Viral

Here's a sneak peek at a wet market with live poultry, which might remind you of something you'd see in China ... even though it's right here in our own backyard.

This footage was shot at two different wet/live animal markets in NYC -- one is called One-Stop "Vivero" Live Poultry Market in the Bronx and another is called Flushing Live Poultry in Queens. Both are currently open and operational, killing and selling the chickens and meat in the same location -- with what appears to be little regulation.

In the clip, you see a woman walking in without any trouble and getting up-close shots of chickens crammed in cages ... and she asks the workers if they're open. They say yes. Later in the video, you see pigeons are also cooped up in the same small space -- there are feathers and feces everywhere ... frankly, it's gross and definitely NOT sanitary.

Now, a little context ... the video here was shot by an animal rights org called NYCLASS, and they tell us there are more than 80 wet markets in the New York area ... which haven't seen increased oversight since the pandemic began ... they don't fall under the NYC Dept. of Health's purview. Instead, these wet markets fall under the USDA and State Agriculture Dept. ... state and federal orgs, which NYCLASS believes poorly manage these markets.

Of course, its reminiscent of the wet markets in China -- where some scientists believe the coronavirus pandemic got started. Some reports suggest bats were at the center of this, but all the same ... having live animals exposed in markets like this ain't healthy.

Of these markets, NYCLASS executive director, Edita Birnkrant, says ... "Their existence poses a public safety risk to the New Yorkers who live and work in these areas. Market floors and even public sidewalks are often covered with blood, feces and other biohazards that put everyone in danger."

A Vallejo official has left his post after he was caught apparently drinking and chucking his cat across the room during a virtual meeting he was conducting with his colleagues.

The guy's name is Chris Platzer and he was one of the city planning commissioners before he tendered his resignation this week ... after a wild Zoom meeting that included shots of him seemingly taking swigs out of a beer, and then hurling his feline in jest.

Check it out ... over the course of the 2 hour-plus meeting -- which was a formal meeting being held to discuss city business on Monday -- you see Platzer taking lots of drinks from a mug he has throughout, and constantly getting up and leaving the meeting several times.

At one point, he picks up the laptop he's using and carries it over to what appears to be his kitchen, where it looks like he opens his fridge and pulls out a green bottle -- which has been reported locally as a beer. Perhaps Heineken -- seems to be that from our POV.

Anyway, at another moment in the meeting ... Platzer's up to talk, and you hear meowing going on in the background. He gets up, brings over his cat and introduces it to everyone ... then throws it off camera, after which you hear a thud. Some of his colleagues laughed.

Toward the end, when everyone had logged off, Platzer's heard calling someone a "bitch," and he supposedly hurled a racial epithet too ... according to the City of Vallejo.

We'd like to introduce you to the Quarantine Quitters of America (the QQA for short) as a reminder folks are at their wit's end and throwing in the towel all over the country.

Click through the gallery and you'll see what we mean -- folks from coast to coast have been heading outdoors en masse over the past few weeks, hitting the beach, hitting the trails, hitting the streets, hitting anything they can to get a feeling of normalcy back.

Of course, in almost all of these cases ... so many are not practicing proper social distancing.

Whether it's beach-goers in Venice or Huntington Beach, or the good people of New York flocking out to Coney Island, or even the many protesters in Austin, TX and beyond -- people are clearly ready to break quarantine ... it looks like they've had enough, 'rona be damned.

That's a problem, obviously, because this many people going out and standing so near each other can and might very likely cause another wave of COVID-19 cases, not to mention the deaths that'll follow. These folks don't seem to care though ... apathy wins the day.

One guy in New York was ready to get his Don Lockwood on -- 'cause he happily did a little number out in the rain, only he had his own twist to it ... skip the clothes, cheeks out.

Watch this very excited man dance butt naked on his roof in the City That Never Sleeps (or gets dressed, apparently), all while a nice drizzle comes down from above. Not to worry -- the dude had some coverage to fend off the wet weather ... above his head, that is. He was rocking an umbrella while doing his routine ... yeah, that'll definitely fend off pneumonia.

Of course, you gotta give this feller his props -- he's out there by himself and seems to be practicing solid social distancing. He's also getting some good exercise going back and forth.

BTW, he's not even close to the first New Yorker to raise the roof in town -- tons of other residents have made it a regular thing when it's nice out. Sun's out, bun's out.

And no, we're not gonna get out of here without mentioning how inspired this is -- and yes, we're naturally talking about the classic 1952 "Singin' in the Rain," in which Gene Kelly's character has his famous scene where he hits the drenched streets with a song and dance.

A Bronx storefront is a perfect example of when keeping it real goes RIGHT -- the owner is giving his customers some straight talk, in very explicit terms, over coronavirus protocol.

Check out this sign posted in the window of what appears to be a liquor store or bodega of some sort in the NYC borough, which tells its patrons exactly what's expected of them as they come in and shop ... without any room for misunderstanding, or coddling at all.

The sign reads, "COVID-19 IS SOME REAL S***! Cover your f***ing mouth! Shut the f*** up! Buy your s*** and leave immediately." Oh, it gets better ... the owner lets it rip!!!

They continue, "Absolutely NO titty or sock money! Stand back at least 6 feet, playa. Store capacity limited to 5 motherf***ers at once. You cough, you die. Drink responsibly."

It's interesting ... the scientists and doctors aren't getting through to a large number of Americans with rock-solid data, so this seems like a viable Plan B.

We gotta say, the dude (or dudette) who put this up deserves an award of some kind, because instead of tip-toeing around what NEEDS to be said, they just came right out and told it how it is. No pussy-footing or sugar-coating ... just to-the-point, NYC instructions.

It's funny too -- this very much reminds of us of Michael Rapaport (a New York-native himself) coming out with an expletive-filled PSA telling youngsters and their parents to stop screwing around and stay indoors, while other celebs came out with PC/watered-down takes of their own. Those Big Apple dwellers sure do have a way with words, huh?

A popular astrology app that sends daily advice to users appears to be disregarding safety and telling folks to break quarantine -- but it's probably just an algorithm problem.

The company is Co-Star, which will send people horoscopes every day if you sign up ... based on stars and the cosmos and stuff. Someone on Twitter took a screenshot of a recent alert they received from Co-Star, and it definitely doesn't look coronavirus-conscience.

The alert reads, "Your day at a glance. Don't be afraid to find ways to safely see the people you love." They covered their asses by adding in the word "safely," but to be frank, it sure sounds like they're encouraging an in-person reunion here. The vagueness doesn't help.

A full horoscope sent to one Co-Star user says they can either "lie there or you can stand up." Not too bad, but then it gets even weirder, with the prompt reading ... "Your desire to change this month depends on your ability to sharpen yourself against every obstacle. This is a big step for you, who likes to maintain a high level of tension in their relationships. This is your opportunity to practice love that defies societal expectations."

Then comes the nail in the coffin ... "The general theme of your life during this period is to get free by transforming your surroundings. You're allowed to wince at the truth right now."

Now, we should point out ... a lot these horoscope companies send pretty generic nuggets of "truth" to their users, and it's even possible this most recent wave of apparent bad advice is automatically generated and hasn't quite been updated to reflect the pandemic.

Land O'Lakes made a big branding change, and one woman's utter and ridiculous fury at the move has caught the attention of the Internet -- which is churning up joke after joke.

You mighta heard about the company removing the image of a Native American woman holding a box of their butter from the logo and simply having the surrounding lakes and trees instead -- which was seen by some as a progressive step forward and long overdue.

Of course, the pendulum swings both ways ... with many people getting astoundingly pissed about the pivot to "PC culture" -- including one Twitter user who had some choice words.

The lady's tweet -- which has resurfaced and since gone viral -- reads in clear terms, "Land O Lakes can kiss this butter buyer's ass. My family has been a Land O Lakes family since I can remember. No more. I'm fine with the store brand from here on out."

There's even more outrage ... she goes on to say, "Your virtue signaling lost you some good customers who were always willing to pay more for your product. #BuhByeLOL." The lady also included a pic of the old Land O'Lakes butter, as well as a shot of her cart with a TON of the generic store brand stuff which she apparently bought. Okay, jeez ... point made.

Now, Twitter found this and is having a field day ... with many people pointing out that to identify oneself and your brood as a "Land O Lakes family" is interesting in and of itself, but there are even more takes that are coming from this ... including cracks at LOL itself.

One user took a screenshot of a text exchange between her and her dad, and her papa said ... "Finally got rid of her. But kept her land." The daughter replied, "omg." That's one way to look at it -- then of course, there's the 'Star Wars' POV too, which is more light-hearted.

People super-imposed Lando Calrissian onto the logo and turned Land O'Lakes butter into Lando Lakes butter ... slow clap, well done, guys. The rabbit hole goes deeper and deeper on this thing, and we're not gonna walk you through all of it, 'cause it gets pretty weird.

Pastor Tony Spell had to consult God on whether he'd continue defying Louisiana's stay-at-home order after getting released from custody -- but a judge didn't wanna wait for the man upstairs ... putting an ankle monitor on the preacher instead.

The Baton Rouge minister got placed on house arrest Saturday after playing coy with a court magistrate, who demanded to know whether Tony was planning to hold a church service this coming Sunday -- this, of course, after he bailed out of jail with a $5k bond.

Welp, PTS didn't have a clear answer for the judge -- and after he was given 'til the end of the day to tell him his plans, Pastor Spell instead sent a cryptic response ... a scripture from the Bible, Peter 3:14, specifically, which is all about doing the right thing despite the uproar.

It reads, "But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled." Sounds like Tony WAS planning to do it. And, lo and behold, that was enough for the judge to say enough ... confining him to his home.

Tony's attorney, Joe Long, tells us the monitor was placed on his client around 9 AM this morning. When we reached out to Pastor Spell, he sent us a photo of Rosa Parks with a quote that reads, "You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right."

Jeff Ross couldn't stay away from what he does best -- roasting people on a big platform -- so he got right back to it with some newbie volunteers ... quarantine-style, of course.

The comedian held an Insta-Roast Saturday on IG Live, which didn't feature any big celebs like his usual roasts do -- instead, he picked out random users who were joining the chat to hop on up and have him take some light-hearted shots at them, impromptu and off the cuff.

Safe to say, the roasting did NOT disappoint -- Jeff didn't skip a beat in pinpointing the goofiest thing about anyone who was brave enough to let Jeff have at 'em. He made fun of a guy who apparently resembled the garbage man version of Boy George. Nice!

He also asked why one gal was bent forward on her elbows while talking to him, with Jeff asking if she was getting banged from behind. She laughed, and then showed off her BF, who was NOT doing that. He went on to tell one couple that they looked like they'd eaten all their toilet paper, while telling another woman she looked like she just got out of jail.

Everybody got a laugh out of it, and Jeff himself even noted he needed this ... sounds like he's going a little stir crazy too and wanted to get back to normal as safely as possible.

It's about that time of the month again -- where private planes fly around all over L.A. with some awesome messages that can be seen from the sky for miles ... which is all free!

You might remember the letters from above from about a month ago, with messages like "WE WILL GET THROUGH THIS" and others like it. Welp, those affirmations of hope are back again -- if you live in L.A., you might've seen them Saturday -- but now, there were lots of different phrases trailing the aircrafts ... this time, lots of shout-outs to frontline workers.

Some of the messages from this weekend read, "THANK YOU GROCERY AND HEALTHCARE WORKERS" (we know, it's a mouthful, but worth saying), as well as, "❤️ FIRST RESPONDERS," and last, but not least -- "STAY STRONG LA." Good stuff.

We've learned that the people doing this are part of the aviator Stinis Family, who volunteer their own planes and pilots for this cause ... all just to lift people's spirits. They make their way to the DTLA and Hollywood areas, up to Burbank, back down to Santa Monica and Beverly Hills ... and then head south hitting Huntington Beach, Anaheim and Irvine, before finally ending the flight back at Chino Airport in San Bernardino County.

These SoCal dolphins are lit, y'all -- quite literally, and while it might look out of this world ... it's just simple bioluminescence.

The incredible nature scene played out Wednesday just after sunset in Newport Beach ... but the footage, captured by photographer Patrick Coyne, didn't start spreading like fire until it was posted Thursday night by a popular whale watching company.

Coyne, who also recently shot bioluminescent waves crashing the shore, said it was incredibly challenging capturing the dolphin vid ... trying to spot what you're looking for in pitch black conditions. It almost didn't happen.

As he put it, "We were out for a few hours and on our final stretch back we finally had 2 dolphins pop up to start the incredible glowing show."

So, what makes them glow? Well, obviously it's caused by algae in the water around the dolphins. Duh!!! (Yeah, we Googled).

According to National Geographic, bioluminescent phytoplankton is what gives the surf its electric blue glow. The bioluminescence could also be a form of self-defense for the algae.

Whatever. All we know is it looks REALLY cool!!!