Real Time with Bill Maher returned for its 20th season on Friday, and naturally, host Bill Maher came out firing with his usual round of controversial hot takes. This time around, Maher took aim at the current state of the coronavirus pandemic, which for the past month, has seen the omicron variant skyrocket cases across the country and pushed healthcare workers to their breaking point. However, instead of promoting the vaccine or safe practices like masking up, Maher announced that he’s over the pandemic, and he’s tired of precautions that he believes aren’t doing anything.

“It’s not real anymore!” Maher said about COVID before launching into a rant about how everyone’s being paranoid. “You go out, it’s silly now: You have to have a mask, you have to have a card, you have to have a booster. They scan your head, like you’re a cashier and I’m a bunch of bananas. I’m not bananas. You are!”

https://uproxx.com/viral/whoopi-goldberg-bill-maher-over-pandemic/

ABC’s The View took an uncomfortable turn on Monday when moderator Whoopi Goldberg repeatedly insisted the Holocaust was not about race, prompting a heated discussion among the show’s roundtable.

Devoting one of the talk show’s “Hot Topics” to the recent controversy over Maus, the Pulitzer-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust, the hosts were largely in agreement that a Tennessee school board banning the book due to profanity and nudity was silly given the content matter.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-view-melts-down-after-whoopi-goldberg-claims-the-holocaust-isnt-about-race?source=articles&via=rss

Bill Maher saved his best for last on his Friday night Real Time on HBO. After bland discussions on civil liberties, Covid-19 rules, affirmative action, and whether actual partisan combat may be brewing, he turned his guns on an unexpected target – the leftist progressives whose crazy demands have turned real life into comedy gold.

Maher noted a recent statement by a Fox News commentator, who suggested he’s gearing up to run for president, which critics saw as a sign that he’s changed. “I am not,” he insisted. “I am still the same unmarried, pot-smoking libertine I always was.” The recently turned 66-year-old added, “I have many flaws, but you can’t accuse me of maturing.”

https://deadline.com/2022/01/bill-maher-fires-back-says-his-politics-have-not-changed-1234922380/

https://twitter.com/adamcarolla/status/1487686642106179585?s=20&t=tVMpZQgwXmyYDs4kp9evHg

Willow

Gov. Tom Wolf and Democratic leadership want workers in Pennsylvania to have a bigger slice of the pie.

That was Wolf's message, when he, House Democratic Leader Joanna McClinton and State Sen. Art Haywood stopped at &Pizza in Willow Grove Park mall on Thursday to once again press the state legislature to raise the minimum wage.

"The fact that Pennsylvania’s minimum wage hasn’t increased in 15 years is an embarrassment,” Wolf said. “It’s an insult to hardworking Pennsylvanians, and it means businesses and communities in Pennsylvania are getting left behind. Hardworking people can’t wait any longer. I call on Republican lawmakers in the General Assembly to step up and take action on behalf of workers, businesses, and our economy.”

https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/story/news/2022/01/28/gov-wolf-democratic-leadership-press-state-legislature-raise-minimum-wage-pa/9245966002/

>>15512742

>>15512751

Why do so many places have Grove in the name?

Finger Lakes story from April 2021

SOUTH BRISTOL, N.Y. — A New York state trooper rescued a 2-year-old girl from a stream in the Finger Lakes area of the state last week, authorities said.

https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending/she-wouldnt-let-go-ny-state-trooper-finds-missing-2-year-old-stream/7SYKVFGULBG7BHATUNGKAMSH7A/

Governor Tom Wolf announced Monday that Pennsylvania has been awarded its initial allocation of $25 million, and will receive a total of $104 million, from President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to plug orphaned and abandoned wells in Pennsylvania. In addition to reducing pollution, the funding will support the creation of new, good-paying jobs related to the cleanup.

“Today’s announcement from the Biden Administration is welcome relief,? and I'm pleased that the president shares my commitment to addressing this legacy issue,” said Gov. Wolf. “Addressing Pennsylvania’s orphaned and abandoned gas and oil wells will not only support our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it will create a cleaner local ecosystem at each well site and energize the economy of our entire commonwealth.”

Pennsylvania is home to tens of thousands of orphaned and abandoned wells. These wells have the potential to pollute backyards, recreational areas, and public spaces, and frequently release methane, a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential more than 28 times that of carbon dioxide. This initial $25 million investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will support plugging the wells to address environmental, health, and safety concerns.

https://www.erienewsnow.com/story/45780243/gov-wolf-announces-dollar104-million-from-bidens-bipartisan-infrastructure-law-to-support-orphaned-abandoned-well-cleanup-in-pa

>>15512761

https://old.post-gazette.com/neigh_south/20021120sgrove1120p2.asp

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The latest addition to President Joe Biden's administration is a feline from western Pennsylvania. Willow was adopted by the president and first lady Jill Biden, who met the cat on a campaign stop in 2020.

Willow is named after Jill Biden's hometown of Willow Grove in Montgomery County. It's the first cat to occupy the White House since George W. Bush's presidency.

Willow formerly belonged To Rick Telesz, a farmer in Volant, Lawrence County, about an hour north of Pittsburgh. The tabby introduced herself to Jill Biden by jumping onto a makeshift stage and formed an "immediate bond" with her, according to Michael LaRosa, the first lady's press secretary.

https://patch.com/pennsylvania/pittsburgh/new-biden-white-house-cat-willow-hails-pa?utm_source=&utm_medium=rss&utm_term=pets&utm_campaign=recirc&utm_content=