Tag: news

Is there anything better than the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace? Hold my beer.

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn People, PoliticsLeave a comment

I had originally planned to write about something else this week, but after learning about a particular piece of news, the die was cast, and the decision was no longer mine to make.

Just in case you’re a very unlucky person and have not been following the news, there has been a recent development in the administration of peace in the United States. The United States Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., which is run by the United States Congress, has been unselfishly renamed after everybody’s favourite world leader, as the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace. Naming a building after yourself is rather classy, especially if it’s a government building.

This compelling and authentic move reflects President Trump’s desire for peace in the United States and around the world; except for Yemen, the European Union, Venezuela, Portland, Iran, Mexico, Canada, Chicago, and Greenland, but they don’t count.

To prove this point, President Trump was awarded the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize recently, which in no way panders to his fragile ego. That is just garbage, spun by fake news outlets that believe in accountability and justice.

Like President Trump, I am very humble, and I would like to acknowledge The Daily Show for giving me the idea for this informative article. Credit where credit is due. On behalf of 100% of the staff at Some Geek Told Me, I would like to thank The Daily Show for the inspiring idea, as well as President Trump for pursuing peace, because he can stop wars that don’t even exist! What a role model!

Credit: BBC & Getty Images

Because President Trump is a bastion for peace in a world that seems divided by President Trump, I have collected some other clinics, institutes, academies, and other learning centres that could be renamed, like the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace.

Sadly, I was born outside of the United States and away from President Trump’s bigly protection, so some of my selections may not be familiar to my international readers, but my New Zealand readers will understand.

And with that, let’s turn the page and begin now.

  • The Christopher Luxon Entitlement Academy
  • The Winston Peters Centre of Cultural Diversity
  • The Brian Tamaki LGBTQIA+ Appreciation Institute
  • The David Seymour Food Nutrition Clinic
  • The Pauline Hanson Centre of Islamic-Awareness
  • The Vladimir Putin Geography Academy
  • The Kim Jong Un Institute of Human Rights
  • The Viktor Orbán Centre for Free Speech
  • The Alexander Lukashenko Institute of Democracy
  • The Bashar al-Assad Anti-Corruption Institute
  • The Benjamin Netanyahu Anti-Genocide Centre
  • The Xi Jinping Institute for the Protection of the Uyghurs
  • The Nigel Farage Centre of Tolerance and Inclusion
  • The Kristi Noem Gun Safety School
  • The JD Vance Museum of Furniture
  • The RFK Jr Centre for Preventable Childhood Diseases
  • The Marco Rubio School of Fawning and Grovelling
  • The Sean Duffy Centre of Climate Change
  • The Lauren Boebert Gender-Affirming Clinic
  • The Marjorie Taylor Greene Institute for Autism Awareness
  • The Ted Cruz Free Abortion Clinic
  • The Elon Musk Family Planning Clinic
  • The Jeff Bezos Centre for Independent Book Sellers
  • The Bob Iger School of Business Ethnics
  • The Patrick W. Smith Academy of Accountability
  • The Darren Woods Museum of Environmental Disasters
  • The Anthony Hopkins Academy of Method Acting
  • The Neil deGrasse Tyson Flat Earth Centre
  • The Jonathan Pie Anti-Profanity School
  • The Alex Jones Meditation Institute
  • The Nicholas Cage Institute of Marriage Counselling 
  • The Rassie Erasmus Centre of Sports Ethnics
  • The Neymar School of Acting
  • The Cristiano Ronaldo Centre for Modesty and Humbleness

And I would like to close with a post humorous choice:

  • The J. R. R. Tolkien Memorial Institute for Concise Writing

So, how did I do? Did I miss any selections? As always, please let me know.

I hope you liked this week’s rant as much as I liked writing it. Next week will be the last proper blog post before I head off into the sunset for a much-needed break, since running a highly successful blog takes its toll.

Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Please remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, watch the Supergirl trailer, and I’ll see you next week.

TIME’s Person of the Year is not what you think it is

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn History, Literature, People, Politics

I realise there are more pressing issues confronting the world currently. These include the danger of climate change, the Sudanese civil war, the cryptocurrencies of Cristiano Ronaldo and the Hawk Tuah girl, Israel’s genocide of Palestine, when the Superman trailer is going to drop, and whether The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, will rule them all at the box office.

In saying that, I must acknowledge last week’s announcement of TIME’s 2024 Person of the Year. If you’ve been living under a rock or listening to Chumbawamba’s Tubthumping at full volume for a week, then you would have heard that the lucky winner was 2016’s winner, Donald John Trump. You know, the star of Zoolander, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Two Weeks Notice, The Little Rascals, and Eddie.

As you can imagine, the concept of Donald Trump winning TIME’s 2024 Person of the Year, has delighted millions of people and equally enraged millions more. On one hand, people are praising the decision, because he’s the OG of MAGA, defeated Kamala Harris in the US Presidential election, survived an assassination attempt, and is the proud father of three of his five children.

On the other hand, Trump’s been busy. He was convicted on 34 felony charges for falsifying business records related to hush money payments to a porn star, found liable for sexual assault and defamation, and has more legal issues concerning the IRS, and the Trump Organisation, among others.

So the two questions on many people’s minds are, yes, bananas do grow upside down, but also, why was a convicted felony and President-elect selected as TIME’s 2024 Person of the Year? Sadly, the answer is boring and nuanced, because, and say it with me, TIME’s Person of the Year is not what you think it is.

Credit: TIME

Let’s go back a few steps to 1927, when TIME, the American news magazine, first introduced the award of Person of the Year to Charles Lindbergh.1 Now you would think gracing the cover of TIME for the Person of the Year, would be a great honour, worthy of the amazing contributions you have made to humanity for the past year.

Again, you could imagine that it was because you had developed a vaccine, brokered a peace treaty and ended a war, discovered a new early human species, won the World Cup, was the star of a $2 billion blockbuster, or won an election. If you thought this, you would be wrong, oh so wrong.

According to TIME editors, to be awarded Person of the Year, you need to fit this criteria:

“Featuring a person, group, idea, or object that “for better or for worse … has done the most to influence the events of the year.”

I’m going to let that sink in for you. Influence the events of the year. Not curing children’s diseases; not clearing mines from a warzone; not freeing sex slaves; not persecuting racists, like the Ku Klux Klan, or Neo-Nazis; not developing carbon capture devices; or not fighting for human and animal rights; but influence the events of the year.

After reading that, and for better or for worse, tell me that person(s) is not Donald Trump. Did I want it to be him? Of course not, because both my grandfathers would return from the grave to beat some sense into me if I did.

However, this is the reason Donald Trump was awarded the title; not because he’s a good, honest, positive, decent, law-abiding and amazing person, but because he has dominated the news cycle in 2024. He really has. Even here in New Zealand, we have read and watched his shenanigans this year, whether they were election-based or legal-based.

To highlight the selection, I give you two quotes from TIME”s website on the announcement, to better explain the choice from their point of view:

“For 97 years, the editors of TIME have been picking the Person of the Year: the individual who, for better or for worse, did the most to shape the world and the headlines over the past 12 months. In many years, that choice is a difficult one. In 2024, it was not.”

“Today, we are witnessing a resurgence of populism, a widening mistrust in the institutions that defined the last century, and an eroding faith that liberal values will lead to better lives for most people. Trump is both agent and beneficiary of it all. For marshaling a comeback of historic proportions, for driving a once-in-a-­generation political realignment, for reshaping the American presidency and altering America’s role in the world, Donald Trump is TIME’s 2024 ­Person of the Year.”

Nobody on the planet had dominated and influenced the news cycle in 2024 more than Donald Trump. Even Palestine was drowned out by the MAGA Emperor. Using TIME’s definition of “Featuring a person, group, idea, or object that “for better or for worse … has done the most to influence the events of the year”, Donald Trump is the clear winner.

I know this decision has upset people, but I want to leave you with two things; one negative and one positive. If you’re angry about the choice, don’t blame Trump. He’s a 78-year-old narcissist, who doesn’t have the need, desire, or ability to change.

Don’t blame TIME, by trash-talking or boycotting them. It’s their rules and they are just following them.

If you want someone to blame for Trump winning this award, blame yourself. Blame your parents, children, spouse, siblings, neighbours, and politicians. Blame teachers, lawyers, journalists, reporters, scientists, librarians, talk show hosts, activists, social influencers, podcasters, singers, actors, and world leaders, for this mess.

You could blame everybody and anybody you’ve ever talked to in the last 10 years. Hell, you can even blame me. The reason is that all of these people, regardless of their political philosophy and beliefs, or mine, all have something in common: whether it’s positive or negative, we all talk about Trump.

Any attention that man gets is good attention, because it means people are talking about him, and that’s what he wants. And we have all given it to him, which is why he has dominated the news cycle.

By ignoring his crazy rants and lies, along with his illegal dealings, we are condoning his behaviour; therefore, we are enabling him. By calling out his crazy rants and lies, along with his illegal dealings, he can play the “I’m a billionaire victim because the false news and the deep state are out to get me” card; therefore, we are enabling him.

He’s like a male succubus, but instead of feeding and living off sexual energy and activity, he thrives on communication. The more people discuss him, the stronger he becomes. His ego feeds off the attention. But hey, what do I know? Even writing this stupid post will probably mean Trump will reach Super Saiyan God status now.

As for the positive part, just remember that even though Trump won this award, he joins some other previous top-quality winners of the award like Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling (1937), Adolf Hitler (1938), Joseph Stalin (1939 and 1942), Richard Nixon (1971 and 1972), Henry Kissinger (1972), Ruhollah Khomeini (1979), Jeff Bezos (1999), Vladimir Putin (2007), and Mark Zuckerberg (2010).

Trump and the rest of the League of Losers can’t hold a candle to recent winners like The Ebola Fighters (2014), Angela Merkel (2015), The Silence Breakers (2017), and Greta Thunberg (2019); along with my favourites, The Protester (2011), The Guardians (2018), and Volodymyr Zelensky and The Spirit of Ukraine (2022).

And with that, I’m going to shut my mouth and go to bed. We are well into Summer here, which I’ll discuss somewhat next week. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Please remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, keep watching Syria and Palestine, and I’ll see you next week. Christmas is coming!

1 The award was actually first named Man of the Year, but eventually, equality caught up.

An Ode to 34

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn People, Politics

Trump.

Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump!

Even here in the South Pacific, there seems to be no escaping from Donald Trump. He’s here, he’s there, he’s in every courtroom, Donald Trump, Donald Trump!

Over the years, I’ve developed two vices that I’m ashamed to admit. I enjoy watching Panda Fail videos; basically, pandas failing at being pandas, but also watching billionaires complain. I can’t get enough of both of them. This awful transition brings us to Donald Trump’s recent trial.

It’s difficult to believe that the star of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, the founder of Trump University, and the winner of the 2024 Trump International Golf Club Most Improved Player award, was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to make hush money payments to a porn star, in an effort to make it appear as legitimate business expenses.

I was as shocked as you were. I mean, someone at the centre of over 4,000 legal cases, involving sexual harassment, sexual assault, personal defamation lawsuits, tax disputes, real estate lawsuits, and many more, couldn’t possibly be involved with lawlessness. The whole concept is very sad.

However, a jury of 12 of Trump’s peers, found him guilty of 34 felony counts, with sentencing to happen on 11th July 2024.

Former U.S President Donald Trump listens as defence lawyer Todd Blanche presents closing arguments during Trump’s criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan state court in New York City. 28th May 2024 in this courtroom sketch. Credit: Jane Rosenburg/Reuters.

I’m not here to discuss in detail the trial because I’m not a legal expert. I have enough trouble remembering what I said to my children last night, let alone explaining a court case. No, what I’m here to comment on is the reaction to Trump’s conviction, mainly through entertainment.

As I’m getting older, I’m finding that I prefer to experience satirical news a lot more than I did before, thanks to Trump. So because of this, may I present the best reactions to Trump’s conviction, whether it’s monologues or songs. Oh, I forgot, the last video isn’t a response to his conviction, but it ties it in quite nicely.

I love listening to billionaires complaining that life is unfair, and watching Trump’s reaction to his conviction has been hilarious. Like I said before, I do feel ashamed about this.

What’s been the best reaction or response to Trump’s conviction? As always, please let me know. I’m feeling better again, so I’m ready to be infected with a child’s new illness. Good times.

Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, watch the T20 World Cricket Cup, and I’ll see you next week because the Tour of the Solar System is painfully marching forward again. Awesome.