Another retailer gone. Private equity firms are a huge problem in the United States. They are literally driving companies to bankruptcy.
Your mall or outdoor lifestyle center will be one retailer short. A national brand is going out of business.
Thanks to private equity firms and the lack of shopping experience from in foot travel, Francssca's filed for bankruptcy and now is engaging in liquidation.
Women’s specialty retailer Francesca’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and launched going-out-of-business sales at all its stores.
The company, founded in Houston in 1999, announced Friday that it voluntarily filed for protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. The retailer said the move is intended to facilitate a court-supervised process designed to maximize value for stakeholders.
Francesca's currently has 457 locations in 45 states.
Advisors Tiger Group, SB360 Capital Partners and GA Group have launched court-approved store closing sales across the company’s entire fleet.
"Shoppers will find discounts of 25-40% off across all product categories, and new merchandise will continue to arrive at stores," Michael McGrail of Tiger Group said in a statement.
"It's an opportunity to add to or accessorize your wardrobe, find unique gifts or just go on a treasure hunt for extraordinary deals."
Discounted merchandise includes sweaters and cardigans, blouses and skirts, loungewear and intimates, denim jackets, party and wedding guest dresses, rompers and jumpsuits and jewelry, gifts and accessories.
Francesca's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2020 and was later acquired out of bankruptcy by TerraMar Capital and Tiger Group for $18 million.
In the years after exiting bankruptcy, Francesca’s attempted revival efforts, including launching a tween-oriented line called Franki by Francesca’s and acquiring Miley Cyrus and Suki Waterhouse's lifestyle brand Richer Poorer. The chain also opened a new store at the American Dream mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in April 2024.
A spokesperson for Francesca's did not immediately respond to FOX Business' request for comment.
Capitalism at its best. The status quo keep telling you that capitalism is making Americans rich. Only the elitists are getting rich. They are hoarding the wealth, piling on the debt, conspiring ways to make Americans hate one another or other nationalities and push us to global war.
With no buyers and private equity firms gobbling up longstanding companies piling up debt on them, it leads to the liquidation of the company.
Early voting has started and its going to be a contentious fight for the nomination.
James Talarico had earned a million overnight. Stephen Colbert addressed the Paramount Skydance bosses this week after he was informed about FCC chairman Brenden Carr's demand for equal time for competing candidates. It lead to a massive funding haul.
The Texas state representative and his opponent, current U.S. House member Jasmine Crockett are feuding.
Whomever wins this will have to bring a coalition together to take on either Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Attorney General Ken Paxton or Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX). They are feuding as well for the Republican nomination.
Crockett who is best known for catch phrases and shock value, is hoping to be the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas.
Texas intentionally redraw her congressional district to make it more Republican friendly.
Talarico was one of those state lawmakers that left the state in a showboat to stop Gov. Greg Abbott amd Texas state Republicans from passing the redistricting law.
Crockett is a U.S. Representative from Dallas known for her "street fighter" style. James Talarico is an Austin-area State Representative and former teacher who emphasizes his Christian faith and economic populism.
Both fringe on trying to outclass one another.
I refuse to endorse either of them.
One reason stands.....
Their support of the apartheid ethnostate of Israel.
So like former lawmaker (known for catch phrases and shock value) Marjorie Taylor Greene, it's a high risk gamble for Crockett who carries shock value when she speaks.
Some of the Kamala stans are throwing the race card.
Race has nothing to do with the left's war on the Democratic Party. Because if it was about race, Nina Turner, Cori Bush, Antonio Delgado and Jamaal Bowman would win their bids.
Okay, folks.
Blue MAGA is what the left dubbed establishment Democrats who continue to embrace status quo politics. The party that wants our votes but refuses to hear our concerns is not going to win the Midterms on fear mongering about President Donald J. Trump.
I strongly disagree with Clay Cane and Reecie Colbert. They were doing the usual snapping at the left for holding Crockett accountable for her votes to fund Israel.
She is a federal lawmaker who has the decisions of Congress in a vote. She is held to a standard whereas Talarico isn't. He is held accountable for his inability to do his job as a Texas state representative. Leaving the state is theatrics. That isn't leadership. It's a sideshow.
I have been flooded with spam texts from Democrats almost every week. I have openly rejected any attempts. I got phone calls from Democratic pollsters and I kept telling them, it's about Israel and the paychecks.
I made it clear, I am choosing to be independent.
I will vote accordingly.
After former vice president Kamala Harris lost the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, Democrats had to figure out what went wrong.
An endorsement decline wasn't a factor.
The economy, Israel, lack of preparation, former president Joe Biden's late withdrawal, ignoring the primary challengers, Merrick Garland slow walking indictment of Trump, allowing Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema and John Fetterman sink the Biden agenda played roles.
I come to realize that all this worshiping of strangers isn't a winning strategy. To be honest, I want policies to make my community better. I am tired of Americans paying for other countries needs.
I am tired of the neverending distractions.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance are going to find out how Americans aren't going to put up with their antics much longer.
I give Crockett a 48% chance of winning. I give Talarico a 46% of winning.
I see a five point disadvantage for whomever the Democratic nominee is.
Texas is Solid Republican as I post. Things can change. But like Collin Allred's nine point loss to Ted Cruz, the writing is on the wall. Democrats are going to gamble on a state that hasn't voted for candidate since Lloyd Bentsen.
Officially in. The race for a Florida U.S. Congressional seat now has Luther Campbell competing.
If Donald J. Trump, Jesse Ventura, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Heath Schuler, Collin Allred, Burgess Owens, Anthony Gonzales, Sonny Bono, Antonio Delgado, Jamal Barrow and Ronald Reagan can run for office, why not Uncle Luke?
The former lead rapper of 2 Live Crew announces his run to replace Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL). Cherfilus-McCormick is embattled.
He is known for having helped create the Miami bass genre, for establishing one of the first rap groups and rap labels in Southern hip hop, and his sexually crude call and response lyrics which were unique for the time period.
He also starred in a short-lived show on VH1, Luke's Parental Advisory.
Luke made the Congress pass regulations on music. Instead of minding their business and letting parents decide on what is appropriate for children, they pass a law to place parental advisory labels on music. This was the Moral Majority meddling in Congress.
The same folks are now molded as Turning Point USA, Moms for Liberty, Live Action, Project Veritas, American Family Association, Family Research Council, Libs of TikTok and numerous others.
He could split the vote and a progressive could end up winning as in the race that Analila Mejia won.
Cherfilus-McCormick is under federal indictment and ethics watch.
Luther Campbell, known as Uncle Luke is a rapper, music producer, actor, activist and media personality. He officially filing to run as a Democrat to challenge Cherfilus-McCormick.
Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick is vulnerable and likely heading to defeat. Her support of Israel, allegations of corruption and tone deafness may doom her reelection bid.
Campbell was born on 1960, in Miami. His mother was a beautician of Bahamian ancestry and his father was a custodian of Jamaican ancestry. He was the youngest of five sons and was named after Martin Luther King Jr. He was raised Catholic.
In a statement posted on social media on Monday, Campbell said he's officially decided to run for Congress in Florida's 20th District.
"After decades of fighting for my community—from the courtroom defending free speech all the way to the United States Supreme Court, to building businesses that created jobs across the South, to mentoring and coaching thousands of young people into college—I have officially decided to run for Congress in Florida’s 20th District. My first order of business is to qualify by petition and let the people speak," the statement read, in part.
The 65-year-old Campbell said his priorities include job creation, affordable housing, and investing in youth programs.
Official Statement from Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell Candidate for U.S. Congress – Florida’s 20th District
“After decades of fighting for my community—from the courtroom defending free speech all the way to the United States Supreme Court, to building businesses that created…
Campbell will run for the seat currently held by embattled Cherfilus-McCormick, who was indicted for alleged campaign fraud and multiple other charges.
Campbell became a columnist for Miami New Times, an alternative weekly newspaper distributed in the Miami metropolitan area. Campbell's column, called "Luke's Gospel", provides "a forum for his crazy-ass views on current events," which include politics, sports and entertainment. He is quoted on the Miami New Times website as saying, "It's the perfect place for me. I am a free-speech guy. It's just a match made in Heaven. Can you believe it? Me turned loose on the world in New Times. Wow."
Elijah Manley could be the next Maxwell Frost or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Cherfilus-McCormick was born in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, to parents from Haiti and raised in the borough of Queens. She moved to Florida at 13 to attend high school.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and government from Howard University and a Juris Doctor from the St. Thomas University School of Law.
After graduating from college, Cherfilus-McCormick served as a project manager for the New York City Transit Authority. From 1999 to 2007, she worked as the vice president for operations of Trinity Health Care Services, a Florida-based family home health care company co-founded by her stepfather, Gabriel Smith. She later served as CEO.
Cherfilus-McCormick voted to provide Israel with support following 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
So make this clear: Black or White, Brown or Yellow, any Democrat or Republican running for Congress backing Israel is a defining no. They will not get my support any further.
I supported Cherfilus-McCormick, Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA), Rep. Nikema Williams (D-GA) and Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH) in the past. No longer. If these Sisters are about sorority and unity, they need to be on the right side of history.
Give up the AIPAC money and denounce Israel or face a primary opponent strong enough to defeat you.
Luther Campbell, if you support Israel, I cannot support you.
Also running Elijah Manley, who is running as a candidate who vehemently opposes Israel and call its actions a genocide. He has refused to take AIPAC funding and is concerned that Campbell and Cherfilus-McCormick will drown him out.
To be clear, vote for the candidate who doesn't support our taxpayer money going to a country committing a genocide.
Robert Duvall, the longtime actor and director known for being a key player in The Godfather has passed away at the age of 95.
Midway Wrap Up in May.
President Donald J. Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Republican lawmakers will react to his passing.
Duvall, the Oscar-winning actor of matchless versatility and dedication whose classic roles included the intrepid consigliere of the first two “Godfather” movies and the over-the-hill country music singer in “Tender Mercies,” has died at age 95.
Duvall died “peacefully” at his home Sunday in Middleburg, Virginia, according to an announcement from his publicist and from a statement posted on his Facebook page by his wife, Luciana Duvall.
“To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything,” Luciana Duvall wrote. “His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court. For each of his many roles, Bob gave everything to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented.”
The bald, wiry Duvall didn’t have leading man looks, but few “character actors” enjoyed such a long, rewarding and unpredictable career, in leading and supporting roles, from an itinerant preacher to Josef Stalin. Beginning with his 1962 film debut as Boo Radley, the reclusive neighbor in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Duvall created a gallery of unforgettable portrayals. They earned him seven Academy Award nominations and the best actor prize for “Tender Mercies,” which came out in 1983. He also won four Golden Globes, including one for playing the philosophical cattle-drive boss in the 1989 miniseries “Lonesome Dove,” a role he often cited as his favorite.
In 2005, Duvall was awarded a National Medal of Arts.
He had been acting for some 20 years when “The Godfather,” released in 1972, established him as one of the most in-demand performers of Hollywood. He had made a previous film, “The Rain People,” with Francis Coppola, and the director chose him to play Tom Hagen in the mafia epic that featured Al Pacino and Marlon Brando among others. Duvall was a master of subtlety as an Irishman among Italians, rarely at the center of a scene, but often listening and advising in the background, an irreplaceable thread through the saga of the Corleone crime family.
“Stars and Italians alike depend on his efficiency, his tidying up around their grand gestures, his being the perfect shortstop on a team of personality sluggers,” wrote the critic David Thomson. “Was there ever a role better designed for its actor than that of Tom Hagen in both parts of ‘The Godfather?’”
Trump meeting Duvall.
In another Coppola film, “Apocalypse Now,” Duvall was wildly out front, the embodiment of deranged masculinity as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore, who with equal vigor enjoyed surfing and bombing raids on the Viet Cong. Duvall required few takes for one of the most famous passages in movie history, barked out on the battlefield by a bare-chested, cavalry-hatted Kilgore: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn’t find one of ‘em, not one stinkin’ dink body.
“The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like — victory.”
Coppola once commented about Duvall: “Actors click into character at different times — the first week, third week. Bobby’s hot after one or two takes.”
Honored, but still hungry
He was Oscar-nominated as supporting actor for “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now,” but a dispute over money led him to turn down the third Godfather epic, a loss deeply felt by critics, fans and “Godfather” colleagues. Duvall would complain publicly about being offered less than his co-stars.
Fellow actors marveled at Duvall’s studious research and planning, and his coiled energy. Michael Caine, who co-starred with him in the 2003 “Secondhand Lions,” once told The Associated Press: “Before a big scene, Bobby just sits there, absolutely quiet; you know when not to talk to him.” Anyone who disturbed him would suffer the well-known Duvall temper, famously on display during the filming of the John Wayne Western “True Grit,” when Duvall seethed at director Henry Hathaway’s advice to “tense up” before a scene.
Duvall being honored the Medal of Arts by George W. Bush.
Duvall was awarded an Oscar in 1984 for his leading role as the troubled singer and songwriter Mac Sledge in “Tender Mercies,” a prize he accepted while clad in a cowboy tuxedo with Western tie. In 1998, he was nominated for best actor in “The Apostle,” a drama about a wayward Southern evangelist which he wrote, directed, starred in, produced and largely financed. With customary thoroughness, he visited dozens of country churches and spent 12 years writing the script and trying to get it made.
Among other notable roles: the outlaw gang leader who gets ambushed by John Wayne in “True Grit"; Jesse James in “The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid"; the pious and beleaguered Frank Burns in “M-A-S-H"; the TV hatchet man in “Network"; Dr. Watson in “The Seven-Per-Cent Solution"; and the sadistic father in “The Great Santini.”
“When I was doing ‘Colors’ in 1988 with Sean Penn, someone asked me how I do it all these years, keep it fresh. Well, if you don’t overwork, have some hobbies, you can do it and stay hungry even if you’re not really hungry,” Duvall told The Associated Press in 1990.
In his mid-80s, he received a supporting Oscar nomination as the title character of the 2014 release “The Judge,” in which he is accused of causing a death in a hit-and-run accident. More recent films included “Widows” and “12 Mighty Orphans.”
Ungifted in school, gifted on stage
Robert Selden Duvall grew up in the Navy towns of Annapolis and the San Diego area, where he was born in 1931. He spent time in other cities as his father, who rose to be an admiral, was assigned to various duties.
The boy’s experience helped in his adult profession as he learned the nuances of regional speech and observed the psyche of military men, which he would portray in several films.
Duvall reportedly used his Navy officer father as the basis for his portrayal of the explosive militarist in “The Great Santini,” based on the Pat Conroy novel. He commented in 2003: “My dad was a gentleman but a seether, a stern, blustery guy, and away a lot of the time.” Bobby took after his mother, an amateur actress, in playing a guitar and performing. He was a wrestler like his father and enjoyed besting kids older than himself.
His wife confirmed his passing.
He lacked the concentration for schoolwork and nearly flunked out of Principia College in Elsah, Illinois. His despairing parents decided he needed something to keep him in college so he wouldn’t be drafted for the Korean War. “They recommended acting as an expedient thing to get through,” he recalled. “I’m glad they did.” He flourished in drama classes.
“Way back when I was in college,” Duvall told the AP in 1990, “there was a wonderful man named Frank Parker, who had been a dancer in World War I. We did a full-length mime play and I played a Harlequin clown. I really liked that.
“Then, I played an older guy in ‘All My Sons,’ and at one point I had this emotional moment, where this emotion was pouring out. Parker said at that moment he didn’t think acting can be carried any further than that. And this guy was a very critical guy. So I thought, at that moment at least, this is what I wanted to do.”
After two years in the Army, he used the G.I. Bill to finance his studies at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York, hanging out with such other young hopefuls as Robert Morse, Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman. After a one-night performance in “A View From the Bridge,” Duvall began getting offers for work in TV series, among them “The Naked City” and “The Defenders.”
Between his high-paying jobs in major productions, Duvall devoted himself to directing personal projects: a documentary about a prairie family, “We’re Not the Jet Set”; a film about gypsies, “Angelo, My Love”; and “Assassination Tango,” in which he also starred.
Duvall had been a tango dancer since seeing the musical “Tango Argentina” in the 1980s and visited in Argentina dozens of times to study the dance and the culture. The result was the 2003 release about a hit man with a passion for tango.
His co-star was Luciana Pedraza, 42 years his junior, whom he married in 2005. Duvall’s three previous marriages — to Barbara Benjamin, Gail Youngs and Sharon Brophy — ended in divorce.
Film director and actor Spike Lee was at the NBA All Star Game in Los Angeles. This past weekend, a lot of talk was about the political messages that were said at the event.
I boycotted this as well as the Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy.
As long as they incorporate Israel into the events, I have no interest in it.
Let me be clear, Israel is an apartheid genocidal ethnostate. They are losing the narrative here in the United States. Over 56% of Americans are opposed to the U.S.-Israel special relationship.
Israel and its allies overplayed the use of antisemitism. From now on, as long as there is no violence towards anyone practicing Judaism or Islam, I will not hold my tongue when criticizing Israel, Jews, President Donald J. Trump, Vice President JD Vance, members of Congress, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, the Canary Mission, Zionism, colonialism, imperialism, slavery, racism, Christian nationalism and white supremacy.
Again, as long as there is no violence towards anyone practicing religious beliefs, there is no antisemitism when criticizing the Jews.
American filmmaker Spike Lee drew attention during the NBA All-Star Game 2026 by wearing an outfit featuring colors and symbols associated with the Palestinian flag. pic.twitter.com/xzVnQipcDa
American filmmaker Spike Lee appeared during the NBA All-Star Weekend wearing Palestine-inspired clothing and accessories inside the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, in a moment that drew wide attention across social media. pic.twitter.com/d5IKWP1MNu
Spike Lee just proved anti-Zionism is indeed antisemitism.
Keep posting you guys, you’re doing great work showing the world that not even sports are free from your all consuming Jew Hatred https://t.co/kx11HTsGpr
They are stepping up a charm offense. Making Israel cool again. Even LeBron James is being told about the good things Israel is offering.
They are pushing for more authoritarian laws that rollback U.S. freedoms. The Republicans and Democrats who take money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee will rule the day. That TikTok ban and this redefining of antisemitism is going to blow up in their faces.
There is no escaping this.
Young Republicans are starting to turn on Israel. They are listening to Candace Owens over Erika Kirk. They are starting to see how triggered Mark Levin, Ben Shapiro and Laura Loomer are when it comes to criticizing Israel. They are seeing Tucker Carlson as a force for good over JD Vance, the Vice President of the United States and heir apparent.
They definitely see Sean "Softball" Hannity as an annoying media personality.
They are agreeing with Democrats:
We are doing more for Israel than for our own country.
The genocidal baller. He was triggered by Spike Lee's attire.
Israel keeps calling it an attack on Jewish people and it amounts to antisemitic propaganda.
Let me get this straight: You are more upset over words than actions. You are upset over people chanting slogans. You are upset over people wearing clothes representing a country you don't like. You upset over people rejecting a foreign country's narrative about sexual assault and war crimes. You are upset someone using their freedom of speech to criticize a foreign country engaged in a propaganda campaign to shield itself from war crimes and impunity. You are upset over people using their voices, their wallets and their time to protest an injustice. Well, get upset over your taxpayer money aiding foreign nations. Get upset over foreign nations killing Americans in a war funded by our taxpayer money. Get upset over the deaths of thousands in Palestine, Haiti, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Venezuela, Myanmar, Mexico, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Ukraine.
Get upset at the president, your senator, your representative, your governor, your state leader, your mayor and your local junk food media for bowing to the evil regime of Israel.
Could you name one damn thing Israel's done for the United States?
Cause sure as hell, Israel is spying on Americans, meddling in our elections, doing foreign lobbying with the assistance of AIPAC and the ADL.
The Israeli government through its proxies are trying to sway American lawmakers into criminalizing criticism of its actions to antisemitism.
Israel's latest excuses to justify the genocide:
They claimed that Hamas wants to kill as many Jews as possible.
They claim that Hamas has underground tunnels under schools, hospitals and refugee camps.
They claim that Hamas was planning on building a dirty bomb.
They claim that Hamas are using civilians as human shields.
They claim that Hamas is ISIS.
They claim that Hamas had a copy of Mein Kampf inside a base in a children's bedroom.
They claim that Hamas was beheading 40 babies.
They claim that Hamas misfired a rocket at a hospital.
They claim that Hamas wants a regional war.
They claim that Hamas had command centers under hospitals and UNRWA schools.
They claim that Hamas had top secret plans to attack the U.S. and Great Britain.
They claim that Hamas has a calendar that showed the shifts of who was watching the hostages.
They claim that Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush, Bella Hadid, Gigi Hadid, Macklamore, Alyssa Milano, Rashida Tlaib, Andre Carson and Dave Chappelle are supporters of Hamas and terrorism.
They claim that Hamas shot female soliders in the buttocks and breasts.
They claim that Hamas shot dead vilians and raped the corpses.
They claim that Hamas has placed explosive devices on corpses.
They claim that Hamas has impregnate captured female settlers and soliders.
They claim that Hamas has infiltrated college campuses in the U.S. and Great Britain.
They claim that Hamas support from individuals amounts to being a terrorist sympathizer.
They claim that Hamas violated the ceasefire by not releasing certain settlers Israel demanded in its release.
They claim that Hamas brainwashed settlers and IDF soliders who were released.
They claimed that hospital results of dead babies or civilians are staged by Hamas.
Hamas is not raping women and there is no proof they done such a horrible act. It is part of the dehumanizing campaign Israel is promoting to influencers in the West. You see it when they are constantly deflecting from the images of Gaza being destroyed by American and European sponsored Israeli weapons. In their minds, they are justifying the brutal slaughter of children, men, women, journalists and doctors as collateral damage.
Affordability, inflation, lack of opportunities for jobs, lack of vacations and skyrocketing insurance premiums are driving President Donald J. Trump's job approval to record lows.
His predecessor Joe Biden, had a job approval of 49% around this time. Trump is sailing at a job approval of 34%.
Trump, Biden and George W. Bush will go down as some of the worst presidents of the 21st Century. Three boomers born in the past century stuck on policies that are outdated in country with a browner population.
The Rupert Murdoch yellow journalism empire is going ape shit. It also triggered some of these Zionist assholes.
Lee was seated courtside at the Intuit Dome in Southern California for the NBA All-Star Game, but it was his outfit that caught attention during the event.
Lee wore a Pro-Palestinian look to the festivities in Inglewood, California, as the league put its new format on display, which featured World All-Stars and All-Stars from the U.S. on Team Stars and Team Stripes.
The World All-Stars featured Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija. It was the first time an Israeli-born player appeared in an All-Star Game. Avdija wore the Israeli flag on the back of his jersey for the game.
Imagine with all that money, this woman and her husband get horrific surgeries to not look like senior citizens. Lizzy Savetsky, a pro Israeli propagandist trolled Spike Lee after he wore Pro Palestinian attire.
Avdija had served two years in the Israeli Defense Forces. He claims he was non active in his service. Yet, he likely had engaged in some form of abuse towards Palestinians.
Lee didn’t make any extra statement, but his outfit was enough of a message.
"I feel like when I come to play, I come with the entire nation, and it’s fun to show that it’s possible, even for a small country like us," Avdija said after the game, via Times of Israel.
While political issues didn’t appear to seep into the game, Houston Rockets star Alperen Sengun was asked about his relationship with Avdija on Saturday. Sengun is Turkish and the relationship between the two countries is far from strong.
"You know, I think that stuff is a lot bigger than ours. We just going to represent our country, here, you know, the best we can. Deni is the same harder worker," Sengun told reporters. "You know, great guy, great person. One of my good friends in this league.
"And like I said that stuff are a lot bigger than our stuff. We are just here doing what we love, and other stuff is out of our control. And hopefully, you know, of course basketball is the thing hopefully bring everyone love, and stay together, you know, that's what we are here for. And like I said, the other stuff is out of our control, and hopefully, you know, it's all got into peace in all world, and that's all we wanted."
Avdija played 15 total minutes between the two games the World All-Stars played in the new format. The World All-Stars lost both games.
The fight continues. Jesse Jackson, Sr. we will continue your fight for justice and equality.
Midway Wrap Up in May.
Jesse Jackson, Sr. the civil rights leader, ordain minister, 1984 and 1988 Democratic presidential candidate and media personality has passed away at the age of 84.
President Donald J. Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Gov. JB Pritzker, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL), former presidents Barack Obama (with Michelle Obama), Joe Biden (with Dr. Jill Biden), George W. Bush (with Laura Bush), Bill Clinton (with Hillary Clinton), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and members of Congress will react to his passing.
Jonathan Jackson, one of the youngest sons is currently a member of the House of Representatives. His brother Jesse, Jr. was previously a member.
Okay, news broke overnight that Jesse, Sr. has succumbed to Parkinson’s disease and early onset dementia.
Jackson was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease before doctors confirmed last year that he had PSP, a rare brain disorder that affects movement, balance, and cognition.
Legends. Jesse Jackson made Michael Jackson a supporter of Palestine.
He was a flawed man but a man who fought for a purpose.
As a young organizer in Chicago, Jackson was called to meet with King at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis shortly before King was killed and he publicly positioned himself thereafter as King’s successor.
Jackson led a lifetime of crusades in the United States and abroad, advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues from voting rights and job opportunities to education and health care. He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders, and through his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, he channeled cries for Black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms, pressuring executives to make America a more open and equitable society.
In 1968, he was in Memphis alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when a white nationalist assassinated him as he left the Lorraine Motel. He is a young protégé to the civil rights leader.
Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) and his father.
King was vilified by the far right as a racial meddler and vowed to silence his tongue.
Jackson founded the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) and the National Rainbow Coalition were merged to serve one purpose, community action.
The organizations pursue social justice, civil rights, and political activism.
He was born from a teenage pregnancy and rape by an older man who was married.
Jackson was born in Greenville, South Carolina, on October 8, 1941, to Helen Burns (1924–2015), a 16-year-old high school student, and her 33-year-old married neighbor, Noah Louis Robinson (1908–1997). His ancestry includes Cherokee, enslaved African-Americans, Irish plantation owners, and a Confederate sheriff.
Robinson was a former professional boxer who was an employee of a textile brokerage and a well-known figure in the black community.
One year after Jesse's birth, his mother married Charles Henry Jackson, a post office maintenance worker who later adopted the boy.
Jesse was given his stepfather's name in the adoption, but as he grew up he also maintained a close relationship with Robinson. He considers both men to be his fathers.
Being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Bill Clinton. This comes at a time when Clinton was facing allegations of affairs. Jackson had numerous affairs. One led to a child.
As a child, Jackson was taunted by other children about his out-of-wedlock birth and has said these experiences helped motivate him to succeed.
Living under Jim Crow segregation laws, Jackson was taught to go to the back of the bus and use separate water fountains—practices he accepted until the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955.
Jackson attended the racially segregated Sterling High School in Greenville, where he was elected student class president, finished tenth in his class, and earned letters in baseball, football, and basketball.
Jackson ran for president in 1984 and 1988. He ran on Palestinian freedom, ending the war on drugs, Black reparations, indigenous reparations and Hispanic unity.
During the Reagan years, the religious right sought dominance with culture wars and censorship.
They saw Jackson as a threat.
Jackson appearing with George W. Bush. Jackson opposed Bush's wars and the Patriot Act.
Israel definitely saw him as a threat because he fought against apartheid in South Africa and Israel. They used every devious trick to sink his campaigns.
Israel had a healthy relationship with then president Ronald Reagan. They worked with Roger Ailes, Lee Atwater and Roger Stone to create a campaign of racial politics. They used the Jackson campaign to tank Walter Mondale in the Reagan landslide and Michael Dukakis in the George H.W. Bush landslide. The welfare queen and the other guy taking your job scared up white voters. It motivated the South to become a stronghold for Republicans. As of today, Republican governors dominate all but two Southern states.
The far right often scapegoats Black grievances to Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton.
Any issue involving Black Americans shot by police, Blacks being discriminated, Blacks being victims of sexual abuse and Blacks being involved in criminal acts, the far right zeros in on Jackson as their boogeyman to scare up white voters.
Jackson was a shadow delegate. When Washington, DC wanted statehood, the federal district elected Jackson as a U.S. Senator. He was not sworn in but allowed to be on the Senate floor in viewing.
Jackson with Barack Obama. Jesse Jackson had a testy relationship with Obama during his presidential run. He felt Obama betrayed Black America after he cut off Jeremiah Wright during the campaign.
Jackson is married to Jacqueline Lavinia Jackson. They have five children.
Santita (1963), Jesse Jr. (1965), Jonathan Luther (1966), Yusef DuBois (1970), and Jacqueline Lavinia (1975).
He has a sixth daughter from an affair.
Jackson had had an affair with a staffer, Karin Stanford, which resulted in the birth of a daughter, Ashley, in May 1999. According to CNN, in August 1999 the Rainbow Push Coalition paid Stanford $15,000 (equivalent to $28,310 in 2024) in moving expenses and $21,000 (equivalent to $39,640 in 2024) for contracting work. A promised advance of an additional $40,000 against future contracting work was rescinded once the affair became public. This incident prompted Jackson to withdraw from activism for a short period. He was paying $4,000 a month in child support as of 2001.
CNN suspended, and later canceled, Both Sides with Jesse Jackson.
And when he declared, “I am Somebody,” in a poem he often repeated, he sought to reach people of all colors. “I may be poor, but I am Somebody; I may be young; but I am Somebody; I may be on welfare, but I am Somebody,” Jackson intoned.
Jackson with Joe Biden.
It was a message he took literally and personally, having risen from obscurity in the segregated South to become America’s best-known civil rights activist since King.
Progressive agitator Santita Jackson confirmed that her father died at home in Chicago, surrounded by family.
“Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” the Jackson family said in a statement posted online. “We shared him with the world, and in return, the world became part of our extended family.”
Fellow civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton called his mentor “a consequential and transformative leader who changed this nation and the world.”
“He kept the dream alive and taught young children from broken homes, like me, that we don’t have broken spirits,” Sharpton wrote on Facebook. “A giant has gone home.”
Despite profound health challenges in his final years including a rare neurological disorder that affected his ability to move and speak, Jackson continued protesting against racial injustice into the era of Black Lives Matter. In 2024, he appeared at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and at a City Council meeting to show support for a resolution backing a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
“Even if we win,” he told marchers in Minneapolis before the officer whose knee kept George Floyd from breathing was convicted of murder, “it’s relief, not victory. They’re still killing our people. Stop the violence, save the children. Keep hope alive.”
Calls to action, delivered in a memorable voice
Jackson’s voice, infused with the stirring cadences and powerful insistence of the Black church, demanded attention. On the campaign trail and elsewhere, he used rhyming and slogans such as: “Hope not dope” and “If my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it then I can achieve it,″ to deliver his messages.
Donald J. Trump, then a prominent figure in the 1980s with Jackson. As president, Trump has done policies detrimental to Jackson's vision of America.
Jackson had his share of critics, both within and outside of the Black community. Some considered him a grandstander, too eager to seek out the spotlight. Looking back on his life and legacy, Jackson told The Associated Press in 2011 that he felt blessed to be able to continue the service of other leaders before him and to lay a foundation for those to come.
“A part of our life’s work was to tear down walls and build bridges, and in a half century of work, we’ve basically torn down walls,” Jackson said. “Sometimes when you tear down walls, you’re scarred by falling debris, but your mission is to open up holes so others behind you can run through.”
In his final months, as he received 24-hour care, he lost his ability to speak, communicating with family and visitors by holding their hands and squeezing.
“I get very emotional knowing that these speeches belong to the ages now,” his son, Jesse Jackson Jr., told the AP in October.
Presidential aspirations fall short but help ‘keep hope alive’
Despite once telling a Black audience he would not run for president “because white people are incapable of appreciating me,” Jackson ran twice and did better than any Black politician had before President Barack Obama, winning 13 primaries and caucuses for the Democratic nomination in 1988, four years after his first failed attempt.
His successes left supporters chanting another Jackson slogan, “Keep Hope Alive.”
“I was able to run for the presidency twice and redefine what was possible; it raised the lid for women and other people of color,” he told the AP. “Part of my job was to sow seeds of the possibilities.”
U.S. Rep. John Lewis said during a 1988 C-SPAN interview that Jackson’s two runs for the Democratic nomination “opened some doors that some minority person will be able to walk through and become president.”
Jackson in 2025 in his final Selma walk.
Jackson also pushed for cultural change, joining calls by NAACP members and other movement leaders in the late 1980s to identify Black people in the United States as African Americans.
“To be called African Americans has cultural integrity — it puts us in our proper historical context,” Jackson said at the time. “Every ethnic group in this country has a reference to some base, some historical cultural base. African Americans have hit that level of cultural maturity.”
Jackson’s words sometimes got him in trouble.
In 1984, he apologized for what he thought were private comments to a reporter, calling New York City “Hymietown,” a derogatory reference to its large Jewish population. And in 2008, he made headlines when he complained that Obama was “talking down to Black people” in comments captured by a microphone he didn’t know was on during a break in a television taping.
Pro Israeli groups hated Jackson. He supported Palestinian freedom. That's why they wanted to sink his presidential bids.
Still, when Jackson joined the jubilant crowd in Chicago’s Grant Park to greet Obama that election night, he had tears streaming down his face.
“I wish for a moment that Dr. King or (slain civil rights leader) Medgar Evers ... could’ve just been there for 30 seconds to see the fruits of their labor,” he told the AP years later. “I became overwhelmed. It was the joy and the journey.”
Exerting influence on events at home and abroad
Jackson also had influence abroad, meeting world leaders and scoring diplomatic victories, including the release of Navy Lt. Robert Goodman from Syria in 1984, as well as the 1990 release of more than 700 foreign women and children held after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. In 1999, he won the freedom of three Americans imprisoned by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
In 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor.
“Citizens have the right to do something or do nothing,” Jackson said, before heading to Syria. “We choose to do something.”
Thank you Rev. Jackson.
In 2021, Jackson joined the parents of Ahmaud Arbery inside the Georgia courtroom where three white men were convicted of killing the young Black jogger. In 2022, he hand-delivered a letter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago, calling for federal charges against former Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke in the 2014 killing of Black teenager Laquan McDonald.
Jackson, who stepped down as president of Rainbow/PUSH in July 2023, disclosed in 2017 that he had sought treatment for Parkinson’s, but he continued to make public appearances even as the disease made it more difficult for listeners to understand him. Earlier this year doctors confirmed a diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy, a life-threatening neurological disorder. He was admitted to a hospital in November.
During the coronavirus pandemic, he and his wife survived being hospitalized with COVID-19. Jackson was vaccinated early, urging Black people in particular to get protected, given their higher risks for bad outcomes.
“It’s America’s unfinished business — we’re free, but not equal,” Jackson told the AP. “There’s a reality check that has been brought by the coronavirus, that exposes the weakness and the opportunity.”
Nearly 20 years as a correspondent for CBS News 60 Minutes, CNN host Anderson Cooper announces he is leaving the network.
This comes as huge blow to Bari Weiss.
She was trying to court Cooper to be a full time CBS employee. It turns out that the longtime CNN host rather stay where he at.
Cooper won two Emmys in 2017 for his work on the show. His final "60 Minutes" segment, airing Sunday, is an interview with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.
The journalist will remain fully employed with CNN, where he anchors "Anderson Cooper 360" every night and hosts a podcast and streaming show called "All There Is."
The journalist's decision to reportedly not renew his contract, confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter, marks the show's first major on-air change since conservative Bari Weiss took over as editor-in-chief of CBS News.
The son of writer Wyatt Emory Cooper and artist Gloria Vanderbilt, Cooper build a reputation as a prominent journalist.
I met him back in 2007 when I won a trip to the YouTube Republican Debate in St. Petersburg, Florida. He is a total spaz but nice in person when you don't bother him when he is in public not doing his job.
Cooper’s departure from 60 Minutes comes after a tumultuous year on the venerated television program, after several longtime staffers left, network brass pushed through a controversial settlement with President Donald Trump in order to help pave the way for CBS’s parent company Paramount’s merger with Skydance Media to get the administration’s approval, and Weiss’ decision to delay airing a segment on the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, abbreviated CECOT, a notorious maximum security prison in El Salvador where the Trump administration sent some undocumented immigrants in contravention of court orders.
Variety’s Brian Steinberg confirmed Cartwright’s reporting, noting that the end of Cooper’s tenure on 60 Minutes would also mean the end of one of show’s key promotion tactics, as his contract allowed him to use his segments on his CNN show as well.
“Being a correspondent at ’60 Minutes’ has been one of the highlights of my career. I got to tell amazing stories, and work with some of the best producers, editors and camera crews in the business,” Cooper said in a statement. “For nearly twenty years, I’ve been able to balance my jobs at CNN and CBS, but I have little kids now and I want to spend as much time with them as possible, while they want to spend time with me.”
Do you want an effective Democratic leadership or another roll over?
Abolish ICE.
Stop funding motherfucking Israel.
Stop taking money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is the current House Minority Leader who represents the 8th Congressional District of New York. His district is Brooklyn. The district neighborhoods include Coney Island, Manhattan Beach, Georgetown, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville and East New York.
District has a population of 710,000 residents.
Americans are struggling. Jeffries seems to understand but he still contributes all of our taxpayer funds to the Israeli regime.
Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York are extremely ineffective in getting the job done.
So on The Joy Reid Show, the House Minority Leader gets testy when progressive agitator Wahajat Ali questioning the Minority Leader's refusal to outright "abolish ICE".
Jeffries managed to deflect when asked about taking AIPAC funding.
Ali started off by venting ICE was building “concentration camps” to house illegal immigrants and “killed eight people this year alone,” including Renee Good and Alex Pretti. (Pretti was shot by two Border Patrol officers, not an ICE agent.) He also said polling showed Most Americans are turning against President Donald Trump’s ICE raids, which are “terrorizing Black and Brown communities.”
“You said you want to rein in ICE. I’m saying — I’m talking about the long-term now — why not lead and say ‘Abolish ICE’?” Ali asked. He then said Jeffries was telling Americans their tax dollars need to continue going towards a “lawless [and] masked armed agency” and asked how he could explain that to the average American voter.
Jeffries threw up his arms and said “I don’t understand anything that you just said!”
“I spoke English,” Ali shot back.
“I don’t understand anything you just said to me when I’ve made clear that taxpayer dollars should be used to make life more affordable for the American people, not brutalize or kill them,” Jeffries continued. “That’s the whole reason we’re in this fight right now, that’s the whole reason that DHS is getting ready to shut down.”
“So Abolish ICE. You agree with me and Joy — Abolish ICE,” Ali said.
“Listen, I’m gonna use the language that I wanna use, you can use the language you wanna use!” Jeffries told him.
Their back-and-forth comes a month after Jeffries called the shooting of Good an “abomination” and said “blood is clearly on the hands of those individuals within the administration who’ve been pushing an extreme policy.”
I didn't watch the NBA All Star Game. It is a part of the boycotts of organizations that back that apartheid ethnostate.
Adam Silver is a Zionist who punishes players who speak up for certain injustices.
What made the news this weekend was a legendary NBA figure hinting retirement and remarks praising that apartheid ethnostate.
The 41 year old NBA legend disappoints me.
LeBron James becomes the latest media and sports figures to support the apartheid ethnostate of Israel.
In praise of Deni Avdija, an Israeli NBA small forward the Portland Trail Blazers, James stated he would one day like to visit Israel.
"I've never been there. But if I have fans there, I hope I inspire people over there not only to be great in sports but to be better in general in life," LeBron said at the All-Star Weekend. "Hopefully, someday I can make it over there. I've heard nothing but great things."
James recently called Avdija "a big-time player" and advocated for him to earn a spot in the 2026 All-Star Game in Los Angeles.
Deni Apartheid got the ball.
Avdija served in the Israeli Defense Forces and is facing backlash for his criticism of protesters. Also, you notice he is an Israeli living in Washington, DC. The United States national capital where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Mossad often plant espionage devices in areas to obtain classified information from the U.S. and other nations.
"When I know, you guys will know," he told reporters. "I don't know. I have no idea. I just want to live, that's all."
Israel has killed Americans. Great things.
The Israeli government killed Philip McC. Armstrong, Jr., Allen M. Blue, James C. Pierce, Stephen S. Toth, William B. Allenbaugh, Gary R. Blanchard, Francis Brown, Ronnie J. Campbell, Jerry L. Converse, Robert B. Eisenberg, Jerry L. Goss, Curtis A. Graves, Lawrence P. Hayden, Warren E. Hersey, Alan Higgins, Carl L. Hoar, Richard W. Keene, Jr., James L. Lenau, Raymond E. Linn, James M. Lupton, Duane R. Marggraf, David W. Marlborough, Anthony P. Mendle, Carl C. Nygren, Jack L. Raper, Edward E. Rehmeyer III, David Skolak, John C. Smith, Jr., Melvin D. Smith, John C. Spicher, Alexander N. Thompson, Jr., Thomas R. Thornton, Philippe C. Tiedtke, Frederick J. Walton, Rachel Corrie, Furkan Doğan, Jacob Flickinger, Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, Shireen Abu Akleh, Orwa Hammad, Mahmoud Shaalan, Omar Assad, Mohammad Khdour, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, Saif al-Din Musalat, Amer Mohammad Saada Rabee and Kamel Ahmad Jawad.
Kyrie Irving puts Palestinian journalists in the spotlight. Israel has killed 290 journalists.
When an American is killed by Israel, the U.S. presidents ignore it or accept the Israeli narrative.
Lyndon B. Johnson, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Donald J. Trump have done not a damn thing about it. They just shrug their shoulders and allow Israel to get away with killing U.S. citizens.
Why vote Democrat when they protect the status quo?
Why vote Republican when they are dismantling the progress in favor of the status quo?
Why support celebrities? They only get richer while you work to you drop dead or retire with little or no financial support.
