What in the World Wednesdays #2: From Barriers and Taxes to the Golden Globes and Strangers Licking Doorbells

By: burgundy bug

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Sunrise

Source: Good Morning 06 | Penelope Peru Photography P³

Going on to our third week of the government shutdown, President Donald Trump flails on television in an attempt to defend his wall along the border of the United States and Mexico. At least the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is adamant on distributing tax returns, regardless of the partial government shutdown! That’s something to look forward to… Right? I’m not just grasping at straws here… Am I?

What in the World of Politics

Friday, Jan. 11 will mark the 21st day of the United States’ partial government shutdown, tying it with the government shutdown of 1995, the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, according to the University of Berkeley.

On Tuesday, President Trump took to television screens across America, in which he attempted to address what he refers to as a “humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border”

President Trump goes on to explain that the “barrier” (formally known as “the wall”) is “critical” to border security.

“The border wall would very quickly pay for itself,” Trump claimed. “The cost of illegal drugs exceeds $500 billion a year. Vastly more than the $5.7 billion we have requested from Congress.”

President Trump then goes on to explain how Mexico will play a hand in funding the wall.

“The wall will always be paid for indirectly by the great new trade deal we have made with Mexico Sen. Chuck Schumer,” Trump said.

The President then mentions a physical barrier both Schumer and members of the democratic party had supposedly supported, prior to his election.

However, CNN discloses that the Democrats never supported a steel or concrete barrier along our southern border. Rather, the funding for the barrier remained open as a part of a bigger-picture immigration deal.

Video footage of the president’s full speech, as well as it’s transcript, is available on Politico’s website.

With this speech, it’s likely that our government shutdown may continue well into February. Neither the President nor Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) show any sign of coming to an agreement with the Democrats in the House of Representatives, further perpetuated by a statement released by McConnell last week.

Head on over to The U.S. Shutdown: A Two-Week Recap on The Burgundy Zine for more on the partial shutdown, including McConnell (R-KY)’s address!

As the partial government shutdown drags on, branches that have been affected are finding clever ways to cope with the lack of funding.

For example, National Parks are relying on their entrance fees in order to keep operations running.

Meanwhile, the acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, promised that tax refunds will go out whether the partial shutdown continues into tax season or not, according to Bloomberg.

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What in the World of Art and Entertainment?

The Golden Globes

The 76th Golden Globes hosted by Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg aired on Sunday, however it received record-breakingly low ratings with an unimpressive 18.6 million tuning in to watch, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Bohemian Rhapsody beat A Star is Born for the title of Best Motion Picture in the Drama category, shocking and dividing audiences, according to NBCNews.

Other noteworthy wins include Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse for the best animated motion picture, Christian Bale in Vice for the best actor in a motion picture, and Regina King in If Beale Street Could Talk for the best actress in a motion picture. The full list of winners is available on the E! News website.

Second Chances

“Making a song with R. Kelly was a mistake,” Chance the Rapper expresses in Lifetime’s docuseries Surviving R. Kelly.

Although Chance the Rapper has worked with R. Kelly on multiple occasions, including their song Somewhere In Paradise featuring Jeremih, he chalks his willingness to collaborate with Kelly in the past up to cultural conditioning.

Somewhere in Paradise by Chance the Rapper (feat. Jeremih & R. Kelly)

Source: Chance The Rapper – Somewhere in Paradise (ft. Jeremih & R. Kelly) | Promoting Sounds

“Black women are exponentially [a] higher oppressed and violated group of people just in comparison to the whole world,” Chance the Rapper began. “Maybe I didn’t care because I didn’t value the accusers’ stories because they were black women. Usually, ni**as that get in trouble for shit like this on their magnitude of celebrity, it’s light-skinned women or white women. That’s when it’s a big story.”

The full transcript of the Lifetime interview is available on the Rolling Stone’s website.

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What Else is Going on in the World?

In an unnerving video released on Tuesday, a man in California decided it would be a good idea to slob on the knob doorbell of a house within the Rossi Rico neighborhood of Salinas, California.

Man licking a doorbell of a house in Salinas, CA.

Source: Raw: California man caught licking doorbell | KHOU 11

As reported by RT News, the family of the house claims to have never met the man, Roberto Daniel Arroyo, before. In addition to licking their doorbell, he also appears to have stolen extension cords from their Christmas lights.

Personally, I think this man knew exactly what he was doing just by the way he retains eye contact with the security camera throughout parts of the video. Whether this is the byproduct of substance abuse or an outlandish publicity stunt remains cloudy, as of right now.

On an even more disturbing note, CNN reported that a woman who has been in a coma for fourteen years recently gave birth at the Hacienda HealthCare facility facility in Phoenix, AZ.

An investigation is underway with police requesting DNA samples from males who work at the facility. The Department of Health has also ordered Hacienda to increase their security.

The wackiness continues, reaching across the waters to Australia. Embassies in Melbourne and Canberra received suspicious packages today, as mentioned in a Tweet from the Australian Federal Police.

BREAKING: Police and emergency services have responded to suspicious packages to embassies and consulates in ACT & VIC today (Wednesday, 9 January 2019). The packages are being examined by attending emergency services. The circumstances are being investigated.

AFP (@AusFedPolice) January 9, 2019

According to BBC News, some of the packages appeared to contain concrete and were labelled “asbestos.”

Thankfully, no staff has been harmed and the situation is being further investigated.

From Oranges to Apple

Taking a complete 360, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased new services Apple plans to launch this year in a discussion with Jim Cramer on CNBC’s Mad Money on Tuesday. Although Cook didn’t specify what the services were, he did mention that their “greatest contribution” will relate to healthcare.

The Verge suspects some of these services may relate to a TV-Streaming service, as Apple had spent over $1 billion on original TV series last year without a clear platform for users to watch them, according to an earlier article.

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In Conclusion

From the slobish mess of the partial government shutdown to a stranger slobbing on the doorbell of a house in the suburbs of Salinas, CA, this week’s been whacky, to say the least. Be sure to tune in this Friday for a three-week recap of the partial U.S. government shutdown.

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