Tag: LateStageCapitalism

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15761595/Millionaire-US-big-game-hunter-75-trampled-death-five-elephants-hunting-antelope-central-Africa.html

Millionaire US big game hunter, 75, is trampled to death by five elephants in central Africa.

Californian vineyard owner Ernie Dosio, 75 – who owns a vast collection of exotic animal heads in trophy rooms at home – was trampled to death. He was being guided by a professional hunter in the thick forest of Gabon on a £30,000 ($40,000) stalk for a shot at the elusive yellow-backed duiker. Over the decades, he has hunted elephants, leopard, rhino, buffalo and lion across Africa and back home in the US, he has hunted almost every species of wild deer.

But the highly respected hunter’s luck ran out last Friday while in the Lope-Okanda rainforest when his hunt stumbled into five female elephants with a calf. African elephants are the largest land mammals and females can stand 12ft tall at the shoulder, weigh nearly four tons and run at speeds of up to 25mph.

The startled elephant herd immediately charged Mr Dosio and his professional hunter. The elephants were so well hidden in the dense undergrowth that they appeared ‘as if from nowhere,’ and the professional with the high-powered rifle was just flung aside.

Didn’t have Elephants on my 2026 bingo card, along with the TEMU submarine and random pissed off Italian guy from previous years.

Just another great example of dumb fucking people spending WAY too much money on a bullshit festival so they can take Instagram photos which mean absolutely nothing, all while funding billionaires who then donate that money to fascists so they can continue making billions without paying taxes. That’s the long and short of it, anyways.

Here is how it works: Coachella is run by Anschutz Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation, which is owned by right-wing billionaire Philip Anschutz. Money from The Anschutz Corporation’s treasury, which includes the profits from Coachella, is funneled directly to right-wing organizations that support key politicians funding ICE, undermining LGBTQ rights, and restricting abortion.

Republican governors have been signing legislation and taking other action to require local law enforcement to assist in ICE deportation raids. This has been a key lever to accelerate ICE’s crackdown.

The Anschutz Corporation donated $125,000 to the Republican Governors Association (RGA) on April 3, 2025.

The company also donated $125,000 to the RGA in 2024, $100,000 in 2023, and $100,000 in 2022. (The RGA, which is organized as a 527 organization, has not yet had to disclose any 2026 donations.) This money is used to ensure as many Republicans as possible are elected. Over the same time period, the Anschutz Corporation has not donated any money to the Democratic Governors Association.

The Anschutz Corporation donated $100,000 to the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) on April 1, 2025. This is the company’s first donation to RAGA since 2022, when it donated $125,000. Democratic attorneys general are fighting the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in court, but The Anschutz Corporation has not donated any funds to the Democratic Attorneys General Association.

The Republican-controlled Congress has provided tens of billions of dollars in additional funding for ICE. The Anschutz Corporation donated $250,000 to the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), a Super PAC devoted to maintaining Republican control of the Senate, on April 3, 2025. The company donated $500,000 to the SLF in 2024 and $500,000 in 2023. In 2023 and 2024, The Anschutz Corporation donated a combined $375,000 to the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), the Super PAC supporting Republicans in the House. If Republicans lose control of either the House or the Senate, it will be much more difficult for the Trump administration to fund its immigration crackdown. The Anschutz Corporation has not donated any money to Super PACs supporting the election of Democrats.

Candidates and officials who are supported by RGA, RAGA, SLF, and CLF have also worked to undermine other issues important to Carpenter, including LGBTQ rights. Republican governors signed dozens of anti-LGBTQ laws last year, Republican attorneys general are filing lawsuits to restrict LGBTQ rights, and Republicans in Congress are pushing anti-LGBTQ legislation.

All this is basically happening, all while people like Sabrina Carpenter and Justin Beiber who have been outspoken against Republicans and ICE are more than happy to accept a payday from Coachella, so I guess their wallets are in fact more important than their morals and ethics. Add to that list Karly Hartzman of Wednesday (an indie band), who closed their 2026 Coachella set by declaring, “Fuck ICE’ and free Palestine.” David Byrne, the lead singer of Talking Heads, projected images of anti-ICE protests as he performed the song, “Life During Wartime”. All of these artists, and others who have made similar statements, are now generating profits for Anschutz, which he is using to support MAGA politicians. Perhaps they just didn’t know? Or, they just talk out of both sides of their mouths. Neither would surprise me – but, considering the history and multiple reports about The Anschutz Corporation, at this point I’d just call them ignorant if they aren’t aware.

In 2022, Popular Information reported on The Anschutz Corporation’s support of RAGA in light of the group’s efforts to restrict abortion rights. Representatives of The Anschutz Corporation told Popular Information the donations should not be considered an endorsement of the organization’s views on any issue. “Mr. Anschutz makes contributions to numerous organizations, usually for specific reasons,” a spokesperson said. “He does not review or support each of the positions taken by such organizations.”

In 2017, Anschutz faced scrutiny after his foundation donated to anti-LGBTQ groups, including the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Family Research Council. Anschutz claims he doesn’t fund these groups anymore, which is just more billionaire bullshit because he just continues to support groups like the RGA and RAGA, which support politicians who are restricting LGBTQ rights.

Enjoy your shitty festival, you basic fucks.

All these people wearing those “anti-social social club” hoodies, thinking they’re being cool because they’re advertising the fact they’re not well socially adjusted. I think it’s lame, but whatever. You do you.

But, did you know that’s a massive corporate owned brand, just leeching your money from you? It’s owned by Marquee Brands, since 2022 and also controls brands such as Ben Sherman, Body Glove, Dakine, Istoner, Totes, Martha Stewart, and others.

Also, the CEO makes a measly $10+ Million/year, so that’s cool. Keep buying the shirts bro. Neil will have this 3rd yacht soon.

Thank goodness Zuckerberg’s Facebook and Musk’s “X” is bringing it back. I couldn’t think of two other tech bros who love racism more than those fucks. Of course, “relearn.org” is little more than thinly veiled white christian nationalism. The Catholic Church is little more than a racist terrorist organization at this point.

Don’t believe me? Then why isn’t the church denouncing all of these organizations? They couldn’t give fuck as long as people keep giving them money.

Have you bought anything made by Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Reebok, Champion in the past 6 or 7 years and thought “this isn’t anywhere as good as it used to be”? There’s a reason for that, and it’s completely planned – of course, by yet another venture capital parasite. It’s a $20 billion company that doesn’t design or manufacture anything, they simply rent the logo out to the cheapest bidder. Quality control is right out the window – it’s little more than a logo stapled to a royalty agreement.

The company is called Authentic Brands Group. Their playbook is to wait for a beloved brand to hit financial trouble, buy the intellectual property, the name, logo, and trademarks. Strip out the designers, factory workers, & quality control, then license the brand name to third-party companies who actually make and sell everything. ABG just sits back and collects royalty checks not giving a rats ass about what is or isn’t actually produced.

ABG’s own IPO filing was shockingly transparent about the whole plan : “We generally do not design or manufacture the products associated with our brands and therefore have more limited control over such products’ quality”. They call themselves “brand guardians” but what they really guard is the trademark. Not the stitching, the materials, or the people who made the thing worth buying in the first place.

Here’s what happens after ABG “saves” a brand. Brooks Brothers was founded in 1818 and dressed 40 presidents. ABG bought it out of bankruptcy in 2020 and launched a cheap diffusion line at Macy’s that reviewers called “a little bit shabby.” Eddie Bauer was bought by ABG in 2021 and just filed its third bankruptcy in February 2026 with all 174 stores closing. Forever 21 was bought out of bankruptcy in 2020 and went bankrupt again in 2025 losing over $400 million in three years and closing all 350 U.S. stores.

ABG doesn’t need the stores to survive. When an operating partner goes bankrupt, ABG still owns the brand. They just find another licensee. The workers all lose their jobs. ABG loses nothing.

And ABG isn’t the only company doing this. Here’s who owns what so you can make informed choices:

Authentic Brands Group: Aéropostale, Arrow, Barneys New York, Billabong, Brooks Brothers, Champion, DC Shoes, Dockers, Eddie Bauer, Element, Forever 21, Frederick’s of Hollywood, Frye, Greg Norman, Guess (pending), Hunter Boots, Izod, Jones New York, Juicy Couture, Lucky Brand, Nautica, Nine West, Prince, Quiksilver, Reebok, Rockport, Roxy, RVCA, Sperry, Spyder, Tapout, Ted Baker, Van Heusen, Vince, Volcom

WHP Global: Toys “R” Us, Babies “R” Us, Rag & Bone, Vera Wang, G-Star, Express, Bonobos, Joe’s Jeans, Anne Klein, Joseph Abboud, Isaac Mizrahi, Warners, Lotto, Lands’ End

Marquee Brands: Martha Stewart, Laura Ashley, Sur La Table, Emeril Lagasse, America’s Test Kitchen, BCBGMAXAZRIA, BCBG, Ben Sherman, Bruno Magli, Anti Social Social Club, Totes, Isotoner, Destination Maternity, Motherhood, A Pea in the Pod, Stance, Dakine, Body Glove

Same playbook everywhere. Buy the name. Gut the product. Collect the rent. That’s capitalism, baby.

Oracle. You may know them. Larry Ellison, the CEO and long time Trump supporter and mega-donor, just laid off 30,000 employees last week. They cited changes in the industry causing them to do this.

Today, they hired a new CFO. Want to guess what their compensation is?

$29,700,000. Yes, $29.7 Million dollars.

Her name is Hilary Maxson. Previously she was the CFO at Schneider Electric where her compensation package was $2.5 Million in 2020, growing each year just a little bit from the previous year until she reached 2025 where she was compensated $2.8 Million.

Prior to this, she was a SVP for Schneider Electric, pulling in about $800,000 annually.

Larry Ellison just paid her over 10x what she was previously making.

Let’s get one thing clear. Oracle (who’s insanely invested in AI, and buying up all the components, which is creating a worldwide emergency shortage of chips, hard drives, memory, and processors) is causing basically everything from baby food to your Netflix subscription to go up in price. They shit-canned 30,000 people, so they can give this worthless sack of fucking skin nearly $30,000,000 a year.

Tell me, Larry. What can this bitch bring to the table that values her at $30,000,000 a year, more than 10x what she was making just a couple days ago?

Fuck it. Add Hilary Maxson to the list of people who should be fucking shot out of a cannon directly into the sun. Don’t worry. I’m not just ragging on her because she’s a woman. That cannon is loaded with a completely disproportionate amount of men over women, and Larry Ellison is near the top of that list.

Welcome to capitalism, baby.

https://www.dougfordclownshow.ca

That fat fuck just needs to die.