November 5, 2022

Tiffany Cross 'Disheartened' By MSNBC Ouster, Says 'My Work Is Not Done'

The outspoken weekend anchor, whose show was cancelled earlier Friday by the NBCUniversal-owned cable outlet, said in a statement Friday night that her freewheeling, outspoken style was on the mark for a disruptive era in politics, and indicated she would continue her work elsewhere.

“I am disheartened to learn of MSNBC’s decision to cancel my show, ‘The Cross Connection,’ at such a crucial time — four days before the midterm elections,” Cross said, while spotlighting the program’s ratings. “And we were intentional about centering marginalized voices of the rising majority — from all communities of color.”

MSNBC cut ties with Cross unexpectedly Friday morning, telling her production staff of the decision Friday morning, according to three people familiar with the matter. A rotating group of anchors will lead her weekend hours until a replacement is found, and the production staff assigned to her show is believed to be likely to stay in place.

At partial issue, according to people familiar with the matter, are on-air volleys between Cross and commentators like Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly, who have criticized the MSNBC anchor’s views in recent months, sometimes spurring across to retort. MSNBC executives felt the segments were not up to standards, but Cross supporters wonder why the network didn’t do more to shield her from the criticism. After all, the show drew an average of more than 600,000 last month, according to Nielsen, though it captured fewer viewers than its time-slot rivals on Fox News and CNN.

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/tiffany-cross-disheartened-msnbc-tv-news-1235423889/amp/

October 30, 2022

Elon Musk Pushes Conspiracy Theory On Twitter About Paul Pelosi Attack

Source: Huffington Post

“The Republican Party and its mouthpieces now regularly spread hate and deranged conspiracy theories. It is shocking, but not surprising, that violence is the result,” former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tweeted on Saturday, linking to a Los Angeles Times story about DePape’s apparent far-right associations. “As citizens, we must hold them accountable for their words and the actions that follow.”

The article in question was written by The Santa Monica Observer, a right-wing outlet known for routinely publishing disinformation and conspiracy theories. The website once went as far as to peddle an outrageous conspiracy that Clinton died, and that the Democratic candidate running for president against Trump in 2016 was actually a robot.

“There is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye,” Musk responded to Clinton’s tweet, attaching a link to an article falsely claiming that Paul Pelosi’s attacker was a lover he met at a bar in the middle of the night. The claim is not credible by any means and further threatens the safety of not only Pelosi and her family but also those in the LGBTQ community.

On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) told host Chuck Todd that she does not trust Musk to run Twitter ethically. Klobuchar, who chairs the Senate committee overseeing federal elections, said she endorses reducing social media companies’ Section 230 immunity, which would allow them to be sued for making money off of amplifying election disinformation and hate speech.

https://twitter.com/oneunderscore__/status/1586705231177474050

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elon-musk-pushes-conspiracy-theory-paul-pelosi_n_635eaa7ce4b01c1b94e78407

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Sickening. Elon Musk should be banned from Twitter, not in charge of it.

October 29, 2022

Charlie Crist for the win...

https://twitter.com/CharlieCrist/status/1586043500507824133

October 26, 2022

Florida attorney who opposed state helmet law dies in motorcycle crash while not wearing one

Ron Smith, an experienced rider, was killed on Aug. 20 after he lost control of his motorcycle and crashed into a utility trailer. His girlfriend, Brenda Volpe, was his passenger and also died.

Smith, 66, was pronounced dead at the scene. Volpe, 62, died hours later at a hospital.

A medical examiner said Smith and Volpe died from head trauma, the Times reported. The office did not immediately return a request for comment on Wednesday.

The accident report noted that neither was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, although it is unknown whether one would have prevented their deaths.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/florida-attorney-opposed-state-helmet-law-dies-motorcycle-crash-not-we-rcna54095

And more irony: Ron Smith was heading to a memorial service for another biker who died in August when he crashed his bike as he tried to slow for traffic in front of him.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/florida-lawyer-who-fought-helmet-laws-killed-in-motorcycle-crash-while-not-wearing-a-helmet

October 24, 2022

Nearly 100 Cuban migrants returned to homeland amid continued flight

Source: NBC News

The Coast Guard said the migrants were apprehended in one of four interdictions of unstable vessels headed to the U.S.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, responding to the rising number of Cubans discovered in "dangerous and unforgiving" conditions at sea, last year drew a red line."

Any migrant intercepted at sea, regardless of their nationality, will not be permitted to enter the United States," he said in July 2021.

Traditional U.S. policy allowing Cubans who make it to dry land in the U.S. to apply for legal status was ended under President Donald Trump, but the government still processes applications for asylum by migrants who reach the border in Mexico.



Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nearly-100-cuban-migrants-returned-homeland-rcna53649

September 29, 2022

Lara Trump posts video of her crying 5 yr old son in hurricane as a "character building exercise."

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjDXQvXDhAb/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Lara Trump made a big splash on social media Wednesday, but probably not in the way she intended.

Trump — who is married to Eric Trump, the second-born son of former President Donald Trump — posted a video on Instagram showing her 5-year-old son riding a toy bulldozer on a Florida street while rains from Hurricane Ian pour down on both of them.

The video was captioned, “Thought we had a clear window, turns out we did some character building instead 🙈🤣🌧🌀 stay safe everyone! 🙏🏽”

But what Lara Trump called “character building” others called cruelty, mainly because the child was visibly sad and crying in the video.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lara-trump-hurriciane-son-video_n_6334aae2e4b03e8038ba4abc

https://twitter.com/markos/status/1575211595424153600

https://twitter.com/tonyposnanski/status/1575157338595540992

September 29, 2022

Soccer world reacts to Iranian national team's brave gesture

https://twitter.com/davenewworld_2/status/1575052847066288128

With the FIFA World Cup coming up in less than two months, even though FIFA (and especially Qatar) would like players to be apolitical, it’s a worldwide platform for players to shine a spotlight on what’s going on in their nation. And that’s what the Iranian men’s national team did in a friendly against Senegal in Vienna, Austria.

The team wore black jackets that covered up any Iranian emblems during the national anthem and kept their jackets on until just before kickoff.

Iran went further as goalscorer Sardar Azmoun refused to celebrate his 64th minute goal. This coming a few days after the Bayer Leverkusen forward posted (and deleted) an Instagram story saying that players were forbidden from speaking out and said that being kicked off the national team is a “small price to pay” and said, “Shame on you for easily killing the people and long live women of Iran.”

And while some say this is an empty gesture and that they shouldn’t have played the game, that small number of people saying that is missing the point. Full disclosure, maybe three people had that sentiment in over five minutes of scrolling for responses. Sure, they could always do more, but these players are forcing the entire world to look at what is going on in Iran in a way that not even news people can do. The news can report what’s going on, but that can be tuned out if you try hard enough. But if you’re watching a soccer game that has players wearing all black to support the protests, maybe it means others become aware and support the cause.

http://amp.thecomeback.com/soccer/soccer-to-iran-national-team-protest.html

September 14, 2022

Gavin Newsom launches tool connecting women with abortion services in California

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is escalating his feud with Republican-led states that have restricted access to abortion after the Supreme Court's ruling earlier this summer rolling back the federal right to those services that was enshrined in the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.

As part of his effort to make California a safe harbor for women seeking abortions, Newsom, a Democrat, launched a new state website on Tuesday aimed at connecting women who live out of state with reproductive health care, including a tool that would help them find a provider and how to seek financial assistance for those services.

In a video introducing the site, the California governor touched on the privacy concerns many of those red state women now face -- noting the website abortion.ca.gov will not track them or their personal information -- as conservative lawmakers in some states weigh laws to prevent their state's residents from seeking care across state lines.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/13/politics/california-abortion-gavin-newsom/index.html?utm_source=fbCNN&utm_term=link&utm_content=2022-09-14T03%3A01%3A02&utm_medium=social

September 13, 2022

QAnon Follower Killed By Michigan Police After Shooting Wife And Daughter

A Michigan man died in a firefight with police Sunday after he allegedly killed his wife and wounded his daughter, with another family member blaming his interest in QAnon conspiracy theories for the attack, according to NBC News.

Igor Lanis, 53, fired a shotgun at officers responding to a 911 call outside his Walled Lake home, leading police to return fire, according to the local Oakland County Sheriff’s office.

The 25-year-old who placed the call had said her father shot her, the Sheriff’s Office wrote in a statement on Facebook. Responding police saw her “attempting to crawl from her home” and transported her to a local hospital for emergency surgery
...

“Fuck you, Qanon,” the daughter wrote at the end of her post. “I hope the FBI tightens its grip on you and that your lackies rot in prison (and hell) for poisoning so many people.”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/michigan-man-qanon-shooting_n_63207738e4b082746be389b4

August 30, 2022

Grandmother and grandson visit 63 national parks on adventure of a lifetime

Joy Ryan, 92, had never seen a mountain. So her grandson decided to take her to every site that has “national park” in its name.

Together, they’ve marveled at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and slept beneath the stars at Joshua Tree National Park in California. They did the bridge walk at New River Gorge Park in Lansing, W.Va., rolled down a dune in Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, and watched brown bears catch salmon at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park in Alaska.

“All of it has been magical,” said Brad, who moved to D.C. in 2018 and consults with various veterinary hospitals in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. “I’ve been able to see so much of the country and meet so many people with my grandma by my side.” Within the next year, they are planning to make it to the last national park on their list: the National Park of American Samoa. The final stop, they both said, will be bittersweet.“

As a grandson, watching her life story unfold completely differently than it otherwise would have, it gives me peace,” Brad said. “She finally got to start living the life of adventure she had always been waiting for, and deserved.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/08/30/national-parks-grandmother-brad-ryan/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F37c9877%2F630e36911930ae1d206f986f%2F5bc97fa5ae7e8a50f8217d42%2F38%2F70%2F630e36911930ae1d206f986f&wp_cu=aaf3abbba47fbc3f9baee01b61131acf%7C41ADDB499D553BA9E0530100007F77CC





Can I have a Brad, please?