Things got even uglier on Wednesday night when Hannity welcomed Rivera and Geraldo back, and the conversation did not go well. Bongino repeated his accusation that Geraldo wanted to “see the country burn” during protests, and Geraldo lost it: “I want to see the country burn?!? You son of a bitch!” There was more: “I want to see the country burn, you punk?!? You’re nothing but a punk!” Oh boy.
Geraldo Rivera and Dan Bongino get into a heated exchange on Fox News’ Hannity:
Here’s how things went slightly earlier, via Mediaite, with Geraldo discussing the taser, and Bongino declaring, “Give me a second to digest the stupidity of that.” That led to Rivera growing angry about Bongino’s alleged dismissal of facts: “You’re nothing but a name-caller! You’re a cheap shot artist!”
Bongino wasn’t impressed and stuck with his take, which is that Geraldo has never been a cop, just like he hasn’t been a baseball player, so he doesn’t know everything. “There’s a big difference between reporting on a baseball game and playing it, Geraldo,” he assessed. “You’ve never worn a badge, period. Not interested in your reporting on it, because reporters deal with facts, and you brought the race card into it the other night when we had this debate, despite having no facts to back that up.”
Rivera was aghast: “What, did you have a ten-minute career as a cop? You’ve been running for office for the last 20 years.”
To that, Bongino responded, “Take a Valium. You’ve really gotta pipe down. My gosh, you’re a 70-year-old man!”
Taylor Swift treats her fans as well as any other pop star, and not just with her prolific output in recent years. On occasion, when she hears about a Swiftie with a touching story, she takes it upon herself to reach out and offer some sort of gift to brighten their day. In May 2020, she surprised a nurse with gifts for her 30th birthday. Back in August, she paid tuition costs for a UK student studying to become a mathematician. Now Swift is back with yet another gift.
This time, she helped out another nurse. As BuzzFeed reports, flight nurse Britta Thomason was the subject of a recent profile about her work during the pandemic, by Georgia newspaper The Telegraph. At one point in the piece, Thomason was asked about her interests outside of work and she declared that she is a Swiftie. Swift herself took notice and a few days ago, Thomason got a big box of gifts from Swift, which included merch and a handwritten letter from Swift.
On Facebook, Thomason wrote, “I mentioned in a recent news article with [The Telegraph] that I am a big Taylor Swift fan…and this showed up at work today!! I’ve always seen videos of her fans opening packages she sent them but never did I EVER think I would be one of them! I’m not one to fangirl about anything, but if you know me, you know I’m a Swiftie! Don’t mind me…I’ll be crying the rest of the day. Taylor, thank you!”
In the letter, Swift wrote, “I wanted to write to you and personally thank you for serving on the front lines of this pandemic and for being brave enough to put yourself in danger to help others. I am so inspired by your passion for helping and caring for your patients, and I was so touched that you mentioned liking my music recently! I’ve sent you some cozy clothes for when you’re off duty. I’ll be thinking about you, and forever grateful!”
Following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by a white officer’s knee, then-White House national security adviser Robert C. O’Brien was asked if systemic racism is a problem in law enforcement agencies on CNN. “I don’t think there is systemic racism. I think 99.9 percent of our law enforcement officers are great Americans,” he replied. “There are a few bad apples that are giving law enforcement a terrible name.” The “one bad apple” excuse is one we’ve all heard a million times, and The Daily Show host Trevor Noah is sick of it.
“We’re told time and time again that these incidents that Black Americans are experiencing are because of bad apples, right?” he said. “There are ‘bad apples’ in these police departments who are doing these things. They use chokeholds that are not allowed. They use excessive force. They’re violent in their words and in their actions to the people they’re meant to be protecting and serving.”
This begs the question: “Where are the good apples?” Noah continued. “If we’re meant to believe that the police system in America, the system of policing itself is not fundamentally broken, then we would need to see good apples.” Noah isn’t saying there are no good police officers, but he is asking “where the good apples are, and what I mean by that is, where are the cops who are stopping the cop from putting their knee on George Floyd’s neck? Because there’s not one cop at that scene.”
It’s hard to believe that it was only eight years ago, but before 2013, we all watched new episodes of television the same way: Once a week, as they were released. We had to wait seven days in between every episode of Mad Men or Breaking Bad or The Sopranos. We often had to wait two or three weeks (or more) between episodes on broadcast networks. Binge-watching new television was unheard of, and if you’d asked at the time, most people in the TV industry would have called it sacrilege. In fact, some even suggested this “extreme” model would lead to the death of TV.
The truth, however, is that binge-watching had existed for years, although before 2013, we called them TV marathons. MTV might air a full season of America’s Top Model on a Saturday, or AMC might air the 20 back-to-back episodes of The Walking Dead or Comedy Central would air hours-long blocks of Scrubs. Netflix, meanwhile, turned those isolated marathons into binges. AMC aired Breaking Bad and Mad Men weekly, but recall that — especially with Breaking Bad — most viewers caught the first three or four seasons on Netflix in hours-long binge sessions. Little-heard-of comedies like Party Down, meanwhile, became cult hits because viewers would watch entire seasons of it on a Saturday afternoon.
Still, until 2013, the idea of releasing every new episode of a television show at once — without dozens of commercials in between every episode to promote the show — was almost unthinkable. That is, until House of Cards, Netflix’s first major original series, came along. Ted Sarandos — the co-chief executive officer and chief content officer for Netflix — was on the Smartless podcast this week, and he explained that Netflix knew from the beginning that it would have to get into original content game, which even at the time was novel for the streamer. Sarandos reasoned that streaming television would be the future, and while the platform made most of its money airing reruns of other network’s content, they knew that at some point, networks like AMC and HBO and NBC would create their own platforms and stop licensing their content to Netflix.
That’s why Netflix spent $100 million on House of Cards, which would ultimately lead to Netflix becoming the biggest powerhouse in content today. However, at the time, releasing all the episodes at once was an afterthought, according to Ted Sarandos. “I never even thought about it,” he said. “It was the happy accident of happy accidents. When we finished the season [of House of Cards], and we were about to launch, somebody asked how we were going to put it out.”
“We had a meeting,” Sarandos continued, “and they asked, ‘How are you going to release it?’ and I said, ‘How do you mean?’ And they said, “one a week? Four a month?’
“I said, well, everything on Netflix we got it a season after it was on TV and we put up the whole season. And I said, well, we can’t have one show that comes out one a week and everything else all at once, so let’s just release [House of Cards] all at once and see how people watch it.”
And that’s how the binge-model was born, by “happy accident.” The data that Netflix had also backed up the move, with Sarandos saying, “some people watched two and some people watched three, but no one watched just one a week.”
House of Cards, however, wasn’t actually the first Netflix original series to go adopt the binge model. That honor went to the lesser-known series Lilyhammer, from Stevie Van Zandt, best known as a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band and as Silvio Dante in The Sopranos. Sarandos actually had to have a phone call with Van Zandt to explain what was happening, and Van Zandt said, “Wait a minute, wait a minute! We just spent nine months of our lives making a show, and you’re just going to dump it all out at once?”
“And I said, ‘Yeah, just like an album,’ Sarandos said.
Over the last four decades, WWE’s iconic rivalries have created some of the most significant pieces of memorabilia in sports entertainment history. With the WWE warehouse standing as essentially the lone storage unit for many of these items, a whopping 95 percent of WWE collectibles have gone missing. That is until now, when A&E and WWE partnered to create the “WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures” series, which kicks off Sunday, April 18, at 10 p.m. ET. Throughout the 10-week programming partnership, former NFL player and up-and-coming superstar AJ Francis partners with WWE legends to travel across the country and track down original pieces of history.
“Honestly, there’s a bunch of balls being juggled in the air right now on what the long-term goal is (for tracking down these items),” Francis told Uproxx Sports. “The initial plan was to get all of these items in some form of an exhibit, to be able to bring these to the fans. Now that might be a roving exhibit that travels with Monday Night Raw once the world opens back up, it might be a Hall of Fame, it might be something that they do at the warehouse that hopefully fans can go in and appreciate. To be able to see all of these crazy items (in the warehouse) is sensory overload. If done right, that would be a tourist’s destination for WWE fans.”
On WWE’s mission to “reclaim history one item at a time,” Stephanie McMahon and Triple H offer introductions that highlight the legends featured for each episode. Throughout the series, Francis partners with legends like The Undertaker, Ric Flair, Charlotte Flair, Mick Foley, Kane, Big Show, Booker T and others to track down a variety of items that include Kane’s original mask, Ric Flair’s Butterfly Robe, Andy Kaufman’s neckbrace, Andre The Giant’s passport and more.
After spending countless hours with his childhood heroes, it was difficult for Francis to narrow down just one superstar or item that was memorable to him.
“That’s a trick question,” Francis said. “Ric Flair is the GOAT. There’s never been a better combination of in-ring skill and promo charisma than Ric Flair in the history of the world. The things we look for for him (during the show), trying to track down his robes, those are incredibly detailed pieces of memorabilia. Anyone who happens to come across one of those is the luckiest person on Earth.
“But would I be lying to you if I said the most fun part was kicking it with Kane and Undertaker in the car for three hours, yeah, that was incredible. Spending the afternoon with Jerry Lawler at his house and seeing his memorabilia, that was incredible. To be able to sit down with Booker T and talk about what it takes to be a successful African-American in this business, that was incredible. So there’s not one specific thing, but I am a bit of a Ric Flair mark.”
The first two episodes take Francis and the legends all over the country, traveling anywhere from fans homes to the National Museum of Funeral History and even to the Undertaker’s personal storage unit.
“It was crazy. Every search was different,” Francis said. “Sometimes the legend themselves knew where the item was. Other items, the legend gave the item away 20 years ago and had no idea where it was. Sometimes, it’s common knowledge in the collector community who has the item. Sometimes in the collector community, it’s hush hush and they don’t want to tell anybody who has it. That was what was so interesting to me. This group of collectors, they all talk to each other about who has what and how much are they willing to give something away or trade it for. They all know each other. A lot of (these collectors) are known in the wrestling community or they’re friends with the legends.”
While tracking down each item, the WWE legends occasionally unveil anecdotes that fans may not have known. In the first episode, while Foley explains how he can identify the original Mankind shirt thanks to specific rips and tears sustained during his rivalry with the Undertaker, he reveals that the original Mankind mask was created for the Deadman after he suffered a broken orbital bone. Vince McMahon opted for another mask at the time, but liked the prototype so much he kept it stored away until the right wrestler came along.
It’s that perfect blend of taking traditional wrestling fans on a trip down memory lane, while at the same time offering new fans a history lesson that makes “WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures” such a perfect balance for even the most casual of fans.
Beginning Sunday, April 18, WWE will kick off its programming partnership with A&E with eight original two-hour documentaries under the award-winning “Biography” banner at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the “WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures” series at 10 p.m. ET.
Asking someone to pay over $200 for a bottle of booze — whether it be whisk(e)y, brandy, rum, or even Cognac — is no joke. The liquid in that bottle had better be something truly special. Not quite “once-in-a-lifetime” special but definitely well beyond the “let’s open this bottle just because” range.
Meaning that any Scotch whisky in the $200-$250 price range has to bring something unique to the table. It’s got to make a big promise and deliver.
Here’s the good news: unlike bourbon, where the best bottles are inflated by the aftermarket, the prices of scotch are rarely affected by the hype machine (though they can be affected by tariffs). The price of an expensive scotch is mostly due to its refinement and its scarcity. Even awards don’t typically send prices into the stratosphere. Most of the bottles we’re featuring today are priced this high for one simple reason: they’ve spent two-plus decades resting in a warehouse. That requires a lot of rent, a lot of failed barrels, and a lot of human interaction (read: work) along the way.
Scotch whisky with that sort of age (and price) behind it is an investment in your personal whisk(e)y journey that’ll expand your knowledge and your palate. A worthwhile investment, if you ask us; but obviously not a cheap one. If any of these picks entices you, click on its price to grab a bottle of your own.
This 2019 release was for hardcore fans of Ardbeg. The juice is a heavily peated whisky that’s aged in ex-bourbon barrels for an undisclosed amount of time. The whisky is then bottled to represent the peatiest essence of an Islay whisky.
Tasting Notes:
You get a nose full of dark and wet ash next to fennel and black licorice with a slightly candy-sweet edge. The taste leans into the peat with a dry bark chewiness with hints of peppery spice and dry menthol cigarettes all leading back to a sooty coal smokiness. The end is very long but mellows out massively as the semi-sweet licorice kicks back in, supporting whispers of orange oils, anise, and corn syrup on the very final note.
Bottom Line:
This is exclusively for whisky drinkers who already love peat but want to take it to the next level. And by “next level” we don’t mean going from casually dating to moving in together. It’s more like going from casually dating to eloping in Vegas and having five kids together. This whisky is a commitment to expanding your peaty palate that’ll either leave you more in love with the style or content to return to the less pungent whiskies you’ve tried before.
This is the mountaintop of Johnnie Walker’s whiskies. The blend is a marriage of ultra-rare stock from extinct Diageo distilleries around Scotland. That’s just … cool. This expression is all about barrel selection and the mastery of a great noser and blender working together to create something special.
Tasting Notes:
Dried fruit with a plummy sweetness mingles with a very soft and almost dry pall of smoke. The palate then veers in a completely different direction — folding in orange oils, marzipan, rose water, honeycombs, and a dusting of bitter cacao once water is added. The end is slow, smoky, and full of dry fruits, nuts, and a malty nature.
Bottom Line:
This is one of the most refined blends in the whisky world. It’s a delight to sip (neat or with a rock). In fact, if this bottle was a bit more affordable, we’d always have one open on the shelf. It’s just that delicious and accessible.
This 2010 special release from Diageo highlighted a whisky laid down in the warehouse back in 1989. The whisky is very pale — thanks to aging in second and third-fill ex-bourbon barrels (meaning a lot of the coloring components of the inner-barrel were already sapped). Just over 5,000 bottles were made and, well, it’s been eleven long years since then. So, they’re getting rarer and rarer.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a sense of a cobweb-heavy cellar more than old oak on the nose, with a nice dose of stewed peaches swimming in vanilla pudding. That pudding creaminess leaves the vanilla behind and a lemon cream pie vibe takes over with wisps of savory herbs popping in as a counterpoint. The short end really embraces the stone and orchard fruits with notes of honey and cream smoothing everything out.
Bottom Line:
This is shockingly smooth, fruity, and silky. Cragganmore has a reputation for being one of the easiest and most inviting whiskies in the game, and this bottle only proves that more so. You’ll forget you ever needed ice when drinking whisky thanks to this velvet dram.
Dufftown’s Mortlach is one of those distilleries that may just make you fall in love with scotch. The mash is distilled 2.81 times, according to Mortlach’s unique distilling methods. That juice is then loaded in sherry casks and left to do its thing for 20 long years. The results are vatted, brought down to proof with that soft Speyside water, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
There’s an apple pie feel that pulls you in with stewed and spicy apples, black raisins, and walnuts next to a hint of caramelized pineapple and a whisper of sea salt. That apple pie filling kicks up a notch as a savory and buttery pie crust comes into play, while hints of mint, figs, vanilla, oak, and dark cacao mingle on the tongue. The end comes along very slowly with more walnuts and raisins leading towards a final savory note that’s almost … extra virgin olive oil?
Bottom Line:
That note of olive oil really threw us. Yet, it makes complete sense when sipping the dram. Brilliance? Luck? All that we know is that it works so well with everything going on in this very rare and exceptional sip of whisky.
This Glenmorangie expression is a prime example of something truly special. The juice is a mix of single malts with estate-grown malts and “chocolate malts” (meaning they were roasted until dark and chocolate-y). The hot juice then went into new American oak (not ex-bourbon) for varying amounts of time.
While there’s no age statement, there are barrels up to 40 years old in this mix.
Tasting Notes:
You’re greeted with a note of dried apricots with a hint of clove, leading towards a very light dark orange chocolate. The chocolate amps up the bitterness, reaching espresso bean levels as some eggnog spice kicks in with a silky mouthfeel and a touch of wet tobacco. The end brings about a flourish of bright citrus zest that dries everything out, leaving you with a lingering end and a final note of earthy dried mushrooms.
Bottom Line:
This is as interesting as it is engaging. The taste is so subtly built and takes you places you didn’t expect to go. It’s complex, sure. But the dram never overpowers and stays very easy to sip.
This is more than just an 18-year-old whisky. The juice in this case spent 14 years maturing in ex-bourbon casks. Then the whisky was filled into Matusalem sherry casks that held sherry for 30 (!) years for four more years of maturation. The casks, from Bodega González-Byass, are exceedingly rare and impart something truly unique into this whisky.
Tasting Notes:
Dried roses meet your nose as orange-zest bespeckled dark chocolate dances with hints of old book leather, vanilla husks, and sultanas. The taste holds onto the orange and chocolate tightly as a nutty, peppery, syrupy vibe takes over with a light touch of oakiness. The chocolate zeroes in its bitter qualities on the end, with a little bit more vanilla sweetness and a savory counterpoint that’s kind of like saline (or wet salt).
Bottom Line:
There’s a lot going on in this sip. For the uninitiated, it can feel like a lot to take in. For those looking to really dial in their palates, it’s a great stepping stone to the higher reaches of whisky tasting.
This is a classic single malt that also happens to hold the title of “Best Single Malt Whisky in the World” from the World Whiskies Awards. The iconic juice is rendered in Talisker’s bespoke stills and then spends nearly two decades resting in both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry barrels, like most of the true classic single malts.
Tasting Notes:
This is subtle. The nose has a light yet clear sense of ripe plums, orange oils, buttery toffee, and an almost sour apple next to a distant whiff of briny campfire smoke from one beach over. The orange oils remain on the palate as eggnog spices peek in gently, with hints of that butter toffee driving a rich silkiness. The smoke remains in the distance as the spices warm your senses and the meaty fruit takes the edge off on the slow and satisfying fade.
Bottom Line:
This is a masterpiece. It’s not overly smoky or overly sweet. Instead, you get a perfect balance of everything Scotland has to offer, from both poles of the Scotch whisky experience.
Master Blender Stephanie MacLeod has taken blended scotch to the next level with this expression. Grain and single malt whiskies are aged for 25 very long years before they’re married and placed in oak vats to get to know each other. Then the whisky is filled into single malt whisky casks from Royal Brackla Distillery for a final maturation. Think of it as a special finishing that’s a single malt barrel instead of rum, port, stout, etc.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a note of that iconic Aberfeldy honey at the core of the nose, leading your senses towards dried apple chips, a touch of cedar, and what feels like an English muffin covered in clotted cream and berry jam. The taste really leans into the muffin and berries as light notes of honey syrup, dried florals, and more of those dried apples (with a pinch of salt) mix on your tongue. The end is long and fruity with a nice spice counterpoint and a final note of minty tobacco in a cedar box.
Bottom Line:
We’re big fans of Aberfeldy, Dewar’s, and the work of Stephanie MacLeod, and this bottle is one of the reasons why. Sure, it’s a “blended scotch.” But, who cares? It’s goddamn delicious and complex whisky that’ll shatter any illusions you have about “blended” anything.
This masterfully crafted expression from The Balvenie takes some serious time. The whisky is initially aged for 21 years in ex-bourbon casks. That whisky is then transferred to small port pipes, which held port in Portugal for 30 long years. That’s a long, long time, creating some very rare and well-seasoned oak. The effect is singular and distinct.
Tasting Notes:
You’re pulled in by a gentle sense of ripe yet soft peaches next to wet rose petals and a small billow of cherry tobacco smoke from a pipe. The palate, again, is gentle and carries notes of red, sweet, and tart berries, stewed plums, and tiny moments of velvety and buttery pain au chocolat. The finish holds onto that chocolate as it slowly meanders through your senses, leaving you with dark fruits, a whisper more of that cherry tobacco, and a pure silk mouthfeel.
Bottom Line:
This is one of those sips that you can’t help but say, “Holy shit, that’s good!” about. It’s like a reflex. It’s so gentle and welcoming that you’ll be hard-pressed not to make it your go-to special occasion whisky.
This heavily peated Islay scotch from Bruichladdich is an experimental whisky. The mash is made from Concerto malts grown on Islay at Ocotomore’s own farm. Distilled in 2016, the juice spent three short years maturing in French Limousin oak before it was bottled as-is at cask strength and released early last year.
Tasting Notes:
The nose hits you with hot campfire smoke laced with dried pears, dried peaches, candied ginger, and a bit of straw — but it’s more like you’re sitting a bale of hay than chewing on the stalk. Eggnog spices arrive on the palate with hints of cedar, dried vanilla tobacco leaves, and tart red berries (think cranberry or red currants) while the smoke takes on an almost charred green chili pepper edge. That spicy smoke carries the sip to a medium-length end with hints of that fruit popping back in.
Bottom Line:
Octomore is pretty much the only “hyped” whisky on this list. People who love it, looooove it and will stand in lines for hours to grab a bottle. For us, it’s always an interesting and enlightening journey that expands knowledge and brings something new to the tasting glass. That’s a winning combo as far as we’re concerned — heavy peat or not.
As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.
The Mavs and Grizzlies met in Memphis on Wednesday night in a terrific game between two of the league’s top young stars, as Ja Morant and Luka Doncic squared off and did not disappoint with their efforts.
It looked for all the world like the Grizzlies would get the win after Luka Doncic somewhat surprisingly drove to the basket down three with under five seconds to play and got fouled, splitting the free throws and sending a 90 percent shooter to the line on the other end in Grayson Allen. However, Allen somehow missed both free throws and Dallas called timeout on the rebound with 1.8 seconds remaining to advance the ball needing a three to win or a two to tie.
Somehow, Memphis let Luka Doncic get free to catch the inbound and the man who’s made a name for himself with clutch stepback threes did something completely different, hitting a three-point floater at the buzzer to give Dallas a 114-113 win.
Review confirmed he got the ball off just in time and had his foot behind the line when he let go the circus shot for the game-winner, as the Grizzlies were handed a gutting loss after playing terrific all night. Doncic finished with 29 points, nine assists, and five rebounds on 10-of-20 shooting and just 3-of-10 from three, but none bigger than that ridiculous winner.
The Grizzlies had a balanced effort, with five players in double figures led by Allen who had 23 on an otherwise terrific shooting night prior to his crucial missed free throws. Morant finished with 17 points, five assists, and four rebounds, while Jonas Valanciunas had 19 points and 15 boards inside. It was a big win for the Mavs who are now 2.5 games clear of Memphis for the 7-seed in the West at 30-24, and just one game back of Portland for the all important 6-seed to avoid the play-in. The Grizzlies slide to 27-26, just a game ahead of Golden State for eighth as the West playoff race cocntinues to heat up.
One of the true joys of going to a baseball game is eating ballpark food. Sure it’s all overpriced, but it’s one of the few places where you are free from judgement for eating a giant hot dog, nachos, ice cream, and some 32 oz beers all in one sitting.
However, with eating at the ballpark comes danger, particularly if you’re in foul ball or home run territory. You never want to be caught, food or beverage in hand, when a ball comes hurtling towards you at 100+ mph, suddenly tasked with making the decision between dropping your very expensive food or drink or taking a baseball to the chest. On Wednesday night, a fan at Dodger Stadium was enjoying some nachos in the front row of the bleachers, where L.A. is kind enough to provide a ledge to use as a table.
As such, when Justin Turner hit a drive deep to left center, he didn’t need to figure out whether to go for the ball or not. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful in catching the ball on the fly as it landed smack dab in the middle of his nachos, covering him in hot cheese.
The best part was they reviewed the home run to look for fan interference, which led to them just replaying this over and over and over — they quickly realized that he had not gone over the wall to grab the ball and instead had it splat into his food on the other side of it.
The good news, at least, was that the nachos stopped the home run ball and allowed him to grab it, rather than the ignominy of having his nachos get exploded all over him and seeing the ball bounce away to another fan. The Dodger broadcast went to check on the man, who happily displayed the ball before his friend sitting with him picked up a chip and dipped it in the cheese on his chest.
Let’s get weird. Somebody eats the cheese off nacho man.
On Wednesday, Senate Democrats and Republicans came together to advance a bill that would direct the Justice Department to speed up its review of anti-Asian hate crimes, in the wake of an outbreak of violent attacks on the AAPI community. Well, most of them came together, anyway. A mere six Republicans voted against it. And few are surprised about which ones.
3800 anti-Asian hate crimes in 2020 & yet 6 GOP Senators voted to BLOCK a bill to stop anti-Asian hate: •Ted Cruz •Tom Cotton •Josh Hawley •Rand Paul •Tommy Tuberville • Roger Marshall
Thankfully the bill passed—sponsored by Senate’s first Asian-American woman Mazie Hirono
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. قاسم رشید (@QasimRashid) April 14, 2021
They included Senators who helped spread voter fraud lies that inspired the MAGA insurrection of January 6. Ted Cruz was one of them. Josh Hawley — whose biggest critics seem to be journalists from his home state of Missouri — was another. Ditto Rand Paul, who’s long been against the government doing anything other than granting him employment. So was Tom Cotton, who became famous for saying the National Guard should move into New York to take care of BLM protesters. The others were Alabama’s Tommy Tuberville and Kansas’ Roger Marshall.
The vote comes just shy of a month after a brutal massacre in the Atlanta area that targeted Asian-owned massage parlors, leaving eight dead. Still, the bill — sponsored by Hawaii’s Mazie Hirono, the first Asian-American woman voted to the Senate — passed through the Senate, and with flying colors. Six isn’t bad, and besides, these six are the usual suspects. Cotton attempted to defend his nay vote, saying, “The ‘COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act,’ has been moved to the Senate floor with little commentary, factfinding, or Committee consideration.”
Still, people weren’t surprised that it was these six.
*checks to see who the 6 senators voting no were*
OF COURSE it was Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Rand Paul, Roger Marshall, and Tommy Tuberville. https://t.co/g0b07n2LbW
Idris Elba may never get to play James Bond, but he did spend five seasons as the lead on Luther, the BBC’s beloved detective series, which maybe, one of these days, could get a movie. But there’s one critic of the show: BBC diversity chief Miranda Wayland. At the digital MIPTV conference on Monday, she told the crowd about her main issue with the show, which was that it wasn’t authentic enough.
“When [‘Luther’] first came out everybody loved the fact that Idris Elba was in there — a really strong, Black character lead,” Wayland said. “We all fell in love with him. Who didn’t, right? But after you got into about the second series you got kind of like, ‘OK, he doesn’t have any Black friends, he doesn’t eat any Caribbean food, this doesn’t feel authentic.”
She wasn’t done: “It’s great having those big landmark shows with those key characters, but it’s about making sure everything around them, their environment, their culture, the set is absolutely reflective. It will be very much about how can we make sure that this program is authentic in terms of the storytelling.”
But a number of people took issue with Wayland’s characterization. One of them was Calvin Robinson, a political advisor and commentator at the Telegraph and The Daily Mail. Robinson himself had recently been harassed for posting pictures of friends, none of whom were, like him, Black. He pushed back at both those attacking him and those attacking Elba’s Luther.
Great thing about Luther is that his skin colour isn’t the core of his identity.
He’s fighting many battles. An example that we’re all human, we all struggle, but our ethnicity doesn’t always play a part in that.
“These lazy stereotypes are racist!” Robinson wrote on Twitter. “Great thing about Luther is that his skin colour isn’t the core of his identity. He’s fighting many battles. An example that we’re all human, we all struggle, but our ethnicity doesn’t always play a part in that.”
Others pointed out that Luther is very authentic to Black life.
The police turn on Luther every chance they get. How is that NOT an authentic black character?
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This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Tom Cotton (AR)
(@Femi_Sorry)