Two former congressional candidates are pushing the outlandish claim that the “Deep State” used “weather manipulation technology” to drive up Hurricane Ian’s strength to punish Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“We understand that the Deep State, they have weather manipulation technology. They have DARPA. They know how to manipulate and create big storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, climate change, etc.…,” said DeAnna Lorraine, who unsuccessfully ran in 2020 for Congress in Nancy Pelosi‘s district, on her show.

Taking the theory to cartoon villain levels, she posited the weather manipulation plot could be DeSantis reprisal.

“These huge hurricanes seem to target Red states, Red districts and always at a convenient time, typically, right before elections or, you know, in this case possibly Ron DeSantis has been stepping out of line a lot and challenging, fighting the Deep State,” she said.

Lorraine turned to her guest, saying “the timing is definitely interesting, and they’re even saying it,” and asking, “do you think this could be a weather-manipulated hurricane?”

“Yeah,” answered Lauren Witzke, former Republican nominee for Senate in Delaware against incumbent Sen. Chris Coons.

“We know the technology does exist,” she continued, referring to the weather manipulation and political punishment tech central to the plot.

“And I mean, DeAnna, they’re literally trying to change people’s DNA through vaccination,” she added, roping in a second conspiracy theory. “Of course they would be willing to do something like this to target Red states. I have no doubt. I mean, the technology exists to manipulate weather.”

“I mean, I know that Florida is prone to hurricanes,” Witzke allowed. “However, this developed into a [Category] 4, ooh, or a [Category] 5 overnight.”

“Right,” said Lorraine.

“And it does seem to be hitting the conservative areas of the state,” said Witzke incorrectly.

“I’m not putting it past the elites to target something like this toward Florida as punishment for getting rid of vaccine mandates or getting rid of child grooming,” she continued. “They are angry with us and it wouldn’t surprise me to find out and, yeah, the technology does exist. But you’re not supposed to talk about that or know about that because that’s controversial or a conspiracy theory.”

Watch above via Right Wing Watch.

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MLB Network’s Christopher ‘Mad Dog’ Russo took aim at Major League Baseball about how Barry Bonds is recognized as the single season home run champion.

Russo took to MLB Network’s airwaves on his daily show, High Heat, and bashed the idea that Bonds is the single season home run champion with 73.

New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge hit his 61st home run last night that tied Roger Maris for most in American League history. Maris hit his 61 home runs in 1961, and that record stood until St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Mark McGwire‘s 70 home runs in 1998. The benchmark of 61 home runs had been broken five times after McGwire did it in 1998.

McGwire followed up 70 home runs with 65 in 1999, and Chicago Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa hit more than 61 in three different seasons. Bonds hit his 73 home runs in 2001. All three players were accused of taking performance enhancing steroids. Co-host Alanna Rizzo brought up Major League Baseball recognized 73 as the record.

“Major League Baseball is wrong,” Russo added. “Major League Baseball should have cleared this up a long time ago.”

Russo believed Major League Baseball would not want to change records of what already happened.

“If MLB did the right thing, they wouldn’t have this issue,” Russo said. “I know they don’t want to open a pandora’s box, but MLB is wrong.”

Roger Maris Jr. told reporters last night that when Judge hits his 62nd home run, Judge will become the new home run champion. Russo agreed with Maris Jr. because of McGwire’s actions towards the Maris family in recent years.

“Roger Maris is right, so he can say anything whatever he wants,” Russo continued. “If anyone thinks I’m wrong, well then explain to me then why Mark McGwire felt compelled to call the Maris’ and apologized to Mrs. Maris. As Roger Maris Jr. told us last week on this station.”

This is a generational argument on who should be viewed as the single season home run champion. Most of the old guard will say it is Maris, now Judge, because of the steroid epidemic that hit baseball in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. The younger generation tends to go towards Bonds because that is who they grew up watching.

Judge has acknowledged that Bonds is the single season home run champion with 73. It will be up for debate for as long as time passes, unless Major League Baseball decides to step in and alter their record books.

Watch above via MLB Network.

Co-hosts of The View brought up a Donald Trump gaffe, a 1980 Gallup poll, and a Whoopi Goldberg slip in a series of ‘butwhatabout’ defenses of President Joe Biden‘s latest “brain fart” moment in which he publically called out during a White House event for a Republican congresswoman who was recently killed.

“My gosh, come on,” said Goldberg to start the conversation, suggesting that people are only “going after” Biden for this because there’s nothing else about which to criticize him.

Speaking at a White House conference, President Biden asked for late Republican Rep. Jackie Walorksi, who was tragically killed in a car accident last month. The congresswoman was to be memorialized at the conference, which she was instrumental in bringing about. President Biden issued a statement on her death.

“Jackie, you here?” asked Biden from the podium. “Where’s Jackie?”

“I mean she passed last month, not like a hundred years ago,” said Whoopi of the incident. “Because we dealt with that as well, where people said that person who died a hundred years ago did a great job.”

“Well remember Trump thought Frederick Douglass was still alive,” said Joy Behar.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Whoopi confirmed.

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was pressed about the issue at Wednesday’s briefing and, in the opinion of many political observers, didn’t handle it very well. View co-hosts Alyssa Farah Griffin and Sara Haines were among those who said so.

But after Haines said that “brain farts” can and do happen to everyone, and Jean-Pierre should have just said that, Behar went back to butwhatabouting. WAAAAAY back, all the way to 1980.

“Well she couldn’t really move on so easily since the right wing has weaponized his gaffes,” Behar angrily objected.

“Those were not right-wing reporters,” pointed out Haines. “But in the past, yeah.”

“I mean they have weaponized the gaffes, they say that he’s senile,” Behar continued. “You know I found a Gallup poll from 1980 that showed that the number one concern about Ronald Reagan was that he, quote, ‘he puts his foot in his mouth without thinking or considering the consequences.'”

“And he had Alzheimer’s,” added Sunny Hostin. Hostin then referred to almost picking up the phone to call her deceased grandmother as a comparison to Biden asking twice for the whereabouts of a congresswoman he memorialized just a month ago after her tragic death.

“I think they need to stop weaponizing his age,” said Hostin.

The segment closed on a light-hearted note, though, when Whoopi had one more butwhatabout: her own.

Watch the clips above, via ABC.

Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) groaned through a series of interview questions over his connection to the scheme to overturn the 2020 election with fake electors.

Johnson was interviewed by NBC 26’s Nina Sparano, who started things off by pressing him on his past attempts to minimize the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol as a “peaceful” protest. After that, Sparano brought up the “alternate slate of electors” that Johnson’s office apparently tried to provide to Vice President Mike Pence while he was being pressured by Donald Trump to stop Congress from certifying the election results.

In the past, Johnson has attempt to deflect scrutiny over the evidence against him by attempting to dodge reporters and blaming unnamed interns for the development.

“I had no involvement,” Johnson told Sparano before once again claiming “my lack of involvement was seconds worth of texting.”

“But that’s still involvement,” Sparano retorted.

“I was texted there had — something had to be delivered to the vice president,” said Johnson. “I didn’t know what it was. And was there somebody that could help arrange delivery? So then I texted, I talked to my chief of staff and he took care of it. We found out that the vice president wasn’t accepting anything and said we can’t deliver anything and that was the end of the story. You can’t call that involvement!”

Sparano continued to grill Johnson by asking that if Pence’s office said “yes,” would he have made the delivery “even though you didn’t know what it was?”

“What would you do if you get a call from the president of the United States lawyer wanting to get something to the vice president?” Johnson replied.

“But you didn’t know what it was,” Sparano countered. “Wouldn’t you want to inquire what something is to hand to the vice president of the United States during a critical time?”

“I didn’t hand anything to the [vice] president,” Johnson responded before claiming “I wasn’t involved” three times in a row.

“A couple texts. I few seconds of my time! I couldn’t even remember what I had done,” Johnson continued. This led to Sparano asking if Johnson’s chief-of-staff Sean Riley went “rogue” by asking Pence’s team how the senator could provide the phony electors.

“No, he was my new chief of staff,” Johnson answered. “He’d been to the White House. He knew these people. Someone was asking him to arrange and deliver something to the vice president. He contacted the people that he knew. The vice president says ‘we’re not accepting anything.’ End of story.”

“So, he knew what he was doing,” Sparano noted.

“We weren’t doing anything,” Johnson exclaimed. “Were we supposed to deliver something or not? Did the vice president want it? The vice president didn’t. We didn’t deliver anything. It’s a complete non-story.”

The exchange concluded with Sparano asking if Johnson would testify if subpoenaed by the January 6th Committee. His answer: “I would probably honor a subpoena, sure.”

Watch above via NBC26.

As the remains of hurricane Ian moved across the Florida peninsula Thursday morning and the storm now takes aim at the coast of South Carolina, the extent of the devastation left in Ian’s wake began to become clear as local residents and meteorologists posted clips to social media.

“Fort Myers Beach Times Square LEVELED following #HurricaneIan,” wrote on user on Twitter above a video showing the absolute devastation in Fort Myers, which took a near direct hit from the hurricane.

Fox News showed a clip from a social media user identified as @MALSMARIE who described losing her home in Fort Myers, Florida where Ian’s storm surge wreaked havoc.

“And that was my house,” says a woman, pointing to where her home once stood. “My house is gone. So for everyone wondering, it’s not livable.”

President Joe Biden visited FEMA headquarters on Thursday and noted that Ian “could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida’s history.”

“The numbers are still unclear, but we’re hearing early reports of what may be substantial loss of life,” the president said, adding, “First thing this morning, I talked to Gov. [Ron] DeSantis and again offered the fullest federal support,” he told viewers.

“So heartbreaking. Home swept away, livelihoods destroyed. Ian left a path of destruction along the southern Gulf Coast that we are just now really bringing into focus,” said Fox anchor Harris Faulkner.

“A side-by-side comparison. We’ve been doing this hour. You can see just how much rain has hit Fort Myers, barely recognizable now underwater. So hour by hour, it gets worse. The tide comes in. You heard that from mayors this hour, too, that as things begin to crest, anything around it, any tributary, just the tide from the ocean, it gets complicated and dangerous, even more so,” Faulkner explained, noting that many areas affected by the storm remain flooded or under threat from flooding.

Faulkner then spoke with Fox Weather meteorologist Robert Ray who was on the beach in Fort Myers.

“Take a look at this right now. I’m standing on concrete blocks that are, underneath is styrofoam, that makes them float. These are piers that were snapped in half here at this marina, just not far from downtown Fort Myers,” Ray said standing in front of an immense amount of debris.

“I’m going to make my way over to these right now because I want to show you guys the destruction of the boats out here. And on the bottom is this one’s flipped over the barnacles here on the bottom of this one. And look at this boat on its side here,” Ray explained, adding:

There are other vessels in the area that are completely smashed up by the storm surge and the wind. And that’s the thing when the storm surge came in yesterday. This is what it did, the power of it. It pushed all of these huge vessels and concrete and debris, trees, people’s belongings here all into this marina. And some of these vessels are very large and thrown around like toys.

Watch the full clip above via Fox News.

President Joe Biden chafed at what he considered to be a political question about his “relationship” with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis amid the devastation of Hurricane Ian.

President Biden and Governor DeSantis have been in regular contact and enjoyed good cooperation before and during Hurricane Ian, and both men have taken pains to shoot down any suggestion that political disagreement has in any way reared its head.

On Thursday afternoon, Biden spoke at FEMA headquarters about the federal response to Hurricane Ian before mingling with the agency’s personnel for awhile. At one point, a reporter asked about DeSantis in a way that rubbed Biden the wrong way, while another reporter was rebuffed for going off-topic:

REPORTER: Thank you. How would you describe your relationship and your conversation with Governor DeSantis?

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: It’s totally irrelevant, but I’ll answer. Okay. If I verified he complimented me. He thanked me for the immediate response we had. He told me how much he appreciated it, said he was extremely happy with what’s going on. This is not about whether or not anything having to do with our disagreements politically. This is about saving people’s lives, homes and businesses. That’s what this is about. And so I’ve been I’ve talked to him four or five times already, and it’s not a matter of my disagreements with him on other items.

REPORTER: Do you think Russia responsible for the rupture of the Nord Stream pipeline?

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Let’s stick with this. Okay. I mean, this is an important international issues, a lot of important international issues. But we’re here to talk about America. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has also fielded multiple questions of a similar nature about DeSantis over the past several briefings, and has similarly shut down any discussion of political disagreement.

Watch above via C-SPAN.

“The internet has a privacy problem,” isn’t a statement that’s likely to shock you. But just because we’ve all lost a lot of what we traditionally think of as privacy, doesn’t mean we need to resort to bad behavior. Case in point: If you’re sharing screenshots of people’s dating app profiles, you need to stop.

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New York Democrat Matt Castelli, who is running against Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), labeled House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) an “authoritarian” and stressed he is as willing to call out the “far right” as easily as the “far left.”

Castelli dubbed his congressional opponent a “traitor” in a Tuesday interview with The Jeff Graham Show, but also threw in digs at Pelosi.

“I’m willing to call out members of my own party when I think that they’re wrong,” he said when explaining his “traitor” comment. “Listen, I think Pelosi is an authoritarian, and I’m not going to support her for another term as speaker.”

The Democrat added that Pelosi “rules by division” and “breaks her promises.”

A spokesperson for Stefanik actually accused Castelli of “mimicking” Stefanik with his Pelosi criticisms, as Stefanik referred to Pelosi as an “authoritarian” in July.

“He is mimicking Elise’s talking point that Nancy Pelosi is an authoritarian,” the spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital, adding that Castelli’s campaign is “going nowhere.”

Castelli, a former CIA officer, countered though by saying that he has been criticizing Pelosi’ leadership for some time now and has been clear that he will not vote for her as Speaker of the House if he is elected.

The Democrat has stressed in interviews and public appearances that he is a moderate Democrat with views that can appeal to voters on both sides of the political aisle. He is a Second Amendment supporter, for instance, and a critic of the Defund the Police movement.

In an interview with Spectrum News this week, he also blasted Pelosi, deeming her to be “part of the problem” in Washington D.C.

“The old guard in Washington is part of this problem… those who would push for party loyalty above all other things,” he said.

Haters will say grilling season is coming to a close, but autumn is actually my favorite time to grill, because standing in the hot sun next to a hot grill kind of sucks. Corn season, however, is quickly dying down, which means you need to grill that last bit of sweet corn before it disappears for the year.

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The smell of caramelizing onions is one of the most heavenly aromas one can sniff, and it’s one of those foods where the taste lives up to the promise of the fragrance. Caramelized onions are condensed, intensely flavorful, sweet, savory, and a little pungent all at once. That flavor-bomb nature is what makes them so…

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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) laughed off a question about age limits for politicians, even after being told polling indicates most voters would approve of such limits.

Speaking to CBS Mornings on Tuesday, the 81-year-old mainly discussed the upcoming midterm elections, but at one point was asked about concerns over aging politicians like himself and President Joe Biden, who is 79.

Co-host Gayle King noted the ages of both Sanders and Biden, though she also made sure to compliment Sanders by saying the senator has not lost his “enthusiasm” over the decades.

“There is a group of younger politicians who say now is the time to let the younger generation come through,” King said.

Fellow co-host Tony Dokoupil jumped in and noted the “majority” of Americans want age limits, referencing a CBS poll showing over 70 percent of Democrats and Republicans want age limits for elected officials.

“Where are you on that question, Mr. 81-year-old?” Dokoupil asked.

Sanders laughed the question off and grabbed his ear, leaning in close and pretending he couldn’t hear the question.

“Excuse me, what did you say?” he joked.

After a laugh, Sanders claimed people are too focused on things like age, gender, and race and not concerned enough with the actual views of politicians.

“What I think we do, guys, is we look too much at race, at gender, at age — what does somebody stand for?” he said.

The senator did acknowledge someone needs to have their health no matter their age, especially if they are running for president.

“Obviously you want people who are competent, capable, have the energy. I mean, my God, to be president the United States requires an enormous amount of energy,” Sanders said. “But I would say first of all, take a look at what people stand for, and we don’t do that enough.”

Watch above via CBS.

YouTube titan Mr. Beast reveals in a new interview the highest buyout offer he has ever received for his content empire and why he turned it down.

Mr. Beast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, was speaking with comedian Andrew Schulz on his podcast Flagrant when he described the eye-popping sum.

The two were discussing Donaldson’s insane success on YouTube, with his main channel boasting over 105 million subscribers. In addition to his main channel, he runs over five other YouTube channels with over 10 million subscribers each. Not including the numerous foreign language channels that work to provide fans from all over the globe with his content.

He also recently launched his own restaurant chain, MrBeast Burger, and chocolate company, Mrbeast Feastables.

The Flagrant crew began talking about how Disney has acquired different media empires including ESPN, and related it to Mr. Beast’s own burgeoning empire.

“Hey Disney, do you just want to buy me and make my life easier,” Donaldson joked.

“I’m shocked that they have not offered you the craziest check in history,” Schulz replied.

“I have been offered a pretty crazy one,” Donaldson said. “Like, there’s people, not like official term sheets, but you know, like people that would actually like, be able to afford it. Yeah. You know, ‘a billion dollars if we could own the channel and the companies and stuff like that.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, that sounds enticing, but I don’t know if I wanna work for my YouTube channel.'”

“You’ve been offered a billion dollars for your YouTube channel?” cohost Akaash Singh asked.

“Well, with all the companies, yeah. But not like — again, not a term sheet, but like people who would — if I took it seriously, would’ve been like, ‘Okay, let’s figure it out,'” Donaldson clarified.

Donaldson elaborated that had he accepted the offer, he would have been the “youngest self-made billionaire” at the age of 24, excluding those who had been handed down wealth like Kylie Jenner.

“You got offered a B bro,” Schulz said in amazement.

“Basically — in passing. But, I know I could have pushed for something around there,” Donaldson said.

Although he could not reveal the identity of the potential buyer, Donaldson said he has his eyes set on a much higher value, in the range of $10 to $20 billion, if he ever decided to sell his companies.

Listen above via Andrew Schulz’s Flagrant with Akaash Singh.

 
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Raking leaves is a pain in the ass. It’s time-consuming, wet, cold, and can even trigger your allergies. You have to do it, but so tedious is this task that people have come up with a variety of hacks and devices to help you get it done more efficiently. You can scoop leaves up with plastic or use a tarp or blanket to…

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White House advisor Keisha Lance Bottoms took President Joe Biden’s recent targeting of “MAGA Republicans” to a new level this week, claiming there is a “MAGA Republican agenda” to “essentially destroy the United States of America.”

Appearing on MSNBC’s The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart, Bottoms addressed the GOP’s recent agenda, the “Commitment to America,” and declared that everyone needs to be following the president and calling out MAGA Republicans.

“There is a MAGA Republican agenda that gives no consideration to the rule of law, that has no respect for a woman’s right to choose, that wants to defund the FBI,” Bottoms said, going on to reference the January 6 Capitol riot.

Asked if the president and his administration would keep focusing on “MAGA Republicans,” Bottoms accused these “MAGA Republicans” of wanting to destroy the country. She also claimed in the same breath that the president wants to work in a “bipartisan effort,” just not with those deemed to be part of the Donald Trump’s “MAGA” movement.

“I think it will always be important to call out any effort there is to destroy, essentially destroy the United States of America,” Bottoms said. “President Biden has been very clear he wants to work in a bipartisan effort. He has worked in a bipartisan effort. He’s been able to get things done on behalf of our country, but when you have a MAGA Republican agenda that has no respect for the Constitution, that has no respect for free and fair elections then it is important for all of us, not just the president, not just me, for all of us to call it out for what it is.”

This agenda, the political advisor added, is a “threat to our way of life.”

“It is a danger to our democracy. It is a danger to our way of life,” she said.

Watch above via MSNBC

A Fox News host claimed former President Donald Trump was calling for “unity” when his supporters put their index fingers in the air at a recent rally. In reality, the supporters were expressing support for a deranged conspiracy theory asserting Democrats are Satan-worshipping pedophiles.

Emily Campagno was bashing Hillary Clinton on Fox News show Outnumbered Monday after the former secretary of state compared Trump rallies to how Germans became enthralled with Adolf Hitler.

Campagno claimed that while Clinton was criticizing Trump, Trump himself was describing the United States as “one America,” and that his supporters were putting “the finger in the air saying one.”

“So his calls for unity are ironically met with her comparison of World War II,” Compagno said.

Ironically, it wasn’t a call for unity that prompted supporters at the Trump rally to put their fingers in the air.

It was Trump playing a song associated with QAnon, a conspiracy theory that asserts Democrats pedophiles who worship Satan and want to destroy the world. Trump, the theory holds, is the man who can stop this global cabal of pedos.

What’s more, in a clip that went viral of Trump playing the QAnon song, he was attacking President Joe Biden as “cognitively impaired,” the Justice Department as pursuing him in a witch hunt, “fake news” media being “the enemy of the people,” crime being “rampant,” etc.

You could describe his comments as the opposite of unifying:

this is one of the most bizarre things I’ve seen at a Trump rally. All it is missing is passing around Kool-Aid right after. pic.twitter.com/BmPOztb7kA

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 18, 2022

Of course, Trump has never been one to embrace unity, or nuance, or measured rhetoric of any kind. Winking at a conspiracy theory that deems your political opposition Satan-worshipping pedophiles is at this point par for the course.

Compagno is likely referring to another part of Trump’s speech, when he referred to his supporters as “one movement, one people, one family, and one glorious American nation.”

The QAnon song played throughout those comments as well, and his supporters raised their fingers before he made his comments about “one America.”

Even Trump’s team acknowledged the QAnon salute might have crossed a line. “Once we saw that, we realized we might have a problem,” a Trump aide told CNN after the first incident of finger-gesturing in Ohio earlier this month.

At Trump’s Friday rally in South Carolina, the former president once again played the QAnon song, and supporters in the crowd once again raised their fingers — prompting security working for Trump to tell the supporters to cut it out.

Watch above, via Fox News.

Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Keith Olbermann wants you to know he used to date Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), and he also wants you to know that his ex has sold out to the “political industry” and given up her “progressive” values.

“When we dated, in 2010-11, Kyrsten was a legit progressive, far to my left,” Olbermann tweeted on Monday in response to a video of the Democratic senator speaking about her “friendship” with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

According to Olbermann, Sinema “has embraced the Political Industry where there is only process, not policy, and never people,” then recommending a “perfect solution” as her becoming the next host of NBC’s Meet the Press.

When we dated, in 2010-11, Kyrsten was a legit progressive, far to my left.

Now she has embraced the Political Industry where there is only process, not policy, and never people.

Perfect solution: she can be the next host of @MeetThePress https://t.co/lSvKDDykjZ

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) September 26, 2022

Some noted this is not the first time Olbermann has referenced his past relationship with Sinema in tweets targeting her.

A handful of tweets were stitched together by reporter Sam Mintz that actually got the attention of Olbermann. In the various tweets, he calls for Sinema, a “former friend,” to be removed from office and suggested “really unhappy things are going on inside” the senator.

Soft launching the fact that you dated Kyrsten Sinema pic.twitter.com/SEzrCHt3aI

— Sam Mintz (@samjmintz) September 26, 2022

Olbermann responded to the collected tweets, claiming he previously thought only referring to his and the senator’s former “friendship” was “sufficient context,” but now it apparently isn’t.

“For a long time I believed – and held to a preference – that there was no need to make the dating part public. The friendship preceded and followed it for a span of 7 years; I thought it was sufficient context. Turns out it wasn’t,” he tweeted.

For a long time I believed – and held to a preference – that there was no need to make the dating part public. The friendship preceded and followed it for a span of 7 years; I thought it was sufficient context. Turns out it wasn’t. https://t.co/2wtnRfuyrD

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) September 26, 2022

Shaquille O’Neal was not happy with the NBA’s decision to fine and suspend Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver for just one season.

The NBA handed Sarver a one year suspension and a $10 million fine for his racist and misogynistic behavior over his 18 years of ownership. Shaq reacted to the penalty on his podcast The Big Podcast — joined by Nischelle Turner and Spice Adams.

“If a major crime was committed, it would be equivalent to a guy getting probation,” O’Neal said.

Shaq described from what he saw in the reports about the findings from the investigation that more should have been done.

“They suspended him for one year,” Shaq added. “And they gave him a fine of $10 million. When you see the n-word and sexism, and this and that, and mistreatment of people and to be suspended for one year.”

O’Neal pointed out that Sarver being suspended would not actually mean that the owner would stay away from the team and the decisions made for the season.

“Suspended means you can’t show up,” O’Neal continued. “If I’m suspended from Shaq Shoe Industries, you best believe I’m still running it.”

Shaq was clearly disappointed with the lack of action taken by the NBA, but with Sarver ready to sell the team that should make up for the disappointment he felt with NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s punishment.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell showered praise on Kyrsten Sinema at an event where they touted their “friendship,” and the Arizona Democratic senator reciprocated and spoke of how they “share the same values.”

McConnell and Sinema appeared together at the University of Louisville’s McConnell Center (named after the Kentucky senator) for a lecture on bipartisanship and the future of political discourse. The minority leader gave Sinema’s introduction at the event, saying “I’ve only known Kyrsten for four years, but she is, in my view — and I’ve told her this — the most effective first-term senator I’ve seen in my time in the Senate.”

“She is, today, what we have too few of in the Democratic Party: a genuine moderate, and a dealmaker,” McConnell said. The glowing review continued as McConnell called Sinema “extraordinarily effective” and he especially praised her for opposing the push by her fellow Democrats for eliminating the filibuster rule and ending the 60 vote threshold for the advancement of legislation.

“She protects the institution of the Senate,” McConnell said. “It took one hell of a lot of guts for Kyrsten Sinema to stand up and say ‘I’m not going to break the institution in order to achieve a short-term goal.'”

Sinema reciprocated these warm remarks when she took the podium next, saying “At first glance, Senator McConnell and I have relatively little — or some could even say nothing — in common…Perhaps most obviously, we come from opposing political parties.”

Despite our apparent differences, Senator McConnell and I have forged a friendship, one that is rooted in our commonalities, including our pragmatic approach to legislating, our respect for the Senate as an institution, our love for our home states and a dogged determination on behalf of our constituents. In today’s partisan Washington, it might shock some that a Democratic senator would consider the Republican leader of the Senate her friend. But back home in Arizona, we don’t view life through a partisan lens. Arizonans understand that while we may not agree on every issue, we do share the same values.

Watch above via McConnell Center.

Cheesecake is the kind of dessert that requires you to fully commit well before you flick on the oven. It takes a lot of time, specific tools, and an unholy amount of cream cheese. Providing everything goes right, removing a sloshing tray of 350-degree water along with a three-pound cheesecake is rarely a pretty…

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When it comes to selling secondhand items online, there’s no shortage of options. From Facebook Marketplace and Nextdoor, to classics like Craigslist and eBay, if there’s something you’re looking to buy (or sell), there are many ways to find it.

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President and CEO of Media Matters Angelo Carusone told SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah he’s “terrified” the influence of new CNN chief Chris Licht will leave the network vulnerable to a takeover by Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch.

On Friday’s edition of The Dean Obeidallah Show, Carusone told the host that he’s rooting for CNN to succeed, but he feels the new direction will fail, and Murdoch will swoop in:

ANGELO CARUSONE: Thing I really am afraid of is that it is honesty that they sell to Rupert Murdoch. I’m terrified of this. It is super, it is his white whale and I think that it doesn’t fit into Discovery’s portfolio in a meaningful way. I’ve always been afraid of this, and the posture of making the platform more appealing, more attractive, more neutral, I think weakens it enough that they say, “Look, it’s just not worth it. We didn’t get the returns on investment. It hasn’t turned the corner yet.” You know, I don’t think they’re going to get the audience gains that they think they’re going to get, which is part of the strategy. And that’s a real problem, too. So at its core, I’m afraid that in the short term, we see some bad coverage out of them, some spots of bad coverage which actually have bigger harms when it comes from CNN. And then bigger… But longer term, I think that it actually weakens the business model of CNN enough that it makes them more susceptible to just being spun off. And that’s not great either.

DEAN OBEIDALLAH: That’s interesting, I never thought about that last one…

ANGELO CARUSONE: So I don’t think people realize how often Rupert Murdoch tries to buy CNN. It happens all the time. He did it and he made a really aggressive, year-long plus play in 2017 and a run at it in 2014. He’s made runs I did during the early 2000, and that matters because that’s how we got the Wall Street Journal. He tried to buy it half a dozen times before it, before he eventually convinced the Bancrofts, which were the owners of the Wall Street Journal, to sell it. So I don’t think it’s it’s insane or too far gone to say, nah, this guy doesn’t need to finance if he’s sitting on a mountain of cash that was supposed to be used and is earmarked for media acquisitions, they haven’t used it yet. It’s just I mean, there’s a mountain of cash. He doesn’t need the financing. He can pay for the deal in cash. He can overpay, which is what Rupert Murdoch always does. He always overpays, always, because he knows that it’s easier.

Watch above via Dean Obeidallah.

A Colorado police officer was placed on administrative leave after a detained suspect was hit by a train while in a patrol car parked on tracks.

Body camera footage of the incident was released this week, with FOX31 Denver first obtaining it. The footage shows two officers searching the suspect’s vehicle and discussing whether the detained woman tossed anything illegal, with one officer noting it took the suspect some time to actually pull over.

“Oh my God!” an officer is heard saying as they realize a train is coming. The train collided with the patrol car while the suspect was inside. The woman was identified as 20-year-old Yareni Rios-Gonzalez. Her lawyer, Paul Wilkinson, told FOX31 that his client tried to exit the vehicle when she saw the train coming, but the doors were locked.

Officers can be seen in the footage running around after the crash searching for the patrol car and calling for medical assistance. When they find it, the destroyed vehicle is lying away from the train tracks with the suspect still inside. Rios-Gonzalez was transported to the hospital.

According to the attorney, Rios-Gonzalez is expected to survive the accident, but she suffered nine broken ribs, a broken arm, and a fractured sternum. She has, however, been able to hold conversations, Wilkinson said.

“She is conscious and able to hold a conversation. She has been able to get up once and sit back down again,” the attorney revealed. The accident occurred earlier this month on September 16.

Authorities said they suspected Rios-Gonzalez of being involved in a road rage incident involving a firearm.

The Platteville Police Department officer whose patrol car was hit has been placed on paid administrative leave following the incident as an investigation into the incident takes place, Fox News reported.

Wilkinson blasted the officer’s actions as “gross negligence and recklessness.”

In a stump speech at the National Education Association (NEA) on Friday ahead of the upcoming midterm elections, President Joe Biden said that Republicans have to learn to love their country “even if they lose” an election, and mocked Republican leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy for his claim about restoring faith in elections — to the delighted amusement of the friendly audience.

He also said that “democracy is on the ballot.”

Biden focused on bashing MAGA Republicans for most of the speech but got applause and audible agreement from the union crowd when he said partway through that not all Republicans are MAGA Republicans.

During his approximately half-hour speech, Biden talked about the GOP agenda unveiled by House Minority Leader McCarthy on Friday morning, addressing individual items as well as mocking the overall presentation. He got a lot of laughs on the agenda item regarding elections.

“With a straight face, Kevin McCarthy says that Republicans are going to restore faith in our elections,” he said, as the crowd laughed. After he added, “as they say in my faith, bless me father, for I have sinned,” he got twice the laughs.

“Restore? Restore faith in our elections? MAGA Republicans refuse to accept the result of the 2020 election,” Biden continued. “Eighty-one million people voted Democrat for president last time.”

He went on to say that Republicans trying to win primary elections have to repeat “The Big Lie” — the term media and Democrats share for Donald Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election — or lose.

Watch the clip above, via WUSA9.

Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens got emotional while defending women in the organization who have faced “speculation” following reports of head coach Ime Udoka’s alleged affair with an unknown staffer.

Udoka was slapped with a one year suspension after a months-long investigation into his conduct, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck said at a press conference Friday. The team has not publicly disclosed specifics about said conduct, but ESPN reported it involved a relationship with a female staffer.

Those reports prompted social media users to speculate who the woman could be, speculation Stevens did not take lightly when he spoke at the same presser.

“The only thing that I would like to say is we have a lot of talented women in our organization, and I thought yesterday was really hard on them,” Stevens said. “Nobody can control Twitter speculation, and rampant bullshit.”

“But I do think that we as an organization have a responsibility that we’re there to support them now because a lot of people were dragged unfairly because of that,” he continued.

Stevens was asked what the Celtics are doing to support the women.

“There was messaging sent out. There was meetings to make sure everybody’s available and supportive. I think we need to make sure that we’re available for awhile beyond that. That was really unfair in my opinion,” he said.

“I don’t know how we can control Twitter. Obviously there’s only so much we can say, but our job is to be there. Yesterday was unfair to them.”

Watch above.

CNN anchor Chris Wallace was alarmed by the “weird” scene at a recent rally where former President Donald Trump’s supporters performed a one-finger salute during a “dystopian” portion of Trump’s speech.

Wallace was a guest on this week’s edition of The Axe Files with host David Axelrod ahead of the debut of his Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace interview program on HBO Max this week and CNN on Sunday.

Axelrod asked Wallace to process the most recent threats to Trump — such as the bombshell fraud suit by New York Attorney General Letitia James — and the way Trump reacts to them. Wallace talked about that strange rally scene as an example of a perilous direction he sees Trump headed in:

AXELROD: What worries me is that the more he’s held accountable for acts of corruption, the more he is insists on the, that the system is corrupt. And that becomes more and more central to what he is saying. And he’s been heading in this direction for a long time. But how do you assess him right now? What do you think is going through his mind?

WALLACE: You know, I think. Let me make it clear to social media, I’m not comparing Trump to Putin, but there are some similarities here, which, as a person gets under more and more pressure, there are a variety of ways of reacting.

You know, the old saying, when you’re in a hole, stop digging. Putin isn’t doing that. And, you know, one could argue that Trump–not comparing them to Putin. But in a kind of tactical or strategic sense, is not doing that. You know, you had that weird thing over the weekend where he started talking about the country in very dystopian terms, and they started playing this music and people were putting up one finger and it seemed, not that I’m in any kind of an expert on this, kind of heading in the QAnon direction.

And what one wonders is, and he is under tremendous pressure, you know, in terms of the January 6th investigations, in terms of the documents and in terms of what he conceivably or may have done down in Atlanta with the DA there, now you’ve got Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, on whether he committed fraud by inflating the value fraudulently of his businesses. You know, he seems to be going in a darker and more extreme direction in terms of American politics. And, you know, that would be interesting, but not particularly important, except for the fact that there are millions of people who seem to be willing to follow him in those directions.

AXELROD: Yes.

WALLACE: And that gets very alarming, because now we’re talking about the future of American democracy.

Watch above via The Axe Files.

During a powerful appearance on MSNBC, Iranian dissident journalist Masih Alinejad held up her phone to show photos of women in Iran killed by the regime for protesting.

The protests in Iran were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, who was died last week after she was allegedly beaten by police for defying the country’s rules on wearing a hijab.

Appearing on Friday’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, Alinejad said the ongoing protests are different than the unsuccessful 2009 Green Revolution.

She explained:

First of all, I have to say that since the revolution, because after the [1979] Islamic Revolution there was a massive protest where women were waiving their head scarf. Since then, this is the first time that Iranian women in front line burning the head scarf. Believe me, they’re not fighting against a small piece of cloth. They’re not fighting against compulsory hijab. Clearly they’re fighting against the gender apartheid regime. Because compulsory hijab is like the main visible symbol of ISIS, Taliban and Islamic Republic.

For Islamic Republic, this is like the Berlin Wall. If we tear this wall down, then the Islamic Republic that won’t exist. So that is why it’s different because, clearly, Iranian women are chanting death to dictators and that is scares the regime. That is why they open fire on innocent people.

Holding up her phone, Alinejad said she wanted to “use this opportunity and show” that Iranian women “are just not statistics.” She swiped through pictures of women murdered by the regime for demonstrating.

Watch above via MSNBC.

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In case you weren’t aware, it’s nearly October, which means it’s almost time for Halloween. But you don’t need me to remind you of this fact; instead, just read the press release highlighting Paramount+’s schedule for the month, which inserts multiple puns (“A View From the Eeeeeeeek!”; “Peak Screaming”) to to…

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From preserving…

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CNN legal contributor Norm Eisen said that New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil suit against former President Donald Trump, his three oldest children, and the Trump Organization is “devastating” and “may be as or more serious than some of the pending criminal cases” against Trump.

James announced on Wednesday a civil suit against Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and the Trump organization over alleged fraud between 2011 and 2021.

CNN anchor Ana Cabrera asked Eisen, who served as the Democratic counsel on the House Judiciary Committee during Trump’s first impeachment, why James went the civil route when she said there are possible criminal violations over the alleged fraud.

Eisen said James “has the power to do the civil suit” in which “she has very constrained criminal authority that wouldn’t reach here.”

Eisen continued:

And the civil suit is devastating. I mean, these are allegations and we have to emphasize it’s just allegations. This case has not yet been tried to a judge and jury. But these are allegations of a staggering fraud that’s spread over many years, of putting out false financial statements that resulted in allegedly misleading banks and lenders. It’s very serious conduct. I think in its own way it may be as or more serious than some of the pending criminal cases because this erodes Donald Trump’s financial base, his reputation, his kids are involved. This is a devastating blow.

Watch above via CNN.

Former federal prosecutor Shanlon Wu told CNN on Wednesday that “obviously there’s tax fraud” by former President Donald Trump, his three oldest children, and the Trump Organization.

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced earlier a civil suit against Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and the Trump organization over alleged fraud between 2011 and 2021.

Appearing on Inside Politics With John King, Wu said that James’ case is open and shut.

[T]he evidence that she has amassed for this suit, which was very hard-fought to get it after a lot of litigation, would provide the basis for those criminal actions, tax fraud. Obviously, there’s tax fraud going on given the massive inflation of these values.

And same thing for the Southern District [of New York]. So she’s giving them a very valuable head start on all this evidence they have taken so long to gather. And that’s what really strikes me about this complaint is how well documented it is. I mean, there are facts you can’t spin your way out of. I mean, claiming that the penthouse, for example, is three times the square footage that it is, there’s no way that you can spin your way out of that.

Shortly after the AG announced the suit, Trump took to Truth Social to attack her as a racist, while sons Donald Jr. and Eric Trump tweeted their rage.

Watch the clip above. via CNN.

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