No Ordinary Year of the Rabbit
Tragedy in California leads to bad jokes some 2700 miles away—it’s the podcasting cycle of life, don’t blame us. Also, hecklers, Abe getting roped in by network television, the NFL playoffs, and three different varieties of FAKE NEWS. Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it on Facebook or Twitter, leave a comment on the show’s page on our website, or you can send us an email here. Enjoy!
Show Rundown
Open — Lunar New Year, less fun than regular New Year, this year
4:55 — Can we blame heckling on SOCIAL MEDIA, too?
22:30 — California massacre and Abe watching normie TV
31:19 — NFL playoff talk
1:00:11 — FAKE NEWS in three flavors; first up: Walt Disney on the $100 bill
1:06:15 — A fake tweet from fake woke types goes mainstream
1:15:30 — A real tweet from a candy company in service of a marketing campaign earns millions in free coverage
1:30:08 — Not talking about the NYT article about the parents of trans youth
1:36:27 — Mark Strassmann goes to the worst town in Kentucky to get off a good one
1:45:37 — The NYT says all alcohol is bad now, yes even that glass of wine, you lush
1:56:54 — Wrap-up! What else we didn’t talk about tonight, plus Abe sees Missing, Women Talking, and we yap about Back to the Future and The Last of Us
Relevant Linkage
“As you can see from the photograph, the gunman shot and killed himself.” —state media
Oh, a report said that, did it?
Satire, done poorly: Walt Disney to Replace Benjamin Franklin on the $100 Bill: Report
Possibly the original “satirical” piece, but who knows: Walt Disney Taking Over The $100 Bill In 2023
The tweet that fooled a number of mainstream outlets into reporting on an attempted Aretha Franklin cancellation as though it were an actual thing:
The NY Post (UPDATED): Aretha Franklin song ‘A Natural Woman’ blasted by fake transgender ‘activists’
“A Message from M&Ms”
The mass media shows just how far a $5.6 million 30 second spot can go
NYT: How M&M’s Found Itself in the Culture Wars
WaPo: Mars pauses using M&Ms 'spokescandies,' enlists Maya Rudolph
CNN: Maya Rudolph is the new face of M&M’S. Polarizing spokescandies are taking a ‘pause’
Fox News: M&M's ditches 'spokescandies' – for now – after steps to promote inclusivity deemed too polarizing
New York Post: Maya Rudolph replaces M&M’s spokescandies indefinitely amid ‘woke’ furor
The Daily Beast: M&M’s Ditches ‘Spokescandies’ After Tucker Carlson Complained About Their Sexiness
Norwegian gaming publication GAMEREACTOR: M&M's er ditching sin spokescandies etter flere tilbakeslag — Maya Rudolph tar over som merkets talsperson.
CBS News: "School of Luthiery" stringing lives back together in Kentucky town hard-hit by opioid epidemic
NYT: Even a Little Alcohol Can Harm Your Health
ZBiotics: That hangover preventative Lori was talking about
Nature: Has Earth’s inner core stopped its strange spin?
StudyFinds: Ultimate anti-aging remedy is ultrasound therapy? Sound waves show ‘fountain of youth’ effect on cells
CNBC: Egg prices rose 60% in 2022. One farm group claims it’s a ‘collusive scheme’ by suppliers
Letter from FARM ACTION to the FTC about egg price collusion
Although these figures seem to support the theory that the avian flu outbreak of 2022 was significant, its actual impact on the egg supply was minimal. After accounting for chicks hatched during the year, the average size of the egg-laying flock in any given month of 2022 was never more than 7-8 percent lower than it was a year prior –– and in all but two months was never more than 6 percent lower. Moreover, the effect of the loss of egg-laying hens on production was itself blunted by “record-high” lay rates observed among remaining hens throughout the year. With total flock size substantially unaffected by the avian flu and lay rates between one and four percent higher than the average rate observed between 2017 and 2021, the industry’s quarterly egg production experienced no substantial decline in 2022 compared to 2021.
…
Contrary to industry narratives, the increase in the price of eggs has not been an “Act of God” — it has been simple profiteering. For the 26-week period ending on November 26, 2022, Cal-Maine reported a ten-fold year-over-year increase in gross profits — from $50.392 million to $535.339 million — and a five-fold increase in its gross margins. Notably, Cal-Maine’s gross profits increased in lockstep with rising egg prices through every quarter of the year — going from nearly $92 million in the quarter ending on February 26, 2022, to approximately $195 million in the quarter ending on May 28, 2022, to more than $217 million in the quarter ending on August 27, 2022, to just under $318 million in the quarter ending on November 26, 2022. The company’s gross margins likewise increased steadily, from a little over 19 percent in the first quarter of 2022 (a 45 percent year-over-year increase) to nearly 40 percent in the last quarter of 2022 (a 345 percent year-over-year increase).