Jimmy Kimmel on hurricane conspiracy theories: ‘What a stupid time to be alive’
Late-night hosts talk Maga weather conspiracy theories in the wake of hurricanes Helene and Milton and Bob Woodward’s new book on the Donald Trump White House,On Thursday evening, after Hurricane Milton made landfall and knocked out power for over 3 million Floridians, Jimmy Kimmel recapped “the lies that Trump and his crack team of wingnuts have been spreading” about recent natural disasters,The far-right representative Marjorie Taylor Greene “has been pushing this bonkers idea that Democrats can somehow control the weather”, Kimmel explained,Greene and others are targeting Republican voting districts,“Not only are people believing this, meteorologists are getting death threats and angry phone calls from viewers who think they are covering it up,” Kimmel marveled.
“Donald Trump has pushed us to the point where we can’t even agree on the weather,” he continued.“What a stupid time to be alive.Has anyone thought about unplugging America and then plugging it back in again? Because we could use a reset.“These poor local weather people, haven’t they been through enough?” he added.“They get up at the crack of dawn to help us figure out what jacket to wear, we reward them by sharing screengrabs where they’re standing next to a pattern that looks like a boner, and now this.
It’s so mind-bogglingly crazy.”Kimmel then played clips of interviews with Maga rally-goers where they avowed that the government – as in, the Biden administration – controlled the hurricanes.“Donald Trump should be forced to live on an island with all these people,” said Kimmel.“Listen, dummies, the government can’t control the weather.The only person who can control the weather is Beyoncé.
”Kimmel also wondered why Trump was recently campaigning in California, a state almost certain to go to Kamala Harris, when the election will come down to a handful of swing states,He explained his theory through the old story of King Midas, with Trump as a narcissist whose narcissism brought too great of success,“Now that he’s up there alone, he can’t break the spell, it’s too strong,” said Kimmel,“He can’t admit who he really is, which is a sad, elderly con man farting on stage,It would kill him.
“So now he’s sabotaging himself,” he concluded,“He’s saying immigrants eat dogs, he’ll be a dictator on day one, he’s selling God Bless the USA Bibles in China,And he’s campaigning in states he has no hope of winning – does he believe he can turn those states into gold? Maybe, but I think it’s more likely that deep down, he knows the only way to reverse this curse is to lose the election,So let’s help this poor man do that,”On Late Night, Seth Meyers opened with news that the Kremlin confirmed a story, reported in Bob Woodward’s upcoming book War, that Donald Trump secretly sent Vladimir Putin Covid tests during the height of the pandemic.
“Well, who are you going to believe? The Kremlin spokesman or the other Kremlin spokesman?” Meyers quipped.Asked in a new interview about his former vice-president, Mike Pence, Trump said that they had a good relationship, but that “he couldn’t cross the line of doing what was right”.“And if you’ve ever doubted that Trump knew he lost the election, the phrase ‘crossed the line’ proves it,” said Meyers.“No one ever crosses the line to do what’s right.They cross the line to do what’s wrong.
No one ever says: ‘Darling, this flower arrangement you got me truly crosses the line,’”In War, Woodward reports that behind closed doors, Joe Biden refers to Trump as “that fucking asshole”,“Wow, who would’ve guessed Biden has so much in common with Melania?” Meyers quipped,And according to a new CNN factcheck, Trump made at least 11 false claims during an interview this week with the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt,“Only 11? Was it a four-minute interview?” Meyers laughed.
“I feel like Trump could make 11 false claims during a haiku.”
Don’t drag my autistic children into the Tories’ war on ‘woke’ | Letters
I felt compelled to respond to the latest Conservative punch-down: Kemi Badenoch’s endorsement of dangerously false claims on the administrative load of neurodivergence (What kind of person would drag autistic children into the culture wars? The Kemi Badenoch kind, 14 October). As a parent of two autistic boys without a formal diagnosis – the eldest already two years into the waiting list, with the youngster’s referral somewhere in the ether – I’m absolutely livid. To see your loved ones struggle without the support they need to keep them safe and well is hard enough, before they’re dragged into Tory point-scoring against “woke” society.On a professional level, I’m even more affronted by these accusations of workplace meddling and entitlement by people with neurodevelopmental differences. I’m part of a research group exploring autistic health inequalities, and I can assure readers that there is ample evidence that every factor that equates to poor health outcomes is more prevalent in the autistic community
Ethical alarms should be ringing over weight-loss jabs for the jobless | Letters
The proposal by the health secretary, Wes Streeting, that weight-loss drugs could be provided to unemployed people deemed to be obese, as a way to help them get back to work and ease the demands on the NHS caused by obesity, should raise ethical alarms (Employers should be fined for unhealthy workplaces, says thinktank, 16 October).Would taking the drug be voluntary, or would it become a condition for entitlement to benefits? Recalling Labour’s previous support for conditionality and sanctions, one can guess which way it would go.Would giving drugs for obesity be a precedent for drugs for other medical conditions deemed to affect the probability of obtaining jobs? Many who become unemployed become depressed. Will the Department for Work and Pensions insist on their taking antidepressants, or lose benefits? Many unemployed people become angry. Will they be given anger‑suppressing drugs?Another set of ethical issues relates to the implied selectivity
Mental health professionals must work together | Letters
Psychiatrists have a fundamental role to play in resolving the ongoing mental health crisis and it is disappointing to see that outdated and erroneous tropes about our work are still widely believed, even by other mental health professionals (Letters, 10 October).People who have a mental illness usually require a range of therapeutic approaches, including psychotherapy, social and occupational interventions, family work and medication. As doctors, psychiatrists take a holistic approach that recognises the complex interaction between psychological, social, cultural, environmental and biological factors, and the impact that these can have on mental health. This ensures that patients receive personalised care and treatment options as well as support from a variety of other services.Psychiatry has been at the forefront of developing the biopsychosocial model, which is routinely used in modern psychiatric practice to help people recover from all types of mental illness
UK housing: how has unsafe cladding affected you and your home?
We would like to find out more about people who live in homes with unsafe cladding and what their experience has been like over the years. Have remedial works been completed, are in progress, or are yet to start? Have you experienced any problems moving home, selling or remortgaging? What effect, if any, has it had on your mental and physical health?You can tell us how living in a residential building with unsafe cladding has affected you, by filling in the form below.Please be specific and include as much detail as possible. Please be specific and include as much detail as possible. Please be specific and include as much detail as possible
Tell us: do you know someone who died in pregnancy or during childbirth?
We’d like to find out more about maternal deaths in the UK as recent figures show a rise in numbers. We’re interested in hearing from anyone whose friend, relative or loved one died in pregnancy, during childbirth, or within a year of pregnancy between 2020 and 2024.What was their experience like and what kind of treatment or care did they receive? We’re also interested in hearing from healthcare professionals and their experiences.You can share your experience by filling in the form below. Please leave blank if you wish to be anonymousPlease be specific and include as much detail as possible
Archbishop of Canterbury to meet MP behind assisted dying bill
The archbishop of Canterbury is to meet the architect of a parliamentary bill to legalise assisted dying after he described a change in the law as dangerous.Kim Leadbeater, MP for Spen Valley, wrote to Justin Welby after he intervened in the debate over assisted dying. The archbishop said the MP’s private member’s bill would lead to a “slippery slope”, including a broadening of criteria and pressure on people to die prematurely.She proposed a meeting to discuss the issues. Lambeth Palace said it was trying to find a mutually convenient date
Jerry Seinfeld says he was ‘wrong’ to blame ‘extreme left’ for killing comedy
Kimmel on Trump’s latest attacks: ‘When they go low, they go really low’
Calls for ACCC investigation into live music industry amid warnings artists may be getting ‘ripped off’
‘It’s quite a thing to do a show here and openly use the word looting’: artist Hew Locke on decolonising the British Museum
Sculpture by the Sea 2024: giant melanoma on Sydney beach to deliver ‘message that will be hard to ignore’
Melissa Leong: ‘The weirdest thing I’ve done for love? Live on an abattoir’