Category: Worldwide

Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth — a disabled veteran and double amputee due to injuries sustained in combat — isn’t a big fan of Fox News. That’s generally to be expected, considering the conservative news channel’s undeniable slant, but things have previously gotten ugly. That includes Duckworth telling Tucker Carlson to f*ck off (after he ridiculed women in combat) while tweeting a terrifying GIF from his Dancing With The Stars stint and writing, “While he was practicing his two-step, America’s female warriors were hunting down Al Qaeda and proving the strength of America’s women.”

Well, Duckworth surely won’t be happy about a tweeted headline (from Fox News, via Mediaite) that leaves out a lot of context about a situation. The tweet points towards an on-site Fox News story, which frames the matter with a little more context, but it’s still not great because it suggests that Duckworth shouldn’t accept a property-tax break that applies to vets in Illinois who are “at least 70% disabled.” The further suggestion is that Duckworth’s “income is too high to justify” the break, and Fox News cites a Chicago Sun-Times report that singles Duckworth out as one of 27,000+ Cook County homeowners who claim similar property-tax exemptions. That article argues that Duckworth’s income is such that she should not have received the $37,842 total tax break over five years.

It’s kind-of a bizarre stance for the Chicago Sun-Times to take, and it’s been amplified by Fox News, which used this headline on their tweet to promote their article: “Democrat Tammy Duckworth hasn’t paid property tax on her Illinois home since 2015, report says.”

Well, the backlash is fierce, mostly because, again, the tweeted headline abandons context and reads like an attack, which people are calling “bullsh*t,” “shameless,” and “trash.” People also really can’t figure out what Fox News intends to say about disabled veterans and tax breaks, all while not saying jack about how billionaires (including owner Rupert Murdoch) gladly accept enormous tax breaks and fork over practically nothing in federal income tax.

Duckworth hasn’t dignified this attack with a tweet yet, but considering that, yeah, she told Tucker Carlson to shove it, there might be a response coming.

(Via Mediaite)

Back in the summer of 2019, Noname launched her popular book club and more than two years later, the rapper has now opened a central location for the group. It took months of planning and construction, but now, the Radical Hood Library is open in Los Angeles. “We are so excited to finally open our Radical Hood Library!” a Twitter post from the Noname Book Club account read. “This is a black led organization that was created to service black/brown folks and the RSVP prioritization will reflect that. There will be music, free food, and more! Please bring a new or used book. See you there!!!”

According to Noname herself, the library includes books from a wide array of categories. The readings are organized by prison writings, the global Black resistance, imperialism, revolution, a section for kids called the “young homies” books, and more. The rapper even revealed that her favorite sections are F*ck The Police (abolish text) and the Black Capitalism Won’t Save Us. “More sections will be added as we grow,” she tweeted. “This is just the beginning.”

Smino, who has often collaborated with Noname, celebrated the opening in a tweet writing, “NONAME JUST OPENED A BOOK STORE INNA HOOD.” In response, Noname wrote, “even better, we a library so everything FREE.”

Grimes recently tried to mess with the paparazzi. Photos of the singer captured her reading Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto while out on a walk. The images left people confused, especially considering she’s married to one of the world’s richest capitalists. But according to the singer herself, it was all in an attempt to snag some light-hearted attention for herself. “Paparazzi followed me [to] a shoot so I tried [to] think what I could do that would yield the most Onion-ish possible headline and it worked haha,” she wrote in a tweet with a screenshot of a New York Post article about her.

All of this comes after Elon Musk announced that he and Grimes were “semi-separated” after three years together, adding that they “still love each other, see each other frequently, and are on great terms.” He continued, “It’s mostly that my work at SpaceX and Tesla requires me to be primarily in Texas or traveling overseas and her work is primarily in LA. She’s staying with me now and Baby X is in the adjacent room.”

After the announcement, Grimes released a new song titled “Love,” which she said was her response to the “privacy invasion, bad press, online hate and harassment by paparazzi I’ve experienced this week.”

Perhaps the best playoff race that we’ve seen in some time is happening for the two Wild Card spots in the American League. Four teams — the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox, the Toronto Blue Jays, and the Seattle Mariners — entered Sunday’s final day of the regular season with a chance to make it to the Wild Card game.

A whole lot of stuff is on the table, including a potential four-way tie for the two spots that would make the always-fascinating Wild Card race a little more wild than usual. But the easiest potential outcome is the Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays and the Red Sox take down the Washington Nationals, which would mean the sport’s greatest rivalry would gill that spot.

Yankees third baseman Gio Urshela decided to add some fireworks to the team’s already exciting 162nd game. Rays outfielder Austin Meadows was at the plate and popped up an offering from Chad Green. While Urshela was shifted quite a way away from third base, he booked it over to the Rays dugout to try and record the out. He did it, but it came at quite the price, as he went flying down the stairs to enter the dugout.

Even if he didn’t go down a flight of stairs, it was a sensational play by the usually sure-handed third baseman to record the out. He also apparently inspired the umpire to try and do something similar as he went to make sure Urshela caught the ball.

There’s no better time to make the catch of your life, I suppose.

It was said that the moviegoing experience was dead. One would-be blockbuster after another underperformed. Some tanked. The fear among theater owners was that cinema would permanently move to streaming, everyone watching big films on their comparatively small TVs. But lately there’s been some good news at the box office. First, Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings proved a massive hit, breaking pandemic-era records. Now there’s a new box office king, and his name is Tom Hardy.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Venom: Let There Be Carnage had a pandemic-era best opening weekend, raking in a whopping $90.1 million in the U.S. alone. That’s still shy of the $96.2 million Joker hauled two years back, in happier times. But it still bested the two previous record holders. Black Widow opened to $81 million in July. And while Shang-Chi amassed $94.7 million, that was over the four-day Labor Day weekend. $75.4 million of that came in the first three days.

The Venom sequel — which ropes in Woody Harrelson as the main baddie, with a far more evil symbiote of his own — was the subject of numerous delays and release date switcheroos. In August alone it was bumped from late September to mid-October, only to get moved to October 1. But clearly there was no need to worry. Movies? Maybe they’re back.

(Via THR)

Britney Spears has had some good news of late. Her father Jamie Spears was recently suspended as the conservator of her estate, a ruling that came after he was accused of extorting his daughter as well as illegally bugging her house. The suspension will last until December 31, with John Zabel, who is a CPA, temporarily assuming the role. Britney has yet to directly speak out about the win, but in a recent Instagram post, she acknowledged that there are good things to celebrate.

“Although there is change and things to celebrate in my life, I still have a lot of healing to do!!!” Spears wrote in the caption. “Thankfully I have a good support system and am taking time to understand it’s ok to slow down and breathe!!!!! Only through self love I can pray … love … and support others in return!!!!”

The court ruling came after the release of the New York Times’ documentary Controlling Britney Spears, which alleged that Jamie was illegally bugging his daughter’s house. Still, Britney warned of false narratives in documentaries about her. “It’s really crazy guys,” she wrote in an Instagram post she later edited. “I watched a little bit of the last documentary and I hate to inform you but a lot of what you heard is not true !!!”

The Golden State Warriors will, indeed, have the final member of their projected opening game starting lineup when the 2021-22 NBA regular season begins. After much was made of the fact that he had apparent religious objections to getting a COVID-19 vaccine, starting small forward Andrew Wiggins has ended up receiving one of the shots, anyway.

The news was announced by Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who said that Wiggins will now be able to play in all games the Warriors play in accordance with regulations laid out for workers by the city of San Francisco.

While the NBA has not mandated the vaccine for players amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it has said that players need to follow whatever their local guidelines are about getting vaccinated, and in the Bay Area, that means getting the vaccine or being able to participate in games and organized team activities. While Wiggins would have been able to play in road games, opting to not get the vaccine would have meant he’d be unavailable for all 41 home games at Chase Center.

The team had been concerned over the fact that Wiggins did not get vaccinated, and while he did apply for a religious exemption to the local mandate, his efforts were unsuccessful. Wiggins has not expressed why he’s decided to get vaccinated.

The Chicago Sky are one win away from making the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2014. The Sky successfully defended their home court on Sunday afternoon in Game 3 of their semifinal series against the Connecticut Sun with an 86-83 victory.

For a moment, it did not look like the Sky would be able to hold off the side with the best record in the league despite the game taking place at Wintrust Arena. While things were tight for essentially all of the first three quarters, Connecticut managed to get a little bit of breathing room at the start of the fourth. The Sun went on a 10-2 run to give themselves an eight-point lead after league MVP Jonquel Jones made a layup a little less than 90 seconds into the final frame.

And then, the floodgates open. After Allie Quigley drew a foul while shooting a three and drained all three free throws on the ensuing Sky possession, Chicago ripped off an 18-4 run to go up by six. As was the case for much of the game, Kahleah Copper came up gigantic during this stretch, scoring nine of her playoff career-high 26 points during this spell.

The Sky defense was swarming during this stretch, forcing five turnovers and making the Sun’s offense get all out of whack. But Connecticut kept battling, consistently getting the lead down to one possession. Alyssa Thomas, in particular, was a thorn in Chicago’s collective side, scoring seven of the team’s nine points down the stretch.

Ultimately, Connecticut just couldn’t get over the hump, with Chicago’s defense rising to the occasion on multiple possession down the stretch when the Sun looked like they were in a position to go ahead. There was one opportunity that will stick out above the rest, though: With the team down by one and the game in its waning moments, Connecticut’s defense swarmed Allie Quigley and Jasmine Thomas forced a turnover. The ball was thrown ahead to Briann January, who had a layup but looked to misjudge the angle, and as a result, her attempt at an up-and-under hit off the backboard and fell into the arms of Courtney Vandersloot.

Copper’s 26 points on 9-for-14 shooting led the way for Chicago, with Quigley pitching in 21 and both Azura Stevens and Candace Parker registering double-doubles — the former had 15 points and 11 rebounds, the latter had 10 and 10. DeWanna Bonner’s 22 points were the most for Connecticut, with Thomas scoring 18 off the bench and Jones having the same double-double as Parker.

The Sky will look to prevent the series from returning to Connecticut for a decisive Game 5 with one more game in their home building. That one’s slated to tip off on Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. EST on ESPN.

Drake and Kanye West have not seen eye to eye over the past couple of months. The latest chapter in their long-standing beef saw them trade disses over songs from their albums Certified Lover Boy and Donda. West also doxxed the address to Drake’s mansion in Toronto while the Canadian rapper leaked one of West’s unreleased collaborations with Andre 3000. But now, according to Rap-A-Lot CEO J. Prince, they have come together for a specific reason.

On Instagram, Prince revealed that West and Drake have joined the fight for the freedom of Larry Hoover, the co-founder of Chicago’s Gangsta Disciples. “IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN YOU PLAN TO FAIL,” Prince wrote under a picture of himself standing with West, Hoover’s wife Winndye Jenkins, and their son Larry Hoover Jr. “Good plans in the making to free our brother Larry Hoover with the support of @champagnepapi and @kanyewest.”

West previously showed support for Hoover through “Jesus Lord,” off of Donda. At the end of the song, a voicemail from Hoover Jr. can be heard, where he says, “My father has not called any shots from one of the most secure and segregated prisons in the world / And will not, once released, call any shots for the Gangster Disciples.” He adds, “If my father’s intentions were to lead us to death, destruction / Into the Hell that he has had to live in for the past twenty-six years / Man, he would be dead to me.”

Pete Davidson wasn’t sure he was coming back to SNL. He spent part of the summer casting doubt on whether he’d make it for another round of the show, where he’s resided since 2014. But in the end he returned (as did Cecily Strong). And in his first Weekend Update monologue of Season 47, he made sure to mock the “cool dress’ he wore to this year’s Met Gala.

The annual event, long one of the biggest fashion and cultural extravaganzas in New York City, was more eventful than usual this year. There was praise for the outside-the-box designs, while the presence of AOC, even with a dress that bore the words “Tax the rich,” drew criticism, including from predictable people. Davidson showed up in a black dress with a white jacket.

But Davidson made sure he threw the best insults. “I look like James Bond at his quinceañera,” he joked. But he had more. “I look like if one of the three blind mice sold fentanyl.” Later he had another: “I look like Tilda Swinton on casual Friday.”

Davidson admitted that he’s no stranger to wearing dresses, which freaks out and angers some members of his family. Among them is his uncle, who he says worries that wearing frocks makes him “look gay.”

“Meanwhile, he grew up in the ’80s, which is somehow the gayest and the most homophobic generation of all time,” Davidson added. “All the songs were like, about the boys, and how they’re back in town. Also, his favorite movie is Top Gun. It’s as close to a movie about men being in love with each other as like, the ’80s allowed. It’s like Brokeback in the sky.”

Davidson delivered his monologue while wearing a tee-shirt featuring an image of the late Norm Macdonald, who was honored at the end of Weekend Update. Davidson ended his segment by saying, semi-cryptically, “I can’t believe I’m back.”

You can watch Davidson’s monologue in the video above.