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Published by Raw Story On Monday, Mother Jones detailed the QAnon-linked conspiracy theory at the heart of why Florida’s chief financial officer just divested billions of dollars from the investment firm BlackRock. “The firm, Florida chief financial officer Jimmy Patronis alleged, didn’t have its investors’ best interests in mind,” reported Kiera Butler. “‘Florida’s Treasury Division is divesting from BlackRock because they have openly stated they’ve got other goals than producing returns,’ he told Reuters. He was referring to the company’s commitment to environmental, social, and governance principles, a collection… Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story On Monday, writing for his Popular Information blog, investigative reporter Judd Legum outlined how Bruce Friedman, a far-right activist who recently moved from New York to Clay County, Florida, has gotten dozens of books banned from school libraries — and is planning to remove thousands more. “This year, at least 102 books have been removed from the shelves of school libraries in Clay County, Florida. Many of these books were pulled at the request of one man: Bruce Friedman,” wrote Legum. “And Friedman says he is just getting started. During a November 28 meeting of the Florida Department of … Read More View the full article

Published by New York Daily News With the midterm elections officially over, Republicans are pointing fingers over their disastrous performance — and the divisive role of former President Donald Trump. Herschel Walker’s loss in the closely watched Georgia Senate run off capped a campaign in which the GOP dramatically failed to engineer a sweeping red wave rebuke of President Joe Biden and the Democrats. Republicans across the political spectrum from MAGA loyalists to “Never Trump” conservatives agree that they flopped. But the party is bitterly divided about who should take the blame for the losses and even more deeply split … Read More View the full article

Published by AlterNet For decades, the U.S. Supreme Court was synonymous with social progress, and Republicans were part of that progress. Chief Justice Earl Warren was a Republican appointee of Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1973, the majority opinion in Roe v. Wade was written by Justice Harry Blackmun, a Richard Nixon appointee. And Justice Anthony Kennedy, known for his unapologetically pro-gay rulings in Lawrence v. Texas and Obergefell v. Hodges, was a right-wing libertarian appointed by President Ronald Reagan. But in 2022, the High Court has moved to the far right and has the low approval rat… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Luke Evans was “terrified” of coming out to his parents. The 43-year-old actor was worried telling his mum and dad he was gay would “damage [the] connection” he had with them, but though it was a “difficult” time, he was relieved at how accepting his family were. He admitted: “Coming out is a scary thing. I didn’t know one gay person when I was growing up. At 16, 17, the thought of telling the two people you love something that could damage your connection with them is terrifying. “But my parents were able to understand that this was who I was; I couldn’t really change who I was and they accepted that. It was very difficult, but we got through it.” The ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ actor has found seeing a therapist over the last decade very beneficial because he was too busy to process everything that was going on in his life. He told The Times magazine: “Therapy got me to process an awful lot of things. It took me a while to go but it’s something that I have benefited from over the past ten years. My workload is very large and I travel a lot. “I wasn’t processing because I was so busy. I detach from my real life very often. It took me a moment to breathe and to speak to somebody I can open up to.” And Luke also uses meditation to release his anxiety and stresses. He explained: “Meditation has really helped me. Not in a deep, ‘living on a mountain with wind chimes’ kind of way. “I use the apps and just do it in my bedroom, on my sofa, in a dressing room, for half an hour. Breathing is an incredible way of staying calm and releasing anxiety. I don’t panic about next week, next month. I deal with today.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English The Prince of Wales will reportedly be “furious” footage from Princess Diana’s infamous ‘Panorama’ interview has been included in his brother’s new Netflix series. He previously branded the sit-down “deceitful” and said it should never again shown due to the underhand tactics used by shamed BBC journalist Martin Bashir to land the exclusive chat in 1995. Sources told the Daily Mirror on Thursday (08.12.22) William and his father King Charles will be “dismayed” the Duke of Sussex has “blatantly” ignored their wishes. They added “it shows just how little regard there is from the Sussex camp”. One insider told the publication on Thursday: “He (William) will be rightly furious about it. “He couldn’t have been clearer in the past and this is one thing he would have thought he and Harry were aligned on. “Sadly once more it shows the gulf between the two brothers couldn’t be wider.” During the first episode of ‘Harry and Meghan’, released on Thursday alone with two other instalments, clips are seen of Diana speaking in her interview with Bashir, saying she hated being the “centre of attention”. Bashir has been shamed for faking bank statements and showing them to Diana’s brother Earl Spencer to help get the interview. He fraudulently claimed the documents showed senior royal courtiers were being paid for information on his sister. The false papers also gave the impression royal family associates were selling stories on Diana to the press. In September the BBC’s director-general Tim Davie promised the corporation would never show the programme or license it to other broadcasters. William said in a damning statement after the publication of a report into the scandal: “It is my firm view that this Panorama programme holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again. “It effectively established a false narrative which, for over a quarter of a century, has been commercialised by the BBC and others. “It is my view that the deceitful way the interview was obtained substantially influenced what my mother said. “The interview was a major contribution to making my parents’ relationship worse and has since hurt countless others. “It brings indescribable sadness to know that the BBC’s failures contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation that I remember from those final years with her.” Prince Harry said in response to the report he was worried Bashir’s underhand practices were now “widespread” and “bigger than one outlet, one network, or one publication”. He added: “The ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took her (Diana’s) life.” Royal expert Dickie Arbiter was among those who slammed Netflix for including footage from the Diana interview in ‘Harry and Meghan’, tweeting: “How come @netflix were allowed to use footage from #Diana #Panorama interview in documentary? “20 minutes into the first episode #Harry talks about mother and compares #Meghan to his mum saying she has the same confidence, passion and warmth.” The Sussexes’ Netflix show has made a number of claims about the royals, including that they had no protection from the Palace and accused aides of “planting” stories about them as part of a smear campaign. Sources have said King Charles and William are poised to respond to the show, but are unlikely to until the full series has been released, with another three episodes due on Netflix on December 15. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Computers can detect cancer by listening to farts. An artificial intelligence prototype is able to recognise subtle changes after hearing trumps from healthy and unhealthy people. The developers believe that their system, Synthetic Human Acoustic Reproduction Testing (SHART), will one day be able to pick up signs of cancer. The technology can be used to detect tell-tale differences in the sound of both pooping and urinating. David Ancalle, a student at Georgia Tech University in the US, said: “We’re trying to find a non-invasive way where people can get a notification on whether or not they should go get checked out. “Like, ‘Hey, your urine is not flowing at the rate it should’ or ‘Your farts are not sounding the way they should.'” The AI prototype is yet to be tested on humans but Ancalle claims that it could identify which bodily function a sound was coming from 98 per cent of the time. The researchers hope that it will soon be accurate enough to pick up slight changes that occur when a disease is developing. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Cardi B says she’s had “95 per cent” of her bum fillers removed. The rapper has revealed she had a series of injections to boost her behind but she had most of it dissolved back in August and she has now warned young fans about the dangers of cosmetic treatments including Brazilian bum lifts – insisting anyone considering the procedure must consult a doctor first. In a video posted on Instagram, Cardi explained: “In August I got surgery and I removed 95 per cent of my biopolymers … if you don’t know what it is, it’s ass shots. It was a really crazy process. “All I’m going to say is that if you’re young, if you’re 19, 20, 21, and sometimes you’re too skinny, and you be like ‘OMG I don’t have enough fat to put in my ass,’ so you result to ass shots, DON’T!” She added of Brazilian bum lifts: “When it comes to BBLs, if y’all want advice from me, before you get your BBL done you have to make sure your blood levels are all right. If a doctor says your blood levels are too low or you have diabetes or whatever, don’t do it.” Cardi has previously been open about her body insecurities, revealing she got her first boob job when she was 18 and had the first work done on her bum two years later. In a chat with singer Mariah Carey for Interview magazine, Cardi explained: “Well, I’m from New York, right? And New York is a melting pot, especially where I grew up in the Bronx. I was really skinny when I was younger, and in the Bronx, it’s about being thick and having an ass so young boys would be like, ‘Look at your flat ass. You ain’t got no t******.’ And it would make me feel so ugly and undeveloped.” She went on to add of her first surgeries: “When I was 18 and became a dancer, I had enough money to afford to buy boobs, so every insecurity that I felt about my breasts was gone. “When I was 20, I went to the urban strip club, and in the urban strip clubs, you had to have a big butt. So I felt insecure about that. It took me back to high school. So I got my ass done.” View the full article

Published by DPA Dyson’s planned headphones that also filter the air you breathe will take some getting used to. Dyson/dpa Dyson is following through on its promise to sell a high-tech face mask and wants to launch its Zone headphone and air-filter combo in January 2023 with a design that leaves only the eyes uncovered. The pricetag of $949/£749 is about double that of the most popular high-end noise cancelling headphones, such as Apple’s $550 AirPods Max or Sony’s $399 WH-1000XM5. However Dyson is clearly setting itself apart with a removable air filtration unit. First introduced in spring as an idea, the headphones come with a filter unit that is attached to the headphones with magnets. This then pumps filtered air to the mouth and nose. You can also use just the headphones without the mouthpiece, meaning you don’t always need to walk around looking like Batman nemesis Bane from “The Dark Knight Rises”. Dyson says you can turn off the air supply by pushing down the headband or removing it completely. Dyson isn’t yet showing what it’s like to have a conversation with the headset on, but it does say that the visor doesn’t seal off the nose and mouth, and merely sits close to the face without touching it. Electrostatic filtration captures up to 99% of particles down to a size of 0.1 microns, such as dust, pollen and bacteria. A potassium-enriched carbon filter is said to purify the air we breathe of gases such as nitrogen dioxide or ozone. You will need to replace the filter once a year, Dyson says. In addition to air pollution, the Zone also works against noise pollution, and Dyson says its active noise cancelling (ANC) in the Bluetooth 5.0 headphones works with eight microphones and is supposed to be able to attenuate disturbing ambient noise by up to 38 decibels (dB). At 595 g, the headphones alone are quite heavy, and get only heavier when you attach the 75-g air filter. The Apple AirPods Max have already been criticized as noticeably heavy at 385 g, significantly more than the 250 g of Sony’s WH-1000XM5. The 2,600 mAh battery in the headphones charges fully via USB-C in three hours. This is enough for up to 50 hours of pure music listening or up to four hours of combined audio and filter operation at the lowest airflow speed. The combined time drops accordingly at medium (up to 2.5 hours) and high airflow speed (up to 1.5 hours). An accelerometer in the headphones monitors the user’s activity and automatically adjusts the airflow speed if desired. Dyson has also added a sensor to detect when you’re not wearing the device so that the Zone can save power and switch to standby when you take it off. It will also automatically switch to audio-only mode when the filter headband is pushed down slightly or removed completely. A built-in sensor monitors nitrogen dioxide levels. These are displayed in the MyDyson app, as is the level of ambient noise. The app also controls airflow, ANC, some audio equaliser modes and a volume limit. The Dyson Zone app lets you see what the current air quality and noise levels are like around you. Dyson/dpa View the full article

Published by Reuters By Richard Cowan and Doina Chiacu WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona said on Friday she is leaving the Democratic Party and registering as an independent, in an announcement just days after Democrats won a Senate race in Georgia to secure 51 seats in the 100-member chamber. “Like a lot of Arizonans, I have never fit perfectly in either national party,” Sinema said in an article for the Arizona Republic newspaper. Sinema intends to maintain her committee assignments from the Democrats, an aide told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The aide would not say whether or not Sinema would continue to caucus with Democrats. Sinema herself, however, said she would not caucus with the Republican Party, according to an interview published by Politico on Friday. If that holds, Democrats could still maintain greater governing control in the closely divided chamber. Sinema’s bombshell came as the future of President Joe Biden’s agenda in the second half of his term was already clouded by Republicans who are set to take majority control of the House of Representatives on Jan. 3 as a result of the Nov. 8 midterm elections. But Sinema’s statements so far indicate that she will continue working in the independent-minded way that she demonstrated over the past two years — collaborating with Democrats and Republicans to enact legislation, while unafraid of throwing roadblocks that frustrate the White House and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Aides to Schumer and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell were not immediately available for comment. With her new status as an independent, Sinema has cemented her role in the Senate as a maverick, much in the way that the late Republican Senator John McCain was. Arizona has a legacy of trail-blazing senators, including Barry Goldwater, who served in the 1950s and 1960s and brought new life to the conservative political movement in the United States, only to suffer a resounding defeat when he ran for president in 1964 against Lyndon Johnson. Sinema has two years left in her six-year Senate term and would be up for re-election in 2024 if she decides to seek another term. If so, it was unclear whether Democrats would mount a challenge. Sinema and Democratic Senator Joe Manchin have kept Washington in suspense over the last two years as they have repeatedly withheld their needed votes for legislative initiatives sought by President Joe Biden. At the same time, they have worked in a bipartisan way on high-profile bills that have become law, including a major bill that will invest huge sums of federal dollars to combat climate change. Just this week, Sinema and Republican Senator Thom Tillis unveiled an immigration reform plan that is getting attention in the Senate. In the Arizona Republic article, Sinema described her disillusionment with what she described as a rigid two-party system that encourages partisanship over independence. “I have joined the growing numbers of Arizonans who reject party politics by declaring my independence from the broken partisan system in Washington. I registered as an Arizona independent,” Sinema wrote. Democrats had held the Senate with a 50-50 majority, as Vice President Kamala Harris has the power to cast tie-breaking votes. U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock’s victory in Tuesday’s run-off election in Georgia had handed them their 51st seat. Two other current senators – Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine – are registered independents but caucus with Democrats. Sinema on Friday said her shift came as a growing number of people in her Western U.S. state were also declaring themselves politically independent, rejecting both the Republican and Democratic political labels. “We don’t line up to do what we’re told, automatically subscribe to whatever positions the national political parties dictate or view every issue through labels that divide us,” she wrote. (This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Schumer in paragraph 6) (Reporting by Richard Cowan, Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu and David Morgan; Editing by Alison Williams, Chizu Nomiyama and Philippa Fletcher) View the full article

Published by DPA Berghain, the crown jewel in Berlin's world-famous nightlife, is celebrating its 18th birthday amid rumous that club is about to close. Christophe Gateau/dpa Berlin’s best-known nightclub is celebrating its 18th anniversary and, unlike the many clubs in Europe displaced by gentrification, Berghain is now coming of age, so to speak. Anyone born when the notorious techno club opened in 2004 has now reached the minimum age to be admitted there. The massive club, known to have Berlin’s strictest door policy, is celebrating its birthday with a club night starting on December 10. Announcing “Club Night – Eighteen Years of Berghain”, the exclusive club says it’s now “finally of age, but still not grown up.” The celebrations come amid rumours that the club is set to close down, in what would be a massive loss to the city’s nightlife and international profile for partygoing tourists. Besides its world-class sound system, large main dance hall and seedy lower areas, Berghain is perhaps best known for being a business that turns away the vast majority of its potential customers. Being one of the rare few allowed into the club is seen as an accollade by many locals and tourists in Berlin, with post-Berghain selfies being posted on social media by many of those who can show their stamp of admission. Over the years, the city landmark has regularly been ranked among the best clubs in the world, even though it fell out of the top ten in the Top 100 Clubs poll from DJ Mag in 2022, dropping to 12th place. In the meantime, it has been confirmed that Berghain, whose operators are extremely secretive, also wants to continue into the new year. In addition to the birthday party, a New Year’s Eve club night has been announced, although “night” is an understatement: The club night starts on December 31 and will “probably not end until the early noon hours of January 2.” At the turn of the year, not only two, but four dance floors will be used. Berghain, known for its basement debauchery and druggy toilets, has also announced a “XXX floor” among other things. The line-up for the three-and-a-half-day party lists around 60 DJ acts. Outside Berghain, which gets its name from its location in Berlin’s Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district, long queues are likely again. It was the “first regular New Year’s Eve club night since 2019,” they added. Like other clubs, Berghain (known in German as “das Berghain”) had to close for many months during the pandemic. At times, the labyrinthine club building – a former energy plant from early GDR times not far from the former Stalinallee (now Karl-Marx-Allee) – housed an art exhibition that people could view for an entrance fee without having to fall to the mercy of bouncers. On display were not only works permanently installed in the Berghain, for example by artists such as Norbert Bisky, Wolfgang Tillmans and Marc Brandenburg. Other renowned artists were also represented, including Olafur Eliasson, Katharina Grosse, Alicja Kwade and Rosemarie Trockel, to name but a few. A remnant of this exhibition can be found today in the toilet wing next to the main dance floor, of all places: A “Cockaigne” scene inspired by the Dutch Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder is engraved on a stainless steel wall. The work by Cyprien Gaillard is an allusion to ecstatic clubbing. It wasn’t only the pandemic that has weighed on Berghain. After reports of suspected needle-spiking attacks in several countries, in which party-goers were allegedly injected with knockout drops by needle, Berghain organisers – who apart from announcing the programme otherwise never make any public statements – saw themselves compelled to give safety advice on their website. After the coronavirus, another infectious disease, monkeypox, also caused concern among some partygoers this year. The Lab.oratory, a men-only area on the ground floor of Berghain building, gave prevention tips on its website against the spread of the monkeypox virus, which can be transmitted through close physical contact. Measured by the standards of Berlin’s club scene, the 18 years of Berghain are quite a stately age. While many clubs, especially in Berlin, see themselves threatened by gentrification and property developers, Berghain not only looks like a fortress with its building architecture in the style of socialist classicism, but it also somewhat upholds the myth of wild Berlin in the time after the fall of the Wall. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) -The man accused of killing five people at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado was arrested last year on charges of threatening violence, but a judge dismissed that case because the alleged victims declined to cooperate, a prosecutor said on Thursday. El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen provided details on the 2021 prosecution of Anderson Lee Aldrich after a judge ordered court files from last year’s case unsealed at the request of Allen, the local sheriff and several news outlets. Allen said he wanted to counter what he called a “false narrative” about the 2021 case suggesting authorities did not pursue it or missed an opportunity to prevent the deadly shooting nearly three weeks ago. Aldrich, 22, is being held without bail on more than 300 counts including murder, attempted murder, hate crimes and assault stemming from the Nov. 19 rampage at Club Q in Colorado Springs, which killed five and wounded 22. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said Aldrich had been arrested in June 2021 over allegations that the suspect had threatened to detonate a bomb and harm a family member with multiple weapons. Questions about the outcome of that arrest went unanswered under a Colorado law barring authorities from discussing a case in which charges are dismissed or never formally brought. At Thursday’s news conference, Allen said that after initially giving statements implicating Aldrich in the 2021 case, Aldrich’s mother and grandparents testified on the suspect’s behalf for a bail reduction. After the alleged victims declined to testify for the prosecution, the judge threw out the case, Allen said. Attempts by Reuters to reach the mother and grandparents for comment were not immediately successful. Allen said deputies seized a handgun and a rifle from Aldrich in the 2021 case, and those weapons were still in police custody when the nightclub massacre occurred. A different rifle and handgun were recovered from the Club Q shooting. Aldrich, whose lawyers have asserted in court documents that their client identifies as non-binary and prefers “they/them” pronouns, is due back in court in February for a scheduled three-day preliminary hearing. (Reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver; Editing by Steve Gorman, Donna Bryson and Gerry Doyle) View the full article

Published by AFP Basketball star Brittney Griner was freed by Russia in exchange for notorious arms trafficker Victor Bout, who was serving a 25-year sentence in the United States Washington (AFP) – Brittney Griner’s release from a prison ordeal in Russia sparked an outpouring of joy — but also raised tough questions for Joe Biden: was the US president right to trade a notorious arms dealer for the basketball star jailed on minor drug charges? The rival Republican Party quickly attacked Biden whose spokeswoman said he made no apologies for freeing Griner, a 32-year-old Olympic gold medalist and LGBTQ trailblazer who was locked up after being found with small quantities of cannabis oil in vape cartridges. Bout, the inspiration for the movie “Lord of War” who was accused of arming rebels in some of the world’s bloodiest conflicts, was handed 25 years in prison in 2012. Judge Shira A. Scheindlin, who sentenced him in a federal court in New York, said there was no equivalence between the two cases but welcomed the exchange for Griner. “I think Viktor Bout has served sufficient time, frankly, for the crimes of which he was convicted,” Scheindlin, now in private practice, told AFP. She said she was required to hand down a minimum sentence she considered excessive because Bout was convicted on terrorism charges. Bout was detained in Thailand in 2008 in a US sting for allegedly trying to sell arms to Colombia’s FARC rebels — an operation Scheindlin described as Bout having been “roped in.” “He himself wasn’t a terrorist. He was a businessman arms dealer. And there are arms dealers in every country including the United States of America.” ‘One or none’ But Scheindlin said she wished Bout were freed not only for Griner but for Paul Whelan, a former Marine detained in 2018 on espionage accusations. Although both Whelan and the US government deny the spying allegations, Scheindlin argued that trading him for Bout would have made “a little more sense” given the severity of the charges he faces. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who raised the prisoner swap in rare direct contact with his Russian counterpart in the midst of the Ukraine war, said that Russia treated the two cases differently as it saw Whelan “through the lens of sham espionage charges.” “This was not a choice about which American to bring home. The choice was, in this instance, one or none,” Blinken told reporters. Will Pomeranz, the director of the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute, said Russia would see a victory in freeing Bout. “It demonstrates that the Russian state always has the back of their security services and that they will leave no one behind, even as it means long and protracted negotiation,” he said. He said that while Griner’s arrest was consistent with Russia’s strict drug laws, President Vladimir Putin “clearly had leverage” after Biden publicly put a priority on freeing Griner, whose plight has drawn wide interest in the United States. Pomeranz expected a difficult task ahead to free Whelan. “Paul Whelan’s best chance to get out of Russia was being part of the Brittney Griner swap,” he said. Incentive to adversaries? Republican Senator Marco Rubio, while welcoming Griner’s release, said the deal showed Putin “how detaining high-profile Americans on relatively minor charges can both distract American officials and cause them to release truly bad individuals who belong behind bars.” Republican Representative Nicole Malliotakis, pointing to Bout’s record, said Biden should have secured the release of both Whelan and Griner, writing on Twitter, “A US Marine is left behind in another bad deal made by Biden.” But the United States has repeatedly shown a willingness to carry out deals criticized as disproportionate to free citizens in response to public opinion. Other democracies have made similar decisions: in one of the most striking examples, Israel in 2011 freed more than 1,000 prisoners in exchange for the release of a single soldier, Gilad Shalit, by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The United States has set a government policy of not paying ransoms for its citizens, hoping to avoid incentives for hostage-taking. In a possible sign of the public mood, an American football player, Micah Parsons, voiced anger on Twitter that the United States “left a Marine” but backtracked and apologized after a deluge of criticism and said he was “extremely happy” for Griner. Paul Rieckhoff, a veterans advocate and commentator, said that Whelan should be released “full stop” but said Griner was “at unique risk in Russian prison” as a Black and LGBTQ woman. “When she gets home, I have no doubt she’ll be out in front leading the fight for the release of Paul Whelan. And we should all join her.” View the full article

Published by SI Swim By Ananya Panchal The USWNT Captain was featured in the 2019 Issue alongside fellow soccer players Alex Morgan, Crystal Dunn, and Abby Dahlkemper. Megan Rapinoe is a trailblazer. In 2019 alone, she appeared in the SI Swimsuit Issue as the franchise’s first openly gay model, led the U.S. women’s national soccer team to its second consecutive World Cup championship and was named SI’s Sportsperson of the Year for “playing the world’s game, on the world’s stage, under attack by a world leader” and “dominating without fear.” She knew that her involvement with SI Swimsuit would have an impact and ho… Read More View the full article

Published by Euronews (English) Day 9 of our Cultural Advent Calendar, in which we’re counting down our highlights of 2022 day-by-day all the way to Christmas and beyond. We’re currently listing our favourite TV shows and streams of the year… Today: The White Lotus – Season 2 (HBO). At this stage it’s a cliché to say that I’ve never seen myself represented on screen. But I’ve definitely never seen three versions of myself on screen in the same show until the second season of ‘The White Lotus’. A drunk white woman disassociating from her life; a whiny Zillennial with a Depop wardrobe; and a gay guy fawning over Jennifer Cooli… Read More View the full article

Published by AlterNet Fox News’ Tucker Carlson is spinning a new conspiracy theory about WNBA star Britney Griner being released from a Russian prison. According to Carlson, Griner was released instead of Paul Whelan simply because she is a Black lesbian. On Thursday, December 8, Carlson laid out his argument during a segment of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” hours after it was reported that President Joe Biden secured Griner’s release. As part of the agreement about her release, Mediaite notes that the U.S. “released arms dealer Viktor Bout, whom the U.S. convicted in 2011 of conspiring to kill Americans.” According to … Read More View the full article

Published by AFP Brittney Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was arrested at a Moscow airport nine months ago against a backdrop of soaring tensions over Ukraine Washington (AFP) – American basketball star Brittney Griner was headed back to the United States on Thursday after being released from a Russian prison in exchange for an arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death.” Griner, 32, who was arrested in Russia in February on drug charges, and Viktor Bout, 55, who was serving a 25-year sentence in a US prison, were exchanged at an airport in Abu Dhabi. In footage released by Russian state media, Griner, shorn of her distinctive dreadlocks, and a relaxed and animated Bout could be seen crossing paths on the airport tarmac and heading towards the planes that would take them home. President Joe Biden announced Griner’s release early Thursday in an address to the nation at the White House. “She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home,” he said. The president said he had spoken to her and she was in “good spirits” after suffering “needless trauma.” Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, WNBA champion and LGBT trailblazer, was arrested at a Moscow airport nine months ago against a backdrop of soaring tensions over Ukraine. She was accused of possession of vape cartridges with a small quantity of cannabis oil and sentenced in August to nine years in prison. Bout, who was accused of arming rebels in some of the world’s bloodiest conflicts, was detained in a US sting operation in Thailand in 2008, extradited to the United States and sentenced in 2012 to 25 years behind bars. He landed in Russia Thursday, state television said. “Don’t worry, everything is OK, I love you very much,” he told his mother Raisa. While Griner’s family and friends celebrated her release, another American held in Russia, Paul Whelan, a former US Marine detained since 2018 and accused of spying, was not part of Thursday’s exchange and he told CNN he was “greatly disappointed.” “I don’t understand why I’m still sitting here,” Whelan told the US television network in a phone call from the Russian penal colony where he is imprisoned. Biden pledged to obtain Whelan’s freedom, saying “we will never give up.” “Sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case different than Brittney’s,” he said. As for Griner’s release, Biden said “this is a day we’ve worked toward for a long time. It took painstaking and intense negotiations.” ‘Family is whole’ Biden made the announcement flanked by Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “I’m just standing here, overwhelmed with emotions,” Cherelle Griner said. She acknowledged Whelan’s fate, saying: “Today my family is whole, but as you all are aware there’s so many other families who are not whole.” In a statement late Thursday, the Griner family thanked President Biden and his administration again, and said they “pray for Paul and for the swift and safe return of all wrongfully-detained Americans.” “We ask that you respect our privacy as we embark on this road to healing,” they added. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said there was a “collective wave of joy and relief” in the women’s professional league where the 6’9″ (2.06 meter) Griner has been a star for a decade with the Phoenix Mercury. Biden thanked the United Arab Emirates for helping “facilitate” Griner’s release and the UAE issued a joint statement with Saudi Arabia saying it was the result of “mediation efforts” by leaders of the two Arab nations. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, however, there was “no mediation involved” and “the only countries that negotiated this deal were the United States and Russia.” ‘Rescue our compatriot’ At the time of her arrest, Griner had been playing for a professional team in Russia, as a number of WNBA players do in the off-season. She pleaded guilty to the charges against her, but said she did not intend to break the law or use the banned substance in Russia. Griner testified that she had permission from a US doctor to use medicinal cannabis to relieve pain from her many injuries. The use of medical marijuana is not allowed in Russia. The Russian foreign ministry said it had been negotiating with Washington to secure Bout’s release “for a long time” and that initially the United States had “refused dialogue” on including him in any swap. “Nevertheless, the Russian Federation continued to actively work to rescue our compatriot,” it said. “The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland.” The 2005 film “Lord of War” starring Nicolas Cage was based in part on Bout’s arms trafficking exploits and he has been the subject of several books and TV shows. Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, told Bout in a video message that he was aware that the arms dealer had been subjected to “powerful physical and moral pressure” while in prison, Russian news agency TASS reported. “And you endured it with dignity,” the ambassador added, saying Moscow was “genuinely delighted by the fact that Russia’s efforts for your release have eventually succeeded.” Asked about Bout’s release, a senior US defense official said “there is a concern that he would return to doing the same kind of work that he’s done in the past.” View the full article

Published by Radar Online florida house of representatives/youtube Florida representative Joe Harding, who is known for his controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill, was indicted on six counts of fraud for allegedly obtaining and misusing $150,000 in COVID relief funds, RadarOnline.com has learned. Rep. Harding, 35, was accused of misusing funds obtained from two applications to the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. The program was intended to provide economic relief to small businesses that risked closure and layoffs due to severe financial loss brought by the impact of the pandemic. abc news/youtube In total, Harding was charged with six counts of fraud that included alleged money laundering and wire fraud, according to the Department of Justice’s statement on his indictment. “By this conduct, the indictment alleges that Harding fraudulently obtained and attempted to obtain more than $150,000 in funds from the SBA to which he was not entitled,” the DOJ stated in a press release. Harding is accused of applying for COVID financial assistance through The Vak Shack, a vacuum sealer company, as well as a cattle farm under the name Harding LLC. Both companies had been inactive since 2017 — three years prior to the pandemic that prompted the formation of the relief program. According to the indictment, Harding allegedly applied for the program during the time period of December 2020 to March 2021. Additionally, Harding was accused of falsifying other documented requested in the application. Harding allegedly falsified bank statements — and other supporting financial documents — that were requested on the application to secure tens of thousands of dollars. Harding denied the allegations of multiple counts of fraud against him and claimed that he already repaid the financial relief that he received from his accepted applications. Harding faces 20 years for alleged wire fraud, 10 years for alleged money laundering, and 5 years for allegedly making false statements. Harding was elected to represent Florida’s 24th District in the state’s House of Representatives in 2020. During Harding’s brief two-year stint, the lawmaker introduced Bill 1557 — also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. mega Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed Harding’s bill into law in March 2022. Along with Gov. DeSantis, Harding won his reelection in the November 2022 midterms. Harding’s trial for his indictment is scheduled for January 11 at 8:30 AM at the United States Courthouse in Gainesville, Florida. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Moira Warburton WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday gave final congressional approval to legislation that provides federal recognition of same-sex marriages, a measure born out of concern that the Supreme Court could reverse its support for legal recognition of such relationships. The House vote was 258-169, with all of the chamber’s Democrats and 39 Republicans voting in favor – though 169 of the chamber’s Republicans voted against it and one voted “present.” The measure now goes to Democratic President Joe Biden’s desk for signature into law. The Respect for Marriage Act, as it is called, won Senate approval last month. The legislation won the support of LGBT advocates as well as a number of religious organizations and entities including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, though many American religious conservatives still oppose gay marriage as counter to biblical scripture. It is narrowly written to act as a limited backstop for the 2015 Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, known as Obergefell v. Hodges. It would allow the federal government and states to recognize same-sex and interracial marriages as long as they were legal in the states where they were performed. It makes concessions for religious groups and institutions that do not support such marriages. The measure would repeal a 1996 U.S. law called the Defense of Marriage Act, which among other things denied federal benefits to same-sex couples. It bars states from rejecting the validity of out-of-state marriages on the basis of sex, race or ethnicity. The Supreme Court in 1967 declared prohibitions on interracial marriage unconstitutional. But the legislation would not bar states from blocking same-sex or interracial marriages if the Supreme Court allowed them to do so. It also ensures that religious entities would not be forced to provide goods or services for any marriage and protects them from being denied tax-exempt status or other benefits for declining to recognize same-sex marriages. In a speech on the House floor ahead of the vote, Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi condemned the “hateful movement” behind attacks on LGBT rights in the United States. The legislation “will help prevent right-wing extremists from upending the lives of loving couples, traumatizing kids across the country and turning back the clock on hard-won prizes,” Pelosi said. Republican Representative Jim Jordan said the bill was “dangerous and takes the country in the wrong direction.” When the Senate passed it by a vote of 61-36, 12 Republicans joined 49 Democrats in supporting it. Most Senate Republicans voted against it. A broader version of the bill – without the explicit protections for religious liberty – passed the 435-seat House in August, with the backing of all the Democrats and 47 Republicans. But to get the necessary 60 votes in the Senate to proceed with the legislation amid opposition by many Republican senators, its co-sponsors added an amendment clarifying that religious groups could not be sued under the it. The legislation was written by a group of Democratic and Republican senators in response to fears that the Supreme Court, with its increasingly assertive conservative majority, could someday strike down the Obergefell ruling, potentially jeopardizing same-sex marriage nationwide. The court has shown a willingness to reverse its own precedents as it did in June when it overturned its landmark 1973 ruling that had legalized abortion nationwide. The Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Monday appeared ready to rule that a Christian web designer has a right to refuse to provide services for same-sex marriages in a case the liberal justices said could empower certain businesses to discriminate based on constitutional free speech protections. About 568,000 married same-sex couples live in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. (Reporting by Moira Warburton; Editing by Will Dunham and Scott Malone) View the full article

Burn in Hell on Earth Lyrics to Chris Houseman’s ‘Bible Belt’ Maybe you grew up a little like I did Maybe you knew someone like me as a kid Maybe you worked through your own shit Or learned that the one fix is Believing you can pray it away, cause hey They hit you over the head with it Stuff it down your throat Say ya need to be forgiven While they keep casting stones I know that they mean well They’re just trying to save ya from hell But I’m still bleeding from that beating I got from the Bible belt They told me Jesus would save me from my sin But they still paint pictures of Him with white skin They made some bad outta that Good Book And I hate that it took So long to get over what it did to me, cause They hit you over the head with it Stuff it down your throat Say ya need to be forgiven While they keep casting stones I know that they mean well They’re just trying to save ya from hell But I’m still bleeding from that beating I got from the Bible belt No there ain’t nothing wrong with having religion Ain’t trying to change no one’s mind Ain’t trying to look down or judge their convictions Just wish they would stop judging mine ‘Cause they hit you over the head with it Stuff it down your throat Say ya need to be forgiven While they keep casting stones I know that they mean well They’re just trying to save ya from hell But I’m still bleeding from that beating I got from the Bible belt Yeah I got from the Bible belt Published by The Boot Chris Housman has an uncanny knack for taking pop country tropes and spinning them into cutting, unvarnished truth. Housman’s breakout hit “Red State Blueneck” is a summery two-stepper that interrogates institutional racism with the catchiest chorus you can think of. (For the record, it’s the first country song to use the phrase “y’all means all.”) With his new song “Bible Belt,” Housman sets his sights on repressive religion backed by a hooky country crooner. On the surface, Housman isn’t doing anything different than most country singers: he’s setting his truth to three chords. But when your… Read More View the full article

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas by Secret Emchy Society Inflatable Menorah by Mya Byrne [This post contains video, click to play] Published by The Boot It’s beginning to feel a lot like the holidays. While we all eagerly await the opportunity to slow down, for many of us, the holidays can be stressful as well. Country music is all about yearning for family and hometown pride, but for many people, that nostalgia is a double-edged sword of anxiety and pain. But why wallow in it when you can laugh? Some of these queer country songs poke fun at the holidays, while others revel in winter nights of chosen family and togetherness. No matter the tone, these five songs get down to the holiday spirit: finding community when the nights get dark and cold… Read More View the full article

Published by Radar Online mega ’90s sitcom star Kirk Cameron claimed he was banned as a featured author at over 50 libraries across the public system, in addition to being prohibited from presenting his new faith-based children’s book at a storytime event. Cameron was allegedly told his book’s contents did not “align” with one library’s values, RadarOnline.com has learned. The child actor-turned-writer/producer, along with his publisher, Brave Books, condemned the banning and claimed the refusal was a threat to “our kids” and “this country.” mega The Rochambeau Public Library, based in Providence, Rhode Island, allegedly denied the 52-year-old’s request to promote his new book, As You Grow after he contacted them about the program. “No, we will pass on having you run a program in our space,” a staff member from the Providence library allegedly told the sitcom actor and his publisher during the phone call. Cameron and Brave Books claimed the library staff member elaborated on the reason, stating, “We are a very queer-friendly library. Our messaging does not align.” According to Brave Books, the publisher requested information on the library’s process to book Cameron for a future story hour slot. mega “You can fill out the form to reserve space, to run the program in our space — but we won’t run your program,” the library allegedly replied to Brave Book’s inquiry. In a statement released by Rochambeau Public Library on December 7, the facility claimed that Brave Books “mentioned no particular author or book in their call.” “Our libraries are free civic spaces, and our meeting rooms are available free of charge to the public,” the library’s statement read. “We provide space for many types of groups, including religious organizations.” The Growing Pains star and his publisher criticized the move by the public library system as an attempt to discriminate against Cameron’s strong beliefs. mega “This is proof that more than ever, we are getting destroyed in the battle for the hearts and minds of our children,” Cameron told Fox News. “Publicly funded libraries are green-lighting ‘gender marker and name change clinics’ while denying a story time that would involve the reading of a book that teaches biblical wisdom,” Cameron continued. “How much more clear can it get?” The actor then stated that “we have to start fighting back” or else “we will lose our kids and this country.” View the full article

Published by Raw Story Former Trump White House counselor Kellyanne Conway is apparently proud of the fact that she has not been caught up in any potential criminal conspiracies. While talking with Piers Morgan this week about her cooperation with the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th Capitol riots, Conway boasted about not being in the kind of legal jeopardy that has befallen so many of her other former colleagues in former President Donald Trump’s White House. “I’m the one Trump official with no subpoenas, indictments, scandals, and investigations,” Conway said. “And I plan to keep it that way.”… Read More View the full article

Published by AFP Park City, Utah's Old Main Street, where the 2022 Sundance Film Festival would have taken place had it not been cancelled in-person, is seen in January 2022 Los Angeles (AFP) – Documentaries exploring sexuality and fame via the life stories of supermodel Brooke Shields, singer Little Richard and author Judy Blume are among the lineup for next month’s Sundance film festival unveiled Wednesday. Co-founded by Robert Redford and renowned for launching major independent, art house and documentary films, the festival is set to return in-person to the mountains of Utah from January 19, after two previous editions were forced to take place online due to Covid. Stars including Anne Hathaway, Emilia Clarke, Jason Momoa and Chiwetel Ejiofor all have feature films in the lineup, while Emilia Jones returns to the festival that first played her best picture Oscar winner “CODA,” with two new movies of her own. On the documentary side, “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields” tells the story of the global supermodel and actress who first achieved fame aged 12, and reflects on the objectification, sexualization and commodification of women and young girls. “Judy Blume Forever” charts how the US young adult fiction author came under attack for sexual content and offensive language in the 1980s, leading her to take a stand against book banning and censorship. Both films “reflect the trends that we’ve seen in the last few years of biographically driven work” which allows viewers “to reopen history and to look at it from a different perspective,” said Sundance senior programmer John Nein. Similarly, “The Disappearance of Shere Hite” tracks the pioneering feminist author of “The Hite Report,” whose bestselling 1976 book on the female orgasm provoked a sexual revolution, but who was forced to vanish from the public eye afer drawing vicious criticism. And documentary “Little Richard: I Am Everything” tackles the Black queer origins of rock ‘n’ roll via the late, flamboyant singer, who renounced homosexuality and became a born-again Christian in later years. The films each provide “a chance to engage with history in a very different way” via “the framework of a notable person within the arts and culture field,” said Nein. Another prominent and topical theme in the lineup is films by and about Iranian women. Documentary “Joonam,” and feature films “The Persian Version” and “Shayda” all explore the stories of women in Iran and its diaspora communities, at a time when the country has been rocked by protests over its strict female dress code. And Hollywood A-listers are expected to return to the festival in force after two years of virtual Q&As and Zoom interviews. Former “Game of Thrones” star Clarke appears alongside Ejiofor in “The Pod Generation,” a near-future social satire in which a company has invented a detachable womb, enabling couples to share their pregnancy. Hathaway and Thomasin McKenzie star in “Eileen,” about a young secretary working at a prison who befriends a glamorous counselor with a dark secret. “Aquaman” star Momoa narrates a documentary about the deep ocean and a mysterious organization planning to extract metals from the seabed. And Jones stars in dramas “Cat Person,” adapted from a famous New Yorker short story, and “Fairyland,” based on a best-selling memoir about San Francisco’s AIDS crisis. The 2023 Sundance Film Festival runs January 19–29. View the full article