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Monday, September 30, 2024

Pete Rose Passed Away!

Pete Rose, the legendary infielder/outfielder and manager of the Cincinnati Reds died in Las Vegas.

The legendary and infamous baseball player Pete Rose, the man they named Charlie Hustle has passed away at 83 years old. Pete Edward Rose, Sr. was born in Cincinnati in 1941.

He passed away in Las Vegas of possible natural causes. He was in Nashville prior for an autograph signing.

Disgraced after a betting scandal while managing the Cincinnati Reds, he died trying to reclaim his name and legacy in Cooperstown, New York at the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

Lodged as a possible sexual predator after three women claimed abuse including one who was a minor, Rose maintain no sexual encounter occurred.

Hailed one of the members of the Big Red Machine, he took the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Philies to MLB Division and World Series Championships.

Rose played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a member of the Cincinnati Reds lineup known as the Big Red Machine for their dominance of the National League in the 1970s. He also had a successful stint playing for the Philadelphia Phillies, where he won his third World Series championship, as well as a brief stint with the Montreal Expos. During and after his playing career, he served as the manager of the Reds from 1984 to 1989.

Rose is MLB's all-time leader in hits (4,256), games played (3,562), at-bats (14,053), singles (3,215) and outs (10,328). He won three World Series championships, three batting titles, one Most Valuable Player Award, two Gold Glove Awards, and the Rookie of the Year Award. He also made seventeen All-Star appearances at an unequaled five positions (second baseman, left fielder, right fielder, third baseman and first baseman). Rose won both of his Gold Gloves when he was an outfielder, in 1969 and 1970.

The all time hit king. Pete Rose's passing could finally put him in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In August 1989 (his last year as a manager and three years after retiring as a player), Rose was penalized with permanent ineligibility from baseball amidst accusations that he gambled on baseball games while he played for and managed the Reds; the charges of wrongdoing included claims that he bet on his own team. In 1991, the Baseball Hall of Fame formally voted to ban those on the "permanently ineligible" list from induction, after previously excluding such players by informal agreement among voters. After years of public denial, Rose admitted in 2004 that he bet on baseball and on the Reds. The issue of his possible reinstatement and election to the Hall of Fame remains contentious throughout baseball.

He was fired from the Reds soon after. The commissioner who placed the lifetime ban, Bart Giamatti had passed away from a massive heart attack.

Rose had a brief stint with a few minor league teams that were not affiliated with the MLB or MiLB. He managed the Bridgeport Bluefish.

Thanks to his gambling and debts, he avoided paying taxes.

Pete Rose had a brief stint as a wrestler and celebrity referee in the WWE.

Rose entered a plea of guilty to two charges of filing false income tax returns not showing income he received from selling autographs and memorabilia and from horseracing winnings. On July 19, he was sentenced to five months in the minimum security prison camp at the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois, and fined $50,000. Rose was released on January 7, 1991, after having paid $366,041 in back taxes and interest and was required to perform 1,000 hours of community service.

Rose married Karolyn Englehardt on January 25, 1964. The couple had two children, daughter Fawn (b. 1964) and son Pete Rose Jr. (b. 1969). The marriage ended in divorce in 1980. In 1978, a paternity suit was filed naming Rose as the father of Morgan Erin Rubio. In a 1996 settlement of the lawsuit, Rose acknowledged that Rubio was his daughter.

Rose married his second wife, Carol J. Woliung, in 1984. They had two children, son Tyler (b. 1984) and daughter Cara (b. 1989), who was born two days before Rose's banishment from MLB. Rose filed for divorce from Carol in March 2011, citing irreconcilable differences, but his petition did not offer any additional details. Rose did not include a date for their separation. Documents in the filing said that Rose was looking to acquire all memorabilia and other possessions from before the marriage.

John Ashton Passed Away!

John Ashton, known for the Beverly Hills Cop franchise has passed away.

John Ashton, the veteran character actor who memorably played the gruff but lovable police detective John Taggart in the “Beverly Hills Cop” films, has died. He was 76.

Ashton died Thursday in Fort Collins, Colorado, his family announced in a statement released by Ashton’s manager, Alan Somers, on Sunday. No cause of death was immediately available.

In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Ashton was a regular face across TV series and films, including “Midnight Run,” “Little Big League” and “Gone Baby Gone.”

But in the “Beverly Hills Cop” films, Ashton played an essential part of an indelible trio. Though Eddie Murphy’s Axel Foley, a Detroit detective following a case in Los Angeles, was the lead, the two local detectives — Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and Ashton’s Taggart — were Axel’s sometimes reluctant, sometimes eager collaborators.

Of the three, Taggart — “Sarge” to Billy — was the more fearful, by-the-book detective. But he would regularly be coaxed into Axel’s plans. Ashton co-starred in the first two films, beginning with the 1984 original, and returned for the the Netflix reboot, “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,” released earlier this year.

Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold and John Ashton in the first movie. They reunited for Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (IV) this year.

Ashton played a more unscrupulous character in Martin Brest’s 1988 buddy comedy “Midnight Run.” He was the rival bounty hunter also pursuing Charles Grodin’s wanted accountant in “The Duke” while he’s in the custody of Robert De Niro’s Jack Walsh.

Speaking in July to Collider, Ashton recalled auditioning with De Niro.

“Bobby started handing me these matches, and I went to grab the matches, and he threw them on the floor and stared at me,” said Ashton. “I looked at the matches, and I looked up, and I said, ‘F—- you,’ and he said, ‘F—- you, too.’ I said, ‘Go —- yourself.’ I know every other actor picked those up and handed it to him, and I found out as soon as I left he went, ‘I want him,’ because he wanted somebody to stand up to him.”

Ashton is survived by his wife, Robin Hoye, of 24 years, two children, three stepchildren, a grandson, two sisters and a brother.

Dikembe Mutombo Passed Away!

Dikembe Mutombo passed away from brain cancer.

No, no, no. You get blocked.

The words of iconic point guard Dikembe Mutombo. He passed away at the age of 58 from brain cancer. 

Born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mutombo, a Basketball Hall of Famer who was one of the best defensive players in NBA history and a longtime global ambassador for the game, died Monday from brain cancer, the league announced.

His family revealed two years ago that he was undergoing treatment in Atlanta for a brain tumor. The NBA said he died surrounded by his family.

“Dikembe Mutombo was simply larger than life,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. “On the court, he was one of the greatest shot blockers and defensive players in the history of the NBA. Off the floor, he poured his heart and soul into helping others.”

Mutombo was distinctive in so many ways — the playful finger wag at opponents after blocking their shots, his height, his deep and gravelly voice, his massive smile. Players of this generation were always drawn to him and Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid, who was born in Cameroon, looked to Mutombo as an inspiration.

“It’s a sad day, especially for us Africans, and really the whole world,” Embiid said Monday. “Other than what he’s accomplished on the basketball court, I think he was even better off the court. He’s one of the guys that I look up to, as far as having an impact, not just on the court, but off the court. He’s done a lot of great things. He did a lot of great things for a lot of people. He was a role model of mine. It is a sad day.”

Mutombo spent 18 seasons in the NBA, playing for Denver, Atlanta, Houston, Philadelphia, New York and the then-New Jersey Nets. The 7-foot-2 center out of Georgetown was an eight-time All-Star, three-time All-NBA selection and went into the Hall of Fame in 2015 after averaging 9.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game for his career.

He also was part of one of the league’s most iconic playoff moments, helping eighth-seeded Denver oust top-seeded Seattle in the first round of the 1994 Western Conference playoffs. That best-of-five series marked the first time a No. 8 beat a No. 1 in NBA history.

“It’s really hard to believe,” Toronto President Masai Ujiri said Monday, pausing several times because he was overcome with emotion shortly after hearing the news of Mutombo’s death. “It’s hard for us to be without that guy. You have no idea what Dikembe Mutombo meant to me. ... That guy, he made us who we are. That guy is a giant, an incredible person.”

Mutombo last played during the 2008-09 season, devoting his time after retirement to charitable and humanitarian causes. He spoke nine languages and founded the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in 1997, concentrating on improving health, education and quality of life for the people in the Congo.

Mutombo's hilarious GEICO ad where he blocks random people.

And on occasion, LeBron James pointed out with a laugh on Monday, Mutombo didn’t necessarily improve the health of others.

“My fondest memory of Dikembe Mutombo? He fractured my face on my birthday in Cleveland with an elbow,” James, the Los Angeles Lakers’ star, said while taking several minutes Monday to pay tribute to Mutombo’s life. “I never even got an opportunity to tell him about that. But yeah. I don’t remember how old … I was in Cleveland, my first stint, and I think I was turning 22 maybe?

“I went to the hole and caught one of those Dikembe elbows, and if anybody know about the Dikembe elbows, they do not feel good. He fractured my face, and I went to the hospital that night, and I wore a mask for a little bit. That is my memory of Dikembe,” James said.

James was close on the details: Dec. 29, 2004, was when that play happened, late in the first half, one day before his 20th birthday.

Mutombo told reporters that night he wasn’t sure how James got hurt. “He was laying there and I was like, ‘What happened, what happened?’” Mutombo told the Houston Chronicle after that game. “All I know, I was running to the basket. ... LeBron turned around to stop me going to the basket. The collision happened.”

Ryan Mutombo, the Hall of Famer’s son, said in a tribute posted on social media that his father “loved others with every ounce of his being.”

“My dad is my hero because he simply cared,” Ryan Mutombo wrote. “He remains the purest heart I have ever known.”

Mutombo served on the boards of many organizations, including Special Olympics International, the CDC Foundation and the National Board for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

Drake reference Dikembe Mutombo in Jumpman by saying you keep getting rejected which was one of the veteran player's moves.

“There was nobody more qualified than Dikembe to serve as the NBA’s first Global Ambassador,” Silver said. “He was a humanitarian at his core. He loved what the game of basketball could do to make a positive impact on communities, especially in his native Democratic Republic of the Congo and across the continent of Africa.”

Mutombo is one of three players to win the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year four times. The others: reigning DPOY winner Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Hall of Famer Ben Wallace.

“He was always there to talk to me and advise me on how to approach the season and take care of my body and icing after games and stretching and trying different things like yoga,” Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “He will be always remembered and may his soul rest in peace.”

Philadelphia 76ers president Daryl Morey — who was with Mutombo for many seasons in Houston — was informed of his friend’s death during the team’s media day on Monday. Tears welled in Morey’s eyes as he processed the news.

“There aren’t many guys like him,” Morey said. “Just a great human being. When I was a rookie GM in this league, my first chance in Houston, he was someone I went to all the time. ... His accomplishments on the court, we don’t need to talk about too much. Just an amazing human being, what he did off the court for Africa. Rest in peace, Dikembe.”

Kris Kristofferson Passed Away!

Kris Kristofferson passed away in Maui, Hawai'i.

Legendary actor and singer Kristopher Kristofferson has passed away on Saturday. He was 88 years old. I remember him from The Blade franchise and also his memorable music.

Kris was an American country singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night", all of which were hits for other artists.

Kristofferson joined fellow country artists Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash in the country music supergroup the Highwaymen, which was a key creative force in the outlaw country music movement that eschewed the traditional Nashville country music machine in favor of independent songwriting and producing.

As an actor, Kristofferson was known for his roles in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973), Blume in Love (1973), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), A Star Is Born (1976) (which earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor), Convoy (1978), Heaven's Gate (1980), Stagecoach (1986), Lone Star (1996), and the Blade film trilogy (1998–2004). Kristofferson was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.

A son of Brownsville, Texas, Kristofferson grew up in a military family. His father pressured him to join the military. He took up training at an early age and had hopes of being a writer or a singer. He took residence in San Mateo, California and gained a reputation for writing the prize-winning essays, "The Rock" and "Gone Are the Days". They were published in The Atlantic Monthly. 

These stories touch on the roots of Kristofferson's passions and concerns. "The Rock" is about a geographical feature resembling the form of a woman, while the latter was about a racial incident.

He took a summer internship as a contractor for the military. He had an opportunity to visit the U.S. military installation on Wake Island. 

Kristofferson was a Golden Gloves boxer, rugby star and football player in college; received a master’s degree in English from Merton College at the University of Oxford in England; and flew helicopters as a captain in the U.S. Army but turned down an appointment to teach at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, to pursue songwriting in Nashville. Hoping to break into the industry, he worked as a part-time janitor at Columbia Records’ Music Row studio in 1966 when Dylan recorded tracks for the seminal “Blonde on Blonde” double album.

At times, the legend of Kristofferson was larger than real life. Cash liked to tell a mostly exaggerated story of how Kristofferson landed a helicopter on Cash’s lawn to give him a tape of “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” with a beer in one hand. Over the years in interviews, Kristofferson said with all respect to Cash, while he did land a helicopter at Cash’s house, the Man in Black wasn’t even home at the time, the demo tape was a song that no one ever actually cut and he certainly couldn’t fly a helicopter holding a beer.

Kristofferson’s sharp-tongued political lyrics sometimes hurt his popularity, especially in the late 1980s. His 1989 album, “Third World Warrior” was focused on Central America and what United States policy had wrought there, but critics and fans weren’t excited about the overtly political songs.

He said during a 1995 interview with the AP he remembered a woman complaining about one of the songs that began with killing babies in the name of freedom.

“And I said, ‘Well, what made you mad — the fact that I was saying it or the fact that we’re doing it? To me, they were getting mad at me ’cause I was telling them what was going on.”

As the son of an Air Force General, he enlisted in the Army in the 1960s because it was expected of him.

“I was in ROTC in college, and it was just taken for granted in my family that I’d do my service,” he said in a 2006 AP interview. “From my background and the generation I came up in, honor and serving your country were just taken for granted. So, later, when you come to question some of the things being done in your name, it was particularly painful.”

Hollywood may have saved his music career. He still got exposure through his film and television appearances even when he couldn’t afford to tour with a full band.

Kristofferson’s first role was in Dennis Hopper’s “The Last Movie,” in 1971.

He starred opposite Ellen Burstyn in director Martin Scorsese’s 1974 film “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” starred opposite Barbra Streisand in the 1976 “A Star Is Born,” and acted alongside Wesley Snipes in Marvel’s “Blade” in 1998.

He had a fondness for Westerns, and would use his gravelly voice to play attractive, stoic leading men. He was Burstyn’s ruggedly handsome love interest in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” and a tragic rock star in a rocky relationship with Streisand in “A Star Is Born,” a role echoed by Bradley Cooper in the 2018 remake.

He was the young title outlaw in director Sam Peckinpah’s 1973 “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid,” a truck driver for the same director in 1978’s “Convoy,” and a corrupt sheriff in director John Sayles’ 1996, “Lone Star.” He also starred in one of Hollywood biggest financial flops, “Heaven’s Gate,” a 1980 Western that ran tens of millions of dollars over budget.

And in a rare appearance in a superhero movie, he played the mentor of Snipes’ vampire hunter in “Blade.”

He described in a 2006 AP interview how he got his first acting gigs when he performed in Los Angeles.

“It just happened that my first professional gig was at the Troubadour in L.A. opening for Linda Rondstadt,” Kristofferson said. “Robert Hilburn (Los Angeles Times music critic) wrote a fantastic review and the concert was held over for a week,” Kristofferson said. “There were a bunch of movie people coming in there, and I started getting film offers with no experience. Of course, I had no experience performing either.”

The formation of the Highwaymen, with Nelson, Cash and Jennings, was another pivotal point in his career as a performer.

“I think I was different from the other guys in that I came in it as a fan of all of them,” Kristofferson told the AP in 2005. “I had a respect for them when I was still in the Army. When I went to Nashville they were like major heroes of mine because they were people who took the music seriously. To be not only recorded by them but to be friends with them and to work side by side was just a little unreal. It was like seeing your face on Mount Rushmore.”

The group put out just three albums between 1985 and 1995. Jennings died in 2002 and Cash died a year later. Kristofferson said in 2005 that there was some talk about reforming the group with other artists, such as George Jones or Hank Williams Jr., but Kristofferson said it wouldn’t have been the same.

“When I look back now — I know I hear Willie say it was the best time of his life,” Kristofferson said in 2005. “For me, I wish I was more aware how short of a time it would be. It was several years, but it was still like the blink of an eye. I wish I would have cherished each moment.”

Among the four, only Nelson is now alive.

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Bill Maher Feuds With Macklemore!

I will not stay silent while Biden continues to allow Israel kill the world.

So now "fuck America" is antisemitic.

Winners and losers of 2024.

Comedian Bill Maher is considered a social liberal but openly libertarian. He is also a bigot when it comes to Muslims, Arabs and Africans.

Maher dates mostly Black women. Of course, he was almost cancelled for saying NIGGER while complaining about political correctness to then senator Ben Sasse. Ice Cube and Wayne Brady wanted to knock Maher out.

Maher picked a fight with rapper Macklemore. The rapper is a staunch supporter of Palestinian freedom. Macklemore has called out President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for abandoning voters who demand a permanent ceasefire and an end to aid to Israel.

The reason why the election is close is the Republicans who hate former president Donald J. Trump will vote for Harris. The Democrats who hate Harris will either vote for Green Party nominee Jill Stein or sit it out.

Arab American voters are uncommitted to Harris (previously Biden). They are angry over the junk food media's refusal to acknowledge the Israeli regime's war crimes. The junk food media is too friendly to Israel despite that country refusal to allow independent journalists report on what actually is happening.

Biden and Congress continue to give unconditional aid to Israel despite the U.S. having catastrophic consequences from Hurricane Helene, wildfires in California, wildfires in Idaho and record drought in the Central Plains.

Maher took issue with Macklemore's freedom to call out the United States for being a total shithole.

Maher defended America Friday night and ripped rapper Macklemore and other activists on the left who have been outspoken in their support for Palestinians and even the terror group Hamas.

In a comment he has since dialed back, Macklemore told a crowd in Seattle last week that he unequivocally supported the people of Gaza – and he went as far as to declare, “Fuck America.”

Bill Maher is a bigot.

On Friday’s edition of Real Time, Maher shaded the rapper and others who he said criticize this country from a position of security they are offered only through its value on individual liberty.

“Last weekend when there was a pro-Palestine rally in Seattle and when the rapper Macklemore said ‘fuck America,’ everybody loved it,” Maher said. “Yeah, I’m sure it was a big hit with the ‘Queers for Gaza’ crowd, literally advocating for a government that would imprison you or kill you for being queer from the safety and security of a country that doesn’t do that.”

To applause from his studio audience, Maher then insulted Macklemore as talentless.

“Yes, America,” the host said. “The only place in the world where a White guy from the suburbs could become a millionaire rapper because here, every person, regardless of race, class, or gender has the right to be talent-free.”

Maher was fired from ABC when he questioned why the U.S. was attacked by al Qaeda on Sept. 11, 2001. The reasons why al Qaeda attacked the U.S. was because of its support of Israel, its presence in the Middle East pillaging resources and its perversion of Islam by the junk food media.

Maher argued that the terrorists responsible for the September 11 attacks were not cowards, and that America's relationship with the rest of the world was cowardly.

Macklemore said the same shit. It forced the Seattle Kracken, Seattle Mariners and Seattle Seahawks to sever ties with him. 

Maher stands against political correctness. In his words, "The difference is that liberals protect people, and P.C. people protect feelings." In the past, he has also described himself as a libertarian, and has also referred to himself "as a progressive, as a sane person".

Yet he complains about Macklemore using his free speech to criticize his country's aiding of a foreign country and their genocide.

Israel is the only country to claim "self defense" while invading Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Iran, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. It is the only country killing UN workers, humanitarian aid workers and civil service workers in the name of self defense. It is the only country to conduct airstrikes on apartment buildings, grocery stores, hospitals, schools, media facilities and refugee camps in the name of self defense. It the only country to call the UN, student protesters, global boycotts, countries that kick Israelis out of their sovereignty and our president part of the darkness.

Zionism is Christian and Jewish supremacy. The folks who cheer for the death and destruction of innocent people and resistance to racism are the real terrorists.

Terrorist is the white colonialist title for Black, Arab, Muslim or a protester.

Climate Change Real But Republicans Still Denying It!

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) voted against the Biden infrastructure law. Now these Republicans beg for federal aid now that shit got real.

Hurricane Helene will be retired. It was a large, destructive, and fast-moving tropical cyclone that was the strongest to strike the Big Bend region of Florida on record. The eighth named storm, fifth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, Helene developed from a broad area of low pressure in the Western Caribbean Sea in late September that the National Hurricane Center (NHC) first began watching on September 17. By September 24, the disturbance had consolidated enough to become a tropical storm as it approached the Yucatán Peninsula, receiving the name Helene. Favorable conditions led to the cyclone's gradual intensification, and it became a hurricane early on September 25. More pronounced and eventually rapid intensification ensued as Helene traversed the Gulf of Mexico the following day, reaching Category 4 intensity on the evening of September 26. Late on September 26, Helene made landfall at peak intensity in the Big Bend region of Florida, near the city of Perry, with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (220 km/h).

It has killed likely over 1,000 people. Cost possibly over $50 billion in damages and took away the notion that you're safe in your communities.

Climate change is real.

Interstate 40 in East Tennessee is destroyed.

And of course, we have billions to Israel and Ukraine. Israel to commit a fucking genocide. Our assistance to Ukraine has the world concerned Russia may start a nuclear war. 

Who voted against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act?

Republicans and some Democrats.

Who is begging for federal assistance?

Republican governors, House members, Senators and local leaders.

It is catastrophic damages in Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina. With added measure, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia got hit with endless rain and power outages too.

Massive destruction.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were notified. The Biden Administration is on the ground and the president is expected to tour damages shortly.

Harris her running mate Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, former president Donald J. Trump and his running mate Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio will debate over this.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is getting called out for not being in Tennessee while the hurricane remnants struck. She was doing a town hall in Warren, Michigan with Trump.

Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL), Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL), Rep. John Rutherford (R-FL), Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL), Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL), Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL), Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL), Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL), Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA), Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA), Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA), Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), Rep. Drew Ferguson (R-GA), Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA), Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), Rep. William Timmons (R-SC), Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC), Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Rep. John Rose (R-TN), Rep. Scott Desjarlais (R-TN), Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN) and Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) voted against the infrastructure law.

Blackburn, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) and Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) voted against the infrastructure law.

Interstate 40, Interstate 81 and Interstate 26 are impassable. Bridges, canals, dams, levies and ports are destroyed.

Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said Friday that a “catastrophic failure” was not taking place at Walters Dam, also known as the Waterville Dam, which sits in North Carolina close to the Tennessee border.

A local mayor had urged residents to evacuate due to the dam potentially breaking, but TEMA said in a statement that the “dam has not failed” after talking to Duke Energy, which owns the nearly 100-year-old dam.

Saturday, September 28, 2024

Hassan Nasrallah Passed Away!

Israel bombs thousands to kill one.

Israel is a state sponsor of terrorism.

You think killing these people in six sovereignties will stop Israel. It won't.

The tensions are so high, it will be all out war and the United States will be dragged into it for fucking Israel. 

The evil Israeli regime killed over 300 people in Beirut on Friday. They are claiming that they killed Hezbollah military leader Hassan Nasarallah. 

Nasrallah was married to Fatimah Yasin and they had four children: Muhammad Javed, Zainab, Muhammad Ali and Muhammad Mahdi.

Nasarallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut. The strike took place while Hezbollah leaders was meeting at a headquarters in the Dahieh suburb of southern Beirut. Conducted by the Israeli Air Force's 119th Squadron using F-16I fighters, the operation involved dropping several tons of munitions, including US-made 5,000-pound (2,300 kg) bunker buster bombs, destroying the headquarters, which were reportedly located underground. The IDF codenamed the operation "New Order" (Hebrew: סדר חדש, romanized: Seder Hadash).

The area struck by Israel is known to be very densely populated. The impacted area consisted of civilian apartment buildings built over subterranean Hezbollah facilities; several structures were completely reduced to rubble and widespread destruction could be seen in the aftermath of the strike. Initial estimates from Israeli defense officials suggest that around 300 people were killed, potentially including Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah and his daughter. Reports from the Lebanese health ministry recorded at least six fatalities and 91 injuries as of 28 September, though most of the rubble has not been searched yet, and the number is almost certain to rise.

Israel conducted an airstrike on Hezbollah's central headquarters located in the Haret Hreik neighborhood, in the Dahieh suburb of Beirut. Media reports confirmed that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was the intended target of the airstrike. The strike was conducted by the 119th "Bat" Squadron, utilizing F-16I Sufa jet-fighters that dropped several tons of munitions.

The strike occurred shortly after Netanyahu addressed the United Nations' General Assembly, and vowed that Israel's campaign against Hezbollah would continue. The IDF employed advanced U.S.-made 5,000-pound (2,300 kg) bunker buster bombs that were created in 2021.

Somebody gets this fool. The war criminal conducted an airstrike while on U.S. soil.

There was no immediate information on casualties in the strike. IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari stated that the target was Hezbollah's main headquarters, located beneath residential buildings. Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV reported that four buildings were reduced to rubble as a result of the explosion, which was so powerful that tremors were felt up to 30 kilometers north of Beirut. Ambulances were seen heading to the scene, accompanied by wailing sirens. According to the state owned National News Agency, the raids were a belt of fire that extended from the outskirts of Bourj el-Barajneh, reaching Haret Hreik. Footage taken shortly after the explosion revealed a large crater.

Hamas in a statement said: “We condemn in the strongest terms this barbaric Zionist aggression and targeting of residential buildings… and we consider it a cowardly terrorist act.” It offered “condolences, and solidarity with the brothers in Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon on the martyrdom of… Nasrallah.”

The United Nations is tired of Israel and Russia. They are tired of their hands being tied with obstruction. 

Joe Biden will be the last U.S. president to back Israel. If Kamala Harris or Donald J. Trump win, they may change course with Israel.

They walked out on Israel and are considering imposing crippling punishments.

They will bypass the U.S. and Great Britain if they continue to abuse the veto powers.

Benjamin Netanyahu has shown his prop maps with Israel only existing completely wiping out Gaza and the West Bank. The Israeli regime had a frosty reception at the United Nations. The UN voted for the first time approving a resolution that demands Israel end its occupation or face crippling sanctions.

Netanyahu called Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Lebanon the curse. 

The evil man authorized the airstrikes that killed Nasarallah from the U.S., which is definitely a war crime and a violation of American sovereignty.

President Joe Biden and Congress continues give Israel unconditional military aid. The United States has officially lost credibility when it comes to human rights and democracy. Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald J. Trump also support unconditional aid to Israel. Trump often gripes about how he done more for the Jews and they need their heads examined for not support him. 


Secretary of State Antony Blinkin lied to Congress about humanitarian aid being issued to Gaza. As seen on social media, Israel has intentionally stopped, bombed, set on fire and destroyed aid. Blaming Hamas and claiming that they gotten aid were all lies. United Nations ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield also lied about Israel trying to minimize causalities.

Jake Tapper, Dana Bash, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Jonathan Greenblatt intentionally mislead the public. A reporter who interviewed Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) said they deliberately lied about remarks the lawmaker said about Nessel arresting peaceful protesters.

Friday, September 27, 2024

Mark Robinson's Heart Couldn't Take It!

Trump ain't calling Mark Robinson anymore.

Sources says that embattled Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson had a medical emergency while campaigning. The controversial Black extremist is currently the Lt. Governor of North Carolina and a staunch supporter of MAGAland.

When CNN broke a damaging report about the Republican's personal business and his self proclaimed Black Nazi remark, Republicans quickly abandoned him and are close to cutting their losses. Former president Donald J. Trump banned Robinson, his alleged mistress Laura Loomer and 

Robinson is the Republican nominee for governor in the state. He’d made several campaign stops around the state Friday, according to a previously provided schedule and social media posts. The final stop on his schedule Friday was the Mayberry Truck Show and Parade in Mount Airy.

Robinson’s hospitalization comes amid continued fallout from CNN’s reporting on the lieutenant governor’s past inflammatory comments on a pornography website’s message board.

Many prominent Republicans sought to distance themselves from Robinson in the aftermath, including former President Donald Trump, who did not mention Robinson during a recent campaign stop in North Carolina despite having previously endorsed him.

National Republican groups have also pulled financial support for Robinson as several of his campaign officials have stepped down and his top staffer is set to resign.

As the embattled candidate continues to campaign, a new CNN poll shows that the race is slipping away from Robinson. The poll, released Friday and conducted by SSRS after CNN KFile’s reporting was published, showed Democrat Josh Stein leading Robinson 53% to 36% among likely voters.

Same Old Story!

Trump putters in Michigan. Marsha Blackburn ignores the crisis in Tennessee as deadly hurricane remnants hit the state.

Former president Donald J. Trump doesn't lay out policies. He lays out distractions and grievances. It is a tired strategy the junk food media refuses to cover. They hold a higher standard for Vice President Kamala Harris who has to literally explain and defend everything that comes her way.

When a Black person is killed by law enforcement or some white person, they always expect to either blame or expect remarks from Harris.

It is a double standard that is getting as old as Trump.

Trump went to Warren, Michigan for a town hall and like usual, he can't stay on topic, pivots, name call, tells some asinine story, claim things ran by President Joe Biden [or Harris] are worse "like never before" and rant about his rallies.

He started his rally late. Probably had to wipe the drowl off his face.

Some of his MAGAland allies were getting tired and left as he was doing his 3 hour rant fest.

At McComb Community College, Trump along with Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) host a question and answer session. Mind you, Blackburn is not in her fucking state as the remnants of Hurricane Helene ravage Middle and East Tennessee.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the former independent candidate, fresh from his scandal involving Olivia Nuzzi is there too.

Trump traveled to Michigan Friday for a swing through the battleground with the first days of absentee voting underway in a tight race against Vice President Kamala Harris.

After holding a campaign rally in Walker near Grand Rapids in west Michigan's Kent County, Trump headed to Warren in Macomb County for a town hall event scheduled for 6 p.m.

Lexington, Mississippi Under The Feds Radar!

U.S. Justice Department warns Lexington, Mississippi. The small rural town had a notorious history of stopping Black and Hispanic motorists.

The U.S. Justice Department is launching an investigation into the practices of a small rural town in Mississipi. The city of Lexington has a population of 1,300 residents. It is a majority Black city but the police force engaged in a pattern of racially profiling residents and travelers.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, announced the findings of the investigation into the city of Lexington and Lexington Police Department during a Zoom conference Thursday.

Specifically, the Justice Department finds that LPD unlawfully
  • Arrests, jails and detains people who cannot pay fines or fees, without assessing their ability to pay;
  • Uses excessive force;
  • Conducts stops, searches and arrests without probable cause, including jailing people on illegal “investigative holds” and arresting people solely because they owe outstanding fines;
  • Imposes money bail without justification or assessment of ability to pay;
  • Jails people without prompt access to court;
  • Violates the rights of people engaged in free speech and expression, including by retaliating against people who criticize the police;
  • Discriminates against Black people; and
  • Operates under an unconstitutional conflict of interest because LPD’s funding depends on the money it raises through its enforcement.
“Today’s findings show that the Lexington Police Department abandoned its sacred position of trust in the community by routinely violating the constitutional rights of those it was sworn to protect,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Justice Department’s investigation uncovered that Lexington police officers have engaged in a pattern or practice of discriminating against the city’s Black residents, used excessive force, and retaliated against those who criticize them. Additionally, Lexington’s approach to fines and fees — including unlawfully arresting, jailing, and detaining people based on their failure to pay money without assessing if they can afford to do so — has been devastating for its residents. Being poor is not a crime, but practices like these amount to punishing people for poverty. People in that community deserve better, and the Justice Department is committed to working with them, the City, and the Police Department to make the City safer for all its citizens.”

“Public safety depends on public confidence in our justice system,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “The Lexington Police Department’s incarceration of individuals because they could not afford to pay fines — as detailed in today’s findings report — undermined that confidence and violated the civil rights of Lexington residents. I’m grateful to the Civil Rights Division for its thorough investigation and continued work to address these findings.”

“Lexington is a small, rural community but its police department has had a heavy hand in people’s lives, wreaking havoc through use of excessive force, racially discriminatory policing, retaliation, and more. In every corner of our country, police officers must respect people’s constitutional rights and treat people with dignity,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “After an extensive review, we found that police officers in Lexington routinely make illegal arrests, use brutal and unnecessary force, and punish people for their poverty — including by jailing people who cannot afford to pay fines or money bail. For too long, the Lexington Police Department has been playing by its own rules and operating with impunity — it’s time for this to end. Our findings report furthers the Justice Department’s commitment to ensuring fairness and the rule of law.”

“Police have the authority to enforce the law, not to act as debt collectors for the City, extracting payments from the poor with threats of jail,” said U.S. Attorney Todd Gee for the Southern District of Mississippi. “No matter how large or small, every police department has an obligation to follow the Constitution.”

Based on the department’s investigation, over the past two years, LPD has made nearly one arrest for every four people in town, primarily for low-level offenses and traffic violations. That is more than 10 times the per capita arrest rate for Mississippi as a whole. Many of these arrests were for non-criminal conduct, like owing outstanding fines and using profanity. Most of those arrested are Black people. In 2023, Black people were 17.6 times more likely to be arrested by LPD than white people were.

When making low-level arrests, LPD uses tactics normally reserved for serious offenses. For example, LPD officers broke down a Black man’s door to arrest him for swearing at a public official. In another case, while attempting to arrest a man for having a tinted windshield, officers followed the man’s car to his house, forced their way into his home, and tased him for 15 seconds. On the same day the Justice Department opened the investigation, LPD officers chased a man accused only of disturbing a business and tased him nine times.

Change the policy or else.

LPD’s enforcement strategy has put hundreds of people in debt to the police department. In a town of about 1,200 people, the total sum of outstanding fines owed to LPD is more than $1.7 million.

The department also found that LPD lacks any meaningful accountability system and that people experiencing poverty who are accused of crimes in Lexington regularly lack access to counsel, both of which allow LPD’s misconduct to continue unchecked.

The Justice Department opened its investigation on Nov. 8, 2023. Career attorneys and staff in the Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi conducted the investigation. The team was assisted in this investigation by experts in law enforcement practices. The team conducted an extensive review of LPD’s records, including hundreds of arrest reports and municipal court records and hundreds of hours of body-worn camera footage. The team also interviewed City and LPD leadership and line officers, accompanied officers on ride-alongs, observed the Lexington Municipal Court, and met with dozens of community members.

In February, while the investigation was ongoing, the department issued a letter to the City of Lexington raising significant concerns regarding their practice of jailing people for unpaid fines without first assessing whether they can afford to pay them.

The City and LPD cooperated fully with the investigation. The City and LPD have committed to working cooperatively with the department to address the violations identified in the department’s findings.

The department conducted this investigation pursuant to 34 U.S.C. § 12601 (Section 12601), which prohibits law enforcement officers from engaging in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives people of rights protected by the Constitution or federal law. Section 12601 authorizes the Attorney General to file a lawsuit in federal court seeking court-ordered remedies to eliminate a pattern or practice of unlawful conduct.

This investigation reflects the Justice Department’s efforts to ensure constitutional policing and to combat unlawful practices with respect to fines and fees. The department previously addressed policing for profit in its findings on the Ferguson Police Department in Missouri in 2015. The consent decree that followed has resulted in the dismissal of about 63,000 citations and a reduction of over $1 million in fines and fees. In July 2022, the department filed a Statement of Interest in Coleman v. Brookside, explaining that judges, prosecutors, and police violate the Constitution when they are motivated by profit rather than justice. And in April 2023, the department issued a Dear Colleague Letter containing updated guidance on fines and fees for state and local courts.

The department will be conducting outreach to members of the Lexington community for input on remedies to address the department’s findings. Individuals may submit recommendations to Community.LexingtonMS@usdoj.gov.

The Justice Department will hold a public community meeting on Sept. 26 at 6:00 p.m. CT at St. Paul C.O.G.I.C. Fellowship Hall, 17214 Highway 17 South, Lexington, MS 39095. Members of the public are encouraged to attend.

Thursday, September 26, 2024

Hoda Kotb Out At Today!

The Today hosts say goodbye to Hoda Kotb. Pictured: Al Roker, Craig Melvin, Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones.

Today host announces her departure.

Hoda Kotb said she will be stepping down from Today in early 2025. She has hosted the program along with Craig Melvin, Jenna Hager Bush, Al Roker, Carson Daly and Savannah Guthrie.

Kotb, a fixture at NBC for more than two decades, says she will leave her morning perch on the “Today” show early next year, telling staffers “it’s time.”

In a memo to her team — and later in an emotional on-air reveal Thursday — Kotb said her 60th birthday this summer helped trigger the departure: “I saw it all so clearly: my broadcast career has been beyond meaningful, a new decade of my life lies ahead, and now my daughters and my mom need and deserve a bigger slice of my time pie.”

Kotb has co-anchored the first two hours of “Today” with Savannah Guthrie since 2018, filling in after Matt Lauer was fired amid sexual harassment allegations. She continued to co-host of the fourth hour of the morning show with Jenna Bush Hager, having previously hosted it alongside Kathie Lee Gifford. Kotb first joined NBC News as a correspondent for “Dateline” in 1998, and later joined “Today” in 2007.

Her daughters are Haley, 7, and Hope, 5.

Kotb was surrounded by her co-workers when she told viewers of her decision, saying, “This is the hardest thing in the world” and “I’ve been practicing so I wouldn’t cry, but anyway, I did.”

“We love you so much,” Guthrie, who has co-anchored “Today” with Kotb for more than five years, said with tears in her eyes. “And when you look around and see these tears, they’re love. You are so loved. We don’t want to imagine this place without you.”

Kotb’s goodbye note mentioned many of her co-workers, like Al Roker: “Savannah: my rock. Jenna: my ride-or-die. Al: my longest friend at 30 Rock.”

“Happily and gratefully, I plan to remain a part of the NBC family, the longest work relationship I’ve been lucky enough to hold close to my heart. I’ll be around. How could I not? Family is family and you all will always be a part of mine,” she wrote.

“I’m actually excited for her,” said Imani M. Cheers, an associate professor of digital storytelling at the George Washington University. “I think it’s a huge loss, but I am so excited to see what she’s going to do next. I think it’s poignant. It comes a point in all of our lives: You do have to pivot.”

The move leaves two morning slots open for NBC as it tries to regain the top morning slot from ABC’s “Good Morning America,” which features Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos and Michael Strahan.

Cheers said Kotb had the ability to do hard news and soft, be welcoming but also no-nonsense, making her a hard person to replace.

“She was able to bring a brevity and just a bubbly light touch, but also could be someone that’s going to talk about very serious and heavy topics. She’s trusted. You feel that if she’s reporting that it’s going to be fair and it’s going to be balanced. And that is really hard to come by,” Cheers said.

Clay Higgins Calling Haitians Dirty Parasites!

Clay Higgins talking shit again and Republicans quickly told him to shut the fuck up.

Like Eric Adams and Anthony D'Esposito, Rep. [Glen] Clay Higgins (R-LA) once wore a badge. He was a corrupt cop. He has a notorious history of racial profiling, abuse of power, unreasonable searches and seizures and possible sexual predatory behavior.

Higgins supported former Klan leader and white nationalist David Duke in his longshot bid for governor of Louisiana.

Higgins became a patrol officer for the Opelousas City police department. By 2007, police chief Perry Gallow was prepared to take major disciplinary action against Higgins. In a letter to the city council, he wrote, "Clay Higgins used unnecessary force on a subject during the execution of a warrant and later gave false statements during an internal investigation...although he later recanted his story and admitted to striking a suspect in handcuffs and later releasing him". Higgins resigned before disciplinary action could be imposed.

In September 2016, during his congressional campaign, Higgins claimed to have resigned from the police force for other reasons, calling Gallow "a peacock, a colorful, flightless bird". Gallow, by then retired as police chief, publicly disputed Higgins's version of events.


Higgins worked for the Port Barre police department through 2010. In 2011, he joined the St. Landry Parish sheriff's office. After the office's public information officer was reassigned in October 2014, Higgins was appointed to the position and promoted to captain. As public information officer, Higgins made videos for the parish Crime Stoppers program. He first used standard scripts, but began to improvise in his own style, appealing to suspects to surrender and sometimes threatening them by name. His videos went viral, and in 2015 he was described by national media as the "Cajun John Wayne" for his intimidating persona. Sheriff Bobby Guidroz urged restraint, advising Higgins to refrain from personal comments about suspects and to keep a professional tone in his videos.

Higgins also made a video for the state police, with a script that prompted protests from suspects' families and the ACLU. He resigned from the St. Landry Parish sheriff's office in February 2016. Guidroz had warned him against using disrespectful and demeaning language about suspects, ordering him to "Tone down his unprofessional comments on our weekly Crime Stoppers messages". He issued a statement saying that Higgins's comments underlined "a growing undertone of insubordination and lack of discipline on Higgins' part". Guidroz said that Higgins had gone against department policy by misusing his badge and uniform for personal profit and gain, citing Higgins's wearing a uniform in an ad for a security firm. He also reprimanded Higgins for using his badge and uniform on his personal website to support sales of T-shirts and shot glasses for his limited liability corporation (LLC). Higgins had also used the department's physical address in registering his corporation with the state. Both actions were against department policy.

Salon reported that during this period, Higgins "negotiated paid speaking appearances with other police departments. In one email, Higgins discussed his request for a speaker's fee that included shopping money for his wife and part of the fuel for a friend's private plane." He asked for cash payments. Higgins also conducted his private business via email on "his government email-account during work hours without the permission or knowledge of his supervisors. Higgins also appears to have attempted to conceal his earnings from the IRS in order to avoid wage garnishment for unpaid taxes. Whether those actions constitute tax fraud is unclear."

Haitians living in Springfield, Ohio are concerned that Trump has made them targets.

Shortly after resigning from St. Landry Parish, in March 2016, Higgins was accepted and sworn in as a reserve deputy marshal in the city of Lafayette, Louisiana. Reserve forces in city and Parish sheriff's offices in Louisiana receive regular training and are commissioned as law enforcement officers. They are part-time and made up of persons from many walks of life.

In 2019, Higgins retired his commission as a reserve deputy marshal. He maintains an active law enforcement commission as a reserve officer with the Louisiana attorney general's office.

Higgins is down with MAGAland. The insufferable lawmaker is endorsed by Trump. Higgins promotes white nationalist conspiracy theories.

Higgins posted a five-minute video on YouTube from Auschwitz concentration camp, including a section from within one of the gas chambers. He said, "This is why homeland security must be squared away, why our military must be invincible". This video was widely condemned as inappropriate, including by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, whose spokesman wrote in a Twitter post that "the building should not be used as a stage". Higgins later removed the video and issued an apology.

Several of Higgins's Facebook posts have been removed for contravening the company's policy against inciting violence. On September 1, 2020, Higgins posted a photograph of protesters at a Black Lives Matter protest in Louisiana, suggesting that armed demonstrators should be met with force to "eliminate the threat". After Facebook deleted the post, Higgins wrote: "We don’t care what color you are. We don’t care if you’re left or right. America is being manipulated into a new era of government control. Your liberty is threatened from within. [...] Welcome to the front lines, Ladies and Gentlemen. I suggest you get your mind right. I'll advise when it's time gear up, mount up, and roll out." This post was deleted for contravening the same policy.

Trump and Vance are becoming the John McCain and Sarah Palin of presidential campaigns.

In 2023, following the federal indictment of former Trump and Walt Nauta, Higgins Tweeted "President Trump said he has been summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday, at 3 PM. This is a perimeter probe from the oppressors. Hold. rPOTUS has this. Buckle up. 1/50K know your bridges. Rock steady calm. That is all." Higgins later walked the call back with another Tweet saying "Let Trump handle Trump, he's got this". Higgins’ office issued a statement claiming that the real target of the indictment was not Trump but his supporters, and that the Department of Justice was attempting to provoke January 6-style events in order to provide a pretext to arrest conservatives.

On September 25, 2024, Higgins made a tweet on X disparaging Haitians, tweeting "Lol. These Haitians are wild. Eating pets, vudu, nastiest country in the western hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters... but damned if they don't feel all sophisticated now, filing charges against our President and VP. All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th." 

Republicans and Democrats quickly condemned his post. He deleted it but some managed to keep it up. Now he is at risk of censure. 

Thanks to Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Trump's insufferable running mate, Springfield, Ohio is experiencing a rise in death threats and attacks on the city.

Trump would amplify the lie during his only debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. The former president would make this a meme and a campaign.

Some members of the Springfield Haitian community are urging Clark County, Ohio prosecutors issue criminal charges against Trump and Vance.