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Published by AFP Zachary Horwitz promised healthy returns on investments, but was running a giant ponzi scheme and using the cash to fund a lavish lifestyle Los Angeles (AFP) – An American actor who swindled $650 million in a huge Hollywood ponzi scheme, using it to finance a lavish lifestyle of yachts, jets and fast cars, was jailed Monday for 20 years. Zachary Horwitz created fake contracts that he told investors were with HBO and Netflix to trick them into handing over vast sums of money, which he splurged on private flights, top-of-the-range autos and a luxury Los Angeles mansion, complete with a wine cellar. “Horwitz portrayed himself as a Hollywood success story,” prosecutors said, according to the Department of Justice. “He branded himself as an industry player, who… leveraged his relationships with online streaming platforms like HBO and Netflix to sell them foreign film distribution rights at a steady premium. “But, as his victims came to learn, (Horwitz) was not a successful businessman or Hollywood insider. He just played one.” Horwitz, who acted in small-time horror films under the name Zach Avery, told investors he was buying foreign distribution rights for US movies, and then selling them to streaming platforms. The 35-year-old gave each victim a note promising a handsome profit six or 12 months later. Over seven years he kept the scheme going by using new investors’ money to repay the old ones. By the time it all fell apart, more than $230 million had vanished. He admitted security fraud in October, and acknowledged that he had never bought any film rights, or secured any distribution contracts. It would be “difficult to conceive a white-collar crime more egregious,” prosecutors said in a memo to the judge, noting he started his life of crime by swindling university friends, according to the Los Angeles Times. “He began by betraying the trust of his own friends, people who lowered their guard because they could not possibly imagine that someone they had known for years would unflinchingly swindle them and their families out of their life savings,” they wrote. Horwitz was jailed for 20 years, and ordered by Judge Mark Scarsito to repay $230 million to his victims. View the full article

Published by Reuters (Note offensive language in paragraphs 10, 15.) By Rich McKay and Brad Brooks BRUNSWICK, Ga. (Reuters) – A federal prosecutor in Georgia said on Monday that three white men on trial for hate crimes in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, had a long history of using racial epithets and undoubtedly killed him because of his race. Arbery did nothing to deserve his fate, Barbara Bernstein, deputy chief of the Department of Justice’s civil rights division, told the U.S. District Court in the coastal town of Brunswick in her opening statement. Gregory McMichael, 66, his son Travis McMichael, 36, and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, 52, were convicted last year of shooting dead Arbery after chasing him in pickup trucks through their mostly white neighborhood because they wrongly suspected he may have been guilty of a crime. Unlike last year’s state trial, the federal hate-crimes trial will focus more squarely on the motive for the killing and whether the defendants targeted Arbery because he was Black, as the prosecution alleges. Arbery’s killing was one of several murders of Black men and women, often at the hands of police, that helped spark recent racial justice protests around the world. The federal trial of Arbery’s killers is one of the first in which those who carried out a high-profile killing are facing a jury in a hate-crime trial. “Most of this trial will be about why the defendants did what they did,” Bernstein said. Bernstein said if Arbery, an avid runner, had been white, he would have been able to go for an afternoon jog unmolested and “been home in time for Sunday supper.” “Instead, he went out for a jog, and ended up running for his life. Instead, he ended up bleeding to death, alone and scared, in the middle of the street,” she told the court. As Bernstein talked to the jury, Arbery’s parents sat in the front of the public gallery looking somber and shaking a little. His father, Marcus Arbery, sighed as Ahmaud Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, put her arm on Marcus Arbery’s shoulders. Bernstein cited several messages posted on Facebook and elsewhere in which all three men used racial epithets. She especially highlighted the words of Travis McMichael – who shot Arbery – who she said had made violent and racist statements on social media, including calling Black people “monkeys” and “subhuman savages.” He had also told a friend that he was glad to have left the Coast Guard because he no longer had to work with or be around Black people, she added. She said the jury would hear from a witness how Gregory McMichael “went on a racist rant about Black people.” Bernstein said Bryan used a racial epithet in an online post after learning four days before Arbery’s death that his daughter was dating a Black man. USING THE N-WORD Defense attorneys for the three men said in their opening statements that they found their clients’ use of racial epithets deeply offensive, but emphasized it was no reason to convict them. They said the men were not motivated by Arbery’s race. “I can’t stand before you and say my client has never used the ‘N-word’,” said Amy Copeland, the attorney for Travis McMichael. “He did. He left a digital footprint over several years.” But Copeland said Travis McMichael had chiefly been concerned with cases of theft that had left his neighborhood on high alert when he decided to chase down Arbery. Trial experts told Reuters that the challenge for the prosecutors will be to back up the evidence of racist utterances with evidence that on the day of the shooting the three men were motivated by racial animus. The court is scheduled to hear from Special Agent Richard Dial of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, who has previously testified that Bryan told his office that Travis McMichael uttered a racial slur as Arbery lay dying. Bryan’s attorney, Pete Theodocion, tried to distance his client from the McMichaels, saying that when he joined the McMichaels in chasing Arbery he assumed “he (Arbery) did something wrong, but not because of his race.” Travis McMichael said at a hearing last month that he was willing to plead guilty to attacking Arbery because of his “race and color” after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors. But he changed his mind after Judge Lisa Wood rejected the agreement, saying she could not accept it because it bound her to sentencing McMichael to 30 years in federal prison before he was handed back to the state of Georgia to serve out the rest of his life sentence for murder. She said she needed more information to know whether a 30-year sentence was just, and cited emotional testimony from Arbery’s family. (Reporting by Rich McKay in Brunswick, Georgia, and Brad Brooks in Lubbock, Texas; Editing by Ross Colvin, Alistair Bell and Matthew Lewis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Karen Freifeld NEW YORK (Reuters) – The accounting firm that handled Donald Trump’s company’s financial statements dropped it as a client and said it could no longer stand behind a decade of statements, a court filing showed on Monday. Mazars USA, in a Feb. 9 letter made public on Monday, told the Trump Organization, the former president’s New York-based real estate business, that its financial statements for 2011 through 2020 should no longer be relied on. The disclosure was made as part of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil investigation into the Trump Organization, which could result in financial penalties. That probe partially overlaps a criminal investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney, which James joined in May, into the company’s practices. Mazars said it had based its conclusion on a January filing by the New York attorney general, its own investigation and information from internal and external sources. “While we have not concluded that the various financial statements, as a whole, contain material discrepancies, based upon the totality of the circumstances we believe our advice to you to no longer rely upon those financial statements is appropriate,” Mazars said in the letter addressed to the chief legal officer at the Trump Organization, Alan Garten. In the letter, filed in New York state court, Mazars said that it had “performed its work in accordance with professional standards.” The accounting firm also said it would no longer work for the Trump Organization. New York state’s attorney general has accused the Trump Organization of repeatedly misrepresenting the value of its assets to obtain financial benefits. A Trump Organization spokesperson said in a statement the company is “disappointed that Mazars has chosen to part ways.” But the spokesperson added the letter confirms that “Mazars’ work was performed in accordance with all applicable accounting standards and principles” and that the statements of financial condition “do not contain any material discrepancies.” The New York attorney general filed the Mazars letter in support of its efforts to compel the production of outstanding documents from Trump and his company as well as testimony by him and two of his adult children, Donald Trump Jr. And Ivanka Trump. In a memorandum also filed on Monday, the attorney general noted media reports that Trump had destroyed documents covered by the Presidential Records Act and wants him to supply a sworn statement on whether the files produced for her probe are complete and how they may have been destroyed and by whom. Trump has decried the probe as political. In Monday’s filing, James’ office said the accounting firm’s statement and actions further supported the legitimacy of the investigation. James has been investigating whether the Trumps inflated real estate values to obtain bank loans, and reduced values to lower tax bills. In one example, she said Trump’s annual financial statements said an apartment he personally owned in Trump Tower was 30,000 square feet(2,787 square meters), when it was in fact a third that size. Neither Trump nor his children have been accused of criminal wrongdoing. (Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Scott Malone, Grant McCool and Sandra Maler) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes are reportedly set to host the 2022 Academy Awards. The prestigious ceremony hasn’t had a host for the past three years since Jimmy Kimmel in 2018, while last year’s event featured plenty of stars at the helm throughout the night rather than one designated host. Now, Variety reports that the trio are in final talks to front the Oscars, with each star responsible for one hour of the three-hour show on March 27. ‘Girls Trip’ producer Will Packer is producing this year’s event, and Hall has worked with him in the past on the likes of ‘Little’ and ‘Think Like A Man’. Meanwhile, Schumer and Sykes both have a connection to ABC – the broadcaster for the ceremony – with the former’s series ‘Life Beth’ heading to Hulu, which is owned by ABC’s parent company Disney. Meanwhile, Sykes appears in ABC series ‘Black-ish’. It’s said the trio will be officially unveiled on Tuesday’s episode (15.02.22) of ‘Good Morning America’. While the trio – and the Academy – are yet to comment on the news, Schumer shared an Instagram slideshow of some of her career highlights on Sunday (13.02.22). She wrote: “Big fun news comin’.” The ceremony has not had a presenter since Kevin Hart stood down from hosting in 2019 after homophobic jokes that he had previously posted on social media resurfaced. He previously admitted he wished he had handled the controversy surrounding his past homophobic tweets differently, and confessed there was a “big gap” between what he thought the problem was and what had actually upset people. He said: “I’m a firm believer in laying in the bed that you made. If there’s something that you did, then you did it. You know, there’s no wiggle room around it. You can address it, and then you can move on. “With the whole Oscars thing, there was a big gap between what I thought the problem was versus what the problem really was. “I got 10 years where I made sure not to joke or play in the way that I did back then because it was a problem. I don’t care if you’re gay or not gay. I’m a people person. I’m going to love you regardless.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Prince Harry’s tell-all book will “shake the monarchy to its core”, his friends have said. The Duke of Sussex is set to publicly reveal details about his relationship with the royal family in a new memoir due to be published later this year, and friends of Harry have hinted that the world can expect some explosive revelations. They told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “If they think he’s gone soft, they are mistaken. Just wait for the book to come out because that will shake the monarchy to the core.” Harry – who stepped down as a senior member of the royal family and relocated to the US alongside his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex in 2020 – will collaborate with JR Moehringer in what has been described as “the definitive account of the experiences, adventures, losses, and life lessons that have helped shape him”. Friends of the 37-year-old royal have suggested that the memoir will touch on Harry and his brother Prince William’s relationship with their stepmother Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall – who is set to become Queen Consort when Prince Charles accedes to the throne. They said: “Although tensions have eased between two of them over the years, it was more for a show of unity than a close relationship. “There were big problems at the start but as Harry and his brother William aged and matured, things got better and they can now co-exist as adults.” Friends of Harry – who shares children Archie, two, and Lilibet, eight months, with Meghan – added: “He has got lots to say. People think he’s keeping a low profile to respect the family but it’s not that. “He’s writing a book. He’s got a multi-million-pound book deal and he’s keeping a lot of his opinions for that. The memoir deal states that it should include personal details of personal and family arrangements. “And it will be a really intimate take on his feelings about his family and what has gone in the breakdown of the relationship.” View the full article

Published by DPA Why say the whole word? The German Bratwurst is simply called “brat” in US restaurants. Daniel Karmann/dpa A man in a Brooklyn restaurant orders a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, perhaps the pinnacle of European winemaking, a full-bodied and complex wine. “Cab Sav, you got it,” says the waitress. These days in the US, the first syllable of the word is enough to convey your meaning, as a glance at a menu will show. There’s Guac for Mexican guacamole. There’s Parm for Italian parmesan. And there’s Brat for Germany’s bratwurst. The desire for brevity can be found beyond the world of food too, with plenty of talk of the “vax,” referring to “vaccines” or “vaccination.” US talkshow host Stephen Colbert used the word in his recasting of Salt n Pepa’s famous hit, with the refrain, “Let’s talk about vax, baby.” That instinct to shorten words is not new, according to Lisa Heldke, a philosopher at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota, whose focuse is on the American pragmatist tradition – and food. People use monosyllables in many settings and they are not only reducing foreign words to their first syllable, she says. “Students here call the cafeteria “the caf,” which drives our dining service director crazy.” Linguists have yet to study whether people in the US are more likely to use just the first syllable compared to other nations. But American English is known for its abbreviations – just think of “OK.” Hedke says Americans tend to abbreviate everything, or give it a nickname. Considering why people may tend to just use the first syllable of words, she suggests maybe speakers are trying to be concise. Also, there are social factors, she suggests. “I think it’s about approachability. We think of short words as ‘friendly,’ as approachable, as ‘fun,’ as ‘not snobby.’ I actually attribute it a lot to (some) Americans’ deep desire to resist anything that smacks of intellectualism,” she says. “I think it’s also about familiarity, intimacy. If I have a short nickname, it means I am close enough to that person or thing that I GET to be informal with it,” she adds. After all, people give nicknames to the things that they like. Many factors are at play, Heldke says. “I think we do tend to make the shortened forms to pronounce them in a ‘middle class white American way’.” When it comes to foreign foods such as parmesan or guacamole, maybe speakers want to suggest a relaxed attitude to what they are describing, she says. “Guac maybe isn’t exactly American, but the sounds are more ‘indigenous’ to American English than the sounds in the full word guacamole (which we also tend to pronounce in an American way, of course),” she notes. The urge towards simplicity may go back even further. People in the US were calling each other “bro” more than a century ago. But the trend may go as far back as the first lexicographer of the US. Noah Webster was the author of the 1828 dictionary popularly known as “Webster’s,” an abbreviation of the title “An American Dictionary of the English Language,” coming after his first dictionary in 1806. He sought a simpler spelling than British English and dispensed with superfluous letters, which is why in the US, people write “color” instead of “colour,” for example. He embraced non-literary terms and colloquial expressions. He sought a spirit of linguistic unity and clarity and wanted to distinguish the language so the US could assert its independence from colonializing Britain. His drive for simplicity made sense at a time when people were migrating to the US from all over the world, speaking countless languages and dialects. Historians have also argued that unlike more codified British English, in the US, people were willing to improvise. Americans were using language flexibly, speaking pidgin, borrowing from Dutch, German and other languages and creating neologisms. In 1919, HL Mencken published the first edition of “The American Language.” He sought to sum up the attitude to language, identifying a “large capacity for taking in new words and phrases” as a tendency. He also noted “its impatient disregard for grammatical, syntactical and phonological rule and precedent.” That spirit lives on. Brat, anyone? It might have a complex and beautiful sounding name in Italy, but in America, a bowl of pasta with Parmesan cheese is simply called “Parm.” Oliver Berg/dpa View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Lizzo wants to pose for Playboy. The ‘Good As Hell’ hitmaker is a big fan of the adult publication and urged Cardi B, who was named the brand’s first-ever creative director in residence in December, to get in touch to arrange for her to take part in a photoshoot. Asked if she’d ever pose for Playboy, Lizzo told TMZ: “Oh my God, tell Cardi to call me! “I love Playboy. Yeah, I’ll do it!” The 33-year-old star had earlier shared footage on TikTok of a piercing party she’d held for her team and she revealed she’d had a jewellery inserted in an intimate area of her body. She said: “I have so many piercings right now, I never thought I’d be this girl! “You can’t see my coochie, I can’t show you. I can’t show you! I can’t show TMZ my p****.” Last week, Lizzo shared a nude photo of herself on Instagram as she reflected on having “unconditional” love for herself. She wrote: “If you love me… you love all of me. You don’t get to pick and choose. We should be unconditionally loving of one another, starting with being unconditionally loving to ourselves. Take a moment today and think about the conditions we cling to. Free yourself in love. You deserve it.” The ‘Truth Hurts’ singer previously praised Cardi – who was a stripper before finding musical success – as a game-changer for female artists following their collaboration on ‘Rumors’. She said: “Cardi B is the ultimate. She, to me, has always done it right. “Everything that she said, every way that she’s reacted because you know why? It’s because she was true to herself the whole time. She’s a ground breaker. You can’t deny her ability. She’s a superstar. “She has changed the game forever for a lot of us, a lot of women. I don’t even think she realises she’s doing it because it’s just like, I’m trying to just be successful. I’m trying to get this money. I want to live a happy life. “She just follows her heart. That’s what I love about her.” View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – The father of a teenager who was killed in Florida’s Parkland high school shooting marked the fourth anniversary of the massacre on Monday by climbing a construction crane near the White House and demanding the Biden administration take action on gun violence. Gun-control advocate Manuel Oliver unfurled a sign that read “45K people died from gun violence on your watch” above a picture of his son Joaquin Oliver. The teenager was among 17 people killed in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the deadliest high school shooting in the United States. “The whole world will listen to Joaquin today. He has a very important message,” Oliver said in a video he posted on Twitter as he wore a helmet and safety gear from atop the 150-foot (46 m) crane as police officers watched below. Oliver added that he has yet to get a meeting he had requested with President Joe Biden. Biden said in a statement on Monday that his administration has working to reduce gun crime by curbing the number of untraceable guns, cracking down on gun dealers who violate the law and promoting safe firearm storage. “As we remember those lost in Parkland, we also stand with Americans in every corner of our country who have lost loved ones to gun violence or had their lives forever altered by a shooting,” he said. The accused shooter, Nikolas Cruz, was a former student who had been expelled from Parkland. He opened fire on Feb. 14, 2018, with an AR-15-style rifle inside the South Florida high school, killing 14 students and three staff members and injuring 17 others. Cruz pleaded guilty in October to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder. A jury will decide if he faces the death penalty or spends the rest of his life in prison without parole during a sentencing trial starting in April. Like many other Parkland parents and students, Oliver has become a vocal advocate against gun violence since the shooting, calling on federal lawmakers to address the issue. The 54-year-old artist has also traveled across the country, building “Walls of Demand” murals in honor of his son. “As we mark this day of solemn remembrance, and every day, let us renew our commitment to ending the horrors of gun violence, restoring safety to our schools, workplaces and houses of worship,” U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. (Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago; Editing by Matthew Lewis) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega While this year’s Super Bowl was full of surprises, perhaps one of the biggest was Eminem kneeling down on one knee following his halftime show performance. While the simple move has a history of being controversial, the National Football League was apparently aware that it was coming. According to the New York Times, the NFL was aware the 49-year-old rapper was going to take a knee after singing his hit song Lose Yourself because he did just that after each rehearsal in preparation for the gig. Although the halftime show was comprised of five of the biggest hip-hop artists – plus a surprise appearance from 50 Cent to make six – Eminem arguably made the biggest statement when he knelt down and put his hand to his head. Mega The NFL partnered with Jay-Z’s entertainment company Roc Nation in 2019, and the football league’s mission was to reportedly “amplify the league’s social justice efforts.” Prior to that, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick came under fire for taking a knee during a pre-game national anthem to protest and bring awareness to racial inequality. Now, many are speculating that Eminem’s taking a knee was, like Kaepernick, to bring awareness to social justice efforts. But while Kaepernick was arguably penalized for taking a knee, Eminem was not, and a spokesperson representing the league stated on Sunday that NFL officials were well aware of the rapper’s plan because the league’s officials “watched it during rehearsals” prior to the actual performance. Mega As Radar recently reported, Eminem was one of the five scheduled artists to perform during Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show. Besides the Venom rapper, who took a knee, the other performers included Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, and Mary J. Blige. During a recent interview, Blige revealed that the halftime show performers don’t get compensated for their acts. Mega “I mean, listen, you’re going to be paid for the rest of your life off of this,” the singer said after being asked about the lack of pay. “People are going to be knocking at your door. They don’t have to pay me…but if they were paying, it’d be a lot of money.” View the full article

Published by Reuters (Corrects paragraph 22 to show Lake was an anchor for a local Fox affiliate, not Fox News) By Ted Hesson and Alexandra Ulmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In the past year, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has deployed thousands of National Guard troops to the southern U.S. border, begun building a new border barrier, and arrested migrants for allegedly trespassing on private property. The two-term Republican governor has taken the lead in opposing Democratic President Joe Biden’s immigration reforms, earning him an endorsement by former President Donald Trump. But as Abbott runs for a third term, conservative candidates challenging him in a March 1 Republican nominating contest contend he is still not tough enough on illegal immigration. Allen West, a former Republican U.S. congressman, says Texas should arrest and deport immigrants who enter the United States illegally – something states do not have the power to do – if the federal government refuses to act. The “porous border” shows how Abbott’s approach has failed, West argues. Don Huffines, a businessman and former state senator, wants to close Texas’ bridges with Mexico to most inbound traffic and deploy the entirety of the state’s National Guard to the border. Abbott spokesperson Renae Eze rejected criticism of the governor’s immigration record, saying that Texas had been forced to step up after Biden “abdicated” his responsibilities to safeguard the border. While opinion polls show Abbott has a sizable lead over both West and Huffines, he will likely face the most competitive gubernatorial primary of his career. The attacks from his right flank show how even the staunchest Republican border hawks face pressure to be ever more stringent on the issue in the run-up to the election. Trump rewrote the party’s immigration playbook after he successfully campaigned in 2016 on building a border wall and blocking the entry of refugees, often employing nativist language to describe his goals. The current election cycle shows Trump’s influence persists even after losing the presidency in 2020 – and that some candidates are going further. “No issue grabs the attention of Republicans like immigration and border security do,” said James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas. Republican primary voters have a seemingly “unlimited appetite” for tough immigration measures, Henson added. CALLS FOR MORE ACTION Some 68% of Republicans in Texas say border security or immigration are the top issues facing the state, according to an October 2021 University of Texas poll. And while Republicans broadly approve of Abbott’s immigration policies, according to surveys, the polling suggests they want even more action. The tougher border proposals pushed by Abbott’s challengers demonstrate how Republican candidates are trying to out-Trump each other on an issue that remains a powerful galvanizing force for the party’s primary voters, despite economic issues and tensions around COVID policies dominating headlines. And for Republicans in competitive primaries, a tough stance on immigration is a way to differentiate themselves without risking backlash from voters, said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist. Republicans across the country have made immigration a major focus heading into the Nov. 8 congressional election, where Democrats risk losing control of Congress, stymieing Biden’s legislative agenda. Candidates can tap into voter outrage over record-high attempted border crossings and the cost of providing public services to migrants, a message amplified by the country’s popular conservative media like Fox News. Liberal advocacy groups say Republicans are demonizing migrants who come to the United States seeking refuge, distorting the economic effects of immigration, and trying to capitalize on xenophobic fears over the fate of the country’s white majority. ‘EVERY STATE IS A BORDER STATE’ As Republican candidates work to burnish their hardline immigration credentials, some are turning to Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump’s restrictive immigration agenda. Miller is formally advising Republican hedge fund CEO David McCormick in his campaign for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania and informally speaking with other candidates, he told Reuters. McCormick last week visited the Arizona town of Yuma near the Mexican border – some 2,400 miles (3,900 km) from Pennsylvania’s capital Harrisburg. “Every state is a border state when Joe Biden and his administration incentivize illegal immigration,” he said in a written statement. In Arizona, Kari Lake, the Trump-endorsed Republican frontrunner for governor, agrees with Texas’ border crackdown but has vowed to go further. Lake, a former anchor at a local Fox affiliate in Arizona, wants to forge an alliance among like-minded states to deport immigrants in the United States illegally, which is a federal responsibility. Some Republican primary candidates are even taking aim at legal immigration, once a major plank of the party’s pro-business stance. “We need to have a full immigration moratorium,” said Trump-endorsed Joe Kent, an Army veteran running in a Washington state primary against U.S. Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler. Kent says too many tech jobs are being taken by H-1B visa holders, a skilled-worker program whose recipients are majority Indian. It remains to be seen if enough voters will back the hardliners. Lake narrowly leads the field of Republican candidates for Arizona governor. McCormick entered the race for the U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania about a month ago and public polling has yet to gauge his standing. Analysts say Washington’s voting system, where candidates of all parties appear on the primary ballot together and the top two vote-winners advance to the general, will favor moderates like Herrera Beutler. Nonetheless, NumbersUSA, a hawkish advocacy group that pushes for lower levels of immigration, said it had received more responses than usual to an election-year survey it conducts among candidates to rate them on their hardline immigration stances – suggesting candidates are eager to establish their Trump-esque credentials. “A couple years ago it used to be, ‘Legal immigration good, illegal immigration bad.’ That used to be the Republican mantra,” said Deputy Director Chris Chmielenski. “You’re starting to see less of that.” (This story corrects paragraph 22 to show Lake was an anchor for a local Fox affiliate, not Fox News) (Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington and Alexandra Ulmer in San Francisco; Editing by Ross Colvin and Rosalba O’Brien) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Whoopi Goldberg has returned to ‘The View’ after a two week suspension. The 66-year-old actress had been suspended from her presenting role after claiming during a debate that the Holocaust was “not about race” and noted in her opening speech on her return to the talk show that it was “marvellous” to be back. She said: “Hello, hello, hello and welcome to The View. And yes, I am back. I missed you all. I got to tell you, there’s something kind of marvellous about being on a show like this because we are The View and this is what we do.” The ‘Sister Act’ star then went on to seemingly acknowledge her ill-received comments about the Holocaust by stating that debates on the show are not always handled as “eloquently” as they could be. She added: “Sometimes we don’t do this as eloquently as we could.” Whoopi – who was joined on her return to the ABC panel show by Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin and guest host Ana Navarro – had initially apologised for her comments on the following episode of the show just before she was landed with a two-week suspension. She told viewers: “I said something that I feel a responsibility for not leaving unexamined because my words upset so many people, which was never my intention. And I understand why now, and for that I am deeply, deeply grateful because the information I got was really helpful and it helped me understand some different things.” Her comments were criticised by the Anti-Defamation League and the Oscar-winning actress went on to issue a separate apology to the organisation, which was accepted. Frederic L. Bloch, chief growth officer of the ADL, said in a statement: “We criticized this misinformed statement and called for Goldberg to get her facts right and apologize. She did so, and graciously invited our CEO Jonathan Greenblatt to come onto ‘The View’ to talk about the racial underpinnings of the Holocaust and the problems caused by comments like Goldberg’s. ADL has accepted her apology, as we have always known her as someone who stands up for the Jewish community. Goldberg has been suspended for two weeks by ABC News. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Nancy Lapid (Reuters) – The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. Previous COVID-19 less protective against Omicron variant The immune response to COVID-19 helps protect against reinfection, but that protection is weaker against Omicron than it was against earlier variants of the coronavirus, according to new data. A previous SARS-CoV-2 infection protects against Omicron reinfection only 56% of the time, researchers found in a review of national data in Qatar. Having had COVID was 90.2% effective against reinfection with the Alpha variant, 85.7% effective against a Beta variant reinfection, and 92% effective against Delta reinfection, researchers reported on Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine. As was the case with reinfection due to earlier variants, however, “the protection of previous infection against hospitalization or death caused by reinfection (with Omicron) appeared to be robust,” they said. In cases of reinfection with Omicron, for example, the immune response to previous infection was 87.8% effective at preventing the second infection from progressing to severe or critical illness or death. mRNA vaccine booster protection declines within months Protection provided by booster shots of the mRNA vaccines from Moderna Inc or Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech SE starts waning quickly, according to data published in Friday’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Researchers reported that within two months after the second dose of an mRNA vaccine during the surge in infections caused by the Delta variant of the virus, vaccine efficacy was 94% against hospitalization and 92% against emergency department or urgent care (ED/UC) visits. Efficacy waned thereafter, but climbed to 96% and 97%, respectively, at two months after a booster shot. Four months later, however, that protection had declined to 76% and 89%. Once Omicron became predominant, vaccine efficacy was 71% against hospitalization and 69% against ED/UC visits within two months after the second dose, 91% and 87% at two months after a booster, and 78% and 66% four months later. The estimates are drawn from analyses of 241,204 COVID-related ED/UC visits and 93,408 hospitalizations between August and January. “Our findings suggest that additional doses (of vaccines) may be necessary,” Brian Dixon of the Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University said in a statement. “We also found that people who are Hispanic or Black are half as likely to have a third vaccine dose than people who are white, making (them) more vulnerable to severe COVID.” For a graphic on vaccines in development: https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/VACCINE-TRACKER/xegpbqnlovq/ (Reporting by Nancy Lapid and Gene Emery; Editing by Bill Berkrot) View the full article

Published by AFP Human-caused global heating accounts for more than 40 percent of the megadrought ravaging the southwestern United States Paris (AFP) – The megadrought that has parched southwestern United States and parts of Mexico over the last two decades is the worst to hit the region in at least 1,200 years, researchers said Monday. Human-caused global heating accounts for more than 40 percent of the dry spell’s intensity, they reported in the journal Nature Climate Change. “The turn-of-the-21st-century drought would not be on a megadrought trajectory without anthropogenic climate change,” lead author Park Williams, an associate professor at the University of California in Los Angeles, and colleagues wrote. Over the last decade, California and other western states have experienced severe water shortages, triggering periodic restrictions on water usage and forcing some communities to import bottled water for drinking. Occasional heavy snow or rainfall have not been enough to compensate. 2021 was especially dry. As of February 10, 95 percent of western US had drought conditions, according to the US government’s Drought Monitor. Last summer, two of North America’s largest reservoirs — Lake Mead and Lake Powell — reached their lowest recorded level in more than a century. The odds are high that the current dry spell will continue for at least a couple of years, probably longer, according to the findings. Running simulations based on soil moisture records stretching back 1,200 years, the researchers calculated a 94 percent chance that the drought would extend through 2022. There’s a three-in-four chance it will run until the end of decade. Tree-ring analysis shows that the area west of the Rocky Mountains from southern Montana to northern Mexico was hit repeatedly by so-called megadroughts — lasting at least 19 years — between the years 800 and 1600. Chronic water scarcity Earlier research had established that the period 2000-2018 was likely the second worst drought since the year 800, topped by one in the late 1500s. Data from 2019-2021, backed by new climate models released last year, have revealed the current drought to be worse than any from the Middle Ages. But without climate change it “wouldn’t hold a candle to the megadroughts of the 1500s, 1200s or 1100s,” Williams said in a statement. Western North America is not the only region hit by increasingly severe dry periods. Climate change worsened the El Nino-driven droughts of 2015-2016, leading to widespread crop failures, loss of livestock, Rift Valley fever outbreaks, and increased rates of malnutrition. Globally, 800 million to three billion people are projected to experience chronic water scarcity due to drought caused by two degrees Celsius warming above preindustrial levels, according to a draft 4,000-page Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on climate impacts seen by AFP. In a 4C world, that figure is up to four billion people. Earth’s surface has already warmed 1.1C on average, and is almost certain to breach the 1.5C cap called for in the Paris Agreement within two decades. Other natural extreme weather events enhanced by global warming include deadly heatwaves, flood-causing rainfall and superstorms. View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Candian citizens aren’t the only ones backing the truckers’ “freedom convoy.” Loads of celebrities — who aren’t even Canadian — are throwing their hat in the ring. Billionaire Elon Musk, comedian Russell Brand, and right-wing Fox News host Tucker Carlson are among those with star power vocalizing about their support. Evangeline Lilly Attended D.C. Rally Where Anti-Vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Compared Vaccine Mandates To The Holocaust Mega The self-proclaimed “freedom convoy” includes thousands who are protesting vaccine mandates for truckers that were implemented last month on the US-Canadian border. Their peaceful protests have quickly gone sideways with some joining the movement while waving Confederate and Nazi flags. They not only want the vaccine mandates abolished, but they also want Canadian Prime Mister Justin Trudeau ousted from office. Taking to YouTube, Brand dropped a 14-minute video explaining why he’s backing the truckers. Calling out what he claims as hypocrisy, the British comedian said the delivery drivers have gone from being heroes during the pandemic to the bad guys who are “loathed if they won’t participate and capitulate according to the wills of the powerful.” Mega “This is precisely what people need to do. You have to work out what your objectives are, work out how you’re going to pursue it, make sure you’re ideologically sound and that your conduct is fair,” Katy Perry‘s outspoken ex-husband said about the “freedom convoy.” “We’re dealing with a pretty nefarious machine that will say anything to shut down opposition to its intentions.” As for Musk, the Telsa founder — who was born in South Africa — made his support known from the very beginning. “Canadian truckers rule,” he tweeted on January 27. He’s also been liking tweets about other countries who are stopping their mandates. Mega When it comes to Tucker, everyone knows he’s on board with the truckers’ protest. The conservative television personality is even selling t-shirts online reading, “I (heart) Truckers” instead of “I (heart) Tucker.” Thousands of truckers have been stationed in the capital city of Ottawa for more than two weeks, blocking streets, heckling citizens, honking horns at all hours of the night, and even forcing some businesses to shut down. The mayor of Ottawa has even declared a state of emergency. Besides Elon, Brand, and Tucker, another celebrity backing the truckers includes Marvel star Evangeline Lilly, who is actually Canadian. As Radar reported, the actress even attended an anti-vaxx rally last month in D.C. View the full article

Published by Reuters NEW YORK (Reuters) -A U.S. judge on Monday threw out Sarah Palin’s lawsuit accusing the New York Times of defaming the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican U.S. vice presidential candidate by incorrectly linking her in an editorial to a mass murder. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan said he will order the dismissal of Palin’s lawsuit, but in an unusual twist will enter his order after the jury finishes its own deliberations. Rakoff said he expected Palin to appeal, and that the appeals court “would greatly benefit from knowing how the jury would decide it.” The judge’s order effectively preempted a potential jury verdict to the contrary, in a case seen as a test of longstanding protections for American media. Jurors began deliberating on Friday and resumed their work on Monday. They are not being told about the judge’s ruling, and will continue deliberations. Palin, 58, had sued the newspaper – one of America’s most prominent media organizations – and its former editorial page editor James Bennet, arguing that a 2017 editorial incorrectly linked her to a mass shooting six years earlier that wounded Democratic U.S. congresswoman Gabby Giffords. It is rare for a major media outlet to defend its editorial practices in court, as the Times had to do in this case. Palin had sought unspecified monetary damages. Palin had said that if she lost at trial, her appeal might challenge New York Times v. Sullivan, the 1964 U.S. Supreme Court decision establishing the “actual malice” standard for public figures to prove defamation. The lawsuit concerned a June 14, 2017, editorial headlined “America’s Lethal Politics,” that addressed gun control and lamented the rise of incendiary political rhetoric. It was written the same day as a shooting at a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia where Republican U.S. congressman Steve Scalise was wounded. One of Bennet’s colleagues prepared a draft that referred to the January 2011 shooting in a Tucson, Arizona, parking lot where six people were killed and Giffords was wounded. Bennet inserted language that said “the link to political incitement was clear” between the Giffords shooting and a map previously circulated by Palin’s political action committee that the draft editorial said put Giffords and 19 other Democrats under crosshairs. On the witness stand, Palin compared herself, a celebrated conservative politician with a national following, to the biblical underdog David against the Times’ Goliath, while accusing the newspaper of trying to “score political points.” Palin testified that the editorial left her feeling “powerless” and “mortified,” and that the correction issued by the newspaper the morning after publication was accurate but insufficient and did not mention her by name. She maintained that the Times undermined her reputation by falsely linking her to a mass murder and by not being fast or thorough enough in correcting its error. Palin, who no longer commands as much public attention as she once did, struggled under cross-examination to provide specific examples about how the editorial harmed her reputation and cost her opportunities. (Reporting by Jody Godoy and Jonathan Stempel in New York;Editing by Will Dunham and Noeleen Walder) View the full article

Published by Hong Kong Free Press Hong Kong Gay Games founder and leader Dennis Philipse has announced that he is stepping down, citing “continuing uncertainty” over the city’s international travel regulations during the Covid-19 pandemic. In a statement issued on Monday, the Gay Games 11 Hong Kong (GGHK) co-chair said it was time for him to resume his professional career, after the event, which was originally scheduled for November this year, was postponed to 2023 owing to the city’s pandemic-related travel rules. Philipse served the organisation for seven years and worked as a full-time volunteer since 2020. Originally from … Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Grindr has limited the visibility of Olympic athlete users in an attempt to protect their privacy. The location-based gay dating app – which has around 13 million monthly users – has an ‘Explore’ feature, which allows for the tracking of any location in the world, but the feature has been modified to exclude profiles logging in from the Olympic Village. Grindr boss Jack Harrison-Quintana said in a statement: “We want Grindr to be a space where all queer athletes, regardless of where they’re from, feel confident connecting with one another while they’re in the Olympic Village.” While users staying in the Olympic Village – which is an is an accommodation centre built for the Olympic Games set up in the hosting city, the next of which will be Paris in 2024 – will be able to browse nearby profiles, but the new privacy setting will prevent the athletes from unwanted exposure. Users logging in to Grindr from the Olympic Village will be told: “Your privacy is important to us. Our Explore feature has been disabled in the Olympic Village so that people outside your immediate area can’t browse here.” It comes just one month after Grindr removed itself from Apple’s App Store in China, citing a new privacy law was the reason behind their decision, despite initial reports it was due to views on homosexuality in China. In a statement, a Grindr spokesperson said :”We’ve chosen to remove our app from the app store in China due to the potential increased burden from China’s recently implemented Personal Information Protection Law. We may revisit this in the future.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English ‘Friends’ has been censored in China over its LGBT-related storylines. The hit US sitcom has been edited on Chinese streaming platforms – including iQiyi and Youku – which have removed all references to Ross Geller’s ex-wife Carol being gay and in a relationship with another woman. Carol – who was played originally by Anita Barone, before she was replaced by Jane Sibbett – was edited out of her first appearance in the show, including all references to Ross – played by David Schwimmer – getting divorced, the South China Morning Post newspaper reports. Meanwhile, a scene that showed Joey – played by Matt LeBlanc – and Chandler – played by Matthew Perry – kissing at a New Year’s Eve party has also been removed by the streaming platforms. Fans of the comedy recently took to the Chinese social media site Weibo to voice their opposition to the move, using the hashtag FriendsCensored. However, the hashtag has now been removed from the site, according to CNN. Prior to this release, the unedited version of the sitcom was available between 2012 and 2013 on platforms such as Sohu and iQiyi. However, in 2016, the Chinese government brought in new guidelines that prohibited TV programmes from featuring gay relationships, along with topics that “exaggerate the dark side of society”. The eight-page document banned “vulgar, immoral and unhealthy content” and ruled that homosexuality, extra-marital affairs, casual sex and underage relationships as no-go areas. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, the Oscar-winning biopic of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, was previously altered to satisfy the guidelines. Editors of the film removed over two minutes of LGBT-related content, including two men kissing and the use of the word “gay”. View the full article

=Editor’s Notes: Dont Say Gay, Cancel GayPeekaboo Republican laws that address the triggering issues of dream-state parents with laws that make it illegal to acknowledge, discuss, teach them based proliferate “Don’t Say Gay” Laws. Criminalize hunger? What if it was a crime to ask for food, sleep or a hug as our solution to hunger, fatigue or a broken heart. The fantasy of making complex issues magically disappear by willfully not seeing them by enacting eyes-wide-shut laws that make it criminal at the point of recognition has its attractions. Magical solutions to real problems like rapture, confession, afterlife rewards offer a pass and are great solutions when you can get them. Covering one’s eyes to deny the truth goes with the attractions of alternate realities, ignore direct questions, skip meetings where response will be required, limit or prohibit debate, refuse opportunities to learn. A focus on process or threatening those who are in fact the victims also support the peekaboo principal. Gaslighting, bullying, ostracizing, undermining experts, news, institutions solidify the fiction. So does the lawyerly fiction that getting off on a technicality is the same as being right. Peekaboo rules say that as long as you don’t acknowledge you have no responsibility. You may have broken it, but if they don’t see and you don’t say it, it’s not on you. In the real world it takes kids up to 8 months to understand “object permanence”, that items and people exist even when you can’t hear or see them. Feelings, social identities, and a violent history dont’ disappear when we close our eyes. Triggered Parents — Gay Marriage Correlated is the idea that legislating eradicates by fiat. Gay love, and the issues growing up gay can’t be banned like alcohol. Gay marriage opponents were led to believe that a referenda and/or legislation could make gay love go away. Of course that was never the issue, in this century at least. A lot less good vs. evil, the actual issue was equal treatment and equal access to cash and prizes we allocate to couples. But the idea — cynical or idiotic — that not recognizing gay relationships would rid the world of homosexuality prevails somehow. Cancel Gay laws restricting curricula and participation, with book bans don’t let anyone off the hook or end kids growing up and coming out in a hostile society. They would seem on the surface to violate constitutional imperatives of fairness and equal treatment. They exacerbate the problems. –MG, Editor GLSEN focuses on protecting and educating lgbtq youth.More states want to restrict how LGBTQ+ people, issues are discussed in schools At least seven state legislatures are discussing whether to regulate how textbooks, teachers and school curriculums talk about gender and sexualities. Originally published by The 19th At least seven states have introduced bills to regulate how textbooks and school curriculums talk about LGBTQ+ people or how teachers can discuss gender identity and sexual orientation with students. None have become law, although some — like Florida’s bill on classroom discussion, called the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by advocates — are advancing in state legislatures, and more could be introduced as the year continues. These bills focused on schools are at the nexus of two movements: adding restrictions to LGBTQ+ youth and limiting what can be taught in schools. The fights over sex and gender are happening alongside those over teaching about bias and systemic racism. Ban public school textbooks that “promote, normalize, support, or address lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) issues or lifestyles.” Proposed Tennessee BillProponents of the curriculum bills say that they are designed to give parents a say in their kids’ schools and protect kids. But LGBTQ+ advocates say the bills, if they become law, will put already at-risk kids in more danger of mental health issues or bullying — and even put them at risk of being outed to their families. While many of the nearly 150 anti-LGBTQ+ bills brought so far focus on restricting gender-affirming health care access and limiting transgender students’ ability to play in school sports, according to the ACLU’s count, the number of bills focused on education or curriculum restrictions is rising compared with last year. Some measures are more severe than others: A proposed Tennessee bill would ban public school textbooks that “promote, normalize, support, or address lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) issues or lifestyles.” An Oklahoma bill would require school libraries to remove books related to LGBTQ+ issues. In Arizona, another bill would require parents’ written permission for students to join any student group or club involving gender identity and sexuality. require school libraries to remove books related to LGBTQ+ issues Proposed Oklahomo BillMost prominently, in Florida a proposed bill that is moving through House committees would prohibit school districts from encouraging classroom discussions on gender identity or sexual orientation and allow parents to sue if a school violates that agreement. The companion bill passed Florida’s Senate education committee onTuesday, and advocacy groups including Equality Florida expressed frustration that public testimony was halted early. Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appeared to endorse the effort at a Monday press event, linking school discussions about gender identity with critical race theory, an educational framework created 40 years ago that argues the country’s legacy of racism and slavery still affects Black Americans. “We’ve seen instances of students being told by different folks in school, ‘Oh, well, don’t worry, don’t pick your gender yet, do all this other stuff.’ They won’t tell the parents about these discussions that are happening. That is entirely inappropriate,” DeSantis said, adding that “I don’t think it’s going on in large numbers.” require parents’ written permission for students to join any student group or club involving gender identity and sexuality Proposed Arizona BillThe White House denounced Florida’s bill in an emailed statement on Tuesday, adding that the legislation “is not an isolated action,” as more Republican lawmakers “take actions to regulate what students can or cannot read, what they can or cannot learn, and most troubling, who they can or cannot be.” Jeanne Nettles, who teaches 7th and 8th grade in St. Johns County, Florida, said the bill could make some of her students — such as those with two moms or two dads — feel like they need to hide parts of themselves at school. “Are they not allowed to talk about their home life? … What are you trying to tell them by saying ‘you can’t talk about it’?” she said in an interview after the school day had ended. prohibit school districts from encouraging classroom discussions on gender identity or sexual orientation and allow parents to sue if a school violates that agreement Proposed Florida LawShe also feels it’s her responsibility as a teacher to be there for students who aren’t ready to talk to their parents about their gender identity or sexual orientation. She’s a safe adult in their lives that they can talk to, she said — and being bisexual has underscored to her the importance of being an out and visible ally for students. Lawmakers’ heightened interest in reining in students’ exposure to LGBTQ+ issues comes during a record-setting legislative onslaught against trans youth in particular. It also follows a year during which some school districts banned Pride flags as political speech and as part of a broader push from the right to censor or ban books about race, sex and gender. “All of those efforts are related,” said Aaron Ridings, director of public policy at the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). They are part of a broader political push to exclude queer youth and reduce their access to educational opportunities, he said. schools — or specifically teachers, counselors, and nurses — to inform parents about a student questioning their gender identity or being transgender. Proposed Arizona and Alabama Bills“These heavy-handed mandates around parental and family involvement are really unhelpful and increase the risk of LGBTQ+ young people being outed to families and parents who may not be affirming,” Ridings said. Family notification is the goal of several initiatives. Bills recently brought in Arizona and Alabama call for schools — or specifically teachers, counselors, and nurses — to inform parents about a student questioning their gender identity or being transgender. While anti-LGBTQ+ curriculum bills are not new, they have not had this kind of emphasis behind them before, said Cathryn Oakley, state legislative director and senior counsel at the Human Rights Campaign. She expects to see more of them as the year progresses. More from The 19th White House condemns South Dakota over anti-trans sports lawPrincipals are expected to be the ‘rock’ of schools, but they’re stressed out‘We feel like we lost two years of education’: School closings are more complicated for parents of children with disabilitiesHRC is especially concerned with how the bills frame restrictions on LGBTQ+ students as supporting parents’ rights, she said — including mandating that parents should know if their child comes out at school, but not at home. “If a kid isn’t safe coming out at home, or they’re not sure, coming out to a guidance counselor is perhaps a significantly better idea,” she said. Austin Johnson, who teaches sociology at Kenyon College and studies LGBTQ+ health, is worried that bills focused on schools — amid other anti-trans legislation — will make the growing problem of poor mental health among LGBTQ+ youth even worse. Concerned bills frame restrictions on LGBTQ+ students as supporting parents’ rights. Mandate parents should know if child comes out at school, but not at home. HRC“It’s a perfect storm for exacerbating what’s already a growing problem,” he said. In his own research with 18- to 24-year-olds last fall, which is expected to be peer-reviewed in March, he found that most queer kids are experiencing poor mental health. Hannah Willard, vice president of government affairs for Freedom for All Americans, said the organization is also seeing an increase in legislation impacting LGBTQ+ kids experience at school — and the overlap between anti-LGBTQ bills focused on schools and curriculums, combined with increased pressure within school districts to ban LGBTQ+ books and flags, also adds further precarity to the situation. “There are a lot of bills that seek to ban diversity, education, inclusion and critical race theory that also seek to ban curriculum and conversations about sexual orientation and gender identity and different family structures,” she said. Ban trans girls from playing on girls’ sports teams in schools. South Dakota Law, First this yearSouth Dakota is the first state this year to sign an anti-trans bill into law — banning trans girls from playing on girls’ sports teams in schools. The White House condemned lawmakers in the state on Monday for passing the bill. Johnson said that, if he had been able to learn about what being transgender meant in high school — especially from a teacher — that would have alleviated the despair that enveloped him; despair that he couldn’t understand or find words for on his own. “I think it would have totally changed my life,” he said. “I think that I would have made different choices in terms of self care. … I didn’t know myself, so it was hard to care for myself.” Don’t Say Gay, Cancel Gay, Triggered Parents on Towleroad Joe Rogan Podcast Goliath Got Big Centering Contrarian POVs For Young Men Who Want Provocative Options To This Being All There Is. More Jennifer Coolidge wants to make an ‘a** candle’ More Still Standing, Freedom Convoy Protest Hold Strong After Justin Trudeau’s Deadline To Clear US-Canada Bridge More Kevin Spacey Accuser Claims Actor Played Gay Porn For Him When He Was 16 More Royal Collection Launches Official Buckingham Palace Wine; Joins Line of Condiments Launched Weeks Ago More Italy’s Catholic Church faces pressure for independent abuse inquiry More New York museum pays to tribute to late superstar designer Abloh More The Kentucky Gentlemen’s ‘Whatever You’re Up For’ Is a Country Bop By One Of A New Wave Of Black Queer Country Artists [LISTEN] More New Photo of Prince Andrew With Ghislaine Maxwell, Bill Clinton, Kevin Spacey On A Tour Of Queen’s Residence More Marketplace suspends most NFT sales, citing ‘rampant’ fakes and plagiarism More Few signs of Super Bowl trucker protest, monitoring firm says More ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’: High Baby Jorgeous, Bitter Betty and the Kennedie Assassination More TikTok Bans Misgendering, Deadnaming And Promoting Conversion Therapy; First Platform to Attempt Difficult Enforcement; GLAAD Takes Credit More Load More Photo by By Sam T, Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) View the full article

Joe Rogan’s ability to attract young male listeners is particularly powerful in today’s fractured media environment. Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Image Comedian and podcaster Joe Rogan is caught in a spiral of controversies. It began when “The Joe Rogan Experience” hosted COVID-19 vaccine skeptic Robert Malone and a number of musicians pulled their music off of Spotify in protest. It has continued with Rogan apologizing for using racial slurs in past years, which prompted the streaming service to remove scores of his old episodes from the streaming platform. Given the thousands of hours of content that Rogan has produced, the scrutiny is unlikely to stop there. As we argue in our forthcoming book, Rogan’s podcast has long promoted right-wing comedy and libertarian political voices, including some who trade quite gleefully in racism and misogyny. However, what makes Rogan’s rise particularly important is that it goes beyond the standard partisan political battling that Americans have grown accustomed to in social and broadcast media. Rogan is not just a purveyor of right-wing ideologies. He is also someone who has built an empire by introducing these ideas – and a wide range of others – to listeners from across the political spectrum. His truly unique skill is drawing in from that spectrum a massive, young, largely male audience that advertisers highly covet. Ideological whiplash When the Federal Communications Commission introduced the Fairness Doctrine in 1949, radio and television broadcasters were required to present controversial ideas in a manner that reflected multiple perspectives. However, the combination of cable television, niche consumer targeting and President Ronald Reagan’s deregulatory FCC succeeded in toppling the mandate. By 1987, conservative talk radio figures such as Rush Limbaugh embraced fully partisan approaches to content creation and audience accumulation. Ignoring their political opponents as potential listeners, they veered further and further to the right, garnering an increasingly homogeneous audience whom advertisers could easily target. Later, as Fox News’ popularity and reach grew, it took a similar tack, promoting conservative media personalities like Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Greg Gutfeld to preach to the right-wing choir. Today, some conservative voices such as Ben Shapiro and Steven Crowder take this logic a technological step further, embracing the silo-ing effects of social media algorithms to connect with those users most likely to engage with and disseminate their content. Although such figures certainly offend those who disagree with them, their place in the mediasphere is well-established and mostly ignored by opponents. Rogan, by contrast, is prone to ideological whiplash. Initially, he supported Bernie Sanders for president in 2020. Then he flipped to Donald Trump. He interviews and asks open-ended questions to figures ranging from staunchly left-leaning voices such as Cornel West and Michael Pollan to right-wing charlatans including Stefan Molyneux and Alex Jones. There is no political commonality among these people. But there is a demographic connection. For one, they are all men, as are the vast majority of guests on “The Joe Rogan Experience.” They are also provocative guests that appeal to young people and particularly young men, a group that is notoriously difficult to aggregate, often has disposable income and has a tendency to believe that mainstream political ideas don’t reflect their own. While Fox News sells politics to TV watchers, Rogan sells a sense of edgy authenticity to podcast listeners. His blend of comedy and controversy certainly has political implications, but from his perspective, it isn’t politics. It’s demographics. Spotify’s main attraction Rogan’s economic model of accumulating young male listeners, who make up a good chunk of his 11 million listeners per episode, is particularly powerful in today’s fractured media environment. Rogan is, for worse and for better, a true outlier in the world of contemporary talk media. Most political and many comedy podcasts employ the business model of finding an ideological space, connecting via cross-promotion and guest selection with similar shows, and allowing the algorithms of social media to drive traffic their way. It’s estimated that ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ attracts 11 million listeners per episode. Cindy Ord/Getty Images “The Joe Rogan Experience” takes this idea and pulls it in multiple, contradictory directions. Media figures left and right have – until now, at least – coveted opportunities to appear on the show. Once a comedian or podcaster has saturated their own political space, Rogan offers a chance to win over new converts and, in principle, have a discussion that breaks free of partisan constraints. For many Rogan fans, this breadth of discussion and freedom from norms is the heart of the show. Rogan, however, is far from a neutral host of a new public sphere. His feigned naiveté is all too often a cover to promote edgy, offensive and irresponsible theories that appeal to his audience’s self-styled suspicion of authority. He pushes the boundaries of political discourse by “just asking questions,” but then hides behind his background as just a comedian to distance himself from any undesirable repercussions. Spotify, like other streaming services, is primarily built on a wide range of content creators, each of whom attracts a small, dedicated audience, but none of whom are, on their own, particularly powerful. Rogan is the closest thing to a mass cultural product to be found in the podcast world. He is also one of the only names in podcasting big enough to garner headlines, good or bad. For a company like Spotify trying to boost subscriptions, Rogan’s cross-partisan, youthful, mass appeal is very hard to resist. Rogan’s recent apologies, however, prove that he is not impervious to pressure. We suspect Spotify will try to thread the needle: covering up Rogan’s penchant for misinformation and offensive provocation just enough to meet the minimum standard of acceptable corporate citizenship without tarnishing the comedian’s brand and demographic appeal. [Like what you’ve read? Want more? Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter.] Matt Sienkiewicz, Associate Professor of Communication and International Studies, Boston College and Nick Marx, Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies, Colorado State University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Joe Rogan Podcast Goliath Spotify on Towleroad Jennifer Coolidge wants to make an ‘a** candle’ More Still Standing, Freedom Convoy Protest Hold Strong After Justin Trudeau’s Deadline To Clear US-Canada Bridge More Kevin Spacey Accuser Claims Actor Played Gay Porn For Him When He Was 16 More Royal Collection Launches Official Buckingham Palace Wine; Joins Line of Condiments Launched Weeks Ago More Italy’s Catholic Church faces pressure for independent abuse inquiry More New York museum pays to tribute to late superstar designer Abloh More The Kentucky Gentlemen’s ‘Whatever You’re Up For’ Is a Country Bop By One Of A New Wave Of Black Queer Country Artists [LISTEN] More New Photo of Prince Andrew With Ghislaine Maxwell, Bill Clinton, Kevin Spacey On A Tour Of Queen’s Residence More Marketplace suspends most NFT sales, citing ‘rampant’ fakes and plagiarism More Few signs of Super Bowl trucker protest, monitoring firm says More ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’: High Baby Jorgeous, Bitter Betty and the Kennedie Assassination More TikTok Bans Misgendering, Deadnaming And Promoting Conversion Therapy; First Platform to Attempt Difficult Enforcement; GLAAD Takes Credit More U.S. Congress passes ban on forced arbitration of worker sex abuse claims More Load More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Jennifer Coolidge wants to develop an “a** candle”. The 60-year-old star will feature alongside Gwyneth Paltrow in the Super Bowl commercial for Uber Eats and joked that she wants to develop a product to rival Gwyneth’s infamous ‘This Smells Like My Vagina’ candle. Jennifer told PEOPLE: “You know what I want to do? I want to have an a** candle. I want to be the first that comes up with it!” The Uber Eats advertisement shows both Jennifer and Gwyneth – as well as Trevor Noah and Nicholas Braun – taking bites out of inedible objects such as paper towel rolls, dish soap and more. In the clip, Paltrow is seen biting her Vagina candle – uttering the words: “This candle tastes funny. Not bad, but funny.” Jennifer admitted that she was stunned to have the chance to appear in the advertisement and thought it was “crank phone call” at first. The ‘White Lotus’ actress said: “This is my first Super Bowl ad. Who would have thought? When they told me they wanted to do this, I thought it was a crank phone call! “It’s been so great working with Uber Eats because they’ve really made this into a great business. It’s a concept I didn’t know anything before I signed up to do this commercial. I thought they just did food, but there are so many things you can have delivered with Uber Eats. “It’s just so cool that you can just get on an app and get everything brought to your house!” Meanwhile, Gwyneth previously revealed that she hoped that her Vagina candle – which launched on her Goop website – removed the stigma around female sexuality. The 49-year-old actress said: “The idea [is] that women have been taught to have a certain amount of shame about their body. So, if you just light a candle that says ‘This Smells Like My Vagina’, and put it on the coffee table, it’s kind of a punk rock statement.” View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega The “Freedom Convoy” protesters still occupy the US-Canada Ambassador Bridge in stance against COVID vaccine mandates set by the Canadian government. The convoy is holding up even though Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ordered a State of Emergency to have the truckers evacuated from the bridge. Mega Trudeau declared that ‘everything is on the table’ to end the protest. Ottawa police were stationed on the bridge with threats to forcibly remove the truckers who have been blocking the border bridge. Officers also reportedly handed out flyers warning those refusing to retreat risk having to pay up to a $100,000 fine each. Threats were also made to have the drivers permanently lose their commercial driving license. The blocking of the bridge went from a highly covered protest to Canadian COVID restrictions to a full blown illegal act after Ontario Superior Court Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz granted an injunction. The judicial order illegalized the occupation of the bridge and gave authorities the power to arrest anyone who violated the warning. The convoy on the bridge didn’t budge. Both deadlines set for 7pm — and then midnight — never came to bare any fruit as police never moved in on the hundreds of protesters refusing to back down. Police were flashing the lights from their cars, but few officers were seen by the time they were supposed to disperse the crowd. Mega The convoy has gained so much notoriety now American based organization ‘Convoy to Save America’ is set to converge with the Freedom Convoy on the bridge that connects Ontario Canada to Buffalo, New York. The multiple convoys are set to join forces during the evening this Friday. The trucker protest has garnered a lot of sympathy across the two countries — but they’ve also received plenty of criticism from people calling the convoy a right wing anti-vax demonstration. Vox even reported about sightings of confederate and Nazi flags seen at the demonstration. “President Biden and I both agreed that for the security of people and the economy, these blockades cannot continue” Trudeau said at a press briefing on Friday. “We talked about the U.S.-based flooding of the 911 phone lines in Ottawa, the presence of U.S. citizens in the blockade and the impact of foreign money to fund this illegal activity.” Mega Police in Ottawa have claimed that numerous 911 calls have “flooded” their phones Ottawa in recent weeks, which seemed to intend to tie up and confuse police away from the protest. They also reportedly claim a significant number of calls came from “United States addresses.” As of right now no protester has been arrested and the crowd reportedly are bolstered after defying the Prime Minister’s deadline to leave the bridge. View the full article