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Australia’s soccer association on Tuesday announced it will not bid to host the 2034 Men’s World Cup. The move clears the path for Saudia Arabia to host the tournament.

The World Cup is set to be hosted in Asia or Oceania that year, and the deadline to place a bid was Tuesday. James Johnson, the head of Football Australia, previously said the country would be interested in placing a bid. On Tuesday, the organization announced it ultimately decided against it.

With Australia backing out, Saudi Arabia is the only country to have placed a bid.

“We have explored the opportunity to bid to host the FIFA World Cup and — having taken all factors into consideration — we have reached the conclusion not to do so for the 2034 competition,” Football Australia said in a statement.

The news is just the latest in a long list of moves Saudi Arabia has made to become a major player in the sports world. Months ago, the country shook the sports world when it was announced its Public Investment Fund, which operates LIV Golf, would be entering a partnership with the PGA. Additionally, the country has hosted a number of combat sports events and most recently held the heavyweight boxing match between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou. Several high-profile soccer stars, including Cristiano Ronaldo, have taken their talents to Saudi Arabian clubs thanks to massive contracts.

These investments have been met with a great deal of pushback, however. Many have accused the country of “sportswashing,” a term that describes the act of investing heavily in sports to take the media’s attention away from controversy. Saudi Arabia has been at the center of multiple human rights issues as it has continued making big splashes in a number of sports.

You want to see someone’s Instagram story anonymously or without them knowing you saw it? Honey, join the club. Since their 2016 rollout, Instagram Stories have been a phenomenon. Users can post freely about their day, their interests, their thoughts, their outfits, their accomplishments, and more—without having to…

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The holidays, birthdays, and house parties are a time to give to others, but they also present an opportunity to give a little something to yourself—freedom. Freedom to walk away from your insurmountable pile of reusable totes. The thing is, no one else wants more damn totes either, so you have to be sneaky about it.…

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A House Democrat called his own colleague a “coward” and a “punk” for criticizing other House Democrats for voting against a resolution supporting Israel.

In comments played on CNN Sunday, Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) fired back at Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) — who blasted the nine House Democrats who voted against the resolution, and the six who voted present.

“Last night, 15 of my Democratic colleagues voted AGAINST standing with our ally Israel and condemning Hamas terrorists who brutally murdered, raped, and kidnapped babies, children, men, women, and elderly, including Americans,” Gottheimer wrote on X, the platform previously known as Twitter. “They are despicable and do not speak for our party.”

Last night, 15 of my Democratic colleagues voted AGAINST standing with our ally Israel and condemning Hamas terrorists who brutally murdered, raped, and kidnapped babies, children, men, women, and elderly, including Americans.

They are despicable and do not speak for our party.

— Rep Josh Gottheimer (@RepJoshG) October 26, 2023

Carson, who was among the 15, absolutely destroyed Gottheimer in response.

“I think he’s not acting in the role as a member of Congress,” Carson sao. I think he’s shown himself to be very emotional. Like most cowardly people, when you confront them, they’re afraid. I’m unafraid of the guy. And if he wants to call us despicable, I’m saying he’s a coward and he’s a punk.”

And the Indiana congressman went even further.

“He should remember why the people sent him here,” Carson said. “And if he wants to play some kind of tough guy or gangster, we can handle it like gentlemen, or we can get into something else.”

Gottheimer responded in a statement to CNN.

“I’ll sit down with Mr. Carson anytime to talk about how we can bring the hostages home, including all Americans, provide immediate humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians being used as human shields, and crush Hamas and all terrorists seeking to do us harm.”

Watch above, via CNN.

Former Donald Trump adviser Jared Kushner claimed it is “safer in Saudi Arabia” for American Jews right now than it is on America’s college campuses.

Kushner joined Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures to talk about anti-Cemitism in America while the war continues between Israel and Hamas. After Kushner called the situation “really horrific” and said he hopes for Hamas’ elimination, Bartiromo asked him about his recent trip to Saudi Arabia and what he heard from their leaders.

It was a very interesting time to be over there. I’ve been there many times before. One of the ironies is that as an American Jew, you’re safer in Saudi Arabia right now than you are at a college campus like Columbia University.

I spoke at the conference. They allowed me to speak freely, and what I sensed there was that there is obviously a very big discussion of what would happen with the tremendous terrorist attack perpetrated by Hamas. The people of Saudi Arabia have a lot of care for the Palestinian civilians, and so they would like to see Israel accomplish the mission, to make sure Hamas could be eliminated. They’re against terrorism in the region in general, and quite frankly, there’s a lot of enthusiasm to continue the trajectory that was set under the Trump administration — and that the Biden administration has embraced — to try and bring Israel and Saudi Arabia together…

The comments about Columbia University seemingly refer to the spate of pro-Palestinian demonstrations that took place at schools across America as the war broke out. Columbia was recently in the news when billionaire graduate Leon Cooperman announced he would cut off donations to his alma mater in disgust for pro-Palestinian protests that took place there and at other schools.

Months after Kushner left the White House, his private equity firm received a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund that was personally approved by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This has factored into recurring questions about Saudi Arabia’s leverage over Trump-world policy.

Watch above via Fox News.

Ex-presidential niece Mary Trump and SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah gleefully roasted former President Donald Trump over his stunning storm-out in court this week.

Trump’s last appearance at the fraud trial this week culminated with Trump stunning his Secret Service detail by abruptly storming out of court after repeated legal smackdowns by Judge Arthur Engoron that included a $10,000.oo fine for violating his gag order again.

On Friday’s edition of The Dean Obeidallah Show, Mary laughed out loud about the incident and compared her uncle to a “toddler” taking a “time out”:

DEAN OBEIDALLAH: And what I love is that he made Donald instantly testify. His lawyers couldn’t stop it! He goes you come up here, testify under oath, and he goes “I’m the trier of fact and I don’t believe you,” which is layman’s speak for you’re a liar! And he fired him $10,000. Have you ever seen your uncle The Donald ever, this instantaneous accountability?

MARY TRUMP: No. As I said somewhere, it was as if for the first time in 77 years, the toddler had been given a time out! And as you know, he didn’t react particularly well to it.

DEAN OBEIDALLAH: No, the word stormed out. They say. I’m not sure why he stormed out because of Michael Cohen or he stormed out because of this kind of thing–

MARY TRUMP: It was because of that. I think the quote is he stormed out in a huff! (laughs)

DEAN OBEIDALLAH: And I’m sure he yelled at his lawyers, Well, why didn’t you protect me? They couldn’t do anything. The judge says, come up here. So, I mean, do you think he goes back to that court much? I don’t know if he’s there today. Do you think he’s going to keep going back and risking this? I mean, he’s got to, on a personal human dynamic level, I imagine it’s got to be very painful to him. He’s actually been held accountable.

MARY TRUMP: Yeah. You know, again, the, one reason he reacted so badly is because there have been very few, if any, circumstances in his entire life in which he didn’t have control of the room. So to have to sit there and take it must have been extremely painful. I’m guessing he regretted having shown up. I don’t know that he’s there today either. But what people need to understand is he doesn’t have to be. He showed, he showed up voluntarily. And remember, this is the only case he’s shown up for. He didn’t bother going to the E. Jean Carroll civil trial, I think, ever. So he’s putting himself in this position.

I believe he was there at the beginning to control the spin. And over the last few days, he was there simply to stare down Michael Cohen, not recognizing–. Maybe he’s starting to I don’t know, but not recognizing that he can’t intimidate people like Michael Cohen anymore. Although as our friend and fellow Nerd Avenger Jen Taub pointed out, he’s using Cohen as a proxy to intimidate other people. So that’s part of it.

Watch above via SiriusXM’s The Dean Obeidallah Show.

Comic and Youtube personality Tyler Fischer got heckled during a brutal set as the headliner at one of the lesser-known correspondents’ dinners in Washington, DC.

Nearly everyone knows about the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, but there are several other DC journo dinners that aren’t quite so well-known. Among them is The Radio and Television Correspondents’ Association (RTCA) of Washington, D.C.’s annual dinner. If the WHCD is considered the “Nerd Prom” you can think of the RTCA Dinner as Nerd Let’s Meet at Sizzler. Instead of celebrating White House reporters, the RTCA fetes radio and TV journos who cover Congress.

Fischer headlined this year’s dinner, and his set did not go over well. Fischer repeatedly remarked on his material bombing with the crowd, eventually prompting someone in the audience from CNN to wonder where the jokes were.

Here’s a sampling from the 10-minute set:

I think Rachel Maddow, they tried to get Rachel Maddow from MSNBC to host. She’s basically a lesbian Stephen Colbert. Right? You can’t tell the difference. She’s funnier than him.

…I’m 36. I look 36 from the front. From the back I can be 12. You know, I am a pedophile’s worst nightmare. Do you know what I’m saying? I’ve caught 30 pedophiles since I’ve been in D.C.. You catch me, I should be working for the police department, catching pedophiles, Right? My body’s a booby trap. Just hang out in the playground. Just wait. You know? Just, you know, just wait for some creep, like, “Hey, little boy, you want to come with me and my van?”.

I’ll go “I don’t know, mister. I don’t think that’s a good idea, Mister, I. I thought maybe instead you want to come with me downtown! Gotcha! Gotcha!”.

You didn’t laugh at that. You are a pedophile! CNN table four! Gotcha! This is all a set up. You’re on To Catch a Predator. Lock the door. Lock the door. All right.

(Approaches audience member) We got this guy. He’s got the pedophile glasses on to look at This guy right on the nose. He got a good look, pal, huh? Look at that. Can I try those on for a second? Look at this. You see this guy in the playground? Get your fucking kids back, can I swear? Whoops. All right. All right, clean those if you want to catch those pedophiles.

…This is true. They were going to have the very first mentally disabled Black vegan host this year, but Mayor Eric Adams was not available, so they had to. He’s at a nightclub getting bottle service. Too true, too on the nose. That’s fine.

President Biden was supposed to be here. Can we get a boo? He chose Australia over you guys. Can we get a bool? Oh. Fox News in the back. Thank you.

There’s a lot of courageous reporters in Israel. Round of applause, right. Doing the Lord’s work. Those obviously, you know, I don’t think it’s controversial to say those terrorist attacks were terrible, whereas CNN calls it a mostly peaceful war.

…Speaking of angry feminists, CNN is here. A round of applause to CNN. Right. We actually left 2000 seats empty on the balcony balcony there to commemorate CNN Plus. So we’ll just take a moment of silence. All right. I stop — what was on.

(audience member shouts)

TYLER FISCHER: What was that?

AUDIENCE MEMBER: TELL A JOKE!

TYLER FISCHER: Tell a joke? Your entire news media organization’s one big joke. Fake news, right? Fake news. We call it fake news. But so sad. Nasty. CNN interrupting me. So sad. So sad.

All right, I’ll tell a joke. What’s your mom’s name? No.

Watch above via C-SPAN.

Ben Liebenberg/AP

Miami Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey cast doubt on a report by ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter claiming he would make his return to the field this weekend.

Ramsey was traded from the Los Angeles Rams to the Dolphins ahead of the 2023-24 season. The 29-year-old, however, sustained a knee injury in the summer and has yet to debut with the team. He recently returned to practice, with his return seemingly just weeks away.

According to Schefter, that return is supposed to be this Sunday against the New England Patriots.

“Dolphins are planning for CB Jalen Ramsey to make his return Sunday from the knee injury that he suffered this summer, per sources,” Schefter tweeted Thursday night. “Ramsey now is expected to be back on the field three months after his knee surgery, with his Dolphins’ debut coming vs. the Patriots.”

Dolphins are planning for CB Jalen Ramsey to make his return Sunday from the knee injury that he suffered this summer, per sources. Ramsey now is expected to be back on the field three months after his knee surgery, with his Dolphins’ debut coming vs. the Patriots.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 27, 2023

Just 15 minutes later, Ramsey chimed in and questioned the validity of the report.

“So this is why I just got a crazy amount of texts,” Ramsey said. “Well, this is news to me… mfs don’t care about being right, they care about being first in today’s media. That’s sad.”

So this is why I just got a crazy amount of texts. Well, this is news to me … mfs don’t care about being right, they care about being first in today’s media. That’s sad. https://t.co/CZo8ATgtKy

— Jalen Ramsey (@jalenramsey) October 27, 2023

Shortly after, Ramsey clarified that he had nothing against Schefter.

“I’m an @AdamSchefter fan btw,” Ramsey said, “so not mad at him at all for doing his job. I just didn’t know.”

I’m an @AdamSchefter fan btw, so not mad at him at all for doing his job. I was just didn’t know

— Jalen Ramsey (@jalenramsey) October 27, 2023

Despite initially expressing confusion at the report, Ramsey did admit his return Sunday was still possible.

“Full transparency, there’s a CHANCE that I can play this Sunday, but that decision genuinely isn’t made yet so that is news to me just like it is to y’all lol,” he said.

“I have to go through a whole process to feel GREAT enough to play. I won’t play if I feel any less than GREAT.”

Full transparency, there’s a CHANCE that I can play this Sunday, but that decision genuinely isn’t made yet so that is news to me just like it is to y’all lol

I have to go through a whole process to feel GREAT enough to play. I won’t play if I feel any less than GREAT.

— Jalen Ramsey (@jalenramsey) October 27, 2023

It might be hard to imagine, but there was a time when electricity was a novelty, and no one had power buzzing through their walls. Everyone alive today was born into an electrified world, and most of us take for granted that we can operate a wide range of electric gadgets just by plugging something in and pressing a…

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Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie determined that Mark Meadows’ cooperation with special counsel Jack Smith represents a major blow to Donald Trump in his election interference case.

The former New Jersey governor joined Fox News’ Neil Cavuto on Wednesday, and they talked about ABC News’ reporting that Trump’s former White House chief of staff testified against the former president before a grand jury in exchange for immunity. This came up while Christie mocked Trump over being fined $10,000 for violating his gag order again in his New York civil fraud lawsuit.

“He can’t help himself,” Christie snarked. He then turned to Trump’s Truth Social offensive against Meadows:

The walls are closing in around him. I understand that, and more importantly, he understands that. I was there in 2020 when Mark Meadows was chief of staff, regularly preparing Donald Trump for the debates against Joe Biden. I can tell you that Mark Meadows was velcroed to Donald Trump’s hip in the White House at that time.

That means that Mark Meadows knows everything. Everything that Donald Trump said, and did, and ordered other people to do on his behalf, and just as importantly, everything that he was told about the lack of facts to back up his contention that the election was stolen. Yet he continued to act as he did then and as he does now.

Christie said Trump’s Meadows post “disturbed” him because it was “clearly an attempt to influence and intimidate Mark Meadows, who we now have every reason to believe he’s a witness for the government against Donald Trump.”

“His conduct is showing you the walls are closing in on him,” Christie emphasized. “The Republican party needs to look at this and say no matter what you think of what kind of president Donald Trump was, this is not going to be a pretty campaign if he’s the nominee of our party. We need to pull away from the precipice here and pick someone that will actually make Joe Biden the focus of the next election, not Donald Trump.”

Christie rounded this out by mocking Trump for why he always seems to have problems with his lawyers:

He told me that himself, in December of 2020 ,that he had a hard time getting any good lawyers to work for him. He wanted to know why that was. At the time, what I said to him, there’s two reasons: one, you don’t listen to advice, and two, you don’t pay your bills. Lawyers aren’t going to work for somebody that does either of those, let alone both.

Watch above via Fox News.

It’s a good idea to create multiple email accounts and use them for different purposes—e.g. one account for streaming services, one for work, one for personal use. There are plenty of services that allow you to set up free email accounts, and picking the best one requires diving into each option’s pros and cons.

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Christiane Amanpour spoke with California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) right after his surprise meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday.

“So it’s a very important trip because it is a sort of precursor to what is going to be a very important visit to the U.S. next month. The APEC summit is happening in his home state, is going to be in San Francisco and everybody hopes that Xi Jinping will come and he and President Biden will have a meeting,” Amanpour said, as she summed up her interview with the governor, adding:

Governor Newsom wouldn’t tell me if she had pledged to him that he had come. He said that’s up to President Xi to say. But he said that he got the impression that everybody was trying to lower the temperature. Listen:

Do you get a sense from him that this relationship is hurtling towards even a hot war in the next few years over Taiwan or whatever it might be? Or what sense did you get from him of a relationship that he wants to have with America going forward?

“The fact that we had access to these high-level meetings? I’ll be meeting with five provincial governors tomorrow. Another extension of this visit I think is suggestive that we’re entering, I hope a new phase, a bit of a thawing,” Newsom replied, adding:

The last few years have been very stressful. I think it goes to your question and we’ve got to turn down the heat. We’ve got to manage our strategic differences. We’ve got to reconcile our strategic red lines. Those are well-established between our two countries. But I want to applaud the Biden administration.

And on the basis of the engagement I had today with members of the administration and President Xi himself, I want to applaud his willingness to reconcile those differences, people to people exchange the fact he’s meeting with the governor of California at the subnational level, I think is indicative of a thawing.

“So I think that’s really important. And clearly, the US administration had actually been turning their prime focus towards China,” Amanpour concluded, while discussing her interview on CNN, adding:

So that’s an important message that Governor Newsom can bring back. And then of course, he did weigh in on U.S. politics as well, because as we were talking, the whole, you know, conundrum around a House speaker was playing out and he tried to assure the Chinese, do not take us for patsies. We are not, you know, weak in any way. ‘This is a clown show,’ as he said. But the U.S. is strong.

Watch the full clip above via CNN.

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The assertion made by Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling (Ret.) that fighting Hamas was “more challenging” than Al-Qaeda or ISIS thoroughly surprised CNN’s Dana Bash.

“I should note, Commander Hertling, that you were the former commanding general for Europe and the Seventh Army,” Bash said. “We know, sir, that senior U.S. Military officials, including three-star lieutenant general James Glynn are in Israel to advise the IDF ahead of a potential ground invasion into Gaza. You and that lieutenant general were both in Iraq at different times. But given the experience you each have, what kind of advice do you think he could be giving to the Israelis?”

“It’s interesting. We both had experience in Mosul, one of the largest cities in Iraq. Mine came in 2007 and ’08; His came during the ISIS invasion, “Operation Inherent Resolve,” Hertling said, continuing:

And in both of those situations, I would suggest we learned an awful lot of how to fight inside the cities, how to try our very best to avoid civilian casualties, because you’re talking about terrorist operations on a civilian battlefield. We fought in areas where the streets were narrow and the houses were large. What’s fascinating about all of that is, Hamas, more than likely, is much more challenging than anything I, with Al Qaeda, or anything Gen. Glynn saw with ISIS.

“Wow, that’s a big statement!” Bash exclaimed. “That’s a big statement, because it certainly wasn’t a walk in the park in Mosul.”

“No, it certainly wasn’t, as you know, you reported some of this,” replied Hertling. “It was extremely challenging from combat in the cities and in an urban environment perspective. His was harder than mine. What the Israelis are going to face going into Gaza is harder than both of ours combined, I would suggest.”

Watch the clip above via CNN.

Apple’s Focus feature lets you reduce distractions on your iPhone when you need to, well, focus. A Focus can be used to block notifications from everyone except your significant other, or to automatically enable Do Not Disturb (DND) the moment it’s bedtime. And you can use “Share Focus Status” to make this feature…

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In these interesting economic times when unemployment is low because everyone has, like, four jobs (but still can’t afford rent), you have to get creative. The good news is that no matter how chaotic things are out there, some fundamental economic rules always apply, like the fact that you can often substitute sweat…

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Saving for retirement is a crucial part of everyone’s financial planning. I’ve recommended before that dividing your money into multiple accounts helps you see all your saving goals separately. A big part of that is taking advantage of retirement-specific accounts in order to invest in your future. So, how can…

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Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee allegedly went on a profane rant against members of her staff after an audio recording of her alleged tirade hit the Internet.

The clip was posted online by a far-right Texas blog called Current Revolt on Saturday. The blow-up allegedly began when Jackson Lee was asking a staffer about a paper concerning Ovide Duncantell, founder of the Black Heritage Society. The Washington Examiner notes that “Duncantell was heavily involved in Houston politics during his lifetime, and Jackson Lee is currently running for mayor there.”

Allegedly, the staffer told Jackson Lee that another staffer called “Jerome” had the document, and he’d give him a call about it. That’s when Jackson Lee was alleged to have gone off on the both of them:

I don’t want you to do a g*ddamn thing. I want you to have a f*cking brain. I want you to have read it. I want you to say ‘Congresswoman, with such and such date.’ That’s what I want. That’s the kind of staff that I want to have.

So some stupid other motherf*cker did it. And, and I don’t have the information. Nobody sent me the information. I need to ensure schedule and, uh, you know, if Boo Boo did it, shitass did it, f*ckface did it. And nobody knows a g*ddamn thing in my office! Okay? Nothing!

I gave it to you. Your job was to get it on the calendar, imprint it in your brain, or send me the information back saying, ‘Congresswoman, I made sure that the Ovide Ducantell event that you gave me for a so-and-so date at seven is on the f*cking calendar.’ Not to ‘Oh Jerome has it.’Okay?

So when I called Jerome, he only sitting up there like a fatass stupid idiot talking about what the fuck he doesn’t know. Okay? Both of y’all are f*ck ups [inaudible]. It’s the worst sh*t that I could have ever had put together. Two g*ddamn big ass children f*cking idiots serve no g*ddamn purpose. Ain’t managing nobody. Nobody’s respecting them. Nobody gives a sh*t about what you’re doing and you ain’t doing sh*t. And this is an example of it. I gave it to Jerome. This is not child’s work.

Precise details about the clip and its authenticity are unknown, though the Houston Chronicle noted in their coverage that Jackson Lee “has long had a reputation as a demanding, sharp-talking boss.” The congresswoman’s mayoral campaign gave a statement to the Chronicle in which they did not deny that it was Jackson Lee’s voice on the tape, saying “This is a low handed political tactic meant to discredit a thriving mayoral campaign and distract voters ahead of the early voting period. It’s unsurprising that these attacks have originated from extremely conservative blogs and political operatives backing John Whitmire.”

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images

It’s not necessarily news this week for a House Republican to be lashing out at Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and his other seven colleagues who ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy (D-CA) as House Speaker. But to do it on official Congressional letterhead in an unbelievably sarcastic letter?

That’s precisely what Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) did on Saturday. In a scorching official letter addressed to Gaetz and the seven others who ousted McCarthy, McClintock unleashed a flurry of zingers.

“Dear Wayward Colleague,” the sarcastic letter began. “Your letter of October 20, in which you graciously offer to martyr yourselves as long as you can get your way, is perhaps the most selfless act in American history.”

McClintock was referring to the offer Gaetz and the other McCarthy rebels (minus Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado who was erroneously included), who offered to accept personal discipline in exchange for the election of Rep. Jim Jordan as House Speaker.

“We truly don’t deserve you,” the congressman added.

Every single paragraph is loaded with mocking shots at the far-right House members who got the ball rolling on the chaos in which the GOP House caucus has been embroiled over the past few weeks.

“Your sacrifice is not in vain,” McClintock said.. “You have succeeded in replacing the outdated concept of majority rule with an exciting new standard that a Speaker must be elected by 98.2 percent of the Republican conference.Someday, a messiah will be born unto us who can achieve this miraculous threshold, and on that day your judgment will be vindicated and you will be hailed as the geniuses that you are.”

Read the full letter below, via Juilegrace Brufke of Axios:

NEW: Rep. Tom McClintock is taking aim at the members who ousted McCarthy’s recent vow that they would be willing to be disciplined and expelled from the conference in order to get Jordan the gavel, with the California Republican clapping back in a sassy new letter. pic.twitter.com/UgY8WhcOWR

— Juliegrace Brufke (@juliegraceb) October 21, 2023

——

ABC News’ Jon Karl grilled Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) for saying President Joe Biden has “blood on his hands” following Hamas’ attack on Israel.

Days after Hamas’ deadly first strike against Israel, Scott accused Biden of having “blood on his hands” because of his administration’s policy “weakness.” The Republican presidential candidate also claimed Biden was “complicit with the attacks” because the administration’s recently unfroze $6 billion in Iranian funds in order to secure the freedom of wrongfully detained American citizens.

On Sunday, Karl noted this escalating rhetoric from Scott as he asked him “Do you regret saying that? Saying that the President of the United States has blood on his hands?”

Scott defended his comments by claiming “the weakness of Joe Biden attracts conflict around this world.” This led to Karl and Scott talking over each other as the former asserted that Hamas, not Biden, is responsible for the current bloodshed in Israel.

“With all due respect, the blood is on the hands of Hamas!” Karl said. “To say that Joe Biden is ‘complicit’ in the greatest, deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust, I mean, that’s beyond the pale, isn’t it?”

Scott argued that Biden displayed weakness and allowed for greater potential conflict by allowing Iran access to their frozen assets in order to free hostages.

“I’m saying with great clarity that weakness from the American president, plus the negotiations, leading to terrorist attacks by negotiating with the number one state sponsor of terrorism in the world — yes, it creates complicity,” Scott said.

“I think we can agree that the blood is on the hands of Hamas.” Karl again argued. “That’s who is to blame.”

This led to Scott admitting, “no doubt the person who pulls the trigger is primarily responsible, but that does not release the President of our country as being complicit and responsible in what we’re seeing unfold in part.”

The $6 billion release has been an intense source of debate because of Iran’s financial support for Hamas, and the fungibility of Iran’s monetary resources even though the fund was conditioned for humanitarian uses through a Qatar proxy. As war broke out between Israel and Hamas, the U.S. has taken steps to once again block Iran’s access to the fund.

Watch above via ABC.

In addition to the beeps and chimes that you hear on an airplane, you may also pick up on a variety of mechanical sounds before and during a flight, as well as after you’ve landed. Unless you have aviation experience or knowledge (or are traveling with someone who does), you may be curious—or anxious—about what’s…

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Press Association via AP Images

Following weeks of backlash the BBC will reportedly no longer refer to Hamas as “militants” opting instead to describe them as “a proscribed terrorist organisation” or simply “Hamas.”

This shift in policy by the public service broadcaster was announced by the Board of Deputies of British Jews in a press release on Friday, after the group met with BBC Director General Tim Davie and senior team members to convey their concerns.

The press release said: “The BBC confirmed it was committed to continued dialogue. It also confirmed it is no longer BBC practice to call Hamas militants. Instead, the BBC describes the group as a proscribed terrorist organisation by the UK government and others, or simply as Hamas.”

Marie van der Zyl, President of the Board of Deputies, shared her sentiments after the meeting, stating: “We emphasised our outrage at the refusal of the BBC to describe Hamas’ barbaric actions as terrorism and the damaging, false report of the rocket which killed innocent civilians.”

“I would like to thank Marie van der Zyl and Michael Wegier for the meeting today. The BBC is committed to continuing dialogue through this period,” said Davie.

The move also comes just one day after Israeli President Isaac Herzog implored Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to pressure the BBC to change its policy.

“I know that in modern democracies, such as ours and yours, you cannot intervene per se,” Herzog said. “But because the BBC has a certain linkage and it is known as Britain as such, all over the world there has to be an outcry so that there will be a correction and Hamas will be defined as a terrorist organisation.”

The BBC’s reluctance to brand Hamas or any other entity as a “terrorist” organisation stems from its editorial guidelines which seek to champion impartiality and objectivity, using descriptive language over assumptive terminology. In recent weeks senior and veteran BBC journalists have come out in defence of the policy amid widespread criticism. At least one Jewish BBC reporter quit over the issue.

Mediaite UK has reached out to the BBC for comment.

New York Times correspondent and CNN analyst Maggie Haberman and CNN anchor Dana Bash were boggled by the potential insights ex-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell could provide in coming trials after her guilty plea.

The blockbuster news broke Thursday morning, that Powell — one of Trump’s 18 co-defendants in the Georgia election crimes case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis — has accepted a plea deal that will require her testimony at future trials.

On Thursday afternoon’s edition of CNN’s Inside Politics, Bash and Haberman marveled at the doors Powell’s testimony could open for prosecutors, both agreeing “There’s a lot there!”:

BASH: Back to what this Sidney Powell situation means, and we should remind our viewers that we’re talking about plans to overturn the 2020 election. And specifically, there was a key meeting at the White House, this was December 18th, 2020. Military seizing voting machines and states Trump lost naming Sidney Powell as a special counsel to investigate supposed voter fraud, and Trump invoking martial law to overturn the election.

This is just some of what we’re talking about. And so if this is a White House meeting, and if, again, this is mostly about — this is about Georgia, but still, if Sidney Powell is willing to spill the beans on what Donald Trump might have been saying in that White House meeting, that could be significant.

HABERMAN: There’s no question. And Dana, to your point, that meeting related to what she was charged with. So, you know, I expect that you will see if she is called to testify, which I expect if there are trials in this case, she will be, her having to talk in full about that.

Now remember, she and other participants in that meeting, and it was a wild meeting that we reported on, that CNN reported on, Jonathan Swan at Axios reported on, it was a lengthy, wild meeting that laid bare how serious Donald Trump was about trying to stay in office once we learned of the details.

But it’s a meeting that Powell and Giuliani and other people who were in that meeting from the other side trying to stop it. Testified to extensively before the House Select Committee investigating Trump’s efforts to subvert the election. How much more she would offer on top of that? I don’t know.

But certainly, prosecutors sometimes tend to ask different questions. And yes, there are a few meetings that were as revealing about Trump’s mindset and what he was thinking about than that one, including the fact that he really was talking seriously to people as we reported, as others have about making her a special counsel in the White House and getting her security clearance.

BASH: Still, sort of — that makes your brain jumble inside your head. Thank you so much, Maggie.

HABERMAN: So there’s a lot there.

BASH: A lot there. Yes, that’s an understatement!

HABERMAN: There’s a lot there.

BASH: Maggie, thank you so much for coming on. Great to see you.

HABERMAN: Thanks, Dana.

Watch above via CNN’s Inside Politics.

Hamas released two American hostages on Friday that the group took during its devastating attack in the south of Israel in which 1,400 were killed, mostly civilians who were shot, raped, and tortured to death.

Fox News confirmed the hostage release as did Israel’s Channel 13 News and Kan public broadcaster.

Fox’s Trey Yingst reported from Israel, “They were dragged into the Gaza Strip and held for nearly two weeks, but international efforts have been underway since then, trying to free as many people as possible. We have to be careful with our attribution here and the sourcing behind this, but we have been able to confirm by a source outside of Hamas that this deal did go through and two American hostages have been released into Egypt.”

Anchor John Roberts asked, “There are still 201 hostages at least being held. What about the fate of the others?”

“Yeah, absolutely. The Qataris have been working behind the scenes on a variety of issues, from humanitarian aid to hostage release. I don’t want to get too deep into the specifics of this release, but I can tell you that we can confirm there are still 201 hostages inside Gaza, possibly more,” Yingst replied, adding:

A top military officials saying there are between 102 hundred people still missing from southern Israel. Some of those bodies may never be recovered. There still could be some people who are alive, but in Gaza just not yet accounted for.

And that’s part of why the Israelis are making this calculation. I’m told, though, by my producer just now, we checked with the Israelis, following our independent confirmation of the hostage release tonight from Gaza, two American citizens. The families have not yet been notified, which is why we do not have the names.

UPDATE: In a subsequent report, Fox News noted that the families of the hostages had been notified of their release and reported their names to be Judith and Natalie Raanan — who are mother and daughter.

Watch above via Fox News.

I’m not a big Starbucks fan. Not because it’s a big corporation (or anything similarly noble), but because I live in Brooklyn, and without really trying, became something of a bougie coffee snob. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a candy-like, foamy PSL in the fall. Since I drink coffee at an alarming rate, I started…

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In a sea of pumpkin-flavored foods, there simply aren’t enough pumpkin-shaped foods (actual pumpkins don’t count). In order to maximize our food’s festivity, let’s start making pumpkin-flavored dishes that also look like the cute calabasa. A handful of whole cloves and some dental floss is all you need to transform…

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Former President Donald Trump learned from reporters about the arrest of a woman who tried to approach him during his fraud trial, yelling that she wanted to help him — and Trump instantly went on the attack.

On Wednesday morning, Trump showed up for a second straight day for his trial in the fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James and presided over by Judge Arthur Engoron. Throughout the day, Trump took the occasional opportunity to rant to reporters about the case — all of which was captured by cameras outside the courtroom.

And shortly after noon, those cameras also captured the arrest of a woman who had yelled out in court to Trump.

According to a statement emailed to Mediaite by the New York Office of Court Administration, the unidentified woman — a court employee — “disrupted the proceedings”:

Yesterday at the People of the State of NY vs. Trump civil trial taking place at 60 Centre Street, an individual disrupted the proceedings by standing up and walking towards the front of the courtroom and yelling out to Mr. Trump indicating she wanted to assist him. This individual was stopped by court officers before she got near Mr. Trump or any of the attorneys or other litigants. None of the parties were ever in any danger. The individual was safely escorted out of the courtroom and the courthouse by uniformed court officers and has been charged with Contempt of Court in the 2nd degree, i.e. disrupting a court proceeding.

Upon investigation, it has been determined that this individual is a court employee. The employee has been placed on immediate administrative leave pending investigation of the incident and prohibited from entering any UCS facility until further notice.

Her next court date is October 31st.

But Trump didn’t seem to know anything about the arrest when he emerged during a break several hours later and was asked about it by reporters. Attorney Alina Habba said they were aware but Trump asked the reporters to fill him in — after which he promptly went after AG James:

REPORTER 1: Mr. Trump do you know the woman who was arrested? Do you know the woman who was arrested?

DONALD TRUMP: Thank you very much, do you have a question?

REPORTER 1: Yes. Do you know, the woman who was arrested, and do you —

ALINA HABBA: No. No. We’re aware of it.

(Trump inaudibly confers with Habba)

DONALD TRUMP: Who got arrested?

REPORTER 1: A woman tried to approach you in the courtroom.

REPORTER 2: She says she’s related to you. Says you’re (inaudible). Was trying to support you.

DONALD TRUMP: You know who should be arrested? The attorney general should be arrested for what she’s doing. Thank you very much.

REPORTER 2: Mr. Trump, are you coming back tomorrow?

REPORTER 1: Are you coming back tomorrow??

Watch above via Reuters.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) called on the House Republicans who joined forces with the Democratic caucus to eject former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to apologize during a fiery hallway interview in the Capitol complex on Thursday.

Greene opposes the plan of Republican leadership to vote to empower Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-SC) after Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Rep. Jim Jordan’s (R-OH) candidacies flamed out, and blamed the “egos” of certain members for bringing the conference to this point.

“I do not support this plan. Republican voters work too hard to give us the majority for us to enter some sort of temporary speakership,” said Greene. “Our conference has a responsibility to the American people, to our districts, to work together and unify, and this conference is absolutely broken.”

“I think that’s the wrong thing to do,” declared Greene after acknowledging that Jordan is backing the measure to empower McHenry. “He [Jordan] wants to do that while he continues talking to people and finding a path.”

She continued:

I completely disagree. I think that we should all be able to find a path in that room right there. And that requires putting the egos down. It requires humility. It requires the 8 Republicans that worked with Democrats to put us here asking for forgiveness in the conference and people giving forgiveness and us moving forward. This is not a plan for a strong majority.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), the ringleader of the small group of Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy, also expressed his opposition to the resolution empowering McHenry on Thursday, although he showed no signs of offering the apology Greene is calling for.

“I believe it is a constitutional desecration to not elect a Speaker of the House. We need to stay here until we elect a speaker,” said Gaetz. “And if someone can’t get the votes, we need to go on to the next person. But twisting and torturing the Constitution to empower a temporary speaker is having a speaker-lite. That is not constitutionally contemplated, it is deeply infirm, and I will do everything possible to stop it.”

Watch above via C-SPAN.

It’s tough to use the internet without being tracked, but it’s not impossible. Companies are starting to hand us tools to help, such as Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature and DuckDuckGo’s App Tracking Protection. Even Meta, the company that makes its living on data collection, is now offering you a way to…

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When assembling a resume, most of us were probably taught to put our full name and contact information at the top of the page, including our home address. But the way we work has evolved, so it makes sense that we adjust our resumes to keep up with the times as well. And according to some career experts, there’s no…

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Amanda Loman/AP

NFL legend Terrell Owens was intentionally struck by a car after getting into an argument during a pickup basketball game, TMZ reported Tuesday.

According to police, Owens played basketball near Calabasas, California on Monday evening. During the game, the 49-year-old reportedly got into an argument with another player on the court. It’s unknown what the two were arguing about.

After the game, the other man was apparently still upset as he actually got into his car and drove into him. The car struck Owens’ knee, but police said Owens did not require medical attention.

The man has not been arrested, though he could soon be charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Police said an investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Aside from his unquestionable talent, Owens’ 15-year career was largely defined by off-the-field headlines. Since retiring in 2010, he’s still shown a habit of finding himself in the middle of unwanted attention.

In November 2022, Owens went viral after getting into a fight with a man outside a CVS pharmacy in Los Angeles. According to Owens, he was having a civil conversation with a fan when the man approached the two and began heckling them. The three exited the CVS when the man actually swung at Owens. In response, Owens punched him twice and sent him to the ground.

Streaming was originally sold to us as an ad-free escape from traditional cable: You pay a company like Netflix a certain amount per month, and you get to watch their content without interruption.

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Looking to pay less for a powerful new laptop? Your best bet right now might be this new Microsoft Surface Laptop 4, currently 57% off from Woot. It’s going for $599.99, marked down from $$1,400. The catch is, the deal is only available until Oct. 18 at 1 am ET, or while supplies last. This is a very limited deal, but…

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Roasted—or even air fried—pumpkin seeds are usually just fine. At their best, they’re crispy bits of heavily seasoned fiber. At their worst, they’re tough, chewy, and bland. Most people mitigate toughness and blandness with a 10-minute, salt water soak, but I like to take things a tad further and brine them overnight…

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Megyn Kelly and Daily Wire commentator Candace Owens found themselves in a social media battle about whether to cancel college students who have shown support for Hamas while demonstrating against Israel.

The argument started over a post that Kelly made on X in response to GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy arguing that college students who participated in recent protests against Israel over the war that began with a Hamas terror attack on the Middle East democracy should not be blacklisted from future employment — something that has become a real possibility in the past week.

Kelly disagreed with Ramaswamy, saying companies should not hire people who support Hamas “killers.”

Owens then initiated the online war by replying that Kelly’s response was disingenuous and “stupid” college kids should not be blacklisted over political views they express during their youth.

Owens added, “I used to be radically pro-choice. Glad I didn’t get put on a “conservative” black list for wanting babies murdered. As it turned out, I was just young and temporarily brainwashed from a public school education coupled with mainstreamed Hollywood lies— and not because I legitimately wanted to see infants torn from their mothers’ wombs.”

Oh stop it. This is incredibly disingenuous, Megyn.
You know that many of those students are not out there because they want babies to be murdered.
College kids are stupid. I used to be radically pro-choice. Glad I didn’t get put on a “conservative” black list for wanting… https://t.co/fxvnxUmSZY

— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) October 15, 2023

Kelly responded by that having liberal viewpoints is not the same, “as taking to the streets to cheer murdered babies and blame said murders on the victims. But you go ahead and hire as many of them as you want Candace. I’m sure the
Daily Wire will love that.”

Being liberal is not the same as taking to the streets to cheer murdered babies and blame said murders on the victims. But you go ahead and hire as many of them as you want Candace. I’m sure the @realDailyWire will love that. https://t.co/h941kGzaBw

— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) October 15, 2023

The back and forth between the two right of center figures continued as Owens argued that students can eventually change their radical perspective, and claimed their anti-Israel actions following the shocking Hamas terror attack were not based on hatred.

“You’re attempting snark, but as a matter of fact, I almost exclusively hired reformed BLM activists to work for my charity, BLEXIT,” Owens said. “They actually proved to be the most dedicated employees to the cause because the mission was personal to them…Students can change. I am living proof of it. Cultural propaganda coupled with educational brainwash has proven potent, but not irreversible.”

“I don’t mind your ire directed toward their administrators and professors (the root cause of their madness) but you are being entirely disingenuous when it comes to the students,” she said.

You’re attempting snark, but as a matter of fact, I almost exclusively hired reformed BLM activists to work for my charity, BLEXIT. They actually proved to be the most dedicated employees to the cause because the mission was personal to them.

Students can change. I am living… https://t.co/XskUm7gxny

— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) October 15, 2023

Kelly concluded the fight with a short but sarcastic response, “Awesome! Keep it rolling! Students for Justice in Palestine will love your thoughtful lessons on how it’s bad to murder Jews. Can’t wait to see you turn their lives around.

Awesome! Keep it rolling! Students for Justice in Palestine will love your thoughtful lessons on how it’s bad to murder Jews. Can’t wait to see you turn their lives around. https://t.co/l5hSbuaOdK

— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) October 15, 2023

That was the final reply at the time of this post, but we may update if the fight continues.

CNN anchor Jake Tapper capped off his show by wishing peace to “all of us” after an unsparing video essay featuring relatives of Hamas victims who nonetheless strive for compassion and peace, and are unafraid to criticize the Israeli government if they see it as necessary.

The situation in Israel was the dominant topic on Sunday morning’s edition of CNN’s State of the Union, during which Tapper demonstrated his willingness to question and criticize the actions of the U.S. and Israel as well as those of Hamas, and anyone else involved in the issue.

He closed the show with a sober commentary that encompassed facets that have become sickeningly familiar since Hamas launched an unprecedented coordinated terrorist assault on Israel last Saturday— the disturbing images of the attacks, the flattened buildings in Gaza, the infuriating expressions of solidarity from Americans featuring iconography depicting paragliding terrorists — as well as unflinching criticism of Netanyahu and the suffering of innocent Palestinians summed up by three CNN guests who suffered losses:

JAKE TAPPER: A warning of some graphic video here as we take stock of this really, really awful week. Eight days ago, terrorists with Hamas invaded Israel and slaughtered hundreds of innocent people, hundreds of seniors at a bus stop. Babies in their cribs. Little kids at home. Young people at a music festival.

It was the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. And none of this was about liberating the innocent people of Gaza from the oppression of the Israeli and Egyptian blockade of Gaza.

That blockade began after Hamas, which the U.S. and EU classify as a terrorist group after Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007 and refused to disavow violence and refused to recognize Israel.

The people of Gaza indeed deserve to live without a blockade. They deserve to live in freedom and with democracy and human rights and without fear of their government, which Hamas denies them. If any of this were about freedom and rights, why would Hamas have slaughtered, for example, Danielle Waldman? Danielle was 24. She was at the music festival. Do you know who her dad is?

Her dad is Eyal Waldman. He’s an Israeli tech CEO who had employees in the West Bank and Gaza to improve relations. Here is Eyal talking to my friend and colleague Erin Burnett, literally hours after he found out his beloved Danielle had been killed.

EYAL WALDMAN: They want to talk about peace. I was one of the first persons that have employed Palestinian employees. We have treated our Palestinian employees the same as the Israeli employees hoping for peace. Even today, our hand is reaching out for peace. We want to learn to live together, not to continue killing each other.

JAKE TAPPER: And this is Eyal’s Instagram feed. “Please post this on your social feeds,” he writes. “Every day this man, Netanyahu sits, sits in his chair as prime minister, will cause suffering to all sides,” he writes.

If any of this were about freedom and human rights, why would Hamas have killed Haim Katzman, a peace activist who opposed the Netanyahu government for being too oppressive of Palestinians? I spoke with Haim’s sibling, Noy Katzman.

NOY KATSMAN: The most important for me and I think also for my brother, was that his death won’t be used to kill innocent people. And sadly, my government, our government, my government is using cynically as a people to just. Kill like they promised us it was going to bring. It’s going to bring us like security. But of course, it’s not security because they always tell us that if we’re going to kill enough Palestinians or they’re going to. So. It’s going to be better for us. But of course, it never brings us peace and it never being better lives. It just brings more and more terror and more and more people are killed like my brother.

JAKE TAPPER: One of the most disturbing parts of watching this disaster unfold from the United States is watching students on college campuses here embrace the symbol of the Hamas terrorist paragliders who attacked Israel that day, slaughtering innocent civilians and babies and women and the elderly. This symbol as if it’s some sort of rebellious icon. Here’s one from the University of Washington in Seattle but they’ve cropped up all over college campuses.

I’m wondering what you think when you see your fellow Americans. And again. Protesting for Palestinians Palestinian rights. Great. Do it. Those people deserve human rights. But when you when you see people embracing the symbol of the Hamas murderers who murdered your cousin, what you think.

DANIEL ZAKEN: Well, first off, it’s extremely shocking to see. And and I don’t know if these people are misled or if they actually believe what they’re supporting is helping the Palestinians. But it’s simply not, it’s they’re supporting their own cause. The fight the Hamas is trying to fight isn’t going to get the Palestinians anywhere. They’re just causing more and more suffering in the region. Their goal is to annihilate the state of Israel. They say it. they openly say it and they’re proud of it. And that’s not something that’s going to help bring dignity. The Palestinians, I think it’s in everyone’s best interest to get Hamas out of there and, you know, hopefully build a better future for everyone in the Middle East.

JAKE TAPPER: It’s very difficult to see that better future now. But we can all pray that the humanity of those three we just heard from will ultimately rule the day, not the brutality and barbarism that we saw from Hamas eight days ago and not the the death of innocents that we continue to see in Israel and in Gaza. I wish you shalom. Salaam alaikum. May peace be upon all of us. All of us.

Watch above via CNN’s State of the Union.

Multiple outlets are reporting that Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the current favorite to become House Speaker, is pushing for a quick floor vote to build momentum for his candidacy. But the Ohio Congressman was not in favor of a rushed floor vote back when his colleague, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), was in line for the job.

According to CNN, Punchbowl News and others, Jordan is pressing for a floor vote in order to put his House Republican colleagues on the record. CNN’s Manu Raju reports a senior House Republican told him at least 20 members of the caucus are a “hard no” on Jordan, and Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman reports as many as 55 won’t vote for the Ohio congressman.

Still, Jordan wants the public to see where things stand.

“Jordan is intent on putting [people] on the record per sources,” said Sherman on X — the platform previously known as Twitter.”

But that was not Jordan’s position as recently as 10 days ago — when he told Sean Hannity that he thought House Republicans should already have a Speaker chosen before they proceed to the floor, citing the drama surrounding the Speaker election back in January, when Rep. Kevin McCarthy needed 15 votes in order to claim the job.

“We shouldn’t go to the House floor until we have 218 votes for the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives,” Jordan said. “We shouldn’t have to go through what we did back in January.”

Notably, Jordan was considered an underdog at the time to Scalise — who, days later, won a narrow majority in a closed-door vote among House Republicans.

Watch above, via Fox News.

Bill Maher raged against the addition to smartphones, isolation, and “safety-ism” that are pervasive in the world during the New Rules segment of HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher on Friday, arguing that the fear and loneliness that are the byproduct of certain technologies, not to mention “overreaction to the Covid pandemic,” are killing our brains.

“I say we finally start seriously looking at what phones are doing to people’s brains,” Maher said on Friday’s episode. “And not just phones. There has been a perfect storm of events in recent years that has led the Surgeon General of the United States to issue an advisory that America is suffering from a public health crisis of loneliness, isolation, and lack of connection. Or what Matt Gaetz calls another day at work.”

Maher talked about the rise in strokes, heart disease, premature death, even car accidents that have been linked to social isolation and loneliness, and pointed out that some national governments are appointing government officials to the task of dealing specifically with that separation from social society.

“It’s just become too easy to isolate now, said Maher. “We’ve got our phones and our gadgets to distract from having an actual conversation. Amazon to deliver instead of going to a store. GrubHub instead of going to a restaurant. Movies streaming on TV instead of going to a theater.”

“And even when we do go out, the earbuds stay in,” Maher continued. “We can’t even do casual chitchat anymore.”

“Remember when you’d roll through the checkout line with a six pack and a box of condoms and, you know you’d have a little moment with the checker where you’d be like, Somebody is having a party, huh?” he joked. “But there are no high fives at the self-checkout.”

Maher said people have “traded going out with people we like for going on Facebook to get Likes,” and bashed the idea of social media entirely. “Has anything ever been more misnamed than social media? It’s done more to kill being social than the pocket protector. It should be called anti-social media,” he said.

He summed it all up with a pithy observation using the titles of popular TV shows.

“Twenty years ago, the show that defined the zeitgeist was called Friends. Today, it’s Naked and Afraid,” he said.

And finally, New Rule: Now that I’ve heard author Michael Lewis say about his latest subject, crypto-crasher Sam Bankman-Fried that, “if you gave Bankman-Fried a choice of living in a $39 million penthouse in the Bahamas without the Internet or the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn with the Internet, there’s no question in my mind he’d take the jail.”.

I say we finally start seriously looking at what phones are doing to people’s brains.

And not just phones. There has been a perfect storm of events in recent years that has led the Surgeon General of the United States to issue an advisory that America is suffering from a public health crisis of loneliness, isolation, and lack of connection. Or what Matt Gaetz calls another day at work.

And this is not just in America. Japan and the UK have actually appointed a cabinet level position for Minister for Loneliness. Because the studies and the data from around the world show that the health consequences of so many people feeling so isolated are staggering. Skyrocketing rates of stroke, heart disease, premature death. It’s just become too easy to isolate now. We’ve got our phones and our gadgets to distract from having an actual conversation. Amazon to deliver instead of going to a store. GrubHub instead of going to a restaurant. Movies streaming on TV instead of going to a theater.

And even when we do go out, the earbuds stay in. We can’t even do casual chitchat anymore. Remember when you’d roll through the checkout line with a six pack and a box of condoms and, you know you’d have a little moment with the checker where you’d be like, Somebody is having a party, huh?

But there are no high fives at the self-checkout.

We’ve traded going out with people we like for going on Facebook to get Likes. Has anything ever been more misnamed than social media? It’s done more to kill being social than the pocket protector. It should be called anti-social media. And then AI came along and made it even worse.

You know, a 19-year-old from Southampton, England, recently breached the walls of Windsor Castle in an attempt to assassinate the Queen because his AI chatbot girlfriend told him it would impress her. Yes, there’s an AI Jodie Foster now.

And the idea that your girlfriend now is just a voice in your phone, just like in that movie “Her” is no longer science fiction. There’s one bot-chick on the market called Replica and she has 2 million users and boy, is she going to be in trouble when her boyfriends find out she’s seeing 2 million other guys. Everybody keeps saying how AI is coming for your job, and it may well be, but it’s also coming for your boyfriend.

Yuval Harari asks the question about the future: “What kind of relationships will there be when computers and objects understand you better than the people in your life?” I don’t know, but it sounds like it will be a profitable world for the makers of Jergens.

And if the technology wasn’t making the problem bad enough, we also have a media that is built on ginning up fear and hostility and convincing us no place is ever really safe. Poor Britney Spears can’t even dance in her own home without a couple of knives. We’ve become like that old lady from the Twilight Zone episode who hides behind closed doors because she thinks death is trying to get in.

But here’s the irony In real life: what’s killing you may well be you staying inside. The overreaction to the Covid Pandemic may turn out to be more damaging than the disease itself. The strategy of social distancing and staying home to work and staying home from school all for very long periods of time made us into different people. Safety-ism became a political identity, and now some people never want to go back to work, or school, or Venezuela.

Too many people got used to saying, No, I can’t make it to your birthday party. Not for any compelling reason, just for the sake of ultimate safety. Well, we’re just now starting to tally the collateral damage from ultimate safety, from long lockdowns and creating four-year-old germaphobe. And they include erasing two decades of progress in math and reading, school absenteeism as the new normal, an all-time drug high in overdoses and murders, huge increases in obesity and depression and the atrophying of social skills that lead to it.

You know what else was off the charts the last couple of years? Car crashes. They couldn’t figure out why. You know what they came up with? People’s heads are just so scrambled and they’re so full of pent-up rage being locked up and the kids home all the time and my stupid fucking husband. So they just got in the car and drove like a maniac and took it out on the road. So to quote every mother since the dawn of time: For fuck’s sake, go play outside!

I know. I know. Outside is full of flashers and rusty nails and germs and sharks, and stranger danger. But your mother was right. It’s actually worse to stay cooped up. Magazine surveys like to ask the question, How would you like to die? My answer is anything except going unnoticed until the neighbors complained about the smell.

Twenty years ago, the show that defined the zeitgeist was called Friends. Today, it’s Naked and Afraid.

Watch the clip above via HBO’s Real Time on YouTube.