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Former Donald Trump attorney Jenna Ellis wasted no time mocking failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake for reportedly living at Mar-a-Lago. The election-denying Lake has been a constant fixture at Trump’s Florida golf club in what PEOPLE sources are calling a blatant attempt to be his running mate in the 2024 election.

“She’s couch-surfing at her friend’s house like a bum college dropout,” Ellis tweeted on Wednesday night.

The dig was quickly caught by the Twitter account for Lake’s campaign, which fired back at Ellis with an insult of its own.

“We see you’ve entered the “school girl gossip” part of your meltdown,” the verified Kari Lake War Room account tweeted, prompting Ellis to drop a scathing response on the failed campaign.

“From what wing of the AZ governor’s mansion did you tweet this?” Ellis tweeted.

The attack on Lake isn’t entirely out of character for Ellis. The former Trump attorney has been on the outs with MAGA world after she admitted to 10 counts of “misrepresenting evidence” about the 2020 election while representing Trump. Ellis made the confession while being censured by the Colorado Supreme Court’s Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel.

Adding insult to injury, Ellis has emerged as a staunch supporter of Ron DeSantis‘ presidential run. The Florida governor is Trump’s greatest threat for the Republican nomination. Ellis backing Meatball Ron is tantamount to treason to MAGA Republicans who routinely call her a “traitor” on Twitter.

(Via Jenna Ells on Twitter)

Southern food is beloved by many, and those of us raised on it just consider it dinner, not a special cuisine. But since Southern food is pretty geographical, there are plenty of Americans who haven’t had the opportunity to try authentic Southern food. There are a few soul food restaurants that get it right sprinkled across the country, but all are not created equal.

Since Southern cooking isn’t available throughout all of America, it shouldn’t be a surprise that it’s not a staple across the pond. Josh Carrott, author of “Once Upon A Time in Carrottland,” runs the YouTube channel Jolly, where he has people try new foods. He decided to invite a group of British schoolboys to try a few Southern staples. The boys are in year 9 in England, which means they’re between the ages of 13 and 14.

Since Carrott isn’t Southern, or even American for that matter, I can’t say how the food was prepared. What I can say is that my very Southern grandmother would give the sausage gravy preparation the side eye, but other than that, it looked as authentic as possible.

The boys were served biscuits that were perfectly golden, and there was immediate confusion. Apparently biscuits are flat and hard in England, so the boys were sure they were being served scones. It only took one bite for them to come around to the idea of the buttery fluffy delight that is the Southern biscuit. But the taste test for the biscuits wasn’t over—Carrott mixed up some white sausage gravy and smothered the delicious bread.

None of the boys were eager to try a meal that many Southern households eat regularly.

“Let’s call it interesting for now. I’m not going to make a judgment,” one boy says.

“It looks like a chopped-up ferret,” another lamented.

To be fair, if you’ve never seen biscuits and gravy, it doesn’t look instantly appealing, but once you try it, the dish suddenly looks amazing every time you encounter it moving forward. Maybe it isn’t everyone’s favorite thing, but being able to drive through a Whataburger and grab it to go brings me childlike joy.

After trying everything offered, all of the boys agreed that the Southern food was delicious, including the sweet tea. Several of them said they preferred it over their British hot tea—no one tell their parents. It feels like it would be as shocking as finding a Southerner who prefers unsweet tea. You can watch the entire video below.

A sexist stereotype in America is that men who sit down to pee are less masculine than those who stand while urinating. Some even assume that men who sit down to pee have been emasculated by a woman who wanted to deprive them of their God-given right to pee while standing up.

It’s a little strange that some people’s masculinity is so closely tied to how they use the restroom, but it’s not an uncommon theme throughout the world.

The same stereotype exists in Germany, where men who sit to pee are known as sitzpinklers. However, due to a rapid change in public opinion regarding peeing standing up, most German men now pee sitting down, and being a sitzpinkler is much less of an insult.

Recently, YouGov polled 13 countries worldwide to discover the cultural differences in the sit-versus-stand debate amongst men. The poll found that Germany was, by far, the leader in men who sit while peeing. Sixty-two percent of German men sit to pee every time or most of the time. Sweden came in a distant second, with the country split 50-50 on the issue.

American men prefer standing, with only 23% saying they sit most of the time. The country most likely to stand was Mexico, where 21% sit most time.

Why is it that sitting to pee has taken hold in Germany? It’s become a public health issue, and standing to pee isn’t allowed in some places. This is especially common in areas with communal living, such as an apartment building, because no one wants to clean the pee off the floor. It’s also considered rude by many to stand to pee in another person’s home.

Let’s face it, even men with expert aim are bound to miss occasionally. Plus, anyone who has raised a child knows that even though they are closer to the bowl, they still have a hard time keeping it off the seat and the floor.

In some places in Germany, when a man opens a toilet, an electronic voice (known as the WC-Geist or “toilet ghost” in English) reminds them to please sit while doing their business.

— (@)

There are some compelling reasons why men should sit down while peeing. A study cited by The Sun found that splashback from urine droplets that hit the hard porcelain and catapult urine up to 10 feet away. Another study from 2021 found that after flushing a urinal, “tens of thousands” of diseased pathogens fly out of the bowl.

A study from The Netherlands found health benefits for men who sit while peeing. In a seated position, men urinate with a greater force, which is beneficial for those with prostate problems and lower urinary tract disease. The greater pressure also means that sitting to pee eliminates the bladder faster and more completely.

Aside from the significant change in public opinion in the sitting-versus-standing debate, more German men may be sitting to pee because it’s easier to look at your phone when your hands are free.

Back in January of 2023, Florida’s only Safe Haven Baby Box located outside the Ocala Fire Department received its first surrendered newborn after being installed in 2020.

It was 2:00 a.m. when a firefighter pulling an overnight shift at the station heard the alarm go off signaling that a child had been surrendered.

The moment that firefighter, who wishes to remain anonymous to protect his family’s privacy, picked up the infant wrapped up in her pink blanket, something inside of him knew she should be his daughter.

“I picked her up and held her. We locked eyes, and that was it. I’ve loved her ever since that moment,” he told TODAY.

Having a child was something the firefighter and his wife had been striving for for over a decade. Knowing his spouse would also be thrilled at the chance to bring the baby girl into their family, he decided to leave a note explaining that they were trained and registered to adopt as he dropped her off at the hospital.

Then he broke the news to his wife, who immediately began crying in anticipation.

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A post shared by Safe Haven Baby Boxes (@safehavenbabyboxes)

“I was like, ‘Don’t get too excited yet,’” he told TODAY, fearing that the note would be lost, taking their hopes along with it.

However, after a few “stressful” days, the couple was able to take the baby home. Finally, in April, they adopted her and named her Zoey.

Zoey is one of 31 babies that have been safely surrendered to a Safe Haven Baby Box. Child abandonment is a desperate measure taken for many reasons including but not limited to financial hardship, mental health struggles, the child being conceived through rape and fear of prosecution due to a misunderstanding of the Safe Haven Law.

With 148 Safe Haven Baby Boxes across the United States, mothers are able to find support while maintaining anonymity.

In turn, Safe Haven Baby Boxes also ensure babies like Zoey don’t have to face horrendous life-threatening situations and can instead be matched with families that can properly care for them. Monica Kelsey, Safe Haven Founder, shared with CBS Miami that 2023 had actually been a record year for safe surrenders and that Zoey is just further proof that the boxes “are working and are needed.”

In the video for Lil Tjay’s new song “July 22nd,” the Bronx rapper recounts and dramatizes the events of this day one year ago when he was nearly shot to death during a botched robbery attempt in New Jersey. While this might seem like an odd thing to commemorate, it’s a testament to Tjay’s commitment to the craft that he’s willing to turn what could end up being one of his life’s greatest traumas into creative inspiration.

If you’ve followed the story at all, you should have a pretty good idea of the plot of the video; as Lil Tjay lyrically recalls the day leading up to the shooting, interspersed with scenes of himself recording in the studio and flashbacks to the life-saving surgery that removed seven bullets from his torso and neck and almost ended his rap career. Fortunately for the more squeamish among us, the actual shooting is only suggested in the footage, keeping the proceedings largely bloodless.

Tjay previously addressed the shooting in “Beat The Odds,” his first video released after the incident and later detailed the advice 50 Cent — who was himself shot nine times at the outset of his own rap career — gave him about shaking it off and turning it into a greater drive for success. Of course, it’s clear that he’s still working on doing so; he’s been arrested for gun possession a couple of times this year, likely owing to increased paranoia over the trauma of being shot. Here’s hoping he can exorcise those demons.

Watch the “July 22nd” video above.

(Spoilers for The Bear will be found below.)

The Bear‘s second season keeps the fire burning, both in and out of the kitchen, and a lot of that fire comes from guest stars who either stick around for awhile or pop in for cameos. In Jon Bernthal‘s case, he surprised everyone by showing up as Carmy’s brother, Michael, in first-season flashback mode, and anyone who wants to see him return can rest assured that it happens. And as it turns out, we might have Jon’s former The Punisher co-star, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, to thank for Bernthal’s materialization onscreen.

Moss-Bachrach, of course, portrays Carmy and Michael’s loose-cannon of a cousin, who’s such an a-hole (although a redeemable one) that no one felt too bad when he got stabbed in the butt. And he hails from a vast array of popular series, including NOS4A2, The Dropout, and (of course) Girls, in which he is known for a very salacious scene. Getting back to the subject, though, Moss-Bachrach told CinemaBlend that the production struggled to find the right fit for Michael, and he suggested that if they went ahead and showed Michael, then Jon would be the man for the job:

“They were trying to cast that role Michael for a while. And they asked us, ‘Does anyone have any ideas?; And they asked me and I was like, ‘I don’t think we should ever see him.’ Because when you talk about somebody, and hype them up so much, it’s always a letdown. And then it did occur to me one day, and I was like, ‘Well, I do think Jon is such a, I don’t know, like, charismatic and hilarious, dude that, I was like, ‘he actually would be really great.’”

He does make a fine point here. On, say, Frasier, the looming presence of Maris Crane was one of the funnier parts of the show because she remained unseen. When Michael is spoken of in The Bear, he seems almost fabled in a tragic (due to his suicide) although magnetic way. Pulling off that combination (and without being underwhelming) was surely rough, and very few actors could live up to those expectations. Naturally, though, Jon Bernthal rose mightily to the occasion. And he does so again in The Bear Season 2, which is streaming right now on Hulu.

(Via CinemaBlend)

Two New Orleans legends link up to bring the rain with “El Niño,” a new track that sees Louisianans Lil Wayne and Big Freedia collaborating with Memphis multidisciplinarian Boyfriend for a triumphant celebration of survival. This is pretty much right up Big Freedia’s alley as a self-described gender-nonconforming, fluid, nonbinary drag queen from the home of Hurricane Katrina in the midst of the American Right’s collective campaign of attempted genocide of the queer community.

It also marks the first official collaboration between Freedia and Wayne, despite their shared roots. Wayne sampled Freedia on a 2003 mixtape and booked her for his Weezyana Festival in 2015, but this is the first time they’ve actually teamed up on a record. And while it would have been cool if it was a bounce track (both rappers have used the regional sound as a basis for some of their biggest hits), the throwback trap style actually makes it a cool departure for Freedia and a return to form for Wayne that underscores the import of the collaboration.

Meanwhile, Boyfriend is a frequent collaborator of Freedia’s who adds another perspective. In a press release, Freedia said, “El Niño’ is about going hard in any storms that come in your life and conquering them! It’s one of my favorite songs on this record, it features my longtime collaborator Boyfriend, and it’s also my first collab with Lil Wayne, who I’ve wanted to work with for a long time. We put it down for our city, and this song is gonna have everyone blowin down!”

The track will appear on Freedia’s new album Central City, which is due this Friday, June 23. Listen to “El Niño” above.

The Price Is Right has been taped at Television City’s Bob Barker Studio 33 in Hollywood, California, since it was relaunched and premiered in 1972. (It was obviously not called Bob Barker Studio in the 1970s; that honor would come after he beat up Happy Gilmore.) But beginning in season 52, Drew Carey & Co. are heading to Haven Studios in nearby Glendale.

The final episode of season 51, which airs on June 26th, will feature contestants playing The Price Is Right classics, including “The Grand Game” and “The Money Game.” One contestant will also have the chance to play “Any Game,” the first game ever played on The Price Is Right in 1972.

“In light of Hackman Capital Partners’ plans to undergo a major renovation at Television City, the time has come to move television’s longest running game show, The Price Is Right, into a new home,” said Suzanne Lopez, COO of Fremantle (which produces The Price Is Right), in a statement from March. “While we bid a fond farewell to this cultural landmark, we are excited to say that we will be moving into a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility at Haven Studios. We can’t wait to have our fans ‘Come On Down’ to this new facility when we begin production on the next season this summer.”

Carey discussed the move in a video below.

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

People who decide not to have children are often unfairly judged by those who chose a different life path. People with children can be especially judgmental to women who’ve decided to opt out of motherhood.

“You will regret it!” is one of the most common phrases lobbed at those who choose to remain childless. Why do people think they’ll have such awful regrets? Because they often say they’ll wind up “lonely and sad” when they’re older.

They also say that life without children is without purpose and that when the childless get older they’ll have no one to take care of them. One of the most patronizing critiques thrown at childless women is that they will never “feel complete” unless they have a child.

However, a lot of these critiques say more about the person doling them out than the person who decides to remain childless. Maybe, just maybe, their life is fulfilling enough without having to reproduce. Maybe, just maybe, they can have a life full of purpose without caring for any offspring.

Maybe the question should be: What’s lacking in your life that you need a child to feel complete?

Studies show that some people regret being childless when they get older, but they’re in the minority. An Australian researcher found that a quarter of child-free women came to regret the decision once they were past child-bearing age and began contemplating old age alone.

People revealed the reasons they’ve decided to be childless in an article by The Upshot. The top answers were the desire for more leisure time, the need to find a partner and the inability to afford child care. A big reason that many women decide not to have children is that motherhood feels like more of a choice these days, instead of a foregone conclusion as it was in previous decades.

Reddit user u/ADreamyNightOwl asked a “serious” question about being childless to the AskReddit subforum and received a lot of honest answers. They asked “People over 50 that chose to be childfree, do you regret your decision? Why or why not?”

The people who responded are overwhelmingly happy with their decision not to have children. A surprising number said they felt positive about their decision because they thought they’d be a lousy parent. Others said they were happy to have been able to enjoy more free time than their friends and family members who had kids.

Here are some of the best responses to the Askreddit question.

1. Never had any desire.

“I explain it to people like this – you know that feeling you get where you just can’t wait to teach your kid how to play baseball? or whatever it is you want to share with them? I don’t have that. Its basically a lack of parental instinct. Having children was never something I aspired to. My SO is the same way.

“Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against children. And I get really angry at people who harm them or mistreat them. I just never wanted my own.” — IBeTrippin

2. No desire. No regrets.

“Nope. It was never something I wanted. No regrets.” — BornaCrone

3. Mixed feelings.

“I have mixed feelings. I don’t care much for children and I think it would have been disastrous for us to have them. I was also able to retire at 52. Pretty sure that wouldn’t have happened with kids. So yeah, absolutely the right decision.
But I love my family and I do wonder what it would be like to have my own, to teach my child the things I know and not to be without someone who cares about me at the time of my death.

“But again, absolutely the right decision and at 55 I’m very happy NOT to have them. This is reinforced every time I’m exposed to other people’s kids.” — ProfessorOzone

4. They never visit.

“My wife worked at a nursing home for years. Imagine seeing for years that over 95% of old people never have family visit. Till they die and people want a piece of the pie. This when I learned that the whole ‘well who is gonna visit you or take care of you when you’re older’ line is complete bullshit. We decided to not have kids ever after that. Made great friends and saw the world. No regrets.” — joevilla1369

5. It wasn’t an option.

“I don’t necessarily regret not having them, but I regret the fact that I wasn’t in a healthy enough relationship where I felt I COULD have children. I regret not being stronger to leave the abuse earlier, if I had been stronger, I think maybe I could have had the choice at least. So yeah… I have regrets.” — MaerakiStudioMe

6. Grandkids are cooler.

“No. I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to marry my husband. He had two sons from his first marriage and a vasectomy. He was worried because I was so young (comparatively, he’s 10 years older). I did think it over seriously and concluded that a life with him compared to a life without him but (perhaps!) with a baby I didn’t even have yet was what I wanted. It worked out for us, we’ve been together for 26 years. As a bonus I have 9 grandchildren. All the fun without the work of the raising!” — Zublor

7. I’d be a bad parent.

“Not one bit. I have never believed that I would be a good parent. I have a short temper, and while I don’t think I would have been physically abusive, my words and tone of voice would be harsh in a very similar way to my own father. I wasn’t happy growing up with that kind parent and I wouldn’t want to subject any child to that kind of parenting.” — Videoman7189

8. I’d rather be the cool aunt and uncle.

“No and I found a partner who feels the same. We are the cool aunt and uncle.” — laudinum

9. Loneliness is underrated.

“54 yrs.old. I’ve lived the past 30 years alone. Presently my dog and I are chillin’ in a nice hotel on a spur of the moment vacation. I’d maybe be a grandfather by now?! I can’t imagine what it would be like to have family. I picture a life lived more “normally” sometimes. All sunshine and roses, white picket fence, etc. but I realize real life isn’t like that. No I don’t regret being childfree or wifefree for that matter. My life can be boring at times but then I look back at all the drama that comes with relationships and think I’ve dodged a bullet. I spent 20 years trying to find a wife to start a family. Then I realized the clock had run out, so fuck it, all the money I’d saved for my future family would be spent on myself. Hmmmmm…what do I want to buy myself for Christmas?” — Hermits_Truth

10. No diaper changes and no regrets.

“Nope. I never had the urge to change diapers or lose sleep, free time and most of my earnings. Other people’s kids are great. Mostly because they are other people’s. When people ask ‘Who will take care of you when you’re old’ I tell them that when I’m 75 I will adopt a 40-year-old.” — fwubglubbel

11. Zero desire.

“I’m 55 (F) and never wanted children. I just don’t much like them, and 20+ years of motherhood sounded (and still sounds) like a prison sentence. Maternal af when it comes to cats and dogs, but small humans? No chance.

“And I’m very happy to be childless. Cannot imagine my life any other way.” — GrowlKitty

12. D.I.N.K.

“Dual income no kids = great lifestyle!” — EggOntheRun

13. Some regrets

“Over 50 and child free. My only regret is that my wife would have been a great mother, and sometimes I feel like I deprived her of that, even though we both agreed we didn’t want kids. Sometimes I wonder if I pushed her into that decision. She works with the elderly every day and sees a lot of lonely folks so it gets to her sometimes. I was always afraid I’d screw up the parenting thing, so I was never really interested in the idea. I’m a loner by nature though.” — Johnny-Virgil

This article originally appeared on 02.08.22