed their missions. The former, to serving illegal immigrants only, and the latter to helping with very, very stereotypical problems. Neither seems to be interested in helping Triangle residents with real problems that we do have. I contacted both organizations this week seeking help with harassment from Durham city government. I know that other people are having problems with the same department. At the N.C. Justice Center, there’s a Housing department. Oh wait, it’s not to help with municipal government and utility abuses of residents like everyone is experiencing. It’s this: …

Biden’s re-election ad: “Let’s finish the job!” … of destroying this country

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By Monica Chen Give the Biden administration – let’s say “credit” — for being this slick and confident about all the lies they spew. This is peak Fascism, Fascism at its most mature. Three main observations about President Joe Biden’s first campaign ad for re-election: 1. Biden has co-opted Trump’s message to a certain extent. Has he done that successfully though? Probably not. 2. The crucial part of this ad is Jan. 6. Without it, everything else falls apart. 3. “Obama’s VP Joe Biden” for 2020 has turned into “working class hero Joe Biden” for 2024. Yes, both in quotation marks.   Here’s my analysis. A humorous take (with some emojis): The ad opens with images of Jan. 6. Chaos! Violence! Danger! Blue, stark, cold colors. Then images of the American flag quickly flash. Suddenly, Joe Biden’s face pops into view and says, “Freedom.” “Personal freedom is fundamental to who we are as Americans.” Yes, it is! But Biden has been trying to destroy that. Right off the bat, Biden co-opts your perspective and uses …

A very telling White House briefing

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By Monica Chen Maybe it was because she was in a good mood because the cast of “The L Word” were there, but Karine Jean-Pierre let many things slip at Tuesday’s White House press briefing. The biggest being this eye-opening exchange: Will the president serve all eight years? A reporter asked, referring to President Joe Biden’s age. He is 80. “I’m just not gonna get ahead of the president. That’s something for him to decide. I’m just not gonna get ahead of it.” What? Decide what? Did Biden not announce his re-election bid and launched a slick campaign ad earlier that day? Jean-Pierre threw the public and the media into confusion with that response. Why did she say that? Her answer made no sense. But then people might recall, as I did, the news from a couple months ago: Ah. How is Biden’s health now? Was it just a lesion? Has the cancer spread? Has he, as we watch him stiffly bumble from event to event, declined? Jean-Pierre’s answer would make sense in this context …