Month: November 2021

If Mark Meadows has ever wondered what the inside of a federal prison cell looks like, he may not need to imagine it for much longer. The January 6th Select Committee is done playing around with Donald Trump’s cronies, some of whom have refused to comply with their subpoenas—Meadows included. (Though Mike Pence’s crew is apparently itching to.)

According to Politico, committee chair Rep. Bennie Thompson sent a letter to Meadows’s attorney, warning him that if he client continues to ignore their requests to be deposed, they will be forced to take further action, including holding him in contempt. “Simply put,” Thompson wrote. “there is no valid legal basis for Mr. Meadows’s continued resistance to the Select Committee’s subpoena.”

Politico’s Kyle Cheney writes this latest letter marks the third threat of contempt in just a few weeks, still Meadows isn’t budging. George Terwilliger III, Meadows’s attorney, issued a statement on Thursday in which he said that his client was “immune” from congressional testimony, and claimed that Joe Biden is“the first President to make no effort whatsoever to protect presidential communications from being the subject of compelled testimony.”

Though Biden has waived any powers of “executive privilege” that Trump has attempted to claim in this matter, Trump’s former colleagues are still referring to him for advice on how to move forward. But the committee isn’t changing its tune either and, after consulting with various experts, claims Meadows hasn’t got a legal leg to stand on in this matter. They’re demanding that he turn over all requested documents and show up to be deposed by Friday (yes, tomorrow) or else…

So far, Trump’s staunch commitment to not giving the committee any information has been working—which, of course, only makes him seem more guilty of conspiring to trigger the events of January 6th and the attack on the Capitol. According to Politico: “Thompson noted that even if Meadows intended to fight the committee’s requests, he was required to appear and assert any privileges he thinks would bar his testimony.”

As of this moment, the committee is still getting the silent treatment. Tick tock, tick tock.

(Via Politico)

It’s been nearly a year since Casanova, born Caswell Senior, was arrested on racketeering charges and more after the FBI connect him to a gang known as the “Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation.” The rapper was one of 18 members arrested and each was accused of firearm possession, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, and unemployment fraud, all of which were wrapped under the racketeering charge. Unfortunately for Casanova, things have gotten worse for him as he was recently charged with attempted murder in relation to the racketeering case.

According to a report from XXL, the additional charge came through a superseding indictment that was handed down earlier this week. Casanova and another individual are being charged for an alleged shooting that took place at Miami’s King Of Diamonds on October 24, 2020. The charge claims he and one of his co-defendants Jarrett “Jaycee” Crisler Jr. were at the club when a rival gang member took issue with Casanova for throwing up his gang sign. The victim said, “Yo homie, wrong sign,” and Casanova replied, “You want to die tonight?” Words were exchanged before Casanova and Crisler Jr. shot two people.

The victims were taken to the hospital shortly after and treated for their wounds. Investigators discovered Casanova and Crisler’s alleged involvement in the incident after seeing Crisler brag about the shooting through text messages on his phone.

“We had been informed that the government intended to supersede the existing indictment and add charges against Mr. Senior,” Casanova’s attorney, James Kousouros said to XXL in response to the new charge. “This was expected. We have been investigating the incidents charged for months and Mr. Senior fully intends to contest these charges at a trial. He is confident of his exoneration. He surrendered voluntarily when he learned of the indictment last year. He did not run or hide. He looks forward to his day in court.”

The highly-publicized trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois teenager who traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer amidst the unrest following the police shooting of Jacob Blake and ended up fatally shooting two people and severely injuring a third, has led to some pretty questionable arguments in support of the 18-year-old. But Fox News host Greg Gutfeld (!) has just offered up a supremely bad take on Rittenhouse’s actions by essentially claiming that he did the world a favor.

While discussing the Rittenhouse case on The Five, Gutfeld asked his co-hosts for “permission to blow your mind.” They said sure. And mind-blowing it was:

“People say that Rittenhouse never should have gone to Kenosha. The dead guys shouldn’t have gone there either. One was a convicted pedophile who had anally raped a child. Another was a serial domestic abuser. They should not have been anywhere on a street, right? They should have been in jail or in an institution.

Kyle’s victims—the two dead guys—deserved better from the government. But they didn’t deserve better from Kyle. He did the right thing. He did what the government should have done, which was to make sure these dirtbags—these violent, disgusting dirtbags—weren’t roaming the streets… So the bottom line is: All Rittenhouse did is fill the void that the government left open. Those two people never, ever should have been on the streets. And it forced citizens to become the police.”

Wow. In order for that argument to work and paint Rittenhouse as a real-life Dexter Morgan, you would have to believe that Rittenhouse knew anything about the history of the men he shot (he didn’t). Or that the police randomly roam the streets with semi-automatic AR-15-style rifles and shoot anyone with a criminal record.

Permission to have your mind blown? You can watch the clip below.

(Via Media Matters)

Changing how we interact with the planet is no small task. Humans are locked into some pretty destructive cycles, from how we grow food to how we dispose of our clothes and old iPhones. When it comes to solving how we can break those cycles we don’t always agree or have all the answers, but one thing we do know is that change needs to come sooner rather than later.

Luckily, there are people far smarter than us working right now to not only make the everyday products in our lives more sustainable, but they are also figuring out how we can redirect where that stuff goes when we don’t need it anymore. That’s where the four women below come in. Each of these forward-thinkers is blazing trails in how we make clothes, how we grow food, and where our trash goes.

This eclectic mix of women will introduce you to new ideas, help you to foster more sustainable communities, and may even find a breakthrough that changes the way we eat. These women might revolutionize our world.

Meet Reham Fagiri:

Reham Fagiri saves furniture and fixtures from landfills. Born and raised in Sudan, Fagiri is the co-founder and CEO of AptDeco, a furniture marketplace across the Northeast (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Philadelphia Metro) and the San Francisco Bay Area.

This Wharton MBA grad figured out a way to make furniture resale user-friendly, helping people and the planet. “When I was moving, I had some furniture items that I needed to sell in a timely manner,” Fagiri tell us. “I had invested time and money in these pieces. Throwing it out or leaving it behind felt irresponsible and wasteful.”

For Fagiri, the easier furniture resale can become, the easier it will be to divert and upcycle to a new home, office, or any other spot. So she created AptDeco, which handles all the nuts and bolts that come with buying and selling used furniture, including online payments, assembly, pickup, and delivery. Fagiri basically made it easier to upcycle your old furniture than take it to a landfill.

Meet Lauren Gropper:

Lauren Gropper is working towards a solution to our plastic problem with the end goal of eliminating plastic pollution altogether. As the founder and CEO of Repurpose, Gropper is making it easy to replace disposable plastic products with plant-based non-toxic compostable alternatives.

“We believe that sustainability should be convenient,” Gropper tells us. “We are grateful to be part of building a sustainable future for all but there’s still so much to do.” Through Repurpose, Grouper works to help us all make sustainable choices that can easily fit into our daily lives from compostable plant-based wine cups to everyday compostable sandwich bags to toilet paper and tableware.

Meet Christy Dawn:

Christy Dawn has blended sustainable farming with regenerative practices and fashion through her apparel brand of the same name. She is championing the idea of “farm-to-closet” fashion that doesn’t just stop at where clothes are made, but where the fabric is sourced from and grown.

Dawn and her partner, Aras, founded the Farm To Closet initiative to go beyond sustainability and address the connection with ecosystems, communities, and our carbon footprint. “When you support Farm-to-Closet, you are actively joining the Regenerative Revolution,” Dawn exclaims.

Dawn’s company leased 24 acres of depleted land in Erode, India as an experiment to see if they could regenerate the soil and grow cotton while working directly with local farmers and artisans and paying them a (local) living wage. After two years, the 24 acres have successfully drawn down more than 66 tons of carbon from the atmosphere. The soil — that was once chemically-treated, barren land — now supports crops and local wildlife. While it’s only a small step, it’s a step in the right direction and worth following the Christy Dawn story to see where it goes.

Meet Dr. Lisa Dyson:

Dr. Lisa Dyson is a mission-driven scientist and entrepreneur with a passion for creative problem-solving. Founder & CEO of Air Protein, Dyson wants to reinvent how food is produced in order to sustainably feed ten billion people on Earth by 2050. Air Protein makes meat from elements of the air. Yes, you read that correctly. The process uses protein cultures and mixes them with carbon from the air to create a fermentation process that grows protein. This process was first introduced in the late ’60s by NASA scientists who explored a way to feed astronauts on long space journeys.

Dr. Dyson is an unstoppable thought leader in sustainability with degrees from MIT, the University of London, and Brandies in physics and mathematics. Considering farmed protein is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gases (fueling climate change), Dr. Dyson turned her attention and knowledge of String Theory and Quantum physics to find a way to make more sustainable proteins from the elements in the air we breathe.

It might sound like Star Trek-level sci-fi but if anyone’s going to crack the code of protein without factory farming, it’s probably going to be someone like Dr. Dyson.

Though it’s been nearly 10 months since noted disaster artist Donald Trump was voted out of the White House and replaced by Joe Biden, the former president seems to have forgotten the “former” part of his title.

Earlier today, as political reporter David Freedlander shared, Trump issued a statement in which he said that “Today, my Envoy Ambassador Ric Grenell visited the Kosovo-Serbia border” in order to assist the two nations with working toward peace.

Grenell, who did in fact previously serve as Trump’s Special Presidential Envoy for Serbia and Kosovo Peace Negotiations as well as his Acting Director of National Intelligence, also tweeted about his visit to the Kosovo-Serbia border, where he reportedly held a press conference:

And just what did Grenell say at that press conference? According to Politico correspondent Meridith McGraw: “I come because we are frustrated.”

According to Trump’s statement, he’s annoyed because:

“The great people of Serbia and Kosovo have overcome tremendous obstacles in their pursuit of economic normalization. The agreements my administration brokered are historic and should not be abandoned, many lives are at stake.”

What makes all of this so much more bizarre is that, just like Trump, Grenell lost his job when Trump was pushed out of office—and all the benefits and protections that come with it. Yet neither one of them seems to have a problem with openly and very publicly sharing exactly what they’re doing right now, which some people claim is running a shadow government out of Mar-a-Lago.

At a minimum, Trump and Grenell appear to be attempting to conduct foreign policy, which is a clear violation of the Logan Act, which states:

“Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.”

Whether anything will come of Trump’s gross violation of federal law is anyone’s guess. But if the twice-impeached former president’s history of upending every rule put in place to protect our democracy with no repercussions is any indication, probably not.

Back in September, Lil Nas X shared his long-awaited debut album Montero, and with it came a music video for “That’s What I Want.” The visual sees Lil Nas fall for a teammate on his football team, and while their relationship quickly progresses, the singer soon finds out that his new partner is living a secret life. Lil Nas learns that his lover actually has a wife and a child, and just like anyone would do after a discovery like this, he decided a visit to Maury was absolutely necessary.

On November 17, Lil Nas will appear on the popular show to sort out the love triangle. The news was shared through a dramatic trailer that shows Lil Nas’ shocked reaction to learning that the “love of his life,” Yai Ariza, is living a secret life. As expected, the episode is packed with dramatic moments like Ariza submitting a paternity test to find out if he’s the father of his 4-year-old son. He also offers a ring to Lil Nas, who dramatically runs away, in the brief trailer. Maury, is clearly amused by the dramatic events as he asks, “Is Yai the dad…or will Montero get exactly what he wants?”

Ariza is also the real-life ex-boyfriend of Lil Nas, something the singer spoke about in a previous interview. “We were dating, and we are still on very good terms,” he said during a conversation on SiriusXM. “You know, we may date again I’m sure. I love him, he is amazing.”

You can watch the trailer in the video above and check out the full episode when it airs next Wednesday.

The standoff between the Philadelphia 76ers and Ben Simmons continues, with twists and turns on a near-daily basis. Earlier in November, Philadelphia began fining Simmons again for not meeting with the team’s physicians and for other basketball-related reasons. Then, on Thursday, the next chapter began with statements from Simmons’ agent and Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul on Thursday, with Paul sharing with Shams Charania of The Athletic that he believes the Sixers are making things worse for Simmons.

“I truly believe the fines, the targeting, the negative publicity shined on the issue — that’s very unnecessary and has furthered the mental health issues for Ben,” Paul told The Athletic. “Either you help Ben, or come out and say he’s lying. Which one is it?”

While Paul has a clear point of view in representing Simmons, it is certainly notable that he would go as far as to say that the conduct of the team “has furthered the mental health issues” for Simmons. That wasn’t all that Paul said, either, as he continued to share the point of view of the Simmons side, including the assertion that the financial and contractual side should not overtake the mental health of Simmons.

“In this case, we have to get Ben help and not put finances above mental health,” Paul said. “As an agent, I understand contractual obligations and I hold myself accountable in this business. But if someone is telling you something, we can no longer turn a blind eye in today’s world.”

Paul concluded by saying that the situation is “no longer about a trade” and rather that the goal is finding somewhere for Simmons to “get back to his mental strength and get back on the floor.” At this stage, it is unclear what the next step will be on either side, but it doesn’t seem that a resolution, or even a peace accord, will be arriving anytime soon.

Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival unexpectedly turned into a tragedy on Friday night as it left eight people dead and hundreds more injured. Unfortunately, the number of deaths as a result of the incident has increased to nine after a 22-year-old woman who spent the past six days in the ICU passed away as a result of her injuries. Bharti Shahani’s death was confirmed by her family during a press conference on Thursday after previous reports revealed that she was showing no brain activity.

Her mother, Karishma Shahani, broke into tears as she remembered her daughter during the conference. “What happened to my blessing now,” she said. “I want my baby back. I won’t be able to live without her. It’s impossible.” Bharti’s father, Sunny Shahani, added, “Please make sure she gets justice and I don’t want somebody else’s daughter to go like this. It was the wrong day and wrong time for her.” Bharti, who was a student at Texas A&M University, had been on a ventilator since Friday night after her brain was deprived of oxygen and she suffered multiple heart attacks as a result of being crushed in the crowd at Astroworld.

Travis Scott and his team recently issued a statement to the families of Astroworld victims. “Travis Scott and his team have been actively exploring routes of connection with each and every family affected by the tragedy through the appropriate liaisons,” a press release read. “He is distraught by the situation and desperately wishes to share his condolences and provide aid to them as soon as possible, but wants to remain respectful of each family’s wishes on how they’d best like to be connected.”

The message concluded by asking the victim’s families to email [email protected] if they would like to reach out directly to his team.

It’s probably no secret to anyone who has ever watched one of his movies that David Fincher is an unabashed cinephile. His commitment to the craft is evident in every second of every frame he has ever shot, starting right from the opening credits. Which is why so many of the three-time Oscar nominee’s fellow film geeks are anxiously awaiting the debut of Voir, a new docuseries for Netflix by Fincher and filmmaker/frequent collaborator David Prior, which they describe as “a series of visual essays celebrating Cinema and the personal connection we each have to the stories we see on the big screen.”

Told with the help of a half-dozen writers and film critics—including Walter Chaw, Drew McWeeny, Taylor Ramos, Sasha Stone, and Tony Zhou—Voir will go beyond the surface layer of some of the most iconic films ever made to show that movies are much more than just a series of pretty moving pictures. As we’re told in the trailer, “Some of our greatest cinema challenges us to really confront our own hearts in the safety of that darkened theater. That’s part of the purpose of filmmaking.”

Among the more iconic films seen in the trailer are Jaws (of course), Citizen Kane, Easy Rider, The Shining, Bonnie & Clyde, The Matrix, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Raging Bull, Network, Amadeus, The Karate Kid, Superman: The Movie, Mad Max: Fury Road, Kill Bill, Trading Places, Taxi Driver, The Godfather, Rosemary’s Baby, A Clockwork Orange, Goodfellas, The Conversation, Lawrence of Arabia, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Jaws again. All these and more will be part of the discussion about the ways in which cinema becomes a reflection of society and the people who inhabit it, and the power film has to influence entire generations.

For Fincher, Voir is a perfect follow-up to Mank, which was written by Fincher’s father, and told the fascinating story of the many challenges Herman J. Mankiewicz faced in writing the first draft of Citizen Kane—the Holy Grail of movies for film geeks.

Voir will premiere on Netflix on December 6, 2021. You can watch the trailer above.

One person commented that “music is the language for all beings.” Considering the way Baby Alice (or was it Ginny?) closed her eyes while clearly enjoying Big Lux’s rendition of “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley, I’d have to agree.

This is not the first private animal concert Big Lux has performed. The army veteran turned violinist was recently featured on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” for serenading beluga whales at the Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut. And oh boy, these belugas seemed happy as clams.

You can check out even more of Big Lux’s music on his website, including a truly gorgeous cover of “Killing Me Softly.” It’s great for both animal and human audiences alike.