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Published by Raw Story By Tiffany Terrell In Oklahoma, the OU Health hospital is counting on federal pandemic relief funds from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. However, Republicans in that state have given OU an ultimatum: if they want to receive $108 million in Rescue Plan funds, Oklahoma Children’s Hospital will have to stop providing gender-affirming care for transgender youth. Oklahoma’s Republican Governor Kevin J. Stitt signed this into law on Tuesday. Watch below to hear what Governor Stitt had to say about the new law Wednesday in his appearance on the conservative podcast by Clay Travis and Buck Sexto… Read More View the full article

Published by uInterview.com Judy Tenuta, the comedian and musician also known by her onstage persona “The Love Goddess,” passed away at the age of 72. She reportedly died from ovarian cancer according to her publicist Roger Neal. She was surrounded by family and loved ones in her Los Angeles home when she passed on Thursday afternoon. Tenuta had a wholly unique act blending brash insult comedy inspired by the Borscht Belt greats as well as vaudeville acts, and had some incredible joke writing skills to back it all up. Early on in her career she began incorporating an accordion in the act as well, which gave her performan… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters UK By Alvise Armellini ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s outgoing government has adopted a new plan for LGBT rights just before handing over the reins to a right-wing administration that promises to be far more socially conservative. “We weren’t very ideological, we were very concrete,” Equal Opportunities Minister Elena Bonetti told Reuters on Friday, saying the contents of the document were not controversial. Nevertheless, they immediately jarred with prime-minister-in-waiting Giorgia Meloni and her post-fascist Brothers of Italy party, which won a Sept. 25 election partly on pledges to defend the “trad… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Tan France’s team nearly rejected George at Asda’s offer for him to design a line for the supermarket chain’s clothing department. The ‘Queer Eye’ star has launched his 37-piece range for men and women, but he admitted he had to explain how big Asda is in the UK to his colleagues because they had no idea. He told Stylist: “Asda came along, and I had to explain to my team what it was and how big it was in the UK. They were about to reject the offer.” The 39-year-old designer and television personality insisted he would wear the pieces he’s designed for the affordable brand. He said: “I swear to God – and I don’t swear to God often because I’m a religious person – but the pieces in my collection are wicked.” Tan was one of the first out Muslim gay men to appear on western television, and found it hard growing up in Doncaster, England, as a “queer Asian”. He said: “I found it really difficult in the UK, fitting in and being myself – I was Asian, I was queer in the 80s and 90s. “That really wasn’t easy, especially in the north.” The co-host of ‘Next In Fashion’ – which he fronts with supermodel pal Gigi Hadid – previously said he feels like an outsider in the fashion industry. Tan believes people in the style world disapprove of him because he doesn’t “live by trends” or worry about his outfits being “last season”- but he doesn’t care. He said: “Believe me, just because I have fame and I have wealth, I still feel sometimes like the fashion industry thinks there are certain people who aren’t right for it. “I’m positive they would say that about me because I don’t deck myself in designer clothing, I don’t care that much about the hottest new trend. “If a trend works for me, I will embrace it. But do I live by trends? Do I change my clothes every three months and not wear things anymore because they were ‘last season’? Absolutely not. “I’m positive that I’m excluded from the fashion industry because of that, but I don’t care. “I care so much more about style for myself, making myself feel good, and pushing that agenda forward onto other people who feel like they’re excluded from the fashion industry.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Kevin Spacey’s lawyer has claimed he was a victim of the MeToo movement. The former ‘House of Cards’ star appeared in court in Manhattan on Thursday (06.10.22) in relation to allegations from Anthony Rapp, who has accused the disgraced actor of assaulting him at a party in 1986 when he was just 14 years old and Spacey was more than a decade older. But the 63-year-old actor’s lawyer has claimed his accuser made the allegations “for attention, for sympathy and to raise his own profile” because he was jealous of the success the ‘American Beauty’ star enjoyed while his own acting career floundered. Jennifer Keller said in opening arguments: “One of the cardinal rules of the so-called MeToo movement (is) that you have to believe the victim. You’ll see that Mr Spacey said ‘This didn’t happen, I don’t remember it’. “They told him to apologise. It was cleverly set up by Mr Rapp… “He’s been telling this story to raise his own profile. He never became the international star Kevin Spacey did. He has been simmering with resentment. It’s not easy to defend this, after 30 years. “As Mr Spacey’s star rose, Mr Rapp grew resentful. ‘Rent’ (the musical) was the apex of his career. He peaked in 2000 and grew bitter. So he became an out gay actor. I don’t know if he would have been a leading man anyway. “‘(The allegations made in 2017) was right after the Harvey Weinstein allegations. All sorts of people are worried about being cancelled.” Rapp filed a civil suit against Spacey after a 2020 criminal charge of sexual assault was dismissed by a judge and is seeking compensation for mental and emotional suffering, medical expenses and loss of work. According to court documents, Rapp claimed that during a party in Manhattan, Spacey lifted him up and his hand “grazed” his buttocks as he did so. He then alleged the actor placed him back down on a bad and “briefly placed his own clothed body partially beside and partially across” his. He said the alleged incident lasted no more than two minutes and there had been “no kissing, no undressing, no reaching under clothes, and no sexualised statements or innuendo.” Spacey has previously offered his “sincerest apology” to the ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ actor for any “deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour” but said he did not recall the incident. The ‘Baby Driver’ star faces having to pay significant damages if the jury find in favour of his accuser. The case is being overseen by Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the civil suit filed against Prince Andrew earlier this year, which was ultimately settled out of court. Spacey has previously pleaded not guilty to charges of sexually assaulting three men between March 2005 and April 2013 in the UK, while in 2019, charges of indecent assault and sexual assault were dropped in Massachusetts. View the full article

Published by Raw Story By Matt Laslo “What do you make of the administration’s request on funding for monkeypox?” Raw Story asked Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) at the U.S. Capitol just days before lawmakers left Washington until after the midterm elections. “For what?” he replied. “The monkeypox virus. The outbreak.” “Well, I’m embarrassed to tell you, I don’t even know that,” Inhofe, who’s retiring, admitted. Inhofe’s likely not alone. The word ‘monkeypox’ itself, terrible as it may be, has been said just seven times in Senate floor debates throughout the entire 117th Congress, according tothe Congressional Record (with a… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English JoJo Siwa’s “gay awakening” started with Demi Lovato’s 2015 hit ‘Cool for the Summer’ – when she was 12. The former ‘Dance Moms’ star – who recently broke up again with her on-off girlfriend Kylie Prew – has revealed she started to discover she was a lesbian when she heard the song about same-sex experimentation. She said on TikTok: “I really, really liked it and listened to it all the time. “I did not know what it meant back then but now that I’m much older and I understand, I know what it means.” Later, the 19-year-old YouTuber’s head was turned by 41-year-old actress Jenna Dewan, after she saw her perform a song from her now-ex-husband Channing Tatum’s stripper movie ‘Magic Mike’ on ‘Lip Sync Battle’. She recalled: “Then a few years later, Jenna Dewan went on ‘Lip Sync Battle’. She did a really great ‘Magic Mike’ number. I pretty much watched it every day. Little me, she didn’t know she was gay, until.” JoJo knew for sure that she was attracted to women only when she got “grossed out” by a man’s request for sex. She added: “A couple of years later, a man was my first date and he wanted to have sex with me and I did not want to – never wanted to, grossed out by the thought of it. Immediately knew men are not my thing. Women are my gig. Gotta go.” JoJo came out to the world in January 2021, and while celebrating the one-year anniversary earlier this year, she admitted that while she was nervous she had “no fear” letting the world know her sexuality. She wrote: “In the last 365 days, I’ve felt more love than ever. “A year ago today I posted this picture and shared with the world that I was gay. “I get asked a lot, ‘Was coming out scary for you?’… and the answer is, ‘Yes of course!’ Anything that’s different about you is scary, however… it’s what makes me… me. “So I had no fear with sharing it with the world.” The ‘Dancing with the Stars’ star hopes she inspires young kids to be their authentic selves. She said: “Truthfully I feel like I was put on this earth to be a role model for kids, and letting all the kids of the world know that loving everyone for who they are no matter what is something that I will always believe in and always share.” She wrapped the post: “Thank you for showing me the most love throughout this year and throughout my entire life. I love you all.” View the full article

Published by uInterview.com One of the most recognizable characters in cartoons has become officially recognized as a lesbian in a canon franchise film with the recent release of Trick Or Treat Scooby-Doo! in which the character Velma Dinkley develops a crush on a woman. The subject of Velma’s affections is an original character named Coco Diablo, who is also bespectacled with a turtleneck like Velma’s, and is also apparently the leader of a crime syndicate the Mystery Gang is pitted against. While some fans have always contended that the character was gay in her previous iterations, it had never been confirmed by her or… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Sir Mick Jagger has been branded bisexual in a new book that alleges he had flings with two members of The Rolling Stones. Writer Lesley-Ann Jones says in her new book ‘The Stone Age’ he had affairs with Keith Richards in the early days of the band, as well as its former guitarist Mick Taylor. The Daily Mail reported the book’s claims on Thursday night (06.10.22), and said it calls for Sir Mick, 79, to be reassessed as a “bisexual icon”. Keith, 78, and Mick, 73, who was a guitarist with the Stones from 1969 to 1974, are reportedly both listed in a long appendix to the book that details lovers taken by the Stones over the years. The long-running allegation Mick had a tryst with David Bowie is said to be mentioned, along with the frontman’s alleged affair with Austrian actor Helmut Berger, who introduced Mick to his first wife Bianca. The Mail says Lesley-Ann quotes Keith’s ex Anita Pallenberg and Mick’s former lover Marianne Faithfull saying they were apparently attracted to each other. Anita, who died in 2017 aged 75, is quoted as saying: “From when I first met them, I saw Mick was in love with Keith.” Marianne says in the book about the rockers: “I had an inkling that there was a sexual undercurrent between them. I knew in some part of my head that Mick was bisexual.” She has previously said: “Of all Mick’s relationships, the only one that really means anything to him is with Keith.” Paul Levett, who is said to have sat beside Mick’s ex- wife Rose at a party is said to be quoted in the book saying: “She told me that she found her husband in bed with Mick Jagger. Why would she say such a thing to me, if she had not seen it with her own eyes?” Stories of Mick and Mick’s alleged romance have been around for years, and are also mentioned in the 2012 book by Christopher Andersen, who said members of the band caught the pair “dozing in bed together”. Keith is said to have caused a rift with Mick by saying in 2010 Mick had a “tiny todger”. But he said about them being firm friends: “Mick and I live off the fire between us. We were made for each other. It’s like putting on an old glove, man, you know.” The Mail said spokespeople for Mick, Keith and Mick did not respond to requests for comment. View the full article

Published by Raw Story By Brad Reed A local library in the city of Jonesboro, Arkansas could soon be defunded after a local group called Craighead Citizens Taxed Enough filed paperwork for ballot initiative to slash its funds. Arkansas Times reports that the group filed paperwork with the state Ethics Commission that would slash the library’s tax revenue in half, which would likely force it to close down completely. According to Arkansas Times, the group is going after the library’s funding because of “a gay pride display in the Jonesboro library more than a year ago.” Right-wing activists in recent months have targ… Read More View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega; @ChristianWalker/Twitter Herschel Walker said he loves his son “unconditionally” despite the 22-year-old disowning him for allegedly “lying” about recent allegations he paid for an ex-girlfriend to receive an abortion, RadarOnline.com has learned. The GOP Senate candidate expressed his love for his son, Christian Walker, during an interview Wednesday morning that focused on both the current abortion allegations and the intense criticism he’s receiving as a result of the accusations. Mega “Well, I love my son unconditionally,” the NFL football player-turned-wannabe politician told Fox News. “And that’s the way I’ve always been, I always love him unconditionally.” “I always will be for any of my kids,” the Georgia GOP Senate candidate added, in reference to Christian and his three other children. “And I love them.” Herschel’s love for Christian is apparently not reciprocated. The social media fanatic has published a series of videos criticizing his father and condemning the 60-year-old Senate candidate for allegedly not being truthful about accusations he paid $700 for his ex-girlfriend to receive an abortion in 2009. “I stayed silent as the atrocities committed against my mom were downplayed. I stayed silent when it came out that my father, Herschel Walker, had all these random kids across the country – none of whom he raised,” Christian fumed in one video. @ChristianWalker/Twitter “I was silent lie after lie after lie,” Christian continued. “The abortion card drops yesterday. It’s literally his handwriting in the card. They say they have receipts, whatever. He gets on Twitter, he lies about it. Okay, I’m done.” During his interview Wednesday morning, Herschel continued to deny the abortion allegations against him. He also commented on the “damage” Christian is “doing” by recording and publishing the videos. “The damage he’s doing…he’s letting people know that the left will do whatever they can to win this seat,” Herschel said. “And I told you when I got in this race, I’m gonna win this seat.” As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Herschel was accused of paying for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion in 2009 despite his current and outspoken pro-life stance. Mega The 60-year-old Senate candidate’s accuser, who has not been named, claims Herschel paid her a $700 personal check five days after she received the abortion on September 12, 2009. Besides the check, the former NFL football player also reportedly gifted her a “get well” card containing Herschel’s distinctive signature. His accuser produced all of the alleged evidence, including a $575 receipt from the abortion clinic, when she made the allegations on Monday. But despite the allegations made by his accuser, and the apparent evidence to back her claims up, Herschel has called the allegations a “flat-out lie” and denies the accusations in the “strongest possible terms.” Herschel has also since been defended by some of his strongest endorsers – including former President Donald Trump. “Herschel Walker is being slandered and maligned by the Fake News Media and obviously, the Democrats,” Trump said in a statement posted to his social media platform, Truth Social, on Tuesday. “Herschel has properly denied the charges against him, and I have no doubt he is correct.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Andrew Chung and Nate Raymond WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday signaled sympathy toward Alabama in the state’s defense of a Republican-drawn electoral map in a case that could further erode a landmark voting rights law, drawing a skeptical response from its newest member, Ketanji Brown Jackson. The court on the second day of its new nine-month term heard about two hours of arguments in Alabama’s appeal of a ruling by a panel of three federal judges that the map setting the boundaries of the state’s seven U.S. House of Representatives districts unlawfully diluted the clout of Black voters. The case illustrated the ideological divide on a court with a 6-3 conservative majority. Jackson, the first Black woman on the court, and the two other liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, vigorously questioned Alabama Solicitor General Edmund LaCour as he defended the map drawn by his fellow Republicans who control the state legislature. The conservative justices appeared sympathetic to some of LaCour’s arguments. Black voters challenged the legality of the Republican-drawn map. The lower court found that the map concentrated Black voters into a single House district even though Alabama’s population is 27% Black, while spreading the rest of the Black population in other districts at levels too small to form a majority in violation of a 1965 law called the Voting Rights Act that bars racial discrimination in voting. LaCour argued that the map was “race neutral,” that using a key Voting Rights Act provision to boost the power of minority voters may violate the guarantee of equal protection under the law enshrined in the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment and that states should ignore the question of race when devising electoral maps. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito expressed support for raising the burden on plaintiffs to show that an electoral map is unlawfully biased. In “every place in the South … will not the plaintiffs always run the table?” Alito asked U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, representing President Joe Biden’s administration in backing the plaintiffs. The Voting Rights Act was enacted at a time when Southern states including Alabama enforced policies blocking Black people from casting ballots. The case centers on a provision aimed at countering voting laws resulting in racial bias even absent racist intent. A ruling is due by the end of June. A decision siding with Alabama could make it harder to prove state voting laws harm minorities. Jackson, a Biden appointee, emphasized the historical intent of the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868 after the U.S. Civil War to help protect the rights of newly freed Black enslaved people. It was to ensure equality of all citizens and was not a “race-neutral or race-blind idea,” Jackson said on her second day of arguments as a justice. The Voting Rights Act, Jackson added, “is saying you need to identify people in this community who have less opportunity and less ability to participate and ensure that that’s remedied, right? It’s a race-conscious effort.” ‘GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS’ LaCour said drawing Alabama’s map of House districts “in favor of one racial group” would itself be racially discriminatory, violating the 14th Amendment, because it would be “harming some other group on account of race.” Kagan said endorsing Alabama’s arguments could lead states to draw maps in which minorities “could essentially be foreclosed from electing a candidate of their choice anywhere.” Kagan noted that Supreme Court rulings in 2013 and 2021 already undermined other Voting Rights Act protections. “It’s one of the great achievements of American democracy to achieve equal political opportunities regardless of race, to ensure that African Americans could have as much political power as white Americans could,” Kagan said of the landmark law. Sotomayor questioned LaCour about why the Republican-drawn map split up certain Black communities among House districts but not certain white communities. The lower court ordered Alabama to configure a second House district where Black voters could hold a majority or close to it. But the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision in February powered by its conservatives, let Alabama use the map for the Nov. 8 elections in which Republicans are trying to regain control of Congress. Electoral districts are redrawn each decade to reflect population changes. In most states, such redistricting is done by the party in power, which can lead to map manipulation for partisan gain. Alito said racially polarized voting patterns in Alabama and some other states “may be due to ideology and not have anything to do with race.” “It may be that Black voters and white voters prefer different candidates now because they have different ideas about what the government should do,” Alito said. Other conservative justices seemed skeptical about a second Black-majority district, but signaled there might not be appetite for a sweeping ruling upending the court’s Voting Rights Act precedents. Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh focused on whether the proposed districts complied with traditional redistricting principles including that they are geographically compact. (Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Howard Stern came out of hiding after being locked up in his “apocalypse bunker” since the pandemic started. The shock jock, 68, left his $20 million Southhampton home to mix and mingle with his A-list friends over dinner for the first time in two years, RadarOnline.com has learned. Stern and his wife, Beth, 50, were spotted at Laser Wolf in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Friday with a slew of Hollywood’s most elite, including Jennifer Aniston, Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Hamm, and Jason Bateman. After being holed up in their home since 2020, the couple decided to brave the world again following an invite by Kimmel and his wife. Mega Photos showed the famous group of friends at the ritzy dinner date. Stern was seated next to Kimmel and across from Hamm and Aniston’s most recent ex-husband Justin Theroux. The Sirius XM host appeared lost in conversation, leaning over the table to catch up with his old buddies. Stern spoke about his first adventure outside of the house, revealing he was drained from being social. “I really had an exhausting weekend, emotionally, physically,” he said on the Monday episode of his radio show. “For the first time in two years I ventured out of the house. It was too much for me. It was too much. I haven’t been out in two years.” While he agreed to go, Stern told his listeners he almost bailed on the event out of fear. “I said to my wife: ‘I don’t want to go, I’m in a panic, I don’t want to get COVID,'” he recalled. “I know our president has told us the pandemic is over and everyone is walking around without masks…I still just don’t want to get COVID.” Mega Despite being scared of catching Covid-19, photos show that Stern chose not to wear a mask. “Howard was there without even a mask. They all sat at a large table…Stern told restaurant staff this was his first night out since the start of the pandemic,” an eyewitness told Page Six. The outing appeared to go well. Howard has not complained about having any Covid-like symptoms following the Friday dinner exchange. View the full article

Published by AFP John Hinckley with his guitar in Williamsburg, Virginia, on September 14, 2022 Williamsburg (United States) (AFP) – More than four decades after John Hinckley shot Ronald Reagan, the man who was acquitted of the crime on an insanity defense and subsequently hospitalized for 34 years is fully free. But the one thing he wants most after decades of treatments and years of conditional release still eludes him: a guitarist and songwriter, Hinckley longs to play a live concert. On June 15, the day he was released from court oversight, Hinckley also learned the Brooklyn venue where he was scheduled to perform had scrapped his set over safety concerns, saying they’d faced “very real and worsening threats.” “It was just a huge disappointment,” says Hinckley, who’s now 67 and wields an acoustic guitar with his name emblazoned across its soundboard. He faced the same disappointment just before other scheduled shows in Chicago, Virginia and Connecticut. Speaking to AFP at a park in Williamsburg, Virginia where he lives in an apartment with his cat Theo, Hinckley insists he’s a changed man, eager to share his music with a world that’s long branded him “violent and unstable.” “They know me from all the negativity that came out about me for 41 years, but I’m a different person now,” he says with a southern twang. Music therapy On March 30, 1981, Hinckley shot Reagan and three others in Washington. All survived, but the former president’s press secretary, James Brady, was left permanently disabled. Hinckley said he committed the crime to impress Jodie Foster; he’d grown obsessed with the actor after watching her in Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver.” He was declared not guilty on grounds of insanity and admitted to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington for more than three decades. But Hinckley’s public image remained firmly in 1981. Stephen Sondheim wrote him as a character in the musical “Assassins,” while the new wave band Devo released one of his poems as a song. He was discharged from the hospital in September 2016 but mandated to live with his elderly mother, who has since passed, in Williamsburg. His movements, electronic devices and online activity were limited and monitored. Those conditions were lifted this summer, and Hinckley passes his days in the sleepy town painting, songwriting and uploading performances online. He’s amassed more than 50,000 Twitter followers, and notches nearly 5,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. But the self-taught musician yearns for the connection of a live audience. “I want them to feel better coming out of the show than going into the show,” Hinckley says. “I have people that write to me and say, ‘I listened to your music and it helps me to get through my day.'” “That’s a great feeling.” ‘I’m sorry’ For years, the Reagan Foundation ardently protested Hinckley’s freedom, conditional or otherwise, accusing him of seeking “to make a profit from his infamy.” If his criminal act had not involved someone as high-profile as Reagan, it’s likely Hinckley would’ve been released from the hospital, at least conditionally, earlier than the court approved it. Even if you are technically acquitted for reasons of insanity, “there is a punitive element to the way the system works,” said Paul Appelbaum, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University. “If you commit a heinous act — for example, if you try to kill a president of the United States — you can expect to spend a long time confined, whether or not your mental state continues to require it.” Hinckley holds he has tried apologizing to the Reagan Foundation numerous times. “I’m sorry for what I did,” he says. “I’m not the person I was back then.” “I was totally alienated and depressed and unstable” leading up to the attack, Hinckley says. “I can’t relate to the way I was, because now I kind of have that feeling of, ‘What was I thinking?'” At this point, the barrier to his stage ambitions appears to be a question of morality. “We’re in a society where people have gained fame and notoriety for all kinds of reasons, including not very savory reasons, and in many cases are subsequently able to capitalize on that,” said Appelbaum. “It’s not easy to see why somebody like John Hinckley should be treated differently than everybody else.” ‘Too many guns’ Hinckley offers a folksy brand of acoustic rock with unambiguous lyrics. “Freedom stands next to me / Everybody knows my history,” he croons on “I Sing My Songs.” “True remorse is real / It has been the way I feel.” As his quest for a venue continues, Hinckley’s got an album set for release on vinyl by year’s end with Asbestos Records, an indie ska and punk label. He says he’s written thousands of songs, with musical influences including Bob Dylan, Neil Young and The Beatles. Recalling the assassination of John Lennon, which occurred just months before Hinckley’s own crime, he says, “I’m sure it didn’t help in my psyche to have that happen.” Hinckley applauded increased attention in recent years to mental health research and treatments, but says he thinks “a lot more can be done.” “I think the country is in a really, really volatile spot right now,” he says. “I just wish people would calm down.” And the man who changed his own life forever by wielding a firearm emphasizes a need for gun control. “There’s too many guns in America,” Hinckley reflects, giving his guitar a languid strum. “That’s why all this crime and all this violence keeps happening.” View the full article

Published by OK Magazine mega President Joe Biden was caught on tape accidentally dropping an f-bomb! The flub occurred when the 79-year-old was chatting privately with Florida mayor Ray Murphy while still wearing a live microphone. mega The President is currently in Florida to discuss relief efforts with Gov. Ron DeSantis after the damage caused by Hurricane Ian. 104 people have been confirmed dead from the inclement weather, with the number expected to increase. At least 40 of the deaths were due to drowning. KAMALA HARRIS CLAIMS SHE’LL SUPPORT JOE BIDEN TO LEAD DEMOCRATIC TICKET FOR 2024 DESPITE MONTHS OF SECRET FEUDING “I think the one thing this has finally ended is the discussion about whether or not there’s climate change, and we should do something about it,” Biden told the crowd, referring to the Category 4 storm, as well as other weather changes witnessed in the last six months. mega Following the news conference, Biden and Murphy were heard joking with one another while walking to Fort Myers Beach. “No one f***s with a Biden,” the President was heard joking to Murphy, who replied, “You’re God d*** right!” Moments later, Biden declared, “You can’t argue with your brother outside the house,” prompting the mayor to respond, “That’s exactly right.” The context of their conversation is unclear. 7 OF PRESIDENT BIDEN’S MOST EMBARRASSING GAFFES: TELEPROMPTER BLUNDERS, CONFUSION OVER DEATES & MORE Earlier that day, Biden told reporters that despite their differing “political philosophies” he thought DeSantis had “done a good job” in responding to the the needs of Floridians amid Hurricane Ian. “We worked hand-in-glove,” he continued. “In dealing with this crisis, we’ve been in complete lockstep.” mega AsOK! previously reported, this is only one in a string of public blunders made by the politician. Biden recently shocked onlookers when he asked for deceased state representative Jackie Walorski to identify herself in a crowd, one month after she passed away in a tragic car accident. “I want to thank all of you here, including bipartisan elected officials like Representative __[Jim] McGovern__, Senator __[Mike] Braun__, Senator __[Cory] Booker__, Representative Jackie — are you here? Where’s Jackie?” Biden asked, before adding, “She must not be here.” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre later said in a statement Walorski had been “on his mind” because he’d been “naming the congressional champions on this issue and was acknowledging her incredible work.” Radar was first to report Biden’s latest gaffe. View the full article

Published by AFP Bear-ly there: by the time hibernation is over, bears will be shadows of their former selves, so gorging on salmon ahead of the winter is crucial to survival Los Angeles (AFP) – Americans are weighing their options this week and deciding where to cast their ballot in the only contest that really matters: Fat Bear Week. The annual poll will see thousands of people glued to webcams watching bears in Alaska stuff themselves with salmon as they ready for hibernation. The creatures in Katmai State Park “could easily be eating 100 pounds (45 kilograms) or more of fish in a day,” former park ranger Mike Fitz, who thought up the vote, told AFP. “It’s common for them to eat 20 or more salmon in a day.” In a series of head-to-head elimination contests, voters are looking for the creature that appears to have piled on the most pounds to help it get through the lean months of winter. A solid reserve of chubbiness is vital to survival. During five months of deep sleep, the bears do not wake to eat, drink or even go to the toilet, emerging famished — and a lot thinner — in the spring. Defending champion Otis, who has four titles to his name, tips the scales at around 1,000 pounds. This year, he faces a hefty challenge for the overall crown from a bear dubbed 747 — named after Boeing’s enormous plane, and himself a former champ. But, says Fitz, another pretender to the crown of Ursa-most-Major could emerge from the park’s population of 2,000 bears. The contest, which takes place online — and of which the bears are probably unaware — began in 2014 with just a few thousand people voting. By last year, it had become a titan in its own right, with more than 800,000 ballots cast. “It’s an event to raise awareness for brown bears in Alaska and in Katmai National Park,” said Fitz, who now works as a naturalist for environmental NGO Explore. “And hopefully through that awareness, people come to care for the animals.” That awareness is crucial to Fitz’s larger aim of helping to prevent environmental damage. “On much of the west coast of North America, salmon runs are just hanging on by a thread,” he said. “We’re doing very poorly in parts of California, in Oregon and Washington due to habitat loss and barriers to their migration like dams. “And climate change is exacerbating those things with drought and heat waves.” Ballots for Fat Bear Week can be cast at www.explore.org, and voting begins on Thursday. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Reese Witherspoon is developing a new adaptation of ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’. The ‘Legally Blonde’ star’s Hello Sunshine company and Build-A-Bear Entertainment are teaming up for a new take on the classic children’s tale. The movie marks the first feature for Hello Sunshine’s kids and animation division and will present the title character as a powerful female protagonist. Reese and Hello Sunshine’s head of kids and animation, Claire Curley, will executive produce the film alongside Build-A-Bear’s Sharon Price John and Patrick Hughes for Foundation Media Partners. Hello Sunshine CEO Sarah Harden said the aim is “for this collaboration to provide families a new way to experience and share” the production company’s mission. Curley said in a statement: “Over the last 25 years, Build-A-Bear has created a trusted fanbase rooted in family, personal connection, and storytelling with teddy bears, making them the perfect partner for this project. “We’re excited to collaborate with them to bring a new perspective to such a timeless tale that we know will inspire young audiences.” Build-A-Bear Workshop CEO Sharon Price John added: “We are thrilled to partner with Hello Sunshine and Reese Witherspoon, who, through her energy, experience and intuition, has consistently proven her ability to bring talented people together and bring out the best in them. “You could feel the magnetic creativity in the air from our early discussion about the concept and I believe the success of Hello Sunshine is a proof-point of the potential of this project.” Hello Sunshine was founded by Witherspoon and is known for putting women at the heart of its stories. The production company is also home to Reese’s Book Club and the new RBC app. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Timothy Aeppel (Reuters) – Workers at Wyatt Bassett’s furniture factory in Virginia use powerful tools to churn out the company’s trademark dressers and headboards, so screening new hires for drugs is a no-brainer. Or it used to be. Virginia last year fully legalized marijuana — the first state in the South to do so. The upshot is that “being positive for cannabis does not necessarily disqualify you for employment,” said Bassett, CEO of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Co., which has 575 employees. Faced with a shortfall in applicants, employers across the U.S. are balancing pressure to ease up on testing for a legal drug with concerns that this could impact safety and raise issues of liability. The U.S. jobless rate ticked up to 3.7% last month, but it remains near a five-decade low. “With the war for talent and the labor shortage, especially in some lower paying jobs, it’s tough to find and retain folks — so many are deciding to not test, except for safety sensitive jobs,” said Julie Schweber, a senior knowledge adviser at the Society for Human Resource Management. Companies with multiple operations in different parts of the country face an added challenge, she said, because laws differ from state to state. The challenge of balancing workplace safety and the growing prevalence — and legalization — of some types of drugs is especially acute for manufacturers and others who use dangerous equipment. Last June, Amazon.com Inc. said positive tests for marijuana use would no longer disqualify people from jobs that are not regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation, such as truck drivers. The e-commerce giant — like many other employers — said it will treat cannabis like alcohol, even though traces of its use linger in the human body far longer and can show up on some types of tests after a worker is no longer impaired by its use. “We will continue to do impairment checks on the job and will test for all drugs and alcohol after any incident,” wrote former-CEO Dave Clark, in a blog post at the time of the announcement. Data from Quest Diagnostics, which handles testing for companies, shows a steady increase in positivity rates for marijuana tests over the past decade — coinciding with the wave of legalization. In 2012, only 1.9% of workers not subject to federally mandated drug testing requirements failed a pre-employment screening. Last year, that had grown to 4.1%. The jump in positive tests after accidents grew even more during that period, up from 2.4% to 6.7%. The majority of Fortune 1000 companies have some type of screening in place, but many companies are dropping cannabis tests from the list, said Barry Sample, a senior science consultant who compiles Quest’s data. Still, Quest estimates between 30 to 35 million employment-related drug tests are conducted in the U.S. annually. Most of the tests Quest conducts use urine samples. Other tests rely on swabbing saliva or hair samples. “None of this testing can say whether someone is impaired,” said Sample. Rather, the tests will simply indicate the presence of the drug based on a pre-set threshold. Cannabis use for medical reasons is now legal in 37 states, while recreational use is legal in 19. Quest’s data also shows that states that allow recreational use of cannabis have higher positivity rates. Sample said many employers are shifting screening efforts to focus on drugs that remain illegal and where use in some industries also appears on the upswing. In manufacturing, for instance, Quest found the positivity rate clicked up last year for both methamphetamine and cocaine. Insurance experts say it is too early to see if the changes will drive up insurance rates for companies that drop testing. “Nobody is going to come out and say, ‘We’re increasing premiums because you have more stoned workers on the job,'” said Mark Pew, a consultant who specializes in workers’ compensation insurance in Georgia. But if, over time, companies that have looser drug screening policies have higher accident rates than those who stick to tougher rules, that could change, he said. Matt Zender, a senior vice president for workers’ compensation strategy with AmTrust Financial Services Inc., said one factor that may obscure or offset the impact of more drug use on the job is the general move toward safer workplaces. “If you just look at claims per 100 hours of work, overall people are getting injured less often than they were in the past,” he said. Meanwhile, companies continue to fine tune their approaches on the issue. A California manufacturer of plastic bags, contacted by Reuters about their drug screening policies, was surprised to learn that his human resources department was automatically rejecting applicants who test positive for cannabis. “My nephew would never get a job if I enforced that on him,” Kevin Kelly, CEO of Emerald Packaging Inc. in Union City, Calif., said in an email. He said he had now directed his hiring managers to drop the requirement, adding that workers at the factory are not allowed to be impaired on the job. Cannabis use is fully legal in California. (Reporting by Timothy Aeppel in New York; Editing by Claudia Parsons) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Britney Spears has told her mom to “go f*** yourself”. The ‘Hold Me Closer’ hitmaker has accused her family of not standing up for her during her 13-year conservatorship – which ended in November 2021 – and claimed she was forced to undergo weekly medical checks or run the risk of her father Jamie Spears, who was co-conservator of her affairs, having her committed to a “psych ward”. She ranted on Instagram: “For 13 years, I had to meet doctors weekly to bring up my past which made it worse !!! As for my whole family including my brother, sister, cousins, aunts, uncles, and well damn the whole audience… were either stoned or drunk of their a**** !!! “I was the mother f****** Saint who was scared to move or I knew my dad would put me somewhere if I didn’t cooperate … even in America, the land of the free!!!! Years go by and he still puts me in a psych ward !!!! Not one mother f****** person stood up for me !!! (sic)” Following her more general rant about her family, Britney then directed her ire to Lynne Spears, days after she used the comments section of her pop star daughter’s Instagram account to apologise for “anything and everything” that has hurt the ‘Toxic’ singer and urged her to get in touch. Britney wrote: “Mom take your apology and go f*** yourself !!! And to all the doctors for f****** with my mind … I pray you all burn in hell !!! Kiss my mother f****** a**!!!! (sic)” Earlier this week, Lynne urged Britney to “unblock” her so they could communicate directly. Lynne wrote: “I am soooo sorry for your pain! I have been sorry for years! I love you so much and miss you. “Please unblock me so I can speak to you in person! Britney, deep down you know how much I love and miss you! I apologize for anything and everything that’s hurt you!(sic)” Lynne posted her comment following a post from the 40-year-old singer – who didn’t invite her parents or siblings when she married Sam Asghari earlier this year – calling for a “genuine apology” from her family. Britney had written: “I can understand that my posts complaining about my past may seem consistent !!!! It must seem like I have an extremely hard time letting it all go … but for me the real problem to me is that my family to this day honestly have no conscious whatsoever and really believe in their minds they have done nothing wrong at all !!!! “They could at least take responsibility for their actions and actually own up to the fact they hurt me!!!! “For me just a genuine apology would help give me closure but it honestly blows my mind every day of my life even after what is known what they did to me, they still act as if that’s ok !!!! “Their reaction it shows that I don’t have a family that values me or respects me …. AT ALL !!! That’s the hard part for me and as much as I loved them, it’s something that I’ll probably ever won’t be able to get over. “When I post in those moments, I just want to speak from my heart cause it’s extremely hard for me and then I look back and I see how many people say get over it … I’m working on becoming stronger.(sic)” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Jada Pinkett-Smith is writing a memoir. The 51-year-old actress – who has been married to Hollywood star Will Smith, 54, since 1997 and has son Jaden, 24, and 21-year-old daughter Willow with him – is set to release the as-yet-untitled tome in autumn 2023 and it will chart her journey from depression to finding her “authentic feminine power.” A press statement read: “Jada chronicles lessons learned in the course of a difficult but riveting journey — a rollercoaster ride from the depths of suicidal depression to the heights of personal rediscovery and the celebration of authentic feminine power” The ‘Red Table Talk’ host is set to reveal all about her “unconventional upbringing” as the child of drug addicts in her autobiography and detail her rise to fame alongside close friend and late rap star 2Pac – who was shot dead in 1996 aged 25 – before telling of the years that she found love with the Academy Award-winning actor, who published his own memoir ‘Will’ in late 2021. The statement added: “With no holds barred, Jada reveals her unconventional upbringing in Baltimore — from the child of two addicts to a promising theatre student and a violent interlude as a petty drug dealer — followed by a parallel rise to stardom alongside her close friend 2Pac, then falling in love with and marrying Will Smith, and a joyous embrace of motherhood.” Dey Street Books VP and editorial director Carrie Thorton said: “The world has imposed many labels and narratives on Jada Pinkett Smith. This is down to the realities of our media landscape, but also the roles thrust upon women by culture. At the center of all the speculation and false stories is a woman who, like so many women, has had to reconcile her personhood with the needs of those she loves. This memoir is Jada giving the world her truth, taking readers on a journey from lost girl to woman warrior. It is my great honour to take that journey with her.” View the full article

Published by OK Magazine mega Kanye West is somehow perplexed by the immense uproar over the offensive “White Lives Matter” T-shirts he wore alongside Candace Owens at Paris Fashion Week. “He thinks it’s a [politically correct] thing,” spilled a source to a news publication. “He wants to give a voice to the ‘other side’ [of the race debate in America]. He doesn’t understand why people aren’t seeing that.” @RealCandaceO/twitter A-list celebrities have spoken out against West’s violently offensive runway stunt, as according to the New York Times, the Anti-Defamation League previously deemed the controversial phrase “hate speech” as it’s “attributed to white supremacists (including the Ku Klux Klan).” CANDACE OWENS BERATES GIGI HADID FOR SLAMMING KANYE WEST & NOT PETE DAVIDSON FOR HAVING TATTOOS OF KARDASHIAN CHILDREN’S NAMES The rage against the 45-year-old’s “White Lives Matter” shirts triggered an infamous Instagram frenzy from West, who can’t seem to fathom why so many people have spoken out against his disrespectful ways. mega On Wednesday, October 5, the father-of-four took to his social media account with a screenshot of an article which showcased Hailey Bieber‘s outspoken support for Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, a journalist who had originally been targeted by the fashion designer after she criticized his runway behavior. “Wait Am I canceled again??? __Justin [Bieber]__ please let me know,” West wrote, seemingly asking the 25-year old model’s husband to help him resolve the ordeal. mega Hailey was among many individuals to join Gigi Hadid‘s emotional outcry against West, who referred to him as a “disgraceful bully” who hurts people through his online and in-person antics. “My respect for you runs deep my friend!” Hailey told Hadid on her Instagram Story, adding, “To know you is to adore you and to work with you is an honor. The most kind. The most talented. The most fun. The most chic.” The brunette bombshell’s support came after Hadid slammed West and praised Karefa-Johnson. “You wish u had a percentage of her intellect. You have no idea haha,” Hadid commented on one of the rapper’s Instagram posts. KHLOÉ KARDASHIAN BEGS KANYE WEST TO ‘STOP TEARING’ KIM KARDASHIAN DOWN ‘AND USING OUR FAMILY WHEN YOU WANT TO DEFLECT’ “If there’s actually a point to any of your s**t. She might be the only person that could save you,” she continued. “As if the ‘honor’ of being invited to your show should keep someone from giving their opinion? Lol. You’re a bully and a joke.” mega As OK! previously reported, a source dished that Kim Kardashian was “disgusted” by her ex-husband’s ruthless behavior. “Kim is not surprised by Kanye decision to wear that on his shirt and thinks that he is, once again, trying to get attention,” spilled an insider. “She knows that he loves to start controversy and she is not even feeding into this. Sure, she thinks that he is making a horrible choice and that the message is very offensive to so many.” Page Six reported on the source who stated West was confused by the negative response to his controversial T-shirts. View the full article

Published by AFP Actor Kevin Spacey arrives to attend a civil trial hearing on sexual misconduct accusations brought against him by Anthony Rapp in Manhattan federal court in New York on October 6, 2022 New York (AFP) – Five years after sexual misconduct allegations ended his Hollywood career, Kevin Spacey appeared in a New York court Thursday to face a civil lawsuit brought by actor Anthony Rapp, who accuses the disgraced Oscar winner of assaulting him as a teenager, in 1986. One of the first stars to be caught up in the global #MeToo reckoning over sexual abuse, the 63-year-old Spacey smiled as he arrived at a federal court in Manhattan at around 9 am (1300 GMT), just after Rapp entered the building. Jury selection was slated to begin about a half hour later in a case presided over by Judge Lewis Kaplan. “Star Trek: Discovery” star Rapp, who turns 51 this month, filed a complaint in September 2020 against Spacey for advances and an alleged sexual assault at a party in Manhattan in 1986, when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was in his late 20s. The “House of Cards” actor, who built his worldwide fame since the 1980s in movies such as “The Usual Suspects” and “American Beauty,” has always denied allegations of sexual abuse. But Spacey, whose full name is Kevin Spacey Fowler, has disappeared from public view after becoming caught up in the early days of the #MeToo movement. Global fame The #MeToo movement exploded in October 2017, when more than 80 women in the movie industry accused — and ultimately brought down — the previously untouchable producer Harvey Weinstein. At the end of the month, Rapp accused Spacey for the first time, in great detail, in an interview with BuzzFeed News. The next day, on Twitter, Spacey presented his “sincerest apology” to Rapp for any “deeply inappropriate drunken behavior,” saying he did not recall the incident. After a 2020 criminal charge of sexual assault was dismissed by a judge, Rapp filed a civil suit. According to a court document, Rapp claims that during the 1986 party, Spacey lifted him up, and that his hand “grazed” his buttocks while doing so. Rapp claims Spacey then placed him back down on a bed and “briefly placed his own clothed body partially beside and partially across” the 14-year-old’s. During his testimony 35 years after the incident, Rapp agreed there had been “no kissing, no undressing, no reaching under clothes, and no sexualized statements or innuendo,” during an incident that had lasted no more than two minutes. ‘An impartial jury’ “Mr Spacey will appear Thursday and throughout the trial. We look forward to his vindication by an impartial jury,” his lawyer Jennifer Keller previously told AFP in an email. If found guilty, Spacey faces significant damages. Kaplan had dropped Rapp’s initial charge of sexual assault, ruling it had been brought too late and was not covered by a New York state law on child protection, implemented in 2019. Spacey has pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual assault of three men between March 2005 and April 2013 in Britain, and in 2019 charges against the actor of indecent assault and sexual assault were dropped in Massachusetts. View the full article

Published by AFP At least 66 abortion clinics in 15 US states shut down in the nearly four months after the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to the procedure Washington (AFP) – At least 66 clinics in 15 US states have stopped performing abortions since the June Supreme Court ruling that overturned the constitutional right to the procedure, according to a report published on Thursday. The Guttmacher Institute, a group which supports abortion rights, said there had previously been 79 clinics offering abortions in the 15 states which have implemented strict abortion bans. That number has since fallen to 13 clinics, all of them in Georgia, which has banned abortion after six weeks of gestation, before many people even know they are pregnant, it said. The institute said 26 clinics in the 15 states have closed their doors entirely, while 40 remain open providing reproductive health services other than abortion. The Guttmacher Institute said the 15 states are home to nearly 22 million girls and women of reproductive age — between the ages of 15 and 49 — nearly one-third of the total US population of women of reproductive age. The institute said more than 125,000 abortions were performed in 2020 in the 14 states where abortion is no longer available at all and another 41,000 in Georgia. “Individuals who can no longer obtain an abortion from a clinic in these states are now forced to travel to another state for abortion care,” Guttmacher said. This extra step to access the procedure can impose travel and child care costs along with those associated with having to take time off work, it said, while some women are instead forced to continue their pregnancy. Meanwhile, states where abortion remains legal “are being inundated with people from states with abortion bans seeking care,” the report said. “These dramatic increases in caseloads mean clinic capacity and staff are stretched to their limits, resulting in longer wait times for appointments even for residents of states where abortion remains legal,” it said. The institute predicted that the “already precarious abortion access landscape is likely to continue to deteriorate” with a total of 26 states certain or likely to impose near-total abortion bans within a year. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Chris Gallagher WASHINGTON (Reuters) -“Zombie Killer” tomahawk axes were among the weapons that Donald Trump supporters recommended bringing to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, an FBI agent testified on Thursday at the trial of five members of the far-right Oath Keepers. FBI agent Michael Palian read from what he described as a planning document prepared by Thomas Caldwell, one of the five on trial for charges including seditious conspiracy for their alleged role in planning the attack, which was intended to overturn then-President Trump’s election defeat. “Each team member shall be equipped with a striking weapon,” Caldwell wrote in the document sent on Dec. 2, 2020, Palian said in his third day of testimony. “When the battle is joined, apply the striking weapon wherever it will do the most good.” Knives, multitools and a “Zombie Killer” tomahawk were recommended as weapons. Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and four associates – Caldwell, Kenneth Harrelson, Kelly Meggs and Jessica Watkins – are accused of plotting to prevent Congress from certifying the election victory of Democrat Joe Biden on Jan. 6, 2021, in a failed bid to keep Trump, a Republican, in power. Some of the defendants are among the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol building after the then-president falsely claimed the election had been stolen from him through widespread fraud, prosecutors say. The five defendants are charged with several felonies, including seditious conspiracy, a Civil War-era statute that is rarely prosecuted and carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Rhodes, a Yale-educated attorney and former U.S. Army paratrooper, is the most high-profile defendant on trial, but Thursday morning’s testimony focused largely on Caldwell’s alleged role. Caldwell, in the operations plan, instructed Oath Keeper members not to use their actual names, how to create cover stories for their “mission” and to use “burner phones” because their personal cellphones were traceable. “The OTC (Overall Tactical Commander) should consider having limited firearms available which can be rapidly introduced into the mission area,” Caldwell also wrote. He added that they should make weapons “non-attributable” by wearing gloves and wiping them down before use to remove any fingerprints. Palian also read messages sent by Caldwell during the storming of the Capitol that gave the FBI agent the impression that Caldwell had entered the Capitol building, although he has not been charged with having done so. “We have planted a flag on Capitol steps,” Caldwell wrote in a Facebook message dated Jan. 6, 2021, at 2:11 p.m., which he followed with another message at 2:28 p.m. saying, “We are surging forward. Doors breached,” and yet another at 3:06 p.m. stating simply: “Inside.” Attorneys for the defendants have said the evidence will show that the defendants did nothing illegal and that the Oath Keepers are simply a peacekeeping group that has done security work at events around the country in recent years. (Reporting by Chris Gallagher; editing by Scott Malone, Richard Pullin and Jonathan Oatis) View the full article