Category: News

Right now, Donald Trump seems to be as cornered as he’s ever been, and when he thinks he’s screwed, that’s when he really lashes out. On Friday night, that’s what he did. While most people were out and about, he was on his rinky-dink Twitter clone, trashing Mitch McConnell, spewing both thinly veiled violent rhetoric and straight-up racism.

The former president’s latest meltdown came after his successor, Joe Biden, signed into law a bill that would avert a government shutdown, at least through mid-December, as well as one that sent aid to Ukraine amidst the Russian invasion.

“Is McConnell approving all of these trillions of dollars worth of Democrat-sponsored bills, without even the slightest bit of negotiation, because he hates Donald J. Trump, and he knows I am strongly opposed to them,” Trump steamed on Truth Social, “or is he doing it because he believes in the Fake and Highly Destructive Green New Deal, and is willing to take the country down with him?”

Trump then ramped things up. “He has a DEATH WISH,” he wrote. And if that weren’t enough, he threw in some racism as well: “Must immediately seek help and advise [sic] from his China loving wife, Coco Chow!”

It’s not the first time Trump has slammed Chao. In late August, he called her “crazy,” prompted an extremely brief response from her husband.

That Trump managed to cram violent rhetoric and bigotry into a mere two sentences did not go unnoticed, even from fellow conservatives.

And from others as well.

Others pointed out his typo.

Others pointed out that McConnell and Chao are responsible for Trump becoming president.

And some hated that Trump is such a menace that he can make people feel genuinely bad for them.

Trump’s “ridiculously” racist post comes mere days after various reports from New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman’s new tell-all about him, which included the claim that he liked to brag about not using the same toilet as his predecessor, Barack Obama.

Christian Bale is no stranger to franchise films. After all, he’s a superstar because of them. Once he hung up his Batsuit, he avoided them for ages, only to go and play a baddie for Marvel. He wouldn’t mind heading over to a very different series, but only if they’ll let him play an extremely specific character. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter (in a bit caught by Deadline), Bale was asked if he ever wanted to do a Star Wars film someday. He would, but with a caveat.

“All I ever wanted in Star Wars was to be in a Star Wars outfit and hit my head on a door or something as I walked through,” he said, referring to one of the most famous gaffes in the 1977 original. “The real nerds who watched Star Wars way too many times always knew about that one scene where the Stormtrooper hits his head on the door as he comes through. I wanted to be that guy. That was it.”

He made it clear he was joking, saying it would be a “delight” to do a role in a series he watched as a kid. “I’ve still got the figures from when I was little,” he admitted, then pointed out that he knows Star Wars honcho Kathleen Kennedy because she produced one of his first films, 1987’s Empire of the Sun, the harrowing Steven Spielberg film in which he played a young boy separated from his parents and forced to fend for himself during World War II.

The storm trooper muck-up is one of the more infamous bits from the original film, or indeed in the entire franchise. There was even a documentary about it, attempting — in vain — to locate the extra who screwed up so bad, but not bad enough that they didn’t make the final cut. You can watch the bit in the video below.

(Via THR and Deadline)

The spookiest month of the year gets its due on TV this month, even though House of the Dragon will likely still rule TV until its season finale. Whereas August and September were largely about epic fantasy on TV, though, October will bring us all of the vampires and zombies that one can desire on TV. As well, there are serial killers and ghosts, along with plenty of other supernatural influences, but if you’re not looking to be scared, then there are other options that will work for you.

Charlie Hunnam stars in a new odyssey-fueled series coming to Apple TV+, and Jennifer Coolidge returns as a boozy socialite in a social satire that became a surprise hit last year on HBO. And Netflix’s Big Mouth also returns for more adult-animated goodness, so you’ll have an assortment of different options to choose from before we officially head into holiday season. Here are the must-see shows for October.

The Walking Dead: Season 11B (AMC series streaming on AMC+ 10/2)

This O.G. AMC zombie-universe series is coming to a close after this batch of episodes, and after that happens, Maggie and Megan are apparently getting their own show, and Daryl Dixon will head into his spinoff, which happens to be in France or something. How will he travel across the pond to Europe, exactly? No one knows or, at least, no one is telling. He’s a bike rider out of water, and he’ll have to work on reinvention to survive, apparently. Daryl and Dog in berets, make it happen.

Interview With the Vampire: Season 1 (AMC series streaming on AMC+ 10/2)

You’ve surely seen the 1990s movie starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Kirsten Dunst, and now, Anne Rice’s most popular gothic novel gets the small-screen adaptation. As the title suggests, Louis (Jacob Anderson of Game of Thrones) gives an interview to a journalist (Eric Bogosian), whose life will never be the same again. The same went for Louis once he encountered Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid), and then Claudia (Bailey Bass) rounded out their family. This series puts the added layer of Louis’ experience as a Black man in the 1900s, and the story’s still set in New Orleans while the trio traipses about at night, feeding urges while Louis wrestles with all of the guilt.

Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman’s Butler: Season 3 (HBO Max series streaming 10/6)

You may be surprised to learn that this show exists. Originally titled simply Pennyworth, this series moves from Epix to the DC Comics-troubled lands of HBO Max. And considering that most DC Comics sit in precarious waters these days, it’s worth watching how this transition goes and if it might spell trouble for genuinely good shows like Doom Patrol. The name change, ideally, will make people more interested than they were at this show’s old stomping grounds. It’s a spy thriller and follows Alfred before, you know, he became Batman’s butler and at a time when cultural revolution paved the way for a new age of heroes and villains.

The Midnight Club: Season 1 (Netflix series streaming 10/7)

Mike Flanagan might be the king of Halloween-streaming programming, given his success with The Haunting Of Hill House (and its followup), along with the more recent Midnight Mass. This series gears itself toward a younger crowd as it adapts Christopher Pike’s novel about a hospice for terminal teens. They form an organization devoted to telling scary stories at night, and there’s a twist: they all take a pact to send messages from the grave, if they go before the rest. Sadly, there will be no vampirish Hamish Linklater here, but hopefully, the show can do penance for this venial sin.

Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes (Netflix documentary series streaming 10/7)

After Evan Peters starred in Netflix’s Monster, notorious cannibal/serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer gets a deep dive (from true-crime paradigm-shifter Joe Berlinger, who directed Zac Efron in Extremely Wicked; Shockingly Evil and Vile, among other grim stories, along with a Metallica documentary) that sources unearthed interviews, all tied up in a revolting bow that digs into the circumstances that allowed Dahmer to flourish as a prolific killer. You know, despite all of the tell-tale screams that emerged from his Wisconsin apartment. Close the blinds before you watch this one.

Let the Right One In: Season 1 (Showtime series debuting on 10/9 and streaming 10/7)

This series is inspired by the Tomas Alfredson-directed Swedish horror film along with the book and follows a father who must continue caring for his daughter after she gets transformed into a vamp. No macaroni and cheese will be on the dinner table, in other words, since her only form of sustenance is human blood. The show promises to turn genre expectations upon its head and take a naturalistic view of a terrifying situation.

Unsolved Mysteries: Volume 3 (Netflix series streaming 10/7)

This compelling revival returns while still leaving the narrator job unfilled (and that’s for the best) with new stories of persistently unexplained crimes and deaths. Some will be reality based, another possibly associated with the paranormal. The biggest thing to know here is that the Stranger Things producers hold onto the same vibe and spirit of the original, long-running show while also partnering with Cosgrove/Meurer Productions.

Shantaram: Season 1 (Apple TV+ series streaming 10/14)

Charlie Hunnam’s leaned into projects that run far and wide since his Sons of Anarchy days, but here, he’s a world away from Charming, California. He’s semi-similarly an outlaw, though, in this adaptation of Gregory David Roberts’ same-named book, which details the life of an Australian convict who flees from prison for a new life in India. This may or may not be a semi-autobiographical turn from Roberts himself, whose life experiences are incredibly similar. Hunnam’s character finds himself both enthralled and struggling to avoid the trouble that got him into prison in the first place. Then he meets an enigmatic woman, and life grows even more complicated. It happens!

Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities: Season 1 (Netflix series streaming 10/25)

The horror maestro unleashes an anthology series full of sinister tales, helmed by seasoned directors including Jennifer Kent (The Babadook). Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke adapts a story from H.P. Lovecraft, and other directors include Ana Lily Amirpour, Panos Cosmatos, Guillermo Navarro, David Prior, Vincenzo Natali, and Keith Thomas. It’s a fitting way to wrap up the witching season, so make it last forever.

Big Mouth: Season 6 (Netflix series streaming 10/28)

Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg’s popular adult-animated series continues to fill everyone in on how horrible it is for everyone to go through puberty. This season is largely about family, and hopefully, we’ll hear plenty of The Bear‘s Ayo Edebiri, who stepped into the Missy role after Jenny Slate departed due to a casting controversy. Hormone monsters and lovebugs never get old, and even though this show has plenty of gross-out potential, it’s also acclaimed. No one can be mad at that win-win situation.

The White Lotus: Season 2 (HBO series streaming on HBO Max 10/30)

This sleeper hit left limited series status and moved onto sequel production in short order. Jennifer Coolidge (as Tanya McQuoid) is the only returning cast member, so sadly, we won’t see Murray Bartlett’s Armond pooping in a suitcase for this installment. We will, however, get to see a new setting at an Italy resort, where there shall be the customary privileged vacationers and also “three generations of Italian American men traveling back to their ancestral country.” Jealousy will be a big theme, along with an examination of traditional masculinity and femininity myths. The new cast includes Theo James and Aubrey Plaza, who needs to awkwardly hold a Mai Tai.

Neil Young is teaming up with longtime collaborators Crazy Horse for a new album. Their latest effort, World Record, is set to arrive in November.

World Record follows a series of archived projects Young and Crazy Horse has released in recent months, including Toast, a shelved album from 2001 which finally saw the light of day this past May.

Their upcoming album was produced by Rick Rubin and recorded in Rubin’s Shangri-La studio in Malibu, according to a press statement.

Ahead of the album, Young and Crazy Horse have shared “Love Earth,” a breezy track examining the state of the world. In the song’s accompanying video, Young is seen walking through forests, taking in the nature around him. When he arrives to a lake, he is seen dipping his feet into the waters.

Check out the video for “Love Earth” above and the World Record tracklist and cover art below.

1. “Love Earth”
2. “Overhead”
3. “I Walk With You (Earth Ringtone)”
4. “This Old Planet (Changing Days)”
5. “The World (Is In Trouble Now)”
6. “Break The Chain”
7. “The Long Day Before”
8. “Walkin’ On The Road (to the future)”
9. “The Wonder Won’t Wait”
10. “Chevrolet”
11. “This Old Planet (Reprise)”

World Record is out 11/18 via Reprise Records. Pre-order it here.

European club soccer is back this weekend. After an international break that kept fans from waking up early on weekends and watching their teams take the pitch, the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A, and all of the rest of the top leagues on the other side of the pond will resume play in the coming days. It marks the final break in the action before teams get a month-plus off for the World Cup in November and December.

No one is more excited about this, it appears, than Washington kicker Grady Gross. The Huskies are in Pasadena on Friday night to take on UCLA, and on their first drive of the night, they managed to get into the end zone to take an early lead. On the ensuing kickoff, this happened.

The good news for Gross is that VAR is apparently not working at the Rose Bowl on Friday night, so no one was sent to the monitor to assess this and give him a red card for a clear and obvious denial of a goal scoring opportunity by UCLA’s returner. The bad news is that this is still a penalty for tripping, and as a result, 15 yards were tacked onto the end of the return to set the Bruins up in Washington territory.

Comedian and actor Jaboukie Young-White is dabbling in the realm of music. And no, not just as producer Francois Boom from HBO Max’s hit series, Rap Sh!t. Today, he has released his debut single, “BBC.”

In this case, “BBC” may not stand for what you think it stands for. On the track, Jaboukie raps about his “bad b*tch coochie.”

“Tossin’ my salad like he toss a brewski / Got your man, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, J use me’ / D*ck game put him in a pew seat / Bad b*tch coochie,” he raps.

Jaboukie cut the groovy, dance-ready track in his apartment with the help of his brother.

“Bad b*tch coochie is a state of mind,” said Jaboukie in a statement. “I had a four on the floor kick, then my brother, Javeigh, laid a filthy, thumping bassline. I wanted the lyrics to reflect that cheeky and sleazy energy. I want this song to be a song you can’t help but dance to.”

In the song’s accompanying video, which also marks Jaboukie’s directorial debut, is seen strolling about town wearing a green suit, and also wearing a fuzzy sweater, thrusting and humping the air. The screen distorts throughout, creating a trippy, hypnotic effect.

Check out “BBC” above.

We are just weeks away from Taylor Swift‘s 10th studio album, Midnights. As of now, we don’t know much about the album, aside from the title of a few tracks, and the fact that Swift worked with Jack Antonoff on the album’s production. However, fans are anxious for the new era, and for Swift to tour with all the material she’s released during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Will Taylor Swift go on a stadium tour in 2023?

Since June 2020, Swift has released four bodies of work, including her eight and ninth studio albums, Folklore and Evermore, as well re-recordings of her albums, Fearless and Red. Each of the re-recorded albums contained re-recorded versions of the albums’ original tracks, as well as re-recordings of previously unreleased tracks recorded during those times. Midnights will mark the fifth project Swift has released over the course of two years, and since she hasn’t toured since 2017, its safe to say that the set list for the Midnights tour will be extensive. Especially because her planned series of festivals for her seventh album, Lover, was cancelled due to COVID.

According to a report by Daily Mail, the Hits Double Daily Twitter account shared, then deleted, a post saying that Swift is supposedly planning a “massive” stadium tour next year.

Though Swift has not confirmed a tour, Swifties are already certain the pop star will make an announcement soon.

“Why do some of you not believe that global superstar Taylor Swift would announce a massive stadium tour for 2023,” said one Twitter user, “months after releasing a new album, after she hasn’t toured in five years? It literally makes more sense than ever!!!”

Midnights is out 10/21 via Republic. Pre-order it here.

Poker can be a silly game. Much like that one Fort Minor song, luck and skill often come together to create names that folks remember forever, but of course, you can get the best of someone by getting really, really lucky. In fact, there are times when a player can be so brave, so daring, that you can’t help but think something is going on.

I say all of that to say this: My friends, we have a good ol fashion poker cheating scandal. Here is the video at the center of everything. It features Garrett Adelstein, who has an 8 and a 7 of clubs, going head-to-head with Robbi Jade Lew, who has a Jack-4 offsuit, during a Hustler Casino Live stream. Things start out innocently enough — Adelstein raises pre-flop, Lew calls, Lew gets a whole lot of nothing on the flop, and then, they go from 0-to-60 really, really quickly.

Adelstein has a straight flush draw and a gigantic chip advantage, so his decision to be ultra-aggressive after the turn and bet $10,000 makes some sense. Lew, meanwhile, is technically ahead with a Jack high, but she has considerably less money and decides to raise to $20,000, so Adelstein tries to drop the hammer and go all-in … only for Lew to call and eventually win the hand with nothing more than her Jack.

You can hear on the stream that the broadcaster cannot believe what he is seeing, nor can Adelstein when Lew turns her cards over — she straight up says that “you like like you wanna kill me” several times. The two discussed after the hand, with Adelstein saying he didn’t understand what was going on. Here’s what happened after, per the New York Post:

After the two had a private conversation, Lew gave Adelstein the money back from the hand. Why did she do that?

“I said that I wanted minimal destruction and asked, ‘What is going to make you happy?’” Lew told the table. “He said, ‘To give me my money back.’”

She then claimed that she misread the three — the turn card — thinking that it gave her a low pair against what she believed was a bluff. She said that she thought she had jack-three.

Lew said that she would “win the money back” that she gave Adelstein and “I’m not gonna deal with drama.”

Things eventually spilled over to Twitter, where Adelstein posted several tweets and a lengthy note to explain his side of things, while Lew claimed that Adelstein “cornered me & threatened me” and challenged him to a heads-up game so “whole world can watch me read you all day.”

In the aftermath, Hustler Casino Live put out a statement saying that while they “are extremely confident in our game security,” they will investigate the allegations of cheating, writing that “we will be looking into every aspect of this incident before putting out the results of our findings.”

While Adelstein tweeted out a video that includes a summary of the events that lead him to believe something strange happened here, Daniel Negreanu, one of the greatest players of all time, expressed his belief that Lew didn’t do anything sketchy beyond finding herself in an “I’m calling the bully situation.” Regardless, unless there is some sort of smoking gun, it is very hard to see allegations of cheating can be proven beyond any reasonable doubt.

The modern justice system is certainly not without its flaws, however most can agree that the concept of “innocent until proven guilty” is one that (when not abused) stands as the foundation of what fair due process looks like. This principle, it turns out, isn’t so modern at all. It can actually be traced all the way back to nearly 3,800 years ago.

Lady Justice, the image of impartial fairness.

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

English barrister Sir William Garrow is known for coining the “innocent until proven guilty” phrase between the 18th and 19th century, after insisting that evidence be provided by accusers and thoroughly tested in court. But this notion, as radical as it seemed at the time, can, in fact, be credited to an ancient Babylonian king who ruled Mesopotamia.

During his reign from 1792 to 1750 B.C., Hammurabi left behind a legacy of accomplishments as a ruler and a diplomat. His most influential contribution was a series of 282 laws and regulations that were painstakingly compiled after he sent legal experts throughout his kingdom to gather existing laws, then adapted or eliminated them in order to create a universal system.

Those laws were inscribed on a large, seven-foot stone monument, and they were known as the Code of Hammurabi.

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The Code of Hammurabi was extensive and included rules and penalties pertaining to economic, family, criminal and civil law. On top of the stone sits a carving of the king receiving the laws from Shamash, the Mesopotamian god of justice and equity, implying that the laws are divinely ordained.

Historians only know of one earlier recorded law collection, created just 300 years before Hammurabi, and it was much less detailed by comparison. As Dawn McCormack, associate dean of the College of Graduate Studies at Middle Tennessee State University, explains, this was most likely due to the growing group of different peoples conquered during Hammurabi’s reign. “As the population diversified, the law codes adapted to meet the new circumstances.”

Some of the laws in the Code of Hammurabi might be seen as barbaric by today’s standards, with punishments being the removal of the guilty party’s tongue, hands, breasts, eye or ear. On the other hand, many laws were quite progressive. Kelly-Anne Diamond, an assistant teaching professor of history at Villanova University, told History, the code provides the first recorded alimony payment law.

Diamond also notes that Mesopotamians “put a lot of emphasis on getting to the truth of a case,” and therefore mandated the use of witnesses, oral testimony and written evidence to prove guilt. They also established having individuals swear they were telling the truth by oath. “Oaths were particularly effective because of the people’s profound belief that the gods would punish them if they lied under oath,” she explained.

Presuming innocence in today’s legal system has had its fair share of negative impact on victims, primarily in sexual harassment cases, not to mention the heavy use of media coverage for court cases of public figures, which can certainly sway public opinion. Still, the fact that evidence-based, fair and impartial justice has been a goal throughout history offers an encouraging outlook for humanity as a whole. Perhaps it’s an ideal that will never fully be achieved, but the fact that people continue to pursue integrity is something worth noting.

Last night (September 29), Pusha T performed at The Pageant in St. Louis. During this stop of the rapper’s It’s Almost Dry tour, a fan may have gone a little too hard. Following the show, Twitter user @endeylive says he lost his prosthetic leg during the concert.

“i lost my prosthetic leg at your stl show,” he said. “still had fun tho.”

Push immediately responded, saying, “We gotta find that man…if you were at the STL show and know where my guy’s prosthetic leg is…pls hand it over.”

While we have not received an update on the prosthetic leg since the show last night, the Twitter user, who appears to be named Mitchell, is seemingly maintaining a sense of humor about the situation.

“How son get home with no leg,” asked one Twitter user.

“i hopped,” he replied.

Push is currently on the second leg of his It’s Almost Dry tour. Throughout his tour, Push said in an interview with Complex that one of the most rewarding parts of touring was seeing people get deep into each song, even the album cuts that weren’t released as singles.

“Watching the world react to “Brambleton” [from It’s Almost Dry has been surreal,” Push said. “It’s a very personal song, but people really honed in and really tuned in to that record. I know there’s not a Brambleton Avenue in every city all over the world, but they act like there is”