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Joe Biden loves an old-timey insult. He’s the guy who brought “malarkey” back. A number of years ago he dropped one that’s way more over-the-top: He’s called those allergic to the truth “lying dog-faced pony soldiers” (!!). On Sunday he busted it out again, this time to describe climate change deniers.

As per Mediaite, Biden was in Hanoi to wind down his visit to the G20 summit, which was held in New Delhi, India. He was asked a question about the phasing out of fossil fuels, about which the 20 participating nations have yet to reach a consensus. That inspired him to bust out a story about his brother, Francis, who liked to quote what he said was a John Wayne movie where he plays a Native American scout dealing with Native Americans and the Union soldiers who claim they’ll help them.

But the Native Americans are skeptical. One of them, Biden said, “looks at John Wayne and points to the Union soldier and says, ‘He’s a lying, dog-faced pony soldier.’”

Biden thought the line also applied to some other people. “Well, there’s a lot of lying, dog-faced pony soldiers out there about — about global warming,” he said. “But not anymore. All of a sudden, they’re all realizing it’s a problem. And there’s nothing like seeing the light.”

Granted, Republicans have still not widely admitted that this summer’s alarming weather has caused them to do a 180 on climate change.

Biden has never named the John Wayne film he’s quoting. But when he used the “lying, dog-faced pony soldiers” line back in 2020, a Slate article deduced that he’s probably referring not to a John Wayne picture but the Tyrone Power-starring Pony Soldier, from 1952, in which a Native American chief says, “The pony soldier speaks with a tongue of the snake that rattles.” But, to quote another John Wayne movie, print the legend.

It’s another recent instance of Biden being punchy. Last week he dragged Donald Trump, pointing out that he “didn’t build a damn thing” during his lone term in office.

(Via Mediaite)

Michigan State head football coach Mel Tucker has reportedly been suspended without pay two weeks into his third season in East Lansing amid an investigation by the school into allegations he sexually harassed Brenda Tracy, a rape survivor who runs a non-profit Tucker worked with to educate athletes about sexual violence.

A report from Kenny Jacoby of USA Today detailed the allegations, with the bombshell being Tucker admitted to investigators he masturbated during a phone call he had with Tracy. Tucker alleged it was consensual phone sex, but Tracy denied that being the case and detailed her horror at the experience, saying it only served to reopen the trauma of her past. The full report from Jacoby details the working relationship between Tucker and Tracy, how things arrived at the phone call at the center of the school’s investigation, and how Tucker and his attorney tried to stop the investigation.

On Sunday, the school’s president and athletic director called a 5 p.m. press conference. Brett McMurphy initially reported they will announce that Tucker has been fired, but Chris Solari of the Detroit Free Press reports he will be suspended with pay pending the final outcome of the investigation, which has hearings set for October, and, per Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic, he has not been fired (at least yet).

Tucker signed a massive 10-year, $95 million fully guaranteed contract after going 11-2 in his first season, but it does include language that terminates that guarantee if he is fired for cause — which this would certainly fall under. The university will face questions about how long it took to arrive at this decision and the timing of it all, only moving to discipline him after the news became public

There likely aren’t many good answers, as there rarely are in a situation like this, but it’s clear the investigation by Michigan State yielded enough concern about Tucker’s actions and the veracity of the allegations to remove him from the program until the full process has been completed.

The 50th anniversary of hip-hop has inspired a host of award show tributes, dedications to the genre’s unsung heroes, and a look back at fashion across the decades. Even the White House has taken a moment to highlight the cultural phenomenon. On Saturday, September 9, Vice President Kamala Harris hosted a special concert at her home in Washington, DC, to celebrate the milestone.

Although the lineup was jam-packed with several heavy hitters within the space, Lil Wayne’s performance is all users on social media can talk about, thanks to a clip from The Hollywood Reporter.

The song that has viewers quite literally laughing out loud is his 2008 song “Mrs. Officer.”

As the video starts, Lil Wayne grooves out to the chorus before rapping, “Yeah, doing a buck in the latest drop / I got stopped by a lady cop / She got me thinking I can date a cop / ‘Cause her uniform pants are so tight / She read me my rights / She put me in a car, she cut off all the lights / She said I have the right to remain silent / Now I got her hollering, sounding like a siren.”

When Lil Wayne originally recorded the song, it seemed to be a way to put a spin on his relationship with the law. However, given VP Harris’ past as a prosecutor and then a district attorney, on top of Wayne’s previous legal entanglements, many couldn’t help but find the humor in that song selection.

“I feel like the world right now is just one big episode of the Boondocks at this point ,” wrote one person.

Another applauded Lil Wayne for his comical foresight, writing, “This had to have been intentional. Too on the nose…it’s giving Veep parallel universe, lol. I need the camera to cut to the aids looking at each other, stunned .”

“The irony is too good,” chimed another.

Based on the crowd’s reaction, another person questioned if the joke was lost on those attending the event. “I wonder how many people at the event caught what Lil Wayne did by performing this specific song at the residence of this specific Vice President ,” they wrote.

“Between Harris being an ex-prosecutor and Weezy avoiding prison on a gun charge by endorsing Trump in exchange for a pardon, this is pretty f*cking funny,” posted another.

On the final day of the WNBA regular season, the New York Liberty were looking to enter the playoffs on a 9-game winning streak and give themselves a chance to match the Las Vegas Aces for the WNBA’s best record. To do that, they would need to take down the Washington Mystics at home, but found themselves in a tight game late as Brittney Sykes (20 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists) and Natasha Cloud (17 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) each had big games for Washington to keep pace with the high-powered Liberty offense.

Tied at 88-88 in the closing seconds, the Mystics got the ball to longtime star Elena Delle Donne, but the former MVP wasn’t able to get a game-winning attempt to the rim because Breanna Stewart got a hand on it and blocked it out of bounds with 0.5 on the clock.

That set up an inbounds that would require an immediate catch-and-shoot for the Mystics to have a chance of winning in regulation, and they dialed up a beautiful play to get Sykes free in the lane, lobbing it to the guard who caught it and shot it all in one motion while hanging in the air.

It’s a great play drawn up by the Mystics and terrific execution, as the lob gets just over the outstretched arms of Stewart, who Sykes rises over to catch and finish. The win improved the Mystics to 19-21, moving them into a tie with the Minnesota Lynx and Atlanta Dream for the league’s fifth best record as the playoffs arrive, although both teams hold tiebreakers over them. Still, it’s an impressive win and only boosts the Mystics’ confidence as they get set for postseason play, rallying from an 0-6 start to the season to finish strong and reach the playoffs.

Through his Grammy Award-winning music and several racy photoshoots posted on social media, Lil Nas X has shared parts of his life with fans. His new documentary, Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero, directed by Carlos López Estrada and Zac Manuel, is another look into superstar life. But the project’s 2023 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) world premiere almost didn’t happen.

According to Variety, on Saturday, September 9, local authorities notified organizers that they had received a bomb threat in relation to the event. To ensure the safety of the confirmed attendees, fans, and event staff, the screening, set to take place at Roy Thomson Hall, was delayed as they investigated the claims further.

A representative from TIFF shared a statement with the outlet confirming that the incident was handled with care. Read the full statement below.

Earlier this evening, we were made aware by the Toronto Police Service of an investigation in the vicinity of the red carpet for the ‘Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero’ screening. Our standard security measures remained in place during this time, and the screening commenced with a slight delay. To our knowledge, this was a general threat and not directed at the film or the artist.

Fortunately, the screening took place after the assessment was complete. Lil Nas X, alongside his father and two nephews, walked the red carpet before taking their seats inside the venue.

The 2023 Toronto International Film Festival is set to take place until September 17 at various venues. Tickets for the Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero screenings are on sale now. Find more information here.

Donald Trump may be, by far, Republican voters’ favorite for the 2024 candidacy. But that’s just Republicans. Are there enough Trump fans out there for him to actually beat sitting president Joe Biden? Chris Christie doesn’t think so.

As per Raw Story, the former New Jersey governor and fierce Trump critic went on Fox News, where he pushed back against host Howard Kurtz’s arguments that the big guy’s still electable despite all his legal woes.

“But 60 percent of Republicans consistently say they don’t buy these charges,” Kurtz said. “They think it’s partisan. They think it’s weaponization of law enforcement. So, are you misjudging the current state of the GOP?”

But Christie wasn’t buying it. “Whether you think they’re unfair or not, they are going to impact independent voters and soft Democrats in the general election,” he replied. “Both sets of people we need to win a general election as Republicans. And Donald Trump cannot win those people while he’s under indictment of four cases.”

Christie pointed out Trump’s complicity on Jan. 6, the focus of one of his four indictments.

“He asked them to march up to Capitol Hill, said he would walk with them,” the candidate recalled. “But Howie, you and I both know that if Donald Trump has a risk of breaking a fingernail, he’s not going to take that risk. He sat in his office for three hours and watched the people that he had lied to and sent up to Capitol Hill desecrate Capitol Hill.”

Christie concluded that “if you don’t think that these charges and that conduct are going to be a major focus in the general election, if we nominate Donald Trump, you’re kidding yourself. And we’re going to lose.”

Still, if Trump’s convicted and his polling stays golden, Americans may find out what it’s like to have a presidential nominee run from prison — or while under house arrest.

You can watch Christie’s Fox News appearance in the video below.

(Via Raw Story)

There’s not a woman alive who hasn’t suffered through an unwanted come-on from a creep. Some women are so afraid of these encounters they feel they can’t be as nice to men as they’d like, for fear their friendliness will be mistaken for flirtation.

One woman’s encounter with a creepy come-on has received over 110,000 likes on Twitter because of her flawless response.

Twitter user @LovableAndKind recently shared screenshots from a text exchange between her sister and a Jiffy Lube employee who found her phone number and sent her an unsolicited text.

The woman received a text from an unfamiliar number that read: “You are gorgeous.” When she asked who it was he responded, “Your favorite oil change guy.”

The woman could have responded with anger or ignored the creep and blocked him, but instead she decided to create a teachable moment.

“While I know you were wanting to give me a compliment, it was completely unnecessary and unsolicited,” she replied. “I am a customer, you are a service provider, and there should be no communication outside of that unless I, the customer, express interest.”

She then explained why his text was so violating.

“It is a violation of my privacy for you to contact me from your personal phone with information that you got without my permission,” she continued.

“And now I know that you are the type of person to go back in someone’s file to find their personal information, what is to keep you from going back and getting my address? There are men who stalk, rape and murder women this way.”

She then wrote that she could call Jiffy Lube human resources to report his actions, but she’d rather he learned from the incident.

“Sorry about that yes ma’am,” he responded.

Then she hit him back with one final diss.

“Oh, and you didn’t tell me what the tire pressure was on the rear passenger tire like I asked, so you’re definitely not even in my top five favorite oil change guys,” she wrote.

Here’s the entire exchange.

This article originally appeared on 08.09.19

Chris Starkey posted a video to Facebook on Monday of himself and his daughter Brooklyn doing a dance-off to Flo Rida’s “Low”—and it’s unexpectedly awesome. Starkey wrote, “My daughter challenged me to a dance off and said I don’t have it anymore. See that closet in the back she is still crying in it!!!” So much silly shade thrown around in this family, it’s delightful.

When you see their fun banter and Starkey’s middle-aged-man moves, you’ll see why the video has been shared more than 280,000 times in two days. Starkey wrote in a comment that the reaction has brought tears to his eyes and encourages everyone to “Give back to your community” right now. He also says another video will be coming on Monday.

Excellent. We need this kind of levity right now more than ever.

Chris Starkey

This article originally appeared on 03.25.20

As if a Canada goose named Arnold isn’t endearing enough, his partner who came looking for him when he was injured is warming hearts and having us root for this sweet feathered couple.

Cape Wildlife Center in Barnstable, Massachusetts shared the story on its Facebook page, in what they called “a first” for their animal hospital.

“We often have people ask if they can visit the patients they dropped off, but today we had our first animal visitor!” they wrote. “For the safety of our patients we do not accommodate visitation requests, but in this case we had to make an exception!”

Arnold is a Canada goose that lives on a pond near the facility and is part of a mated pair of wild geese that have been together for several years. The center said the geese usually keep to themselves, but one of their staff noticed that Arnold was walking with a “significant limp” and kept falling over. They were able to capture him and bring him into the hospital for examination.

“Upon exam our veterinary team found that he had two open-fractures on his foot,” they wrote. “This means that the tissue and skin has been pulled away leaving the bone exposed. Our best guess is that a Snapping turtle or other predator attacked him while swimming.”

To save his foot and help him survive, the staff knew they had to amputate one of the digits and suture the other wound closed. They gave him antibiotics and pain meds and prepped him for surgery the following morning.

Then his mate came knocking.

“Today, as we prepared to sedate Arnold and get him ready for surgery, we heard a faint tapping at the clinic door,” the center wrote. “We turned to see that his mate had waddled up onto the porch and was attempting to break into our clinic! She had somehow located him and was agitated that she could not get inside. She remained there throughout the entire procedure, watching us work, never moving from the doorway.”

Aww.

Surgery went well, and once Arnold woke up the staff decided to let him recover by the doorway so he and his mate could see each other.

“We opened the door and gave Arnold his flow-by oxygen in the doorway. His mate immediately calmed down and began to groom him through the door. They both seemed much more at ease in each other’s presence.”

AWWWW.

“Arnold will likely need several weeks of treatment in our hospital before he is ready to rejoin his mate in the wild,” they added. “He will need to be kept inside for the majority of this time in order to keep his wound sterile and prevent infection. We will do our best to get him back out quickly and will perform bandage changes and treatments in view of the doorway when possible so that his mate can check up on him. ❤️”

While attempting not to anthropomorphize too much, it’s so sweet to see animal partners show such genuine care for one another. Canada geese mate for life, and they are known to mourn in seclusion when they lose a mate. Seeing Arnold’s mate coming to find him and comfort him during his treatment is just too lovely.

Feel good story of the day, indeed. Wishing you a speedy recovery, Arnold!

This article originally appeared on 07.22.21

It’s pretty safe to say that everyone loves a good love story.

There’s a whole genre of music and movies dedicated to the idea of someone being swept off of their feet after circumstances tried to keep them from their true love. Romance novels could single handedly keep public libraries and bookstores afloat. Everyone loves “love” and the story of Betsy and Irv just takes the cake. Betsy Sailor attended Penn State University as a business major, which was almost unheard of in 1978 and Irv Pankey attended the university while playing football. The pair’s paths never crossed, until an unfortunate incident bonded the two forever.

That year, Betsy was at home singing and dancing with her refrigerator door as one does when looking for food, when she was sexually assaulted at knife point by none other than star Penn State football player, Todd Hodne. When Irv heard the evidence against Hodne during the trial, he knew he had to do something about it. In fact, he was the only one on the team who did.

After the assault Betsy moved back on campus, and that’s when she met Irv, a burly football player who understood what it was like to be outcast. He knocked on her door, introduced himself and offered to essentially be her protection as she traversed through campus. The pair were glued at the hip until graduation. Irv went on to play for the LA Rams and Betsy went on to work in human resources. They hadn’t spoken since, until 44 years later when ESPN decided to cover their unique bond that helped Betsy get through college.

Hear directly from Betsy Sailor and Irv Pankey as they discuss their relationship in my recent interview with them (created by director @nicole_noren ): 12/12pic.twitter.com/GmWVIYp38O

— Paula Lavigne (@Paula Lavigne)
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And that’s when this already compelling tale became a love story.

Irv and Betsy stayed in touch after the documentary was filmed, and when ESPN did an update, Betsy became emotional while talking about Irv. The two smiled and said they spend as much time together as possible. Irv said “We’re riding off into the sunset. Calling it a day. Peace out! I hope we can enjoy each other’s company for the rest of our lives and just move on,” He continued “We’re 65 years old. We ain’t got time to be messing around.”

If that isn’t a love story to write home about, then I don’t know what is. Best wishes Betsy and Irv. You both deserve a lifetime of happiness.

This article originally appeared on 04.29.22