Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has confirmed his wife, First Lady Casey DeSantis is considering running for governor.
He also called out his former ally Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL). Donalds, a two term do nothing lawmaker has officially thrown his hat in the ring.
You hear me, the controversial lawmaker who is the prominent voice of Black conservatives and tokenism has got the backing of President Donald J. Trump.
It riled up DeSantis, a former ally of Trump who ran for president in 2020. He ended up dropping out and reluctantly endorsed him.
Donalds also embarrassingly called Trump, "Daddy."
You can't make this shit up.
DeSantis, who is ineligible to seek another term after eight years in office.
Donalds enters the race with Trump’s endorsement. Donalds has been a frequent Trump surrogate and was on the short list to be his vice presidential running mate last year.
Byron with wife Erika and their three sons.
DeSantis, who cannot run again due to term limits and unsuccessfully tried a presidential bid against Trump last year, has not yet made any official endorsement for his successor.
Just before Donalds’ announcement, DeSantis suggested that his wife, Casey DeSantis, would be a worthy governor and said Donalds was not a part of his victories on conservative priorities.
Donalds praised the governor Tuesday, saying he had done a “tremendous job for our state.” Speaking to Sean "Softball" Hannity on Fox News, Donalds did not directly address the speculation about a Casey DeSantis run but noted his Trump endorsement and his record in elected office.
“For a long time, I’ve been in the trenches, in a lot of these battles, dealing with conservatism,” he added, saying he would prioritize lowering insurance costs, promoting the cryptocurrency industry and preserving the waterways of the Everglades, the largest subtropical wilderness in the U.S.
The 46-year-old Donalds, who lives in Naples in southwest Florida, was born and raised in Brooklyn. He graduated from Florida State University.
He was working as a financial adviser when then-Gov. Rick Scott [current U.S. senator] appointed him to the board of trustees at a state college, cementing his rise in the state GOP.
He entered the Florida House in 2016, won a seat in the U.S. House in 2020 and has been on the short list for multiple opportunities ever since, including being nominated in January 2023 by the far-right wing of as a candidate for House speaker.
Byron Donalds wants to disspell the DEI remarks. Most certainly, the man who opposed it will be dealing with it.
After Trump’s endorsement, Donalds indicated that he would make an announcement soon and said he was “committed to working with him to Keep Florida Great.” In a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 21, Donalds said Trump has called him to talk to him about running.
“Florida is not going to stop leading,” Donalds said. “We’re going to build off of what we’ve done, and we are going to continue to lead bigger, better, faster, greater, safer, freer, because the American dream is for everybody, and we’re going to show the other 49 states how to get it done.”
In addition to Casey DeSantis, other potential GOP candidates include former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, who said in January that he was considering a run, and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, though he recently fought with DeSantis over immigration policies.
But Trump’s endorsement may clear the way for Donalds given his dominance in Republican politics, particularly in his adopted home state. Trump established residency in Palm Beach during his first term.
“Byron Donalds would be a truly Great and Powerful Governor for Florida and, should he decide to run, will have my Complete and Total Endorsement,” the president posted Thursday on his social media site. “RUN, BYRON, RUN!”
One of the state’s most high-profile Black Republicans, Donalds would become the first African American to serve as governor if he wins.
Donalds and his wife, Erika Donalds, built a reputation for working to transform public education and direct more taxpayer dollars into private and charter schools. A former county school board member, she runs a company that oversees charter schools and a virtual academy.
A fucking idiot from Keene, New Hampshire was arrested after she did a very stupid, dangerous and extremely disgusting act in a grocery store.
You can't fix stupid 2025.
Can we do a Darwin Award for the most stupidest people on the planet?
You can't change minds!
You are completely trapped in stupid.
You are wrapped and emboldened in stupid.
Y'all voted for this.
This idiot has been charged with criminal mischief for allegedly making “disturbing” videos of her contaminating store products by urinating on them, spawning an investigation and a product recall dating back four years ago.
The investigation began on Feb. 14 when the Keene Police Department in New Hampshire received an anonymous tipoff regarding a woman – later identified as 23-year-old Kelli Tedford – who had “posted disturbing videos to an internet site” of her “contaminating items in a local business with her urine,” according to a statement from the Keene Police Department released on Friday.
Police immediately launched an investigation in cooperation with the local grocery store, the Monadnock Food Co-Op, and the affected items were removed in coordination with the health department, officials said.
Monadnock Food Co-Op subsequently issued a voluntary recall for red quinoa, white quinoa, tri-color quinoa, cornmeal, polenta, coconut shreds and raw walnuts and affirmed that “our community’s health and safety remain our top priorities.”
Tedford worked at this store at one time.
“While this was a highly unusual situation, we took swift action in accordance with our food safety and recall procedures,” Monadnock Food Co-Op said in their statement released on Friday. “We have also been in direct communication with the Keene Health Department, which has confirmed that no ongoing risks remain. We continue to cooperate fully with the Keene Police Department and the Keene Health Department regarding this matter. We have strict food safety protocols and recall procedures in place. We are reviewing our security measures and procedures to further safeguard our store and customers."
However, during the police investigation into the incident, authorities found “numerous additional videos” of Tedford committing the same act over a four-year period, said the Keene Police Department.
“At this time, it appears likely that similar historic incidents occurred in Keene and surrounding communities where Tedford contaminated items and/or surfaces with urine, as several videos appear to be recorded as early as 2021,” police said.
Pretty stupid.
As a result of this incident, the Monadnock Food Co-Op sustained an estimated financial loss of more than $1,500 in destroyed merchandise and cleaning costs.
Tedford was arrested on Friday by the Keene Police Department and charged with criminal mischief as a class B felony, authorities confirmed. She was subsequently released on personal recognizance bail and is scheduled for arraignment on April 7 at the 8th Circuit Court in Keene.
The investigation is ongoing, and police said that additional criminal charges are possible.
The suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Obviously, she will be banned from Monadnock Food Co-Op. Tedford will be forced to pay for all the damages to products, the sanitation disposal fees, likely be demonitized from all of her social media platforms, face medical expenses from shoppers who consumed any of those products.
Customers who purchased these products or witnessed it will be traumatized.
Yeah, we all had messed up orders at grocery stores and 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, gas stations and grocery stores are forbidden from having chemicals near food. The federal and state authorities have strict guidelines to contamination.
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.
4. Any biohazard like blood, mucus, urine, fecal matter, vomit, semen, vaginal fluid, saliva and hair, animal droppings, skin, tears, sweat and breast milk in food must be destroyed.
Mark Alford, a former news reporter turned Republican lawmaker from Missouri became the news. His tone deaf response to federal workers being laid off went viral.
Fuck your God!
Republicans are incompetent.
Democrats are incompetent.
Israel is ruining the world.
America, the great comeback isn't happening.
Y'all voted for this!
Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO) said some pretty condescending things towards federal workers being laid off because of President Donald J. Trump's chaotic policies.
Afford who represents portions of Kansas City and Columbia, Missouri was once a former television reporter.
He joined the U.S. House in 2023. He is currently in his second term.
Since Trump installed the Department of Government Efficiency, it's been nothing but chaos. The uneasy alliance with Elon Musk has cause great concerns with Republicans and especially voters who thought Trump was going to fix the economy. Laying people off means, folks will not spend which leads to companies struggling. It leads to the economy struggling.
It has Americans frustrated with Trump, Musk and billionaires in general.
Usually a small crowd but these town halls gotten large with angry constituents.
Musk’s power within the Trump administration and the mass federal layoffs have angered some voters, who have directed their ire at Republican lawmakers at town halls across the country.
On Monday, Alford became the latest lawmaker to get an earful.
“Just because you have a government job doesn’t mean it’s a lifetime appointment like a Supreme Court,” Alford said at a town hall in Belton, Missouri, according to The St. Joseph News-Press. “So I would encourage anyone who finds themselves in this situation to realize that we are going to get this economy turning again. There are jobs available. God has a plan and purpose for your life.”
The line did not go over well with the crowd.
“We don’t want your God!” a woman yelled while another exclaimed, “Our God is Christian!”
Mark Alford (R-MO): Elon Musk has contracts with the federal government, but he is also, I think, doing an effective job at weeding out the waste, abuse, and fraud in the government.
Constituents: BOOO!!! SHOW ME!!! CONFLICT OF INTEREST!!! HE IS THE WASTE, FRAUD, AND ABUSE!!! pic.twitter.com/nDLSOs6dmW
BREAKING: Republican Rep. Mark Alford’s constituents are turning out in force to protest his support of Donald Trump and Elon Musk. This is incredible.
After facing backlash at a hometown event over DOGE and potential Medicaid cuts, Rep. Mark Alford says it was brought about by “outside agitators” while acknowledging that some were his constituents. pic.twitter.com/4C7AtjHhIB
Trump was supposed to give Congress 30 days notice before firing Inspectors General. Instead of doing his oversight job and holding the orange toddler accountable, Rep. Mark Alford makes excuses for him. The GOP is a party of cowards. pic.twitter.com/ivChxuMxJd
My U.S. Congressman, Mark Alford tells our Federal works “God has a plan,” as the crowd rightfully boos him.
I’ve had the privilege of speaking at the Kansas City VA Medical Center, the Federal Reserve, the Department of Energy, GSA, and Honeywell, and our local federal… pic.twitter.com/nVnnMH2G2A
Ariel Mollhagen, who was one of the federal employees to be dismissed, attended the event. She was a probationary worker at the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
“This is like breaking things that were not easy to build and will not be easy to repair,” she said.
The News-Press reported that about 75 people attended the town hall, which was held in a coffee shop. Dozens more were outside.
“Government employees are going to be let go and that’s just the reality,” Alford stated. “I feel bad that people have been let go, I understand that.”
Alford coasted to reelection in November, trouncing his Democratic opponent by 45 percentage points.
Gerrymandering leads to these controversial lawmakers getting reelected. Alford thinks it's God's plan to have folks lose their jobs. Maybe he should have stayed a news reporter.
The most worthless human on the planet being becomes FBI Assistant Director.
Y'all voted for this.
Russia and Israel got their stooge president and his stooge cabinet.
The FBI appoints conspiracy theorist and far right media personality Dan Bongino as the assistant director. Besides the confirmation of conspiracy theorist Kash Patel, the FBI is in complete shock and apparently morale is down at the bureau.
All they can do is hope they don't expose the agency's tactics and put the country at risk of an attack.
Bogino, a white nationalist who was then a close friend to then President Barack Obama as his U.S. Secret Service agent assistant.
President Donald Trump had selected a right-wing podcaster and ardent FBI critic to be the bureau’s deputy director, even as the man picked for the job said he was ready to put partisanship aside.
On his podcast, Bongino — who once called the FBI “irredeemably corrupt”— thanked the president for the appointment and suggested that he was prepared to step out of his role as a MAGA warrior. But even as he did so, he repeated the baseless charge that the Justice Department had been “weaponized,” a claim he has frequently brandished to criticize the agency he will now help lead.
“I get it if you are a political opponent of mine that has been involved with proudly celebrating a weaponized justice system, how you don’t understand how a guy like me who discusses partisan content in an opinion show and go and do (an) unquestionably nonpartisan job,” Bongino, also a former Fox News host, said. “I’m going to ask you a simple question: Have you seen what I did before I came here?”
He continued: “I’m committed to service. People play different roles in their lives. People are dads, people are soccer coaches. People are cops and military officers and military enlisted people. People are carpenters, people are plumbers. We play different roles in our life, and each one requires a different skill set.”
Bongino’s conciliatory words did little to reassure skeptics within the FBI, who noted that, in the bureau’s 117-year history, the deputy director has always been a career FBI agent with deep knowledge of how the bureau functions — and not a political appointee selected by the president.
Neither FBI Director Kash Patel nor Bongino have ever worked at the FBI.
In fact, the FBI Agents Association said in a memo to the workforce that Patel had privately committed to installing an agent as his second in command.
The group did not comment Monday, and the FBI declined to comment.
Some FBI officials consider the deputy director job more important than the director’s role, because the deputy oversees operations, supervises the heads of field offices and handles some of the most sensitive intelligence in the federal government.
“This is beyond problematic,” said Christopher O’Leary, a former senior FBI official who retired in 2023. “Any hope that Kash could be steered by having experienced leaders around him is out the window. We now have two conspiracy theorists and election deniers running our premier law enforcement and intelligence agency.”
Some current FBI employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not allowed to talk to reporters, were even more blunt. They said they feared Bongino's appointment spelled the end of an independent FBI and put the bureau’s fearsome investigative and intelligence capabilities in the hands of political actors with radical agendas.
“I didn’t sleep and I want to pack my desk today,” one said.
Another FBI official said he viewed the hiring of Bongino as akin to bringing on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones or Oath Keepers leader Stuart Rhodes.
Like those two men, Bongino has become known for both his loyalty to Trump and for trafficking in bizarre and unproven allegations about the FBI and the Capitol riot.
He once argued that every FBI agent and supervisor who had anything to do with the 2022 search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound — which was conducted pursuant to a lawful search warrant — be fired. And he recently claimed without evidence that the FBI knows who placed pipe bombs outside the RNC and DNC the day before the Jan. 6 attack, even though the FBI says it has not identified any suspects and recently asked the public for help.
“Will the deputy director get a security clearance? FBI background checks? Does it matter that he supported the Oath Keepers?" one retired FBI agent said, referring to the far-right group that Rhodes founded. "I doubt it because the director supported Jan. 6th."
The retired agent spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid being targeted by online threats.
Despite the focus on Bongino, many FBI employees tried to keep their heads down and go on with their jobs Monday, current and former officials said.
Bongino worked for two years for the New York Police Department before joining the Secret Service in 1999, where he served for 12 years. He ran unsuccessfully three times as a Republican candidate for office before striking out to build what has become a media empire, including one of the most popular podcasts in the U.S.
On Monday, Bongino sought to strike an inspiring tone.
“We’re going to re-establish faith in this institution, the good people there, doing their job, hitting the streets, developing sources,” he said. “We’ll have your back. … The FBI belongs to the American people. Doesn’t belong to me, doesn’t belong to anyone else but the American people. But this is the honor of a lifetime, and it’s a serious mission. I plan on implementing that vision.”
The iconic host of NBC News is out. Lester Holt announces his departure.
NBC Nightly News host Lester Holt announces he will leave the position to focus on Dateline and NBC News Documentaries.
Another shocking event at Comcast/Spinco.
Also Katie Phang, Jonathan Capehardt, Ayman Moyhadian and Alex Wagner are out as well. The concerns are the people of color are being sacked.
They are silencing prominent critics of Israel.
They are placing former Biden officials in and trying to be the Democratic Party's version of Fox.
Fox is the propaganda of President Donald J. Trump, Republicans and Israel.
MSNBC revamps by giving Jen Psaki the 9pm spot. Symone Sanders-Townsend, Alicia Menandez and Michael Steele will get the 7pm spot.
Holt who led the NBC News in the first five years at No. 1. Then ABC News and its host David Muir surpassed him. Holt has been at No. 2 for the remaining but a strong showing.
The NBC News veteran plans to step away in early summer from his anchor duties on “NBC Nightly News,” which he has held since 2015. After that, he plans to devote himself full time to NBC News’ “Dateline,” which he has anchored since 2011.
“After 10 years, 17 if you include my years on the weekends, the time has come for me to step away from my role as anchor of ‘Nightly News.’ It has truly been the honor of a lifetime to work with each of you every day, keeping journalism as our true north and our viewers at the center of everything we do,” Holt said in a memo to staffers Monday. “But before we play the walk off music, I have another announcement. I’m excited to report I will be continuing as anchor of ‘Dateline NBC,’ but for the first time in a full time capacity whereby I will be expanding my footprint on the broadcast and crafting ‘Dateline ‘hours on subjects I care deeply about. I am thrilled to be able to work more closely with my enormously talented friends at Dateline as the broadcast continues to grow and attract new viewers in new places.”
Holt’s exit is the latest in a parade of departures of senior TV-news personnel in recent months as the industry grapples with new economic pressures brought about by the rise of streaming, and contends with a harsh climate for media outlets in the early days of the second Trump administration. Chuck Todd, the veteran political director and “Meet the Press” moderator, left NBC News in January, and Andrea Mitchell, the longtime international affairs and politics reporter, recently ended her decades-long tenure on MSNBC’s daytime schedule. Hoda Kotb recently left her duties at NBC News’ “Today.”
NBC News isn’t the only news outlet parting ways with veterans. Neil Cavuto recently exited Fox News Channel, where he has held forth since 1996, and Chris Wallace parted ways with CNN after a short tenure.
Holt has been a calming presence at NBC News, where his unflappable and low-key demeanor helped the news division move forward after a period of tumult. He took over “Nightly” duties after his predecessor, Brian Williams, was removed following scrutiny of claims the latter made about the details of a reporting trip to Iraq.
Holt has tried to stretch new muscles, always conscious that traditional TV viewers, once wed to watching evening news after coming home from work on a set in the living or family room, were interacting with such content in different ways. “A year or two from now, people might be watching us on their toaster,” Holt told Variety in 2015, “and we’ve got to be there to put butter on the bread.”
In 2020, he launched a “Kids’ Edition” of “Nightly.” During some broadcasts, Holt talked to Sesame Street characters about mental health awareness, and looked at the birth of a rare antelope at the Oregon Zoo. He has also tinkered with the “Nightly” ‘closing, delivering in somber national moments something more reflective and nuanced than the typical anodyne sign off. One day before the 2020 presidential election, he told viewers, “democracy is messy, but we’ve got to let it work,” particularly for “our children, who you know are watching us.” During Holt’s tenure, “Nightly” also tried to focus on news in different parts of the country, including Florida and California, and not just on events in New York and Washington, D.C.
“Because of Lester’s steady and thoughtful leadership, ‘Nightly News’ has sustained its perch as a trusted and top news destination for millions of viewers across America. He has led the network during some of the country’s most fraught and challenging times in the past decade, most notably during the early days of the pandemic when Lester’s voice was a source of comfort each night for so many,” said Janelle Rodriguez, the NBC News executive vice president who oversees the evening newscast. “He’s taken viewers to the frontlines of every major story and sat down with world leaders, skillfully eliciting answers on consequential issues.”
NBC News did not comment on potential successors for Holt at “Nightly.” Hallie Jackson was recently made the anchor of the Sunday broadcast of program, and Tom Llamas, who came to NBC News from ABC News in 2021, has been seen as a candidate for the job. Peter Alexander, NBC News’ chief White House correspondent and a co-anchor of “Today” on weekends, could also be considered a candidate.
Holt has been with NBCUniversal for a quarter century, joining MSNBC in 2000, then gaining roles as a substitute anchor for “NBC Nightly News” and a weekend anchor at “Today.” Before that, he spent nearly 20 years working for CBS-owned TV stations.
He will step away from “Nightly” as the overall evening-news format seems to be in flux. Norah O’Donnell, who anchored “CBS Evening News” for five years, recently left her duties at the program before it was retooled to focus on enterprise and issue reporting and less on the breaking news of the day. Meanwhile, ABC’s “World News Tonight,” which leads among the three main broadcast networks in winning overall audience, remains tied closely to anchor David Muir.
“We’re lucky to have our jobs. I mean, it’s 30 minutes, 23 outside commercials is not a lot of time to try and curate all the complicated issues of the day in that period is a testament to the talented people we get to work with every day who can help us put this in a concise manner. Sometimes I think about our short attention spans these days, it’s like the evening news show were kind of ahead of their game. Now, 30 minutes is actually a pretty good time,” Holt told Variety in 2017. “Beyond that, we’re like, I’ve gotta move on.”
Roberta Flack, the Grammy-winning singer and pianist whose intimate vocal and musical style made her one of the top recordings artists of the 1970s and an influential performer long after, died Monday. She was 88.
She died at home surrounded by her family, publicist Elaine Schock said in a statement. Flack announced in 2022 she had ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and could no longer sing,
Little known before her early 30s, Flack became an overnight star after Clint Eastwood used “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” as the soundtrack for one of cinema’s more memorable and explicit love scenes, between the actor and Donna Mills in his 1971 film “Play Misty for Me.” The hushed, hymn-like ballad, with Flack’s graceful soprano afloat on a bed of soft strings and piano, topped the Billboard pop chart in 1972 and received a Grammy for record of the year.
“The record label wanted to have it re-recorded with a faster tempo, but he said he wanted it exactly as it was,” Flack told The Associated Press in 2018. “With the song as a theme song for his movie, it gained a lot of popularity and then took off.”
In 1973, she matched both achievements with “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” becoming the first artist to win consecutive Grammys for best record.
She was a classically trained pianist discovered in the late 1960s by jazz musician Les McCann, who later wrote that “her voice touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I’ve ever known.” Versatile enough to summon the up-tempo gospel passion of Aretha Franklin, Flack often favored a more reflective and measured approach.
For Flack’s many admirers, she was a sophisticated and bold new presence in the music world and in the social and civil rights movements of the time, her friends including the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Angela Davis, whom Flack visited in prison while Davis faced charges — for which she was acquitted — for murder and kidnapping. Flack sang at the funeral of Jackie Robinson, major league baseball’s first Black player, and was among the many guest performers on the feminist children’s entertainment project created by Marlo Thomas, “Free to Be ... You and Me.”
Roberta Cleopatra Flack, the daughter of musicians, was born in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and raised in Arlington, Virginia. A gospel fan as a child, she was so talented a piano player that at age 15 she received a full scholarship to Howard, the historically Black university.
Flack’s other hits from the 1970s included the cozy “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and two duets with her close friend and former Howard University classmate Donny Hathaway, “Where Is the Love” and ”The Closer I Get to You” — a partnership that ended in tragedy. In 1979, she and Hathaway were working on an album of duets when he suffered a breakdown during recording and later that night fell to his death from his hotel room in Manhattan.
“We were deeply connected creatively,” Flack told Vibe in 2022, upon the 50th anniversary of the million-selling “Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway” album. “He could play anything, sing anything. Our musical synergy was unlike (anything) I’d had before or since.”
She never matched her first run of success, although she did have a hit in the 1980s with the Peabo Bryson duet “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love” and in the 1990s with the Maxi Priest duet “Set the Night to Music.” In the mid-90s, Flack received new attention after the Fugees recorded a Grammy-winning cover of “Killing Me Softly,” which she eventually performed on stage with the hip-hop group.
Overall, she won five Grammys (three for “Killing Me Softly”), was nominated eight other times and was given a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2020, with John Legend and Ariana Grande among those praising her.
“I love that connection to other artists because we understand music, we live music, it’s our language,” Flack told songwriteruniverse.com in 2020. “Through music we understand what we are thinking and feeling. No matter what challenge life presents, I am at home with my piano, on a stage, with my band, in the studio, listening to music. I can find my way when I hear music.”
In 2022, Beyoncé placed Flack, Franklin and Diana Ross among others in a special pantheon of heroines name-checked in the Grammy-nominated “Queens Remix” of “Break My Soul.”
Flack was briefly married to Stephen Novosel, an interracial relationship that led to tension with each of their families, and earlier had a son, the singer and keyboardist Bernard Wright. For years, she lived in Manhattan’s Dakota apartment building, on the same floor as John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who became a close friend and provided liner notes for a Flack album of Beatles covers, “Let It Be Roberta.” She also devoted extensive time to the Roberta Flack School of Music, based in New York and attended mostly by students between ages 6 to 14.
Flack had taught music in D.C.-area junior high schools for several years in her 20s, while performing after hours in clubs. She sometimes backed other singers, but her own shows at Washington’s renowned Mr. Henry’s attracted such celebrity patrons as Burt Bacharach, Ramsey Lewis and Johnny Mathis. The club’s owner, Henry Yaffe, converted an apartment directly above into a private studio, the Roberta Flack Room.
“I wanted to be successful, a serious all-round musician,” she told The Telegraph in 2015. “I listened to a lot of Aretha, the Drifters, trying to do some of that myself, playing, teaching.”
Flack was signed to Atlantic Records and her debut album, “First Take,” a blend of gospel, soul, flamenco and jazz, came out in 1969. One track was a love song by the English folk artist Ewan MacColl: “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” written in 1957 for his future wife, singer Peggy Seeger. Flack not only knew of the ballad, but used it while working with a glee club during her years as an educator.
“I was teaching at Banneker Junior High in Washington, D.C. It was part of the city where kids weren’t that privileged, but they were privileged enough to have music education. I really wanted them to read music. First, I’d get their attention. (Flack starts singing a Supremes hit) ‘Stop, in the name of love.’ Then I could teach them!” she told the Tampa Bay Times in 2012.
“You have to do all sorts of things when you’re dealing with kids in the inner-city,” she said. “I knew they’d like the part where (‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’) goes ‘The first time ever I kissed your mouth.’ Ooh, ‘Kissed your mouth!’ Once the kids got past the giggles, we were good.”
Jerry Butler, a premier soul singer of the 1960s and after whose rich, intimate baritone graced such hits as “For Your Precious Love,” “Only the Strong Survive” and “Make It Easy On Yourself,” has died at age 85.
Butler’s niece, Yolanda Goff, told The Associated Press that Butler died Thursday of Parkinson’s disease at his home in Chicago. A longtime Chicago resident, Butler was a former Cook County board commissioner who would still perform on weekends and identify himself as Jerry “Ice Man” Butler, a show business nickname given for his understated style.
Butler, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a three-time Grammy Award nominee, was a voice for two major soul music hubs: Chicago and Philadelphia. Along with childhood friend Curtis Mayfield, he helped found the Chicago-based Impressions and sang lead on the breakthrough hit “For Your Precious Love,” a deeply emotional, gospel-influenced ballad that made Butler a star before the age of 20. A decade later, in the late ‘60s, he joined the Philadelphia-based production team of Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, who worked with him on “Only the Strong Survive,” “Hey Western Union Man” and other hits. His albums “Ice on Ice” and “The Ice Man Cometh” are regarded as early models for the danceable, string-powered productions that became the classic “Sound of Philadelphia.”
Butler also was an inspired songwriter who collaborated with Otis Redding on “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” a signature ballad for Redding; and with Gamble and Huff on “Only the Strong Survive,” later covered by Elvis Presley among others. His other credits included “For Your Precious Love,” “Never Give You Up” (with Gamble and Huff) and “He Will Break Your Heart,” which Butler helped write after he began thinking about the boyfriends of the groupies he met on the road.
“You go into a town; you’re only going to be there for one night; you want some company; you find a girl; you blow her mind,” Butler told Rolling Stone in 1969. “Now you know that girl hasn’t been sitting in town waiting for you to come in. She probably has another fellow and the other fellow’s probably in love with her; they’re probably planning to go through the whole thing, right? But you never take that into consideration on that particular night.”
The son Mississippi sharecroppers, Butler and his family moved moved north to Chicago when he was 3, part of the era’s “Great Migration” of Black people out of the South. He loved all kinds of music as a child and was a good enough singer that a friend suggested he come to a local place of worship, the Traveling Souls Spiritualist Church, presided over by the Rev. A.B. Mayfield. Her grandson, Curtis Mayfield, soon became a longtime collaborator. (Mayfield died in 1999.)
In 1958, Mayfield and Butler along with Sam Gooden and brothers Arthur and Richard Brooks recorded “For Your Precious Love” for Vee-Jay Records. The group called itself the Impressions, but Vee-Jay, anxious to promote an individual star, advertised the song as by Jerry Butler and the Impressions, leading to estrangement between Butler and the other performers and to an unexpected solo career.
“Fame didn’t change me as much as it changed the people around me,” Butler wrote in his memoir “Only the Strong Survive,” published in 2000.
One of his early solo performances was a 1961 cover of “Moon River,” the theme to “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” Butler was the first performer to hit the charts with what became a pop standard, but “Moon River” would be associated with Andy Williams after the singer was chosen to perform it at the Academy Awards, a snub Butler long resented. His other solo hits, some recorded with Mayfield, included “He Will Break Your Heart”, “Find Another Girl” and “I’m A-Telling You.”
By 1967, his formal style seemed out of fashion, but Butler was impressed by the new music coming out of Philadelphia and received permission from his record label (Mercury) to work with Gamble and Huff. The chemistry, Butler recalled, was so “fierce” they wrote hits such as “Only the Strong Survive” in less than an hour.
“Things just seem to fall into place,” Butler told Ebony magazine in 1969. “We lock ourselves in a room, create stories about lovers, compose the music, then write the lyrics to match the music.”
By the 1980s, Butler’s career had faded and he was becoming increasingly interested in politics. Encouraged by the 1983 election of Harold Washington, Chicago’s first Black mayor, he ran successfully for the Cook County Board in 1985 and was re-elected repeatedly, even after supporting a controversial sales tax increase in 2009. He retired from the board in 2018.
Butler was married for 60 years to Annette Smith, who died in 2019, and with her had twin sons. Many of his generational peers had struggled financially and he worked to help them, while also supporting various family members. He chaired the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, which offers a wide range of assistance to musicians, and pushed the industry to provide medical and retirement benefits. Butler considered himself lucky, even if he did pass on the chance to own a part of Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International recording company.
“You know, I have lived well. My wife probably would say I could’ve lived better,” Butler told the Chicago Reader in 2011. “Did I make 40, 50 million dollars? No. Did I keep one or two? Yes. The old guys on the street used to say, ‘It’s not how much you make. It’s how much you keep.’”
Israel launches its latest hasbara campaign to insult supporters of the resistance.
Hamas is a militant..... Hamas is a nationalist.... Hamas is a terrorist.... Hamas is....
Hamas seeks death and destruction....
When Hamas comes to your home....
None of the things Israel and the United States says are true.
For years, I was to believe Hamas was an evil that was out to get me. Nope.
Israel for years had claim that Hamas was antisemitic and only mission was to destroy Jews across the world. Operating out a small enclave in the Middle East, Hamas seems to be growing stronger despite Israel bombardment and intentional deprivement of resources.
Israel has been exposed as a coloninalizer. It has been exposed as an apartheid ethnostate. It has been exposed as an instigator of most of the conflicts America's gotten into.
Israel claimed Hamas had 1,200 individuals. In reality Israel used the Hanibal Directive. Israeli newspapers including Haaretz, ABC News and the UN's Commission of Inquiry have pointed out that during the 2023 Hamas reistance on Israel the IDF ordered the Hannibal Directive to be used. The IDF was ordered to prevent "at all costs" the abduction of Israeli civilians or soldiers, possibly leading to the death of a large number of Israelis.
Hamas only targets the IDF. They do not kill civilians.
The world has seen Hamas fighters treating Israeli prisoners humanely, contradicting decades of Israeli claims. The viral trend further proved that support for Palestine is growing, and Israel’s propaganda is losing its grip.
“When Hamas visits my family” represents a shift in global consciousness, where people no longer blindly accept Israel’s narrative. Instead, they celebrate resistance and refuse to be intimidated.
Those fucking hypocrites sit in silence as Israel is killing women and children.
They can fuck themselves.
Israel has killed Americans. No one was held accountable.
The killing of Rachel Corrie did not move George W. Bush to cut Israel loose.
The deaths of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, Tawfiq Abdel Jabbar, Mohammad Khdour, Omar Assad, Shireen Abu Akleh, Jacob Flickinger and Kamel Ahmad Jawad were never investigated by the U.S. Justice Department.
Mask off.
Resistance is not terrorism.
Occupation of oppressed people is not peace.
A two state solution is "separate but equal" and a de facto apartheid.
Telling other countries to take Palestinians is ethnic cleansing.
A sovereignty seizing land in a violent conflict is a war crime.
The double standard in media coverage is the Israelis are hostages and the Palestinians are prisoners. Some of the Palestinians held in Israeli custody are children under the age of 14.
When Russia seized Ukrainian land and Crimea, the U.S. pushed for sanctions.
When Israel seized Lebanese and Syrian land, the U.S. recognized it as Israeli sovereignty. They have actively rejected sanctions imposed on Israel.
Hamas stated the reasons for the attack on occupation forces. It has nothing to do with the Jewish religion or Iran.
The IDF has the weapons to destroy everything. All on the American taxpayer, Israel has killed civilians, their own citizens and the status quo.
Holding these lawmakers accountable is not just a pledge, but a promise. You need to learn who represents your community. Your local community member, your school board member, your mayor, your state representative, your state senator, your governor, your U.S. Representative, your U.S. Senator and the president need to be held accountable for their actions.
Israel must be held accountable for war crimes and the U.S. must end its aid. Our taxpayer money should not help Israel any further.
Israel is the red line. If any lawmaker, entertainer, athlete or social media influncer backs the apartheid ethnostate, they face a boycott.
Regardless of political affiliation, if you are supporting Israel, you are not getting donations or a vote from me.
I will hold President Donald J. Trump and Vice President JD Vance accountable.
The call number to the White House and US Capitol is now going to be used. This is the official White House numbers 202-456-1111 and 202-456-1414. This is the Congress official phone number, 202-224-3121. Please be respectful to operators, staff members and elected leaders. Your calls are monitored by the US Secret Service and US Capitol Police.
Let them know that "thoughts and prayers," "hearts going to", "illegal immigrants" and "good guys with guns" are no longer acceptable and you want legislation to focus on ending gun violence, lowering costs, improving healthcare and building relationships with other nations. Let them know that we are tired of police officers using immunity when committing death of suspects in custody. Let them know that you are tired of private equity firms getting away with destroying small businesses and long established companies. Let them know that you are tired of your taxpayer money going to foreign nations like Israel. You are tired of hearing about "Israel having a right to..." and the bogus claims of being anti-Semitic or in support of terrorism.
We have bigger issues at home and our tax dollars should solve the housing crisis, lowering food prices, fixing roads, bridges, helping reinvest in struggling urban and rural communities. We have hospitals closing, big box retailers leaving communities and television programs dying. There are bigger issues in the country than Israel. You want an immediate ceasefire and accountability for war crimes done by Israel. You want no more foreign influence in American elections. You also want to make sure future presidents and legislators avoid influence from lobbyists.
A venomous snake was spotted in a grocery store's box of bananas in New Hampshire.
President Donald J. Trump allowed Elon Musk to run the Department of Government Efficiency and so far it's a disaster.
What would have protected the animal and those who saw it would be the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Transportation.
But firing these workers allow things like this to happen.
Again, watching wildlife from a distance is safer than going near.
Can we do a Darwin Award for the most stupidest people on the planet?
You can't fix stupid!
You can't change minds!
You are completely trapped in stupid.
You are wrapped and emboldened in stupid.
Again, why do white people always treat wild animals like they're domesticated?
I would never touch a wild animal.
I am guessing the first of 2025.
An employee at Market Basket in Manchester, New Hampshire found a snake inside the package, according to Mack Ralbovsky, the Vice President of Rainforest Reptile Shows. Rainforest Reptile Shows hosts presentations about reptiles and took the snake into its custody after the store called officials.
The snake was found either Friday or Saturday, according to Ralbovsky and the New Hampshire Fish and Game Law Enforcement Division and Operation Game Thief, who first posted about the snake on Sunday morning.
According to the division, the store employee found the snake in a banana shipment. The employee was not injured, Ralbovsky said
“The hitchhiker turned out to be an Ornate Cat-eyed Snake, a mildly venomous snake species native to Ecuador,” the division said.
A bite by such a snake is not fatal to humans, but can cause some pain and swelling, said Ralbovsky.
An officer from the division picked up the snake on Saturday, then handed it over to Rainforest Reptile Shows, said Ralbovsky from Rainforest Reptile Shows.
Ralbovsky wasn’t able to say where the shipment came from and the grocery store chain did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
"The snake is doing great," Ralbovsky wrote in an email to USA TODAY. The snake has a temporary habitat while the organization works with its nonprofit, RRS Oasis, to create a permanent space for it.
The nocturnal species eats mainly lizards and frogs, he added. The organization plans to either adopt a specialty diet for the snake or try to get the snake to eat small, frozen thawed mice.
“We are asking for monetary support to assist in creating a more naturalistic and suitable space for our new hitchhiker friend,” Ralbovsky wrote, adding that the agency houses over 300 reptiles, birds and more.
The organization often works with animals that were previously owned illegally, confiscated by law enforcement, or neglected or abused, he said.
Among the animals RRS Oasis and Rainforest Reptile Shows houses, over 60 of them are venomous reptiles like the one found at the grocery store. They house snake species such as cobras, rattlesnakes, taipans and vipers, the agency said in its post Sunday.
“Every single one comes from situations like this, rescued with the help of law enforcement,” the organization wrote on Facebook. “We work to rehabilitate and improve their health, giving them the best life possible.”
The Ornate Cat-eyed Snake can be found throughout the Chocoan lowland, foothills of the Andes, as well as in areas such as eastern Panama, Colombia and Ecuador and northern Peru, according to www.Reptilesofecuador.com.
The snakes can live in multiple ecosystems such as rainforests, seasonally dry forests and pastures. They are commonly found along marshes, swamps and lagoons, the website reported.
According to the website, the snakes are "calm and rarely attempt to bite" but when they do bite, humans experience intense pain, edema and hemorrhagic blistering. The snakes are also known for emitting a foul-smelling odor.
Also, please understand this.
What to do if you are bitten by a venomous snake.
Do not panic. It drives up the heart rate.
Do not suck out the venom.
Apply ice to the wound.
Make sure you keep a phone on you to contact 9-1-1.
Get anti-venom as soon as possible.
If you are within a snake's path. In the case of a rattlesnake, cobra, taipan, manba, puff adder, krait; remain calm.
Back away from the snake if the animal gets into a defensive position.
Carry a shovel or a bottle of rubbing alcohol in case of defending yourself.
If you have a venomous snake as a pet, make sure you are trained in handling.
Stay away from venomous snakes. Do not approach them.
To prevent a bite, stay back 30 feet and give the animal its space.
Do not try to capture the snake without proper training.
If you try to kill a venomous snake, do not play with the decapitated head or body.
Do not allow children, pets or elderly people get near venomous snakes.
It's the unfortunate cause and effect of animals and people.
I've said it before and I stand by what I say: "Wild animals are......well you know!"
If you want to be a thrill seeker, you might want to get life insurance.
A series of deadly shootings killing three police officers.
So as expected, the so called Back the Blue crowd will automatically blame Black men or immigrants for the shootings of police officers.
Public servants who dedicate their lives to serving their communities.
Virginia Beach, an independent city in metropolitan Hampton Roads, Virginia is the largest community. It has a population of 495,000 residents.
Hampton Roads consists of the independent cities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson, Williamsburg, the town of Smithfield in Virginia and Elizabeth City in North Carolina.
The population of the region is 2.8 million residents. The two other large cities are Chesapeake with a population of 312,000 and Norfolk population with a population of 268,000.
In York, Pennsylvania the population of 57,000 is located 25 miles from Harrisburg.
The Susquehanna/Hershey Valley includes York, Harrisburg, Hershey, Carlisle, Lancaster and Gettysburg.
How many mass shootings?
48 mass shootings
How many school shootings?
2 school shootings
How many police shooting or police involved accidents that killed suspects?
138 people killed
How many police officers killed by suspects or other events?
12 police officers and canine officers killed
Let's go down the list of many deadly encounters for police and first responders.
1. Routine traffic stop.
2. Answering a domestic violence or a mentally ill call.
3. Animal (cat, dog, coyote, bear or rabid animal attack).
4. Water rescue (ice, high water or flash flooding).
5. Mass shooting.
6. Friendly fire.
7. Traffic control.
8. High speed pursuits.
9. Exposure to biohazards/pathogens (HIV, STDs, food, blood, vomit or COVID-19).
10. Swatting (including making false statements, hostage negotiations and criminal damaging).
11. Weather (tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires and blizzards).
12. Stress (suicide, domestic issues at home, alcohol abuse, corruption, racism or harassment).
Domestic violence calls are extremely dangerous for police. They don't know what they're walking into. Usually, the aggressor may be armed or mentally ill and the police have to risk their lives to save others.
President Donald J. Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem were notified.
Virginia Beach mourns the loss of two officers killed in a traffic stop.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and U.S. House members of Virginia were notified.
A convicted felon allegedly "executed" two Virginia police officers at point-blank range as they were already lying on the ground wounded and defenseless following a weekend traffic stop, authorities said.
Virginia Beach Police Officers Cameron Girvin, 25, and Christopher Reese, 30, were both pronounced dead early Saturday after being shot multiple times in a "horrific" encounter that was caught on the officers' body cameras and their squad car dashboard camera, according to Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate.
"I can tell you from the video that after he executed our officers, he calmly walked away," Neudigate said of the suspect, identified as 42-year-old John McCoy III of Virginia Beach, who police said they found dead from an apparent suicide.
Neudigate said it was the first time in 16 years that the Virginia Beach Police Department has lost an officer in a line-of-duty shooting. He said every member of his department "is hurting."
"We asked them to go out in this community and keep us safe from evil. And last night, evil found them," Neudigate said during a news conference on Saturday.
Girvin and Reese were partnered up Friday night and were assigned to the midnight shift traffic car, Neudigate said. At about 11:27 p.m. on Friday, the officers attempted to stop a blue Hyundai Sonata after noticing it had expired license plate tags. The driver, according to Neudigate, failed to pull over.
The chief said the officers followed the car to a dead-end street, where the suspect pulled over and stopped.
Neudigate said Girvin and Reese approached the car, which had two people inside, and requested the driver, identified as McCoy, to get out.
"The male driver was immediately argumentative, refused to exit the vehicle at the officers' request," Neudigate alleged. "They made numerous requests for him to exit. At some point, he complied with the request, stepped out of the the vehicle."Once out of the car, a "tussle" ensued between McCoy and the officers, Neudigate said.
"This individual pulled a pistol from his pocket and immediately shot both VBPD officers," Neudigate said. "Those officers fell to the ground. While on the ground defenseless, he shot them each a second time."
Neudigate said responding officers began conducting a grid search for the suspect and found his lifeless body just after midnight Saturday in a shed behind an apartment complex near where the officers were shot.
The mayor and police chief of Virginia Beach denounced the shooter as a purely evil man.
"I can say from our preliminary investigation at this point in time, with everything that we know, leaves us to believe that this is a self-inflicted gunshot wound," Neudigate said of the suspect. "At no time did any of our officers fire shots."
The mortally wounded Reese was taken to Sentara Princess Anne Hospital in Virginia Beach, where he was pronounced dead shortly after midnight Saturday, Neudigate said. Girvin was pronounced dead at Virginia Beach General Hospital around 4:30 p.m. Saturday, the chief said.
Both officers were surrounded by immediate family, close friends and fellow officers when they succumbed to their injuries, Neudigate said.
"Officers Girvin and Reese, they were dedicated, determined peace officers and public servants," an emotional Neudigate said. "They had stellar reputations in our department, and their work ethic was beyond reproach."
He said Reese had been a member of the police department since 2022, having previously worked for the Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office between 2019 and 2022. Neudigate said Girvin joined the police department in 2020.
Neudigate said investigators are trying to determine a motive for the double homicide. He said McCoy had one felony conviction stemming from 2009, but had the officers found the gun on him, he would have faced a new felony charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
"I think we all want to know that," Neudigate said of the motive. "But I think only one person does, and that individual is deceased."
He said the person in the car with McCoy at the time of the shooting was not arrested and is not facing any charges.
Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer led a moment of silence for Reese and Girvin at the start of Saturday's news conference, calling the officers "heroes."
"Today our city is heartbroken," Dyer said. "We mourn the loss of two of our own brave Virginia Beach police officers, who made the ultimate sacrifice. Their dedication to protecting our community will never be forgotten."
West York Borough Police officer shot during a hostage standoff at a York hospital.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), Sen. David McCormick (R-PA) and U.S. House members of Pennsylvania were notified.
Anguish and anger at the very recent loss of a loved one apparently spurred on the man who would target the intensive care unit at a Pennsylvania hospital Saturday morning, a senior law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told ABC News.
One officer was killed and at least five others were shot in the hostage situation that unfolded at a hospital in York County according to state officials.
The suspect, Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz, entered UPMC Memorial in West Manchester Township with a semi-automatic handgun and zip ties at around 10:30 a.m. He then went to the ICU and took several hospital staff hostage, officials said at a press conference Saturday afternoon.
Ortiz shot a hospital doctor, nurse and custodian, all of whom are now stable, officials said. Three police officers were shot during the incident and one died.
West York Borough police officer Andrew Duarte was killed in the shooting, the borough confirmed. The other two officers were hospitalized in stable condition.
Archangel-Ortiz was upset over what he perceived was a lack of care for a family member who had just been in the hospital's ICU, the senior official said. That family member was terminal -- something Archangel-Ortiz had difficulty accepting, the official added.
The family member had died within the last week.
UPMC York Campus.
When Archangel-Ortiz entered the hospital Saturday, he headed for the ICU where there was a small medical team, including one doctor who had treated his family member, the senior official said.
Archangel-Ortiz is believed to have acted alone in the incident.
"This is a huge loss to our community," York County District Attorney Tim Barker said. "Officer Duarte gave his life protecting others."
Law enforcement from multiple agencies, including West York Borough Police, Pennsylvania State Police, and the York County Quick Response Team, responded to the situation. Officers attempted to negotiate with Ortiz, but he emerged from the ICU holding a hospital staff member at gunpoint, her hands bound by zip ties.
"The officers were left with no recourse," Barker said. "They opened fire, killing Ortiz and preventing further loss of life."
"After reviewing surveillance footage and witness statements, it is absolutely clear and beyond any doubt that the officers acted lawfully in using deadly force," he said. "Quite frankly, they needed to—because by doing so, they potentially saved even more lives."
UPMC said no patients were injured in the shooting.
These murderers don't have mental illness. They are calculated and prepared. It happened to be a moment where they have the opportunity to take out lives.
There's no sickness in the head. Most mass shooters legally obtain their assault rifles without little background checks. They have likely no criminal history and they are willing to use the assault weapon in the only thing it's good for: Killing numerous lives.
I dismiss this ridiculous notion that criminals are the problem, not the guns.
Firearms are often obtained through legal purchases.
Again, having more security, teachers being armed and offering safe rooms are not solving the problem. The problem is lawmakers not willing to stop gun violence.
According to the far right: White shooters are mentally ill. Black shooters are unrepentant thugs and criminals. Gay shooters are active groomers. Muslim shooters are terrorists. Hispanic and Asian shooters are illegal immigrants. According to the far right, almost all white [or non-white] mass shooters are registered Democrats [or some progressive activist] because they have liked or done one thing common to the left. Of course, they often share or post disinformation by using the "Sam Hyde" meme or make bogus social media platforms with the shooter's image as a way to denounce most mass shooters being white or associated with conservative causes. The far right says a white person should "protect" themselves from thugs, terrorists or protesters. They believe the use of firearms are "justified" if they are protesting or even instigating a conflict. The far right believes if a shooter is a police officer, an active military member, a veteran or a citizen who supports conservative causes, they are considered a "heroes" and use of firearms are justified. If the shooters are teens in urban communities, the far right automatically assumes the gunmen are Black.
The Republicans usually amplify white victims. Anytime a person of color kills a white victim, it is often wall-to-wall coverage on Fox, Twitter and they force it into national news. They make the case to blame Black Lives Matter, Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, Democrats, Rev. Al Sharpton and rap music for Black on whatever violence. Republican legislators who do not live in urban neighborhoods often troll social media to talk about gun violence or crime in Chicago, Baltimore, Milwaukee and New York City while not doing a damn thing to stop it. If a white person shoots a Black person, the shooter is given the benefit of doubt. White shooters are given glowing profiles about their perfect lives and how friends noticed something but refused to do something. When it comes to Black shooters, automatic vilification. They don't see mental illness. They see it as gang violence, allegedly fatherless homes, Democratic policies or the need for more firearms.
Never stops.
The far right and Republicans exploit gun violence in the Black community for culture wars and racism.
Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline) at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or 988, or text the Crisis Text Line (text HELLO to 741741). Both services are free and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The deaf and hard of hearing can contact the Lifeline via TTY at 1-800-799-4889. All calls are confidential. Contact social media outlets directly if you are concerned about a friend's social media updates or dial 911 in an emergency. Learn more on the Lifeline's website or the Crisis Text Line's website.
The call number to the White House and US Capitol is now going to be used. This is the official White House numbers 202-456-1111 and 202-456-1414. This is the Congress official phone number, 202-224-3121. Please be respectful to operators, staff members and elected leaders. Your calls are monitored by the US Secret Service and US Capitol Police.
Let them know that "thoughts and prayers," "hearts going to" and "good guys with guns" are no longer acceptable and you want legislation to curb gun violence. Let them know that we are tired of police officers using immunity when committing death of suspects in custody. Let them know that you are tired of private equity firms getting away with destroying small businesses and long established companies. Let them know that you are tired of your taxpayer money going to foreign nations like Israel. You are tired of hearing about "Israel having a right to..." and the bogus claims of being anti-Semitic or in support of terrorism.
We have bigger issues at home and our tax dollars should solve the housing crisis, lowering food prices, fixing roads, bridges, helping reinvest in struggling urban and rural communities. We have hospitals closing, big box retailers leaving communities and television programs dying. There are bigger issues in the country than Israel. You want an immediate ceasefire and accountability for war crimes done by Israel. You want no more foreign influence in American elections. You also want to make sure future presidents and legislators avoid influence from lobbyists.
