It appears that President Joe Biden has fired his Chief of Staff Ron Klain out the cannon in the wake of the classified document scandal that has the Republicans calling for impeachment.
Klain, a longtime ally of Biden and then president Barack Obama is supposedly out by the time the president does his State of the Union on Feb. 7.
CNN and the New York Times were first to get word of the major shakeup.
Klain’s departure would come at a difficult time for Biden, with a special counsel investigating his handling of classified information after his time as vice president and with the administration and the president’s family facing renewed scrutiny by the GOP-controlled US House of Representatives. An official familiar with Klain’s plans said his decision to step down is not related to the investigation underway about classified documents found at Biden’s private office and Delaware residence, with the decision being made before the special counsel was announced.
Biden has not settled on a choice for his next White House chief of staff and is discussing casting an even wider net for potential replacements, another official said. The president is known for being deliberative in making major decisions, particularly one as significant as a chief of staff, this official added.
Klain’s expected departure has been widely discussed within and around the White House in recent weeks, though those discussions – and the speculation about who would replace Klain – has intensified in recent days. Those deliberations happened to coincide with the public disclosure of the misplaced classified documents, and multiple people familiar with the situation have said there has been sensitivity around avoiding the incorrect suggestion that Klain’s eventual departure might somehow be tied to that development.
Biden has not settled on a choice for his next White House chief of staff and is discussing casting an even wider net for potential replacements, another official said. The president is known for being deliberative in making major decisions, particularly one as significant as a chief of staff, this official added.
Klain’s expected departure has been widely discussed within and around the White House in recent weeks, though those discussions – and the speculation about who would replace Klain – has intensified in recent days. Those deliberations happened to coincide with the public disclosure of the misplaced classified documents, and multiple people familiar with the situation have said there has been sensitivity around avoiding the incorrect suggestion that Klain’s eventual departure might somehow be tied to that development.
Biden's key ally is departing.
The New York Times was first to report on Klain’s expected departure.
Klain has been mulling his exit since November’s midterm elections, according to a person familiar with the matter, who said people inside the White House have watched closely for clues as to his intentions. Klain is known to email staff at all hours and even check on gas prices in the middle of the night – a work pace that many of his colleagues viewed as unsustainable in the long run.
Klain himself has noted publicly – and in a more detailed manner privately – the grueling and exhausting nature of the position. But his deeply ingrained presence in nearly every aspect of the West Wing, along with his decadeslong relationship with Biden, had led some White House officials to urge him to stay in the role for an extended period of time.
Still, officials have been quietly weighing his potential replacements, with names including Steve Ricchetti, the counselor to the president and one of Biden’s closest advisers for years; Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack; Labor Secretary Marty Walsh; Jeff Zients, the former Obama administration official who ran Biden’s Covid-19 response operation; and Anita Dunn, the senior adviser who runs the White House communications and messaging operation, among others.
Dunn has said publicly she has no desire to serve in the role and has repeated that sentiment privately, officials said, though a person familiar said that Dunn has expressed interest in being the first female chief of staff.
Klain’s departure could preface other shifts inside the West Wing, as senior staff either shift over to the expected reelection campaign or decide themselves to depart the administration after two years. A talent search process has been underway, led by Zients, to identify potential replacements for top posts.
Taco Bell denies putting rat poison in customer's meal. They have contactless pest control
You can't fix stupid!
You can't change minds!
You are completely trapped in stupid.
You are wrapped and emboldened in stupid.
Taco Bell and state authorities are trying to figure out how rat poison got into the food of a customer. The customer is in the hospital and journalists have investigated the case and revealed some details about the person.
Yeah, we all had messed up orders at fast food restaurants. We had bad customer service from cashiers, servers, managers and customer service. We all been frustrated with the service industry.
But for intentional and unintentional food contamination, it is very rare.
1. Restaurants are forbidden from having chemicals near food.
2. Insect spray, rat poisons, unauthorized cleaning chemicals and glue traps are not used in restaurants, gas stations, bars and retailers.
3. All businesses use contactless pest control devices which involves no poison.
Why did the customer consume the food hours later?
I do not guacamole in my food cause I have a food allergy.
I check especially if the speciality meals require guacamole.
Usually upon heading home, most people snack on a taco or consume at quick arrival.
Around 1 pm Jan. 15, the Sheriff's Office responded to the Taco Bell on Smoky Hill Road near Buckley Road in Centennial for a report of a disturbance.
Deputies found that there was a heated exchange between a customer and employees due to the soda machine not working. The customer was eventually given an extra burrito and went home, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Several hours later, around 7:50 p.m., a hospital contacted the Sheriff's Office and reported that they were caring for a patient who had eaten at Taco Bell and ingested rat poison. The hospital confirmed there was indeed rat poison in the burrito, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Investigators determined that the sick individual was the same person involved in the earlier disturbance. Deputies responded to his home, the hospital and the Taco Bell to begin an investigation.
They learned from the victim that he had gone home, done chores and watched some TV before eating the food items he had purchased earlier at Taco Bell.
The man said he immediately became violently ill and called 911. The Sheriff's Office said he was taken by ambulance to the hospital. It was confirmed that there was rat poison in the food, the Sheriff's Office said.
Surveillance video from both the interior and exterior areas of the Taco Bell restaurant was collected as evidence.
Taco Bell released a statement, "The safety of customers and team members is a priority. The franchisee who owns and operates this location has informed us that they are working with local authorities in their investigation."
Investigators in Colorado found no evidence that a Taco Bell employee placed rat poison in a man's food, police said Friday. Police made the announcement after reviewing video footage from the Denver-area location where the man bought the food Sunday and later fell ill, the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
Most folks check their food.
"Although there is no evidence that the employees at Taco Bell put the rat poison in the food, investigators can not account for how it got in the food," the sheriff's office said.
The unidentified man was taken to a hospital Sunday after he took a bite of a soft taco he brought home from the eatery and "felt a burning in his mouth and began to vomit," according to the statement. Sheriff's deputies at the hospital saw a "greenish-gray substance" in the taco, and lab tests confirmed the presence of rat poison in the food, the sheriff's office said.
The sheriff's office said investigators have been trying to reach the man on the phone for additional information without any success. On Thursday, no one answered the door at his home, the sheriff's office said.
"If the customer has any information that can help with the investigation into how the poison could have gotten into the food, we request he contacts the Sheriff's Office," the sheriff's office said.
Restaurant manager Lary Swift told CBS Colorado earlier this week the man is a regular patron who's caused problems before. On one occasion, she said, he threw a taco at an employee.
Court records also show that the man in this case has a long history of filing lawsuits in the state. FOX31 is still going through the more than 60 civil court cases he’s involved in but have gleaned some details from the records.
In one case, he filed a lawsuit against a local venue for what he described as a clash with several of their employees after last call. That case was dismissed.
In a separate case, he sued his employer for allegedly committing libel against him. That case was also dismissed.
FOX31 has also learned there have been at least three protection orders filed against him. In at least one of those cases, the restraining order was granted.
Listening to Softball Hannity cost Washed Up 45 about $1 million in sanctions. The former president sued Hillary Clinton and a federal judge in Florida called him and his lawyer's lawsuit "frivolous" and a waste of the court's time.
He sued Clinton on allegations she spied on his 2016 presidential campaign.
A federal judge in Florida has sanctioned Washed Up 45 and his attorney Alina Habba, ordering them to pay fines of nearly $1 million for filing what he deemed to be a frivolous lawsuit claiming that Hillary Clinton and others involved in the Russia investigation unlawfully conspired to damage the former president's reputation.
The opinion from Judge Donald Middlebrooks calls the former president "a prolific and sophisticated litigant who is repeatedly using the courts to seek revenge on political adversaries."
"He is the mastermind of strategic abuse of the judicial process, and he cannot be seen as a litigant blindly following the advice of a lawyer. He knew full well the impact of his actions," Middlebrooks wrote in his opinion.
"As such, I find that sanctions should be imposed upon [the former president] and his lead counsel, Ms. Habba," wrote the judge.
Habba did not immediately return a request for comment from ABC News.
Washed Up 45 sued Clinton, his 2016 presidential challenger, for allegedly "acting in concert" with top FBI leadership to invent what became known as the Russia investigation into interference in the 2016 election. The former president had argued that the Russia probe was "prolonged and exacerbated by the presence of a small faction of Clinton loyalists who were well-positioned within the Department of Justice."
Judge Middlebrooks dismissed the lawsuit this past September.
Middlebrooks' sanctions, issued late Thursday, direct Habba and Washed Up 45 to pay $938,000 to 18 defendants in the case.
"A continuing pattern of misuse of the courts by [the former president] and his lawyers undermines the rule of law, portrays judges as partisans, and diverts resources from those who have suffered actual legal harm," Middlebrooks wrote in his opinion.
The judge also cautioned the former president's attorneys that they could face sanctions over their separate lawsuit targeting New York Attorney General Letitia James, who in September filed a $250 million suit against Washed Up 45 and his family members for allegedly defrauding lenders and others with false and misleading financial statements.
Entertainer seeks 2024 bid for the U.S. House if Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) retires and seeks a run for the Senate.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has not ruled out another run for the Senate. At age 91, many believe she may be too senile to run and it has opened up a challenge for three Democratic House members who intend on winning the seat. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) has interest in running in the senate race.
Besides Schiff, there's Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) who is seeking to be the second African American woman after Kamala Harris who later became Vice President of the United States. And lastly, Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), a progressive lawmaker who carries baggage that could put the seat at risk of a flip. The lawmaker was recently called into question about her behavior towards staffers.
Schiff, who rose to fame seeking information about Washed Up 45 seeking foreign influence in 2015 and 2019 led the way to his impeachment. Schiff is vilified by the far right and name checked by Softball Hannity.
If Schiff runs for the Senate, Ben Savage will retire from acting to run for Congress. The district Savage running is California's 30th District. It encompasses West Hollywood, Burbank and parts of Pasadena.
The only thing that might harm him is Fred. His brother, actor/director Fred Savage was accused of inappropriate behavior during filming of The Wonder Years and The Conners.
He was forced out by ABC.
Ben is best known for his role on Boy Meets World and sequel Girl Meets World.
Savage with Rider Strong, Will Friedle and Danielle Fishel.
Savage famously played the lead role of Cory Matthews on ABC's "Boy Meets World" from 1993 to 2000 and then reprised his character in the 2014 reboot, "Girl Meets World." His most recent roles were two TV films, in 2022 and 2020.
A representative for Savage told ABC News in a statement, despite the filing, that "he is focused on his upcoming wedding. Ben is still making decisions and always looking for opportunities to give back and serve the community."
(Earlier this month, Savage announced he is engaged to Tessa Angermeier.)
Savage's representative did not respond to follow-up questions about why he submitted campaign paperwork now.
If Savage does make a run for Congress, it wouldn't be his first campaign to hold office. He ran unsuccessfully to be on the West Hollywood City Council in the 2022 election, focusing on community safety, housing and homelessness, according to his website.
Entertainer Alec Baldwin and the armorer are being indicted for the 2021 incident in which a cinematographer was killed. The incident happened on the set of a now cancelled film.
New Mexico prosecutors have indicted the 64-year old actor for involuntary manslaughter. The charges could land the entertainer in the iron college for 6 to 10 years.
The suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies issued a statement announcing the charges against Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who supervised weapons on the set of the Western “Rust.”
Halyna Hutchins died shortly after being wounded during rehearsals at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe on Oct. 21, 2021. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when the gun went off, killing her and wounding the director, Joel Souza.
Assistant director David Halls, who handed Baldwin the gun, has signed an agreement to plead guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon, the district attorney’s office said.
The decision to charge Baldwin marked a stunning fall for an A-list actor whose 40-year career included the early blockbuster “The Hunt for Red October” and a starring role in the sitcom “30 Rock,” as well as iconic appearances in Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” and a film adaptation of David Mamet’s “Glengary Glen Ross.” In recent years, he was known for his impression of former President Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live.”
The district attorney said Baldwin’s involvement as a producer and as the actor who fired the gun weighed in the decision to file charges.
“This set was really being run pretty fast and loose, and he knew or he should have known that there had been misfires, that there were safety concerns, that multiple people had brought them up,” Carmack-Altwies told The Associated Press in an interview. The fact that Baldwin was “the actor that held the gun, that pointed the gun and that pulled the trigger” also contributed.
Involuntary manslaughter can involve a killing that happens while a defendant is doing something that is lawful but dangerous and is acting negligently or without caution.
The charge is a fourth-degree felony, punishable by up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine under New Mexico law. The charge also includes a provision that could result in a mandatory five years in prison because the offense was committed with a gun.
The district attorney said charges will be filed by the end of January, and that Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed will be issued a summons to appear in court. She said prosecutors will forgo a grand jury and rely on a judge to determine if there is probable cause to move toward trial.
Andrea Reeb, a special prosecutor on the case, cited a “pattern of criminal disregard for safety” on the set.
“If any one of these three people — Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed or David Halls — had done their job, Halyna Hutchins would be alive today. It’s that simple,” Reeb said.
Halyna Hutchins was killed after Baldwin shot a prop gun with live rounds.
Baldwin’s attorney said the charges represented “a terrible miscarriage of justice.”
The actor “had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun — or anywhere on the movie set. He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win,” Luke Nikas said in a statement.
As the film’s armorer, Gutierrez-Reed had the authority to bring rehearsals to a halt if safety standards were not being met, according to the district attorney.
She loaded the gun and “absolutely should have noticed” the difference between a live and a dummy round, Carmack-Altwies said.
An attorney for Gutierrez-Reed said the charges were “the result of a very flawed investigation and an inaccurate understanding of the full facts.”
“We intend to bring the full truth to light and believe Hannah will be exonerated of wrongdoing by a jury,” Jason Bowles said.
It was unclear when Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed might be required to appear in court in Santa Fe once charges are filed. Defendants can participate remotely in many initial court proceedings or seek to have their first appearance waived.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza, who led the initial investigation into Hutchins’ death, has described “a degree of neglect” on the film set. But he left decisions about potential criminal charges to prosecutors after delivering the results of a yearlong investigation in October. That report did not specify how live ammunition wound up on the film set.
Baldwin has described the killing as a “tragic accident.”
He sought to clear his name by suing people involved in handling and supplying the loaded gun. Baldwin, also a co-producer on “Rust,” said he was told the gun was safe.
In his lawsuit, Baldwin said that while working on camera angles with Hutchins, he pointed the gun in her direction and pulled back and released the hammer of the weapon, which discharged.
New Mexico’s Office of the Medical Investigator determined the shooting was an accident following the completion of an autopsy and a review of law enforcement reports.
New Mexico’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau levied the maximum fine against Rust Movie Productions based on a string of safety failures, including testimony that production managers took limited or no action to address two misfires of blank ammunition on the set prior to the shooting.
Regulators say production managers on the set failed to follow standard industry protocols for gun safety. Rust Movie Productions continues to challenge the $137,000 fine.
Investigators initially found 500 rounds of ammunition at the movie set — a mix of blanks, dummy rounds and what appeared to be live rounds. Industry experts have said live rounds should never be on set.
Hutchins’ family — widower Matthew Hutchins and son Andros — settled a lawsuit against producers under an agreement that aims to restart filming with Matthew Hutchins serving as executive producer.
In a statement issued by their attorney, relatives thanked authorities for seeking the charges. “It is a comfort to the family that, in New Mexico, no one is above the law,” they said.
The Screen Actors Guild said guns are provided to actors by expert professionals who are “directly responsible” for safety.
“The prosecutor’s contention that an actor has a duty to ensure the functional and mechanical operation of a firearm on a production set is wrong and uninformed. An actor’s job is not to be a firearms or weapons expert,” the union said in a statement.
The district attorney said Baldwin “was handed a loaded gun. Whether it’s loaded with dummies or live ammunition, it is on him.”
Criminal charges have rarely been filed in connection with deaths on film sets.
A district attorney in North Carolina cited negligence as a factor but decided against charges in the 1993 death of Brandon Lee while filming a scene in the movie “The Crow.” The son of martial-arts legend Bruce Lee was hit by a .44-caliber slug from a gun that was supposed to have fired a blank.
More recently, film director Randall Miller pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespassing in the death of assistant camera operator Sarah Jones, who was hit by a train in the 2014 filming of “Midnight Rider” in rural Georgia. The production did not have permission to be on the train tracks, and Miller served half of a two-year sentence.
The shooting spurred other filmmakers to minimize risks by using computer-generated imagery of gunfire rather than real weapons with blank ammunition.
David Crosby passer away from undisclosed illness.
Legendary singer and writer David Crosby has passed away at the age of 81.
Crosby, the brash rock musician who evolved from a baby-faced harmony singer with the Byrds to a mustachioed hippie superstar and an ongoing troubadour in Crosby, Stills, Nash & (sometimes) Young.
The New York Times reported, based on a text message from Crosby’s sister in law, that the musician died Wednesday night. Several media outlets reported Crosby’s death citing anonymous sources; The Associated Press was unable to reach Crosby’s representatives and his widow.
Crosby underwent a liver transplant in 1994 after decades of drug use and survived diabetes, hepatitis C and heart surgery in his 70s.
While he only wrote a handful of widely known songs, the witty and ever opinionated Crosby was on the front lines of the cultural revolution of the ’60s and ’70s — whether triumphing with Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young on stage at Woodstock, testifying on behalf of a hirsute generation in his anthem “Almost Cut My Hair” or mourning the assassination of Robert Kennedy in “Long Time Gone.”
He was a founder and focus of the Los Angeles rock music community from which such performers as the Eagles and Jackson Browne later emerged. He was a twinkly-eyed hippie patriarch, the inspiration for Dennis Hopper’s long-haired stoner in “Easy Rider.” He advocated for peace, but was an unrepentant loudmouth who practiced personal warfare and acknowledged that many of the musicians he worked with no longer spoke to him.
“Crosby was a colorful and unpredictable character, wore a Mandrake the Magician cape, didn’t get along with too many people and had a beautiful voice — an architect of harmony,” Bob Dylan wrote in his 2004 memoir, “Chronicles: Volume One.”
Crosby’s drug use left him bloated, broke and alienated. He kicked the addiction in 1985 and 1986 during a year’s prison stretch in Texas on drug and weapons charges. The conviction eventually was overturned.
“I’ve always said that I picked up the guitar as a shortcut to sex and after my first joint I was sure that if everyone smoked dope there’d be an end to war,” Crosby said in his 1988 autobiography, “Long Time Gone,” co-written with Carl Gottlieb. “I was right about the sex. I was wrong when it came to drugs.”
He lived years longer than even he expected and in his 70s enjoyed a creative renaissance, issuing several solo albums while collaborating with others including his son James Raymond, who became a favorite songwriting partner.
“Most guys my age would have done a covers record or duets on old material,” he told Rolling Stone in 2013, shortly before “Croz” was released. “This won’t be a huge hit. It’ll probably sell nineteen copies. I don’t think kids are gonna dig it, but I’m not making it for them. I’m making it for me. I have this stuff that I need to get off my chest.”
In 2019, Crosby was featured in the documentary “David Crosby: Remember My Name,” produced by Cameron Crowe.
While his solo career thrived, his seemingly lifetime bond with Nash dissolved. Crosby was angered by Nash’s 2013 memoir “Wild Tales” (whiny and dishonest, he called it) and relations between the two spilled into an ugly public feud, with Nash and Crosby agreeing on one thing: Crosby, Stills and Nash was finished. Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president did lead Crosby to suggest that he was open to a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young protest tour, but his old bandmates declined to respond.
Crosby became a star in the mid-1960s with the seminal folk-rock group The Byrds, known for such hits as “Turn! Turn! Turn!” and “Mr. Tambourine Man.” Clean-cut and baby-faced at the time, he contributed harmonies that were a key part of the band’s innovative blend of The Beatles and Dylan. Crosby was among the first American stars to become close to The Beatles, and helped introduce George Harrison to Eastern music.
Troubled relations with bandmates pushed Crosby out of The Byrds and into a new group. Crosby, Stills and Nash’s first meeting is part of rock folklore: Stills and Crosby were at Joni Mitchell’s house in 1968 (Stills would contend they were at Mama Cass’), working on the ballad “You Don’t Have to Cry,” when Nash suggested they start over again. Nash’s high harmony added a magical layer to Stills’ rough bottom and Crosby’s mellow middle and a supergroup was born.
Their eponymous debut album was an instant success that helped redefine commercial music. The songs were longer and more personal than their individual prior outputs, yet easily relatable for an audience also embracing a more open lifestyle.
Their spirited harmonies and themes of peace and love became emblematic of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Their version of the Mitchell song “Woodstock” was the theme for the documentary about the 1969 rock concert during which the group made only its second live appearance together. Crosby had produced Mitchell’s first album, “Song to a Seagull,” in 1968, and for a time was her boyfriend (as was Nash).
Now wearing the drooping, bushy mustache that would define him ever after, Crosby provided harmony and rhythm guitar, and his songs reflected his own volatile personality. They ranged from the misty-eyed romanticism of “Guinevere,” to the spirituality of “Deja Vu,” to the operatic paranoia of “Almost Cut My Hair.”
Some critics panned the group as soft-headed and self-indulgent.
“If you’re into living-room rock, fireplace harmonies and just a taste of good old social consciousness, this is your group,” reported Rolling Stone, which nonetheless rarely missed a chance to write about the band.
But CSN, as they would soon be called, won a best new artist Grammy and remained a worldwide touring act and brand name decades later.
The first album was an easy, happy recording, but the mood darkened during the second album, “Deja Vu.” The band was joined by Neil Young, who had feuded with Stills while both were in Buffalo Springfield and continued to do so.
Everyone in the band was troubled: Nash and Mitchell were splitting up, and so were Stills and singer Judy Collins. Crosby, meanwhile, was so devastated by the death of girlfriend Christine Hinton in a car accident, that he would lay on the studio floor and sob.
Featuring a rougher, less unified sound, the album released in 1970 and was another commercial smash. Yet within two years, the quartet had broken up, destined to continuously reunite and splinter for the rest of their lives.
They worked in every combination possible — as solo artists, as duos, trios and, occasionally, all four together. They played stadiums and clubs. They showed up at the Berlin Wall in 1989 as the Cold War was ending and turned up in 2011 for the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York.
In recent years, Crosby toured often, and candidly answered questions on Twitter with a blend of affection and exasperation, whether commenting on rock star peers or assessing the quality of a fan’s marijuana joint. He loved sailing and his greatest regret, besides hard drugs, was selling his 74-foot boat because of money problems. Among the songs completed on the boat was the classic “Wooden Ships,” co-written with Stills and Jefferson Airplane’s Paul Kantner.
Crosby was born David Van Cortlandt Crosby on Aug. 14, 1941, in Los Angeles. His father was Oscar-winning cinematographer Floyd Crosby of “High Noon” fame. The family, including his mother, Aliph, and brother, Floyd Jr., later moved to Santa Barbara.
Crosby was exposed early to classical, folk and jazz music. In his autobiography, Crosby said that as a child he used to harmonize as his mother sang, his father played mandolin and his brother played guitar.
“When rock ‘n’ roll came in during that era and the Age of Elvis possessed America, I wasn’t into it,” he recalled.
His brother taught him to play guitar and, still in his teens, he began performing in Santa Barbara clubs. He moved to Los Angeles to study acting in 1960 but abandoned the idea and became a folk singer, working around the country before joining The Byrds. Like so many folk performers, Crosby was dazzled by the Beatles’ 1964 movie “A Hard Day’s Night” and decided to become a rock star.
Crosby married longtime girlfriend Jan Dance in 1987. The couple had a son, Django, in 1995. Crosby also had a daughter, Donovan, with Debbie Donovan. Shortly after he underwent the liver transplant, Crosby was reunited with Raymond, who had been placed for adoption in 1961. Raymond, Crosby and Jeff Pevar later performed together in a group called CPR.
“I regretted losing him many times,” Crosby told the AP of Raymond in 1998. “I was too immature to parent anybody, and too irresponsible.”
In 2000, Melissa Etheridge revealed that Crosby was the father of the two children she shared with then-partner Julie Cypher. Cypher carried the children Crosby fathered by artificial insemination, Etheridge told Rolling Stone. One son, Beckett, died in 2020.
Crosby didn’t help raise the children but said, “If, you know, in due time, at a distance, they’re proud of who their genetic dad is, that’s great.”
World leaders react to the shocking resignation of Jacinda Ardern, then Prime Minister of New Zealand.
At the age of 37, Ardern became one of the youngest elected to be Prime Minister of New Zealand. She also was pregnant while in office and gave birth to her daughter.
Ardern describes herself as a social democrat and a progressive. The Sixth Labour Government has faced challenges from the New Zealand housing crisis, child poverty, and social inequality. In March 2019, in the aftermath of the Christchurch mosque shootings, Ardern reacted by rapidly introducing strict gun laws, winning her wide recognition. Throughout 2020 she led New Zealand's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, for which she won praise for New Zealand being one of the few Western nations to successfully contain the virus.
Ardern moved the Labour Party further to the centre towards the October 2020 general election, promising to cut spending during the remainder of the COVID-19 recession. She led the Labour Party to a landslide victory, gaining an overall majority of 65 seats in Parliament, the first time a majority government had been formed since the introduction of a proportional representation system in 1996.
Still, her announcement came as a shock throughout the nation of 5 million people.
Fighting back tears, Ardern told reporters in Napier that Feb. 7 would be her last day as prime minister after five and a half years in office.
“I know what this job takes, and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It is that simple,” she said.
Lawmakers in her Labour Party will vote for a new leader on Sunday.
Ardern became an inspiration to women around the world after first winning the top job in 2017. She seemed to herald a new generation of leadership — she was on the verge of being a millennial, had spun some records as a part-time DJ, and wasn’t married like most politicians.
In 2018, Ardern became just the second world leader to give birth while holding office. Later that year, she brought her infant daughter to the floor of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
She notched up center-left victories while right-wing populism was on the rise globally, pushing pushed through a bill targeting net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, overseeing a ban on assault weapons, and largely keeping the coronavirus out of New Zealand for 18 months.
Her approach to the pandemic earned the ire of Washed Up 45, and she pushed back against wildly exaggerated claims from Washed up 45 about the spread of COVID-19 after he said there was a massive outbreak and “It’s over for New Zealand. Everything’s gone.”
“Was angry the word?” Ardern said about Washed Up 45’s comments in an interview with The Associated Press at the time.
In March 2019, Ardern faced one of the darkest days in New Zealand’s history when a white supremacist gunman stormed two mosques in Christchurch and slaughtered 51 worshippers during Friday prayers. Ardern was widely praised for her empathy with survivors and New Zealand’s wider Muslim community in the aftermath.
After the mosque shootings, Ardern moved within weeks to pass new laws banning the deadliest types of semi-automatic weapons. A subsequent buyback scheme run by police saw more than 50,000 guns, including many AR-15-style rifles, destroyed.
Less than nine months after the shooting, she faced another tragedy when 22 tourists and guides were killed when the White Island volcano erupted.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with President Joe Biden.
Ardern was lauded globally for her country’s initial handling of the coronavirus pandemic after New Zealand managed to stop the virus at its borders for months. But she was forced to abandon that zero-tolerance strategy as more contagious variants spread and vaccines became widely available.
She faced growing anger at home from those who opposed coronavirus mandates and rules. A protest against vaccine mandates that began on Parliament’s grounds last year lasted for more than three weeks and ended with protesters hurling rocks at police and setting fires to tents and mattresses as they were forced to leave. This year, Ardern canceled an annual barbecue she hosts due to security fears.
Ardern last month announced a wide-ranging Royal Commission of Inquiry would look into whether the government made the right decisions in battling COVID-19 and how it could better prepare for future pandemics. A report is due next year.
Many observers said that sexist attitudes played a role in the anger directed at Ardern.
“Her treatment, the pile on, in the last few months has been disgraceful and embarrassing,” wrote actor Sam Neill on Twitter. “All the bullies, the misogynists, the aggrieved. She deserved so much better. A great leader.”
But Ardern and her government also faced criticism that it had been big on ideas but lacking on execution. Supporters worried it hadn’t made promised gains on increasing housing supply and reducing child poverty, while opponents said it was not focusing enough on crime and the struggling economy.
Ardern described climate change as the great challenge for her generation. But her polices faced skepticism and opposition, including from farmers who protested plans to tax cow burps and other greenhouse gas emissions.
Ardern had been facing tough prospects at the ballot box. Her center-left Labour Party won reelection in 2020 with a landslide of historic proportions, but recent polls have put her party behind its conservative rivals.
rdern said the role required having a reserve to face the unexpected.
“But I am not leaving because it was hard. Had that been the case I probably would have departed two months into the job,” she said. “I am leaving because with such a privileged role comes responsibility. The responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead, and also, when you are not.”
She said her time in office had been challenging but fulfilling.
“I am entering now my sixth year in office, and for each of those years, I have given my absolute all,” she said.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Ardern “has shown the world how to lead with intellect and strength.”
“She has demonstrated that empathy and insight are powerful leadership qualities,” Albanese tweeted. “Jacinda has been a fierce advocate for New Zealand, an inspiration to so many and a great friend to me.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thanked Ardern on Twitter for her friendship and “empathic, compassionate, strong, and steady leadership.”
Ardern charted an independent course for New Zealand. She tried to take a more diplomatic approach to China than neighboring Australia, which had ended up feuding with Beijing. In an interview with the AP last month, she said that building relationships with small Pacific nations shouldn’t become a game of one-upmanship with China.
New Zealand Opposition Leader Christopher Luxon said Ardern had been a strong ambassador for the country on the world stage. He said that for his party “nothing changes” and it remains intent on winning this year’s general elections to “deliver a government that can get things done for the New Zealand people.”
Ardern announced that vote would be held on Oct. 14, and that she would remain a lawmaker until then. Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson announced that he won’t contest the leadership of the Labour Party, throwing the competition open.
It’s unclear who will take over as prime minister until the election.
If no candidate gets at least two-thirds support from the caucus when Labour lawmakers vote on Sunday, then the leadership contest will go to the wider party membership. Ardern has recommended the party chose her replacement by the time she steps down.
Ardern said she hadn’t had too much time to reflect on her tenure in the role, although noted it had been marked with crises.
“It’s one thing to lead your country in peace times, it’s another to lead them through crisis. There’s a greater weight of responsibility, a greater vulnerability amongst the people, and so in many ways, I think that will be what sticks with me,” she said. “I had the privilege of being alongside New Zealand during crisis, and they placed their faith in me.”
Aya Al-Umari, whose brother Hussein was killed in the Christchurch mosque attacks, tweeted her “deepest gratitude” to Ardern, saying her compassion and leadership during that grim day “shone a light in our grief journey.”
“I have a mixture of feelings, shocked, sad but really happy for her,” Al-Umari wrote.
Ardern said she didn’t have any immediate plans after leaving office, other than family commitments with her daughter, Neve, and her fiancé, Clarke Gayford, after an outbreak of the virus thwarted their earlier wedding plans.
“And so to Neve, Mum is looking forward to being there when you start school this year,” Ardern said. “And to Clarke, let’s finally get married.”
Rep. George Santos (R-NY) is facing more heat. He is the first drag queen in Congress.
Santos has admitted to fabricating parts of his life story, including his university education and elements of his employment history.
The New York freshman lawmaker has a revealing past. It appears Santos was a Brazilian drag queen named Kitara. Wondering why he facing allegations of check fraud? I am going on the assumption, he was a transvestite prostitute and stole from a trick.
Well the New York Times wrote in November 2022 the bombshell about Santos fabricating about his past and it led to numerous Democrats and several Republicans calling for him to resign. Santos so far has refused to resign and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had gave him, Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) committee assignments.
Santos so far has become more of a celebrity for Republicans than a distraction.
So photos emerged of Santos dressing in drag and some detail how he was aspiring to be a popular drag queen.
A 58-year-old Brazilian performer, who uses the drag name Eula Rochard, said she befriended the now-congressman when he was cross-dressing in 2005 at the first gay pride parade in Niteroi, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro. Three years later, Santos competed in a drag beauty pageant in Rio, Rochard said.
Another person from Niteroi who knew the congressman but asked not to be named said he participated in drag queen beauty pageants and aspired to be Miss Gay Rio de Janeiro.
Anthony Devolder was Santos other name.
Emails to the congressman's press office and a newly hired communications director on Wednesday evening were not returned.
Santos is the first openly gay Republican to win a House seat in Congress as a non-incumbent, but has positioned himself as a staunch conservative on many social issues.
He has backed Florida's "don't say gay" bill, which prohibits classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Republicans are increasingly denouncing drag shows and performers, claiming they are harmful to children.
Santos, responding in October to criticism of his support for the "don't say gay" bill, told USA Today: "I am openly gay, have never had an issue with my sexual identity in the past decade, and I can tell you and assure you, I will always be an advocate for LGBTQ folks."
Rochard said the congressman was a "poor" drag queen in 2005, with a simple black dress, but in 2008 "he came back to Niteroi with a lot of money," and a flamboyant pink dress to show for it. Santos competed in a drag beauty pageant that year but lost, Rochard said.
"He's changed a lot, but he was always a liar. He was always such a dreamer," Rochard said.
Santos admires Greene's dress. Maybe he'll wear it one day.
Santos even used a fake name. Gregory Morey-Parker, who previously lived with Santos, told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Tuesday that Santos used several aliases during their time as roommates.
Morey-Parker said he primarily knew Santos, who has listed his full name as George Anthony Devolder Santos, as Anthony Devolder.
But the former roommate said Santos also referred to himself as Anthony Zabrovsky, a name the now New York congressman reserved for a GoFundMe venture called Friends of Pets United.
Zabrovsky and variations of the name are common among Ashkenazi Jews.
Morey-Parker told CNN: "He would say, 'Oh well, the Jews will give more if you're a Jew.' And so that's the name he used for his GoFundMe."
Santos' claim to be Jewish is one of many lies that have landed him in hot water in recent weeks.
During his 2022 campaign, Santos called himself a "proud American Jew" in a memo sent to pro-Israel groups, and he said in media appearances that his grandparents were Holocaust survivors. Santos even claimed his mom died on 9/11. His mom was in Brazil at the time.
The man who accused conservative activist of sexual abuse is suing him. The accuser has filed a $9.4 million lawsuit against Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union, the organization that hosts CPAC.
Interesting February.
CPAC 2023 will be hosted in Orlando and of course Schlapp and wife, Mercedes are "swing" towards defense. They had already painted the accuser as a liberal hack and discrediting his work ethic.
So during the Herschel Walker senate campaign, the accuser said a drunken Schlapp literally grabbed his penis and tried to fondle him.
“Typical predator.” Christian Walker has a few things to say about CPAC’s Matt Schlapp being accused of sexually groping a male staffer that worked for Christian’s father, Herschel Walker. @ChristianWalk1r always delivers. pic.twitter.com/ofVDRCyaBU
“Matt Schlapp of the CPAC grabbed my junk and pummeled it at length, and I’m sitting there thinking what the hell is going on, that this person is literally doing this to me,” the staffer said in a video he claimed he recorded at the time and later shared with the Beast. “I’m supposed to pick this motherfucker up in the morning and just pretend like nothing happened. This is what I’m dealing with.”
The lawsuit also accuses Schlapp and his wife, Mercedes Schlapp, who served as Washed Up 45’s White House director of strategic communications, of defamation and conspiracy, claiming that they coordinated a campaign to discredit the Walker aide and his allegations.
Timothy Hyland, a lawyer for the accuser, said in a statement that the lawsuit, which asks for at least $9.4 million in damages, had been filed in part because Mr. Schlapp had not apologized for “his despicable actions.”
Progressives are fuming at two senators many see as obstruction to the Democratic Party's agenda. One senator from West Virginia and one senator from Arizona has angered the left by their refusals to go big on some of the most challenging issues.
And they have the audacity to use Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in their statements.
Get the fuck outta here, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ). You motherfuckers aren't invited to the soul food function. Keep your lily white asses out of Black empowerment.
Manchin and Sinema went to Davos, Switzerland to discuss America's challenges and the political discourse which allowed folks like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Rep. George Santos (R-NY) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) to exist.
Sinema wearing an expensive attire, confirms that if the Democrats repeal the filibuster, she and Manchin will no longer be a part of the Democratic Caucus.
They shared a high-five as proof.
“We still don’t agree on getting rid of the filibuster,” Manchin said before they turned to each other and high-fived.
Sinema and Manchin high-fiving about keeping the filibuster on stage at Davos — a room full of the richest people in the world. Just gross. pic.twitter.com/KQynQ6EO7G
The lawmakers’ intransigence on the filibuster effectively blocked key Democratic legislative priorities, such as voting rights reforms and codifying abortion rights, over the past two years. Sinema, who left the Democratic Party to become an independent last month, used the outing at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting to take a victory lap.
J.B. Pritzker called the high five shameful.
“While some would say that there were reluctant folks working in Congress in the last two years,” she said, gesturing at herself and Manchin, “I would actually say that was the basis for the productivity for some incredible achievements that made a difference for the American people in the last two years.”
Sinema was apparently jabbing back at fellow panelist Illinois Democratic Gov. J. B. Pritzker, who had knocked the senators for their pushback to some of President Biden’s agenda.
“[Biden] has worked with some reluctant members of his own party,” Pritzker said, motioning toward the side of the stage with Manchin and Sinema. “But we have gotten things done for the United States at the federal level under this president.”
Sinema called the filibuster an “important guardrail for the institution” and dinged Democrats who argued the U.S. would “not have any more” free elections without the voting rights package, saying the country had free elections in 2022 without the legislation passing.
“One could posit that the push by one political party to eliminate an important guardrail in an institution in our country may have been premature or overreaching in order to get the short-term victories they wanted,” Sinema said.
Manchin and Sinema are up in 2024 and they have not confirm whether they'll run for reelection or retire. Manchin is in a state that voted for Washed Up 45 overwhelmingly.
Washed Up 45 carried West Virginia with 76% of the vote.
President Joe Biden carried Arizona by 1.4 points and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) won by 6 points in 2022. Sinema won against Martha McSally by 3 points. Kelly won against McSally by 2.4 points in 2020.
Ignore the noise. Don't listen to polls and stay focus on issues that matter. Democrats defied the odds in 2022 and will again in 2024. Republicans will destroy themselves.
We must not allow the noise to win. If the noise wins, white supremacy and authoritarism rules.
Culture wars are the common theme of Republicans. They often scapegoat the vulnerable in their attempts to undermine democracy. Contemporary wedge issues include abortion, homosexuality, transgender rights, pornography, multiculturalism, racism, homelessness and other cultural conflicts based on values, morality, and lifestyle which are described as the major political cleavage.
They seriously believe crime is the fault of Democrats and the policies of liberal governments. The very same folks who refuse to curb gun violence and political extremism are willing to find some unjustified outrage over an issue that has long plagued America's founding.
Living in hotels, living under highways, living under bridges, living in vacant buildings, sleeping at bus stops, sleeping at train stations, sleeping in stairwells and sleeping in parks could be a crime now.
City governments in certain areas are cracking down on homelessness.
Federal data shows 582,462 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2022. Experts warn more people will enter homelessness as housing costs increase, as has been the case for decades in cities such as New York and in much of California.
Behaviors that can be penalized under this system can include sleeping, resting, actively or passively requesting donations, jaywalking, and even simply existing in public (sometimes known as “loitering”). When their existence is considered a crime, people experiencing homelessness can be punished with expensive tickets and citations, “sweeps” which force them to evacuate the areas they’ve come to know as a home, and even arrest and incarceration.
Republicans need to focus on real issues but alas, they won't.
Unsheltered homeless people have a much higher than average rate of interaction with police officers. One recent analysis suggests that a person living outdoors was likely to encounter police more than twenty times in a single six-month period. The result of this, rather than improved conditions or returns to housing, is that people experiencing unsheltered homelessness are much more likely than others to become victims of police violence.
This has very implications when it comes to race. Black people make up forty percent of the homeless population, and about half of the unsheltered homeless population. Moreover, the data consistently indicates Black people are three times more likely than average to experience violence at the hands of police. This makes the link between unsheltered homelessness and police violence, and the need to undo criminalization, even clearer.
One of the most effective ways to immediately make life safer for unsheltered people, and to avoid the dangers listed above, is to dismantle the systemic criminalization of homelessness. Reducing the number of interactions between homeless people and police, reducing the number of local ordinances penalizing life-sustaining activities, and replacing criminalization tactics with housing and services can be the difference between life and death for many.
When will they finally realize that these two women aren't really taking their job of being a U.S. Representative seriously?
Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) allegedly got into a heated argument in a women's restroom inside the U.S. Capitol. The two were loud and obnoxiously brutal. No physical blows yet. It wasn't the infamous lunge by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) at Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL).
Greene is feuding with Boebert, Gaetz, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Rep. Marie Newman (D-IL), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Rep. Maxine Watters (D-CA), Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), David Hogg, Michael Fanone, Dr. Dre and CNN.
Boebert who was warned by her own constituents to tone down but the noise keep going.
Greene who fought to get the rules package which included prevention a primary challenger from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's (R-CA) Super PAC and allies of his is furious at Boebert and Gaetz for nearly screwing up the whole deal. She has openly attacked them and has signalled that she won't endorse them in 2024. Greene has also been warned by constituents to focus on issues and keep her appearances minimal.
Greene so far has ignored the warnings.
Greene has possible consideration for president.
The Daily Beast reports on the first day of Congress this year, Jan. 3, the mounting tension between Greene and Boebert reached its boiling point. According to multiple sources, the two women were nearly in a screaming match in the Speaker’s lobby ladies room just off the House floor.
“Greene questioned Boebert’s loyalty to McCarthy, and after a few words were exchanged, Boebert stormed out,” a source familiar with the fight told The Daily Beast.
According to another source familiar, while in the bathroom, Greene asked Boebert, “You were OK taking millions of dollars from McCarthy but you refuse to vote for him for Speaker, Lauren?”
The first source said Greene was in a stall and, upon coming out, confronted Boebert about taking money from McCarthy for her re-election and then turning against McCarthy when it came time to vote. The Colorado Republican was allegedly unaware that Greene was also in the bathroom at the time.
“That’s when Lauren said, ‘Don’t be ugly,’” the first source said, before she—in the words of this source—“ran out like a little schoolgirl.”
Asked about the dustup in the Capitol, Boebert simply said, “See you later. Bye.”
.jpeg)
