Author: drastic215

New details are being offered in a book by a former top federal prosecutor, about how the Justice Department under President Donald J. Trump sought to use the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan to support Trump politically and pursue his critics, even pushing the office to open a criminal investigation of former secretary of state John Kerry. For two and a half years until June 2020, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York was the prosecutor Geoffrey S. Berman, when Trump fired him after he refused a request to resign by Attorney General William P. Barr, who…

Police arrested an elected public official in Las Vegas, Nevada, five days after the violent slaying of investigative reporter Jeff German. The official had been the subject of a series of high-profile stories by the slain journalist that uncovered claims of bullying and retaliation. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has taken into custody Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles, at his home in western Las Vegas around 6:30 p.m., just hours after investigators concluded a search of his property. The 69-year-old German worked for decades for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and he was the first to report the news…

While performing together in the U.K. famous comedians Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock slammed disgraced actor Will Smith over the actor’s attack on Rock during this year’s Oscars. During a portion of his stand up routine, Rock said in reference to the apology that Smith gave over the incident: “F*** your hostage video.” “Yes, that s*** hurt. He played Ali. I can’t even play Floyd Mayweather,” he added. Chappelle, who also commented on the incident, followed Rock, saying: “That was some scary s***.” Chappelle continued, noting Smith’s upbringing in west Philadelphia: “A lot of people forget who Will Smith is.…

UPDATE 9/10/22: Markle was not invited, according to Entertainment Tonight: “It’s understood that the family wanted Prince Harry to be there, even though he was unable to get to Balmoral in time to see his grandmother… but Meghan, the Duchess of Suss-x, was not, we understand, invited to join the family.” Before she passed away, Queen Elizabeth II was under medical supervision and members of the royal family were rushing to be at her bedside, but Meghan Markle was reportedly not making the trip. That Markle would not travel to Balmoral, where the queen was under care, was confirmed by…

Whoopi Goldberg is lashing out at people criticizing The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power and House of the Dragon over their casting choices. Social media users have condemned the series on Prime Video and HBO for becoming “woke” and portraying people of color in the original fantasy worlds created by J.R.R. Tolkien and George R.R. Martin. Whoopi Goldberg responded to the critics by accusing them of having a problem with black actors in the movie. In addition, she reminded them that fantasy shows are fiction, adding that there are no dragons, no hobbits. “I want to start by…

At the New York State Fair, punk rockers Dropkick Murphys made their views on the MAGA movement clear. Dropkick Murphys frontman Ken Casey stated, “If you’re a real patriot, you won’t support the MAGA movement,” according to local reports. His rant sparked some chants of “Let’s Go Brandon” from the crowd while others were cheering. Casey was also quick to criticize “MAGA” hats for being made in China, while much of the merchandise of his group was made in America. He then directed his attention to the faction of Trump’s base that still thinks the election was stolen: ‘If you…

In an interview with Vogue, Jennifer Lawrence, the Hollywood actress, said she has “recurring nightmares” about Fox News host and Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson. “This is hilarious and sad at the same time. Jennifer Lawrence admits that she has NIGHTMARES about Tucker Carlson. These people are absolute lunatics,” tweeted Robby Starbuck, who is a director and blogger. The actress described her healing process while dealing with the political division in her family, and also talked about her “emotional” state since the Supreme Court’s decision on June 24 to overturn Roe v. Wade. According to the interview, she spoke with…

A family of five figured out how to hack the freedom code! Molly and Jaren Garcia of the lifestyle blog We Plus Threee went on a trip and it turned into a potential nightmare. They whittled down their belongings, sold their house in Joshua, Texas, with three bedrooms, and two bathrooms, and moved with their three children into a recreational vehicle. The family has traveled and visited 25 states already since then, and is now in their fifth RV – a fifth-wheel that’s a 44-foot motorhome. The 30-year-old Jaren Garcia told this to “Good Morning America”: “We’ve hacked the freedom…

The White House was visited again by former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, for the unveiling of their official portraits, reviving the bipartisan tradition that stalled under the Trump administration. During the official visit, President Joe Biden celebrated the former first couple at a ceremony in the East Room, saying: “Barack and Michelle, welcome home.” Since 1965, the White House Historical Association has facilitated acquiring portraits of presidents and first ladies. According to the association, most presidents and first ladies select artists before they leave office. The portraits are displayed in the White House, once completed.…

Wilson Hospital School in Ireland decided to suspend one of its teachers because he refused to use the pronoun “they” when speaking to a certain student. Enoch Burke was arrested and urged to undergo a disciplinary process. Namely, the student identifies as transgender, and Burke believes that that is against Christian beliefs. The court imposed a temporary barring order, but Burke returned to the school nevertheless, and he was caught and taken to prison. “I am a teacher and I don’t want to go to prison,” Burke said regarding the incident. “I want to be in my classroom today, that’s…

A number of Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, have called on Netflix to remove what they consider to be “offensive content.” The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, initially made the call to ban the streaming of movies and TV shows featuring same-gender relationships or interactions, such as between two biological men or two biological women. Egypt was quick to follow suit, releasing its own statement. According to the Gulf Cooperation Council, the offending programs “contravene Islamic societal values and principles.” Egypt went…

The excuse used by Tesla CEO Elon Musk in his attempt to renege on his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter due to an excessive number of bots is gaining momentum. First came the claims of the Twitter whistleblower. Then, Robert Iger, who served as the CEO of The Walt Disney Company between 2005 and 2020, came out with more details. He revealed that Disney determined that a large proportion of Twitter users were “not real” when the entertainment giant considered purchasing the social network in 2016. Bots are a piece of important information mentioned by Iger, something that he…

Amid a fusillade of false claims, an email sent up a flare, which was sent from an anguished Fox News news producer to colleagues in 2020. “Fox cannot let host Jeanine Pirro back on the air,” the producer warned after she spread election conspiracy theories. He continued: “She is pulling conspiracy theories from dark corners of the Web to justify then-President Donald Trump’s lies that the election had been stolen from him.” The email’s existence is first publicly disclosed by NPR in this story, confirmed by two people with direct knowledge of it. Fox News has declined comment. In broadcasting…

American actors Ben Stiller and Sean Penn are no longer allowed to enter Russia after being added to the “stop list” by Kremlin officials. They join A-list celebrities, including former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US President Joe Biden, and fellow Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Russia and a few Western countries have been throwing rounds of sanctions at each other. Similar restrictions have been imposed on oligarchs connected to Vladimir Putin in the West. The list features names like Gina Raimondo, US Commerce Secretary, as well as six US senators and four…

The national Black Lives Matter group leader has been accused of stealing more than $10 million from the charity’s donors. The BLM Global Network Foundation and its board secretary, Shalomyah Bowers were accused by Black Lives Matter Grassroots, a nonprofit group that represents local BLM chapters across the country in a lawsuit of fraudulently siphoning over $10 million in “fees” to Bowers’s consulting firm. Bowers treated the BLM Global Network Foundation as his “personal piggy bank” and has acted as a “rogue administrator” and “middle man turned usurper,” says the lawsuit, which was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. The…

The CATO Institute has once again named Florida as the most economically free state in the nation. For the past few years, Florida has ranked first in the CATO’s Freedom in the 50 States assessment of economic and personal freedom. This ranking is determined by economic freedom. Individuals in Florida are not subject to a state income tax, according to CATO’s ranking analysis. “Florida’s state-level tax collections are more than 1.5 standard deviations below the national average, whereas its local tax collections are a little lower than average,” the organization noted. “Florida’s fiscal decentralization does not offer a great deal…

In what a top US commander called a “flagrant” and “unwarranted” incident, the US Navy blocked an Iranian ship from taking an American marine drone in the Persian Gulf. According to a press announcement from US Naval Forces Central Command, as US forces in the area were crossing international waters, they noticed the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps support ship Shahid Baziar. Baziar was hauling the unmanned surface vessel Saildrone Explorer. The USS Thunderbolt, a US Navy coastal patrol ship, was “operating nearby and immediately responded,” the Navy stated. US soldiers in the vicinity directly engaged with the Iranians to…

Bill Clinton was spotted next to Dr. Ruth during a Serena Williams tennis match. While Serena was the star to be watched, Clinton caught everyone’s attention due to his interesting company. Namely, the 76-year-old politician was accompanied by Dr. Ruth Westheimer, a therapist who focuses on, well, you know what. A 94-year-old therapist and ton Clinton engaged in extensive conversation during the game, frequently chuckling, joking, and nodding to one another. Dr. Ruth appeared to playfully slap Clinton on the face at one point. “Who knows what they’re talking about?” said ESPN analyst and ex-tennis player John McEnroe as the…

The 2022 MTV Video Music Awards night was marked by a political statement made by the songstress Lizzo. She used her winner’s speech to claim that laws in the U.S. were “oppressing us.” Lizzo, 34, won in several categories at the awards, with one being Video for Good for her hit About Damn Time. The “Good as Hell” singer admitted she didn’t know what the “music video for good” award meant. But she said that she was grateful for the votes of her fans who helped her win the trophy. “B****! Thank you so much, thank you to Christian [Breslauer],…

Famous singer Mariah Carey called out Meghan Markle for being a diva and it got heated. After Mariah Carey accused Meghan Markle of “diva moments,” the Duchess of Suss-x and her “Archetypes” podcast listeners — “started to sweat.” The 53-year-old Carey interrupted when the 41-year-old Markle told her guest that she does not personally “connect to” the “diva … persona.” “You give us diva moments sometimes, Meghan. Don’t act like [you don’t],” said the singer. “What kind of diva moments did I give you?” Asked the “Suits” alum and appeared flustered. Saying she “didn’t mean” anything by the comment and…