Category: News

One of the “white whales” from the Jan. 6 Capitol siege has finally been apprehended, and it’s partially thanks to his Instagram feed. Logan Barnhart, a former body builder who was allegedly photographed assaulting a police officer, was arrested by the FBI seven months after the failed but deadly coup, according to HuffPost. One of the most sought of the day’s perpetrators, he was known among the “Sedition Hunters” community by the colorful nickname “CatSweat.” (More on that in a second.)

Barnhart had eluded law enforcement for over half a year, in part because his face was partially obscured by sunglasses. But online hunters were able to track down video of him before the riot without the eyewear but still wearing a grey hoodie bearing the name “Caterpillar,” the name of the construction equipment manufacturer. (HuffPost claims they ID’d him earlier, thanks to citizen sleuths, but held back going public with it due to his history of violent behavior, including rioting charges as a teenager.)

Turns out Barnhart’s face got around:

That image of Barnhart’s face, plugged into a publicly available facial recognition website, pulled up several other images of Barnhart that are plastered across the internet on bodybuilding websites and photography portfolios. Photos of a shirtless Barnhart even graced the cover of romance novels with names like “Stepbrother UnSEALed: A Bad Boy Military Romance” and “Lighter,” which included the slogan “wrong never felt so right.”

But what “sealed the deal,” said HuffPost, was Barnhart’s Instagram account. Billing himself as a “Pipe Layerheavy machine operator,” he was prone to posting right-wing memes alongside “shirtless thirst traps.” In one post, from July 2019, he wore the same American flag hat he would later wear to the Capitol. In another image, from August 2020, he wore the same Caterpillar hoodie.

Barnhart is allegedly one of a number of Trump supporters photographed assaulting a D.C. metro police officer, whom they dragged down a set of stairs on the Western side of the building. His alleged participation in the failed insurgence didn’t inspire him to cool it on far right social media posts:

After participating in the attack on the Capitol, Barnhart continued to post right-wing material on Instagram that dismissed the threat of COVID-19. He posted a video of himself inside a Walmart (where he said he was the only person not wearing a mask) as well as memes about LeBron James and rants about Black Lives Matter.

In another of his posts, from February, Barnhart sarcastically joked about the “amazing FBI doing some fine investigative work.”

(Via HuffPost)

The Emmy award-winning series Adventure Time is back and ready to go to more distant lands — and networks — than ever before. Earlier today, Warner Bros. announced the former Cartoon Network show is getting a spinoff series following fan-favorite characters Fionna and Cake over on HBO Max. According to the press release, the series — currently titled Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake — follows the duo as they “embark on a multiverse-hopping adventure and journey of self-discovery” alongside a very unlikely companion — former Ice King, Simon Petrikov. In addition to all the usual challenges a couple of young adventurers might face, the series also will introduce a “powerful new antagonist” for Fionna and Cake who is “determined to track them down and erase them from existence.”

Introduced back in 2011, Fionna and Cake are the “gender-bent” versions of Adventure Time protagonists Finn the Human and Jake the Dog. The pair first appeared in a one-off episode that aired during the show’s third season titled “Adventure Time with Fionna and Cake,” and followed the pair as they rescued Prince Gumball (a male version of Princess Bubblegum) from the dreaded Ice Queen. Fionna and Cake went on to make four additional appearances throughout Adventure Time‘s run, and have remained a much-beloved part of the franchise.

While the rest of the cast has yet to be announced, Adventure Time fans will be pleased to know long-time writer, director, and showrunner Adam Muto is headed over to HBO to serve as both showrunner and executive producer of the new series. Billy Wee, the SVP of Comedy and Original Animation at HBO Max says the service is “thrilled to partner with our friends at Cartoon Network Studios to continue innovating and expanding the Adventure Time universe with this world-class team.”

As of right now, no release date has been announced for Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake. In the meantime, however, Adventure Time fans can enjoy three one-hour HBO original specials set in the world of candy-people and lump space royalty that were all released as a part of the Adventure Time: Distant Lands collection. The fourth and final special, Wizard City, is set to release on HBO Max later this fall.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and his husband Chasten have announced they are going to be parents.

The news is wonderful for their family and it also makes them the most high profile LGBTQ couple in U.S. politics to have a child.

“For some time, Chasten and I have wanted to grow our family. We’re overjoyed to share that we’ve become parents!” Pete tweeted. “The process isn’t done yet and we’re thankful for the love, support, and respect for our privacy that has been offered to us. We can’t wait to share more soon.”

For some time, Chasten and I have wanted to grow our family. We’re overjoyed to share that we’ve become parents! Th… https://t.co/059kq25vGQ

— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg)
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Chasten seconded his husband’s tweet.

Some news! https://t.co/ikp1yLq9sR

— Chasten Glezman Buttigieg (@Chasten)
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The couple haven’t discussed the process they’ve used to have a child. But Chasten told The Washington Post last month they have been working to adopt a child for over a year. The couple married in 2018.

“It’s a really weird cycle of anger and frustration and hope,” Chasten admitted. “You think it’s finally happening and you get so excited, and then it’s gone.” The couple has had a few near misses with adoption getting so close they’ve picked out names and shopped for baby accessories only to have things fall through.

After Pete was named the Secretary of Transportation in the Biden administration the couple sold their home in South Bend Indiana and moved to an apartment in Washington, D.C. with their dogs.

The news may have come fast for the couple. They had recently signed up to be put on a list to adopt a child that was abandoned or surrendered.

The Buttigieg’s received a lot of love and support from adoptive parents after the announcement.

Babygieg? We’re all in.

If it is wrong to judge someone by the color of their skin, it should also be unacceptable to discriminate against them for the texture or style of their natural hair. Makes sense, right?

Unfortunately, Black people have had to deal with codes and rules that prevent them from wearing natural, protective hairstyles at school and in the workplace. According to the CROWN Act, Black women are 1.5 times more likely to be sent home from the workplace because of their hair.

Black women are also 80% more likely than white women to agree with the following statement: “I have to change my hair from its natural state to fit in at the office.”

Most of the policing of Black hair has centered around protective hairstyles such as braids, locs, twists, and knots. Protective styles are worn to grow healthier, longer hair, and to reduce split ends, knotting, and damage.

It’s unimaginable that people have had to face scrutiny for protecting their hair.

Illinois schools can no longer ban cornrows, locs and braids, thanks to a West Side mom who fought hair discriminat… https://t.co/IY5P4RGQPl

— Block Club Chicago (@BlockClubCHI)
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Earlier this year, Ida Nelson’s four-year-old son, Gus Hawkins IV (affectionately known as Jett), asked if he could put his hair in braids and she was happy to do it for him. “(Jett) was so excited, he wanted to go to school and show the teacher because that’s what 4-year-olds want to do — show his friends and his teachers his cool hair,” Nelson told Today.

But when he went to school with his hair in braids she was told it was a dress code violation. Jett attends Providence St. Mel School, an independent school in the West Side neighborhood of Chicago that has a predominantly Black student body.

“I said, ‘We still have policies related to Black hair in 2021, as an all-Black school? I’m really shocked about that,'” she told Today of the conversation with the school. “We have progressed, we have so much more information. … I thought surely this school would understand the trauma associated with policing Black hair and absolutely not have a policy like that.”

Nelson removed her son’s braids and put his hair in a ponytail, prompting another call from the school claiming it was a violation as well.

The conflict inspired Nelson to work with her congressional representatives to pass the CROWN Act in Illinois. The law is in effect in several states and cities and prohibits “race-based hair discrimination.”

“I want every last one of my children to learn early what I learned late, which is how to embrace yourself and how to love yourself and that you do not have to change who you are, the things that you were born with … in order to fit in with anyone else,” she said.

Thank you @JBPritzker for signing the Jett Hawkins act today. We have turned the page in Illinois so that Black you… https://t.co/fzS9KHed0e

— Mike Simmons (He, his, him) (@MikeSimmonsChi)
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On Friday, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the Jett Hawkins Law into effect which prohibits the state’s schools from issuing rules regarding hairstyles historically associated with race and ethnicity, such as braids and twists. It also requires the Illinois State Board of Education to provide schools with educational materials to teach about protective hairstyles.

“For decades Black people have had too often their natural and protective hairstyles weaponized against them,” Pritkzer said. “This is yet another way that Illinois is making powerful strides in transforming the culture of our schools.”

Governor Pritzker signed legislation SB 817 that I authored and sponsored with Rep. Greg Harris that bans school po… https://t.co/Z5sKrjU8Oq

— Senator Mike Simmons (@SenMikeSimmons)
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Nelson was on hand for the singing of the law named after her son.

“For us, this is bigger than just hair. Our hair is an extension of who we are as a race and is deeply connected to our cultural identity,” Ida said. “This is one huge step towards improving the mental health outcomes for our children, as it ensures that they will be in healthier learning environments.”

In July, Oscar-nominee and Cat Oscar fan Melissa McCarthy went viral for a most unusual deed: She was spotted standing outside a Wienerschnitzel in Los Angeles holding a sign that asks drivers to pray for fellow actress Mariska Hargitay after she hurt her ankle. It was a nice Mad Libs news item, random but also heartwarming. And a month later, as per The Hollywood Reporter, she finally went into the backstory.

On Monday’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the actress said it all stemmed from Hargitay giving her crap. Hargitay had recently injured her ankle and she had been telling McCarthy about it over text. But, McCarthy admitted, she’s a terrible texter who forgets to check her phone. Eventually a flustered Hargitay texted her, “Oh, don’t worry. I’m just here in a lot of pain, recovering. I guess you’re too busy to respond to my texts.”

That did the job. McCarthy sprung into action, drove to America’s finest hot dog chain with a misspelled German name, and stood on the sidewalk with a sign that read “Honk if you’re PRAYING for Mariska Hargitay’s recovery.” Video of McCarthy waving the sign, to a symphony of honks, went viral and played the news. In short: Melissa McCarthy: bad texter, great friend.

You can watch McCarthy’s appearance with Fallon in the video below.

(Via THR)

One of the more exciting releases that will come out soon is the upcoming Psychonauts 2. Despite the 15-year gap between games, fans of the series are finally getting a sequel to one of the weirdest and quirkiest games of the Xbox/PlayStation 2 generation. There’s a lot of excitement around Psychonauts 2, not only because it’s another example of how crowdfunding can assist in game development, but because of their focus on accessibility to the player — they’ve already told players that there will be an invincibility mode and their efforts to be a game that everyone can play are admirable.

Of course, with the game being a sequel, there’s going to be a segment of players who really can’t play it without playing the first game, especially since this game is going to be a direct sequel. Even if the game wasn’t a sequel, there would still be players out there who feel the need to play the first game before they can play the follow-up. Lucky for them, there are plenty of ways to still play the original game today.

Psychonauts 2 releases on August 25 and the original game takes about 15 hours to beat, so anyone that really wants to play the original first should be able to tackle it relatively quickly. There isn’t any version in particular that’s superior to the rest, so get it on whatever platform you would prefer to play it on. These platforms include:

Steam

The first Psychonauts game is currently available for only $0.99 on Steam. That means anyone with a PC can play the game for practically free. It’s an older game, so anyone with a decent PC should be able to play it without too many issues. That said, because it’s a 3D Platformer, most players might want to consider finding a controller.

Game Pass

Owners of an Xbox or PC who currently pay for Game Pass can play the original Psychonauts game for free. The advantage of this is that anyone who is concerned their PC won’t be powerful enough to play the game can just play it on their Xbox with little concern.

Xbox/PlayStation 2

Purists who still own their Xbox or PlayStation 2 can always go find an original copy of the game and play it that way. However, the barrier to entry is far higher than the other options just because of the price. As of this writing, the game is selling in the $20-35 range on Amazon. There also aren’t too many in stock, so some players may need to go hunt down their local retro game store to find it. If someone does take the Amazon route, they’ll have to wait for shipping, and with the sequel coming out soon, there won’t be as much time to play it before release. Play the game however you want, but this method is really only suggested for purists that want to play the game exactly as it was on original hardware.

VR

For anyone that wants to play as much Psychonauts content as possible before Psychonauts 2, they can always play the PlayStation VR game, Psychonauts: Rhombus of Ruin. Since the majority of people do not have a PlayStation VR, this game isn’t going to be required to enjoy the sequel, but it’s out there for anyone who is interested in it.

Mike Lindell (verbally) attacked Sean Hannity after getting (physically) attacked himself. Or so he claims.

The MyPillow founder told attendees of his cyber symposium last week that he was assaulted at his hotel in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. A police report was filed, but “he did not go into detail about the incident while on stage,” the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported. All Lindell would say is that it “hurts a little bit” and that he wants “everyone to know all the evil that’s out there.” An eyewitness claims he’s full of it, though.

Lindell, who was in Sioux Falls hosting an election fraud symposium, told the Associated Press on Tuesday his encounter with a man seeking a photo late Wednesday left him doubled over in pain… However, the conference attendee who was taking the photo, Jeff Buongiorno, said, “There was no attack.”

While talking with his buddies in the hotel bar, Buongiorno, a Republican congressional candidate in Florida, saw Lindell walking through the lobby and asked for a photo with the conspiracy theorist. “As Buongiorno finished taking the photos, another man Buongiorno did not know approached the group and asked if he too could have a photo with Lindell,” according to the Associated Press. “Lindell’s recounting of the incident last week matched much of Buongiorno’s description, except that Lindell said the second man wrapped his arm around him and shoved an object into his side.”

Lindell called it “one of the worst attacks on me I’ve ever had,” but Buongiorno stated that “nothing he saw could be described as an attack that would leave Lindell in pain.”

Lindell defended his account, saying Buongiorno would not have seen the assault from where he was standing to take the photo. Lindell added that he was scared that saying anything would have escalated the situation and that he doubled over in pain as soon as the elevator doors closed.

The local police are investigating the alleged assault.

(Via the AP)

An alleged murderer is now saying he regrets participating in a documentary series about his alleged murders. According to The Wrap, Robert Durst, the real estate heir accused of killing three people, discussed 2015’s The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst at his trial on Tuesday. And he confessed that getting involved in the program, which led to him being arrested by the FBI and to the trial happening right now, was a “very, very, very, big mistake.”

In the final episode of The Jinx, which aired on HBO, viewers heard a recording of Durst saying, point blank, “What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.” That’s what led to his arrest. But now he’s saying that that was essentially taken out of context. Durst told the jury that he was referring to evidence that he had written a note to the police alerting them to the body of Susan Berman, his first wife and the first of his alleged victims.

“What I did not say out loud, or perhaps I said very softly, is they’ll all think I killed them all of course,” he said while trying to explain himself.

The feds famously rounded up Durst the day before the final episode aired, having been belatedly made aware of his alleged confession by Andrew Jarecki, The Jinx’s director. (Jarecki also made the 2010 drama All Good Things, with Ryan Gosling as a thinly fictionalized Durst. Durst only participated in The Jinx because he enjoyed that film.) Durst said that after the penultimate episode aired, he fled to New Orleans, bringing with him a gun.

“I was going to shoot myself,” he told the jury.

Durst’s trial originally began in March of last year, some five years after his arrest, but was soon postponed due to the pandemic. It started again in July.

(Via The Wrap)

Miracle Workers: Oregon Trail (TBS, 10:30 pm) — Season 3 of this anthology series continues in 1844, when an idealistic preacher (Daniel Radcliffe) must join forces with a wanted outlaw (Steve Buscemi) as they set off on the eponymous trail by wagon. TBS suggests that the promise and peril that they encounter might remind us of our own times. Following the butt-shaking Radcliffe scene from a few weeks ago, the group pauses for the Fourth of July at Independence Rock. Benny’s attempting to become the most dominant outlaw out there while Ezekiel only wants to enjoy the holiday.

Stargirl (CW, 8:00pm) — Courtney grows suspicious of an unanticipated visitor while both Barbara and Pat express concern after a different surprise.

Untold: Malice at the Palace (Netflix film) — The Wild Wild Country creators bring a fresh, five-part sports docuseries that will drop weekly. This week, Christy Martin’s plight takes center stage following her 1996 undercard fight at the Mike Tyson/Frank Bruno fight. Martin’s story is a perilous one, given that she was not only keeping her sexual orientation under wraps, but she also stood as a pay-per-view records champ in women’s boxing. Don King put her on his radar, and she also wrestled with substance abuse and domestic violence, so expect this installment to be rife with all kinds of drama, including an interview from Mike Tyson.

Superman & Lois (CW, 9:00pm) — Superman experiences a terrible real-life nightmare while Lois goes toe-to-toe with Leslie Farr and General Lane receives some help.

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon — Michael Shannon, Paris Hilton, Courtney Barnett

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Jennifer Hudson, Jeff Bowders

In case you missed these recent streaming picks:

Modern Love: Season 2 (Amazon Prime series) — Who doesn’t want to watch Jon Snow Kit Harington romance Lucy Boynton? It’s the return of the popular anthology series that found inspiration in the famed New York Times column. Relationships and connections shall happen, as well as betrayals and revelations, and the cast is chock full of talent you already know and love, including Tobias Menzies, Minnie Driver, Garrett Hedlund. All rules of love shall be henceforth broken in locales including Dublin and the whole of New York, including that Big Apple. Did I mention? Jon Snow getting randy again is not to be missed.

CODA (Apple TV+ movie) — This Sundance-awarded film (of four awards, including the Directing Award, the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize) from Vendome Pictures touches down on your streaming devices. The story follows a teenager named Ruby, who happens to be the only member of a deaf family who’s able to hear. She’s not only involved with all of the usual teenage concerns but also interpreting duties for her parents and the family business. When she joins her school’s choir, things get rough after she blossoms and finds herself with a difficult choice: keep meeting all of those family obligations, or strike out on her own venture.

While fear might be the “mind-killer,” Dune director Denis Villeneuve has it out for something somehow even more untouchable: the cinema-killer, aka the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While COVID-19 has caused immeasurable strife for the entire entertainment industry (and of course the world-at-large), Villeneuve has been repeatedly been pretty vocal about how much damage it has done to Dune’s theatrical release in particular.

After repeatedly pushing back the film’s release date in order to ensure a proper opening and penning an open letter to HBO Max telling them their decision to release Dune on their streaming service shows “no love for cinema, nor for the audience,” Villeneuve is back to reminding folks just what they’re missing if they choose to experience the film from the safety of their own home. In a recent interview with Total Film Magazine, Villeneuve called the pandemic “the enemy of cinema” before further elaborating on why he’s so unhappy with the notion of his upcoming film releasing on HBO Max alongside its box office debut:

First of all, the enemy of cinema is the pandemic. That’s the thing. We understand that the cinema industry is under tremendous pressure right now. That I get. The way it happened, I’m still not happy. Frankly, to watch Dune on a television, the best way I can compare it is to drive a speedboat in your bathtub. For me, it’s ridiculous. It’s a movie that has been made as a tribute to the big-screen experience.

While Villeneuve’s sentiments do make some sense (and this problem could impact Dune Pt. 2 being made), the rising number of COVID-19 cases attributed to the highly contagious Delta variant aren’t budging anytime soon and presumably neither is Dune‘s October 22 release date. Needless to say, this leaves a whole lot of at-risk folks unable to see it in theaters regardless of how great the experience might be. While giant sandworms might not look as cool on a 65-inch TV, for some folks it’s the only option.

What ultimately makes Villeneuve’s words a bit frustrating is that back in his open letter last December, the director stated he understood “public safety comes first” and claimed, “nobody argues with that.” He then went on to explain that’s why he was being accommodating and pushing the Dune release date back a year, to a time when he believed “everything should be back to a new normal” and the film could have a proper box office opening. However, here we are, nearly a year later, and things are decidedly still not normal and the public is still not safe. It’s not what anyone wanted, but is the harsh reality.

Just about everyone is continuously making sacrifices and accommodations, so here’s hoping Villeneuve eases up a little bit about this when Dune finally premieres in theaters and on HBO Max on October 22.