Known as the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, it was looted from Iraq and made its way through several hands before Hobby Lobby purchased it for the Museum of the Bible in 2014.

(Image credit: Immigration and Customs Enforcement)

You try to put any of this material into even the broadest sitcom or 80 C movie and you’d be laughed out of the writer’s room:

Is it weird to be disappointed that the great threat to the republic is so shabby and tacky? If he weren’t imploding a democracy he’d be on Home Shopping Network talking about how amazing this new pan is. https://t.co/yH1kutbhJI

— Julian Sanchez (@normative) September 20, 2021

Trump being the kind of guy who would otherwise be holding down the 2 AM slot on QVC causes a lot of elites to dismiss the threat he poses, because they don’t understand that kidding on the square and tacky personality cults are central to right-wing authoritarianism.

Remember when gadget vendors Aukey, Mpow, RavPower, Vava, TaoTronics and Choetech started mysteriously disappearing from Amazon’s online storefront, and it turned out Amazon had intentionally yanked them while vaguely gesturing to the sanctity of its user reviews? Turns out they were just the tip of the iceberg. Amazon has now permanently banned over 600 Chinese brands across 3,000 different seller accounts, the company confirms to The Verge.

Amazon says that’s the grand tally after five months of its global crackdown, and it’s no longer being shy about why: a spokesperson tells us these 600 brands were banned for knowingly, repeatedly and significantly violating Amazon’s policies, especially the ones around review abuse.

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Georgian chess legend Nona Gaprindashvili is suing Netflix for defamation. At issue is a line in the show's final episode that falsely says she hadn't played against male opponents.

(Image credit: Stanley Sherman/Getty Images)