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It’s December in our second year of the pandemic, which means it’s time for everyone’s favorite game: “Is it a cold or is it COVID?” Any sniffles, sore throat or sinus pressure could be symptoms of COVID-19 infection, but the common cold is still alive and kicking, so you test and hope for the best.

Even the president of the United States is vulnerable to viruses, and the White House recently announced that President Biden has caught a cold. In addition to being double vaccinated and boosted, the president is tested for COVID-19 daily, so it does indeed appear to be just a cold. But the effect the cold virus is having on his voice is noteworthy, especially as it’s making him sound exactly like actor George Clooney.

And when I say “exactly,” I mean exactly. Push play, look away and listen:

Biden: “Over the last month, we’ve seen oil and gas prices … come down significantly.”pic.twitter.com/dOLgP8H3VW

— The Post Millennial (@The Post Millennial)
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Uncanny, right? My husband heard it playing from across the room and thought it was George Clooney. So funny.

Biden has said that he got the cold from his 1-year-old grandson who’d had a cold and who “likes to kiss his ‘pop.'” The presidential physician issued a memo late last week to explain the president’s symptoms.

“As is readily apparent, President Biden is experiencing some increased nasal congestion this week,” Kevin C. O’Connor wrote. “This can be heard in his voice and he is feeling the colloquially well-known ‘frog in one’s throat.’”

Other than some coughing and the throat frog that’s transformed him into a hunky movie star, Biden seems to be doing okay.

Get well soon, sir. But in the meantime, please keep talking.

Matt Gaetz isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. Months after COVID started to overwhelmingly target unvaxxed Trump voters, as it still is, the Florida lawmaker is still telling them to catch it on purpose. He also reportedly used Venmo to pay the guy who helped embroil him in a sex trafficking scandal that has him being federally investigated. And remember that time over the summer when he came up with some harebrained scheme to make former president Donald Trump speaker of the House? Well, he seems to still think that could happen.

At a news conference Tuesday, Gaetz was asked if he still wanted Trump to become the first House leader to not be an elected politician. Beaming, he replied, “I would.” When asked if he has still been speaking with him about that, he replied, “I have.”

When Gaetz first publicly floated the idea in July, it led some to ask: Is that, you know, even possible? And it is, kind of! In fact, as recently as January of 2019, someone who was not a member of the House received a lone vote for the position, which went to Nancy Pelosi. That person: Joe Biden.

The idea that Trump would go from resort wedding toaster and shady social media god to Speaker of the House may seem far-fetched, but stranger things have happened. And lawmaker know it. That’s why, shortly after Gaetz pitched the idea, House Democrats introduced a bill called the MEMBERS Act, which forbids anyone who isn’t already an elected representative from lording over their body of government.

Then again, would Trump, the big guy with the big desk, even want the gig? Probably, though it would certainly beat being a failed blogger.

(Via Forbes)

Former New York Times journalist Ian Urbina is apologizing after multiple artists voiced their displeasure with him after they contributed music to a project tied to a book he released in 2019. The book, The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across The Last Untamed Frontier, was released in August 2019, and with it came a soundtrack that featured music from a number of artists. As a part of their deal, Urbina would receive 50% of the profit that was made from the participating songs in exchange for helping to promote the artists with help from platforms like Spotify, Netflix, and more.

However, multiple artists said Urbina failed to hold up his end of the deal, leaving one person to call it a “scam.” “It was all 100 percent about his book and even that, not many people seemed to care,” another said. “I’ve worked in music long enough that I know that sh*t happens and I just moved on, but the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth.”

Now Urbina has apologized via a statement on the Outlaw Ocean Music Project website. “[If] you convince artists to invest their time, brand, effort, audience, trust and creativity into your project, it’s important to communicate with them fully, ensure they get royalty statements and paid on time, answer their questions quickly,” the statement read. “I failed to do these things. The label I created to run the project and the subcontractor I hired to do these things also failed.

“The aim has been to convert stories into a different language, namely music, as a creative means to grab the attention of a younger and more diverse audience — the very audience sometimes missed by legacy outlets,” Urbina continued. “I thought, and still do, this was a new way to circulate journalism via non-news platforms. Any money that came in went toward publishing new albums and recruiting more artists.”

Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokesperson for NYT, says the publication is aware of the accusations against Jordan. “The allegations are troubling,” she says. “We are currently looking into the matter.” It should also be noted that Urbina departed the publication on May 30, 2019.

The Los Angeles Lakers are off to a thoroughly disappointing start, at least compared to preseason expectations. Los Angeles opened with a 12-12 record in the first 24 games and, while the Lakers have had injury issues along the way, the team hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire when at full strength. Those early-season hiccups have left many looking to place blame somewhere, with head coach Frank Vogel seemingly on something of a hot seat as a result.

On Tuesday, that topic came up during TNT’s Inside The NBA telecast, and Charles Barkley had some pointed words for Anthony Davis while defending Vogel’s honor.

“Listen, Anthony Davis, you’ve got to play better,” Barkley said. “I said on this first night. If the Lakers were gonna be any good, it was all gonna be on you. It has nothing to do with Russell. Has nothing to do with LeBron, and the rest of them old ass geezers they put together out there. But now y’all have crossed the line, because I really like Frank Vogel. It ain’t his fault.

“In my opinion, I blame Anthony Davis,” Barkley continued. “Anthony Davis, you know I like you as a person, but you ain’t doing what you’re supposed to do. You’re 27 years old. You’re supposed to be in your prime. You’re supposed to be one of the five best players in the world. Up there with Giannis, Kevin Durant, and those guys. And you ain’t holding up your end of the bargain. So now I hear y’all are going to fire the head coach. That’s total B.S., man. Now I feel better.”

Davis has appeared in 23 of 24 games, and his counting stats are impressive with 24.4 points, 10 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game. However, Davis has seemingly lost his jump shot, making only 18.8 percent of three-point attempts, and the Lakers have an ugly -4.3 net rating with Davis on the floor this season. Los Angeles still has time to improve but, in pretty direct fashion, one of the loudest voices in the sport clearly challenged Davis and took some of the heat off Vogel.

Less than two weeks have passed since Lincoln Riley made the surprising decision to leave Oklahoma for USC. In early December, Oklahoma snatched Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables to pick up the pieces after Riley’s departure, but a member of local government in Oklahoma is attempting to take it upon himself to give Riley another sendoff. Oklahoma state senator Bill Coleman, who lives in Ponca City and represents District 10 in the state, proposed a bill that, in his words, would “honor” Riley by renaming the final three inches of Oklahoma State Highway 325 as “Lincoln Riley Highway.”

“I felt the State of Oklahoma needed an appropriate goodbye to this former head coach whose sudden departure left many in shock, including a team of young, dedicated college players,” Coleman said in a release. “I found the tiniest section of our most desolate of highways to pay tribute to Coach Riley’s exit from Oklahoma football and the state. This is only fitting as this is the last three inches one sees before leaving our great state heading west.”

This, of course, is an attempt to tear down Riley on his way out and, by proxy, garner some attention for Coleman in the process. In the world of college sports, it isn’t anything new to see local politics in the spotlight, but Coleman went as far as to say that he would personally pay for any signage associated the highway, should it be renamed.

“While we are all free to pursue employment elsewhere, there is a level of professionalism that is expected to be adhered to,” the release continued. “From all indications, professionalism was pretty much absent in how this departure was executed.”

Clearly, Coleman is bothered by Riley’s choice to take his talents to Los Angeles, and he is undoubtedly joined by a lot of Oklahoma fans in those negative feelings. Still, there is something ironic about Coleman sniping at Riley’s “level of professionalism” all while using his public platform, as an elected official, to attempt to embarrass Riley in this way. Alas, such is the passionate world of college football.

In three days, Rick Ross will drop his eleventh album, Richer Than I Ever Been, which the Florida MC has been teasing for more than a year. While things are locked and loaded for a release on Friday, Ross is giving it a last-minute change: He’s changing the artwork. The new cover shows Ross from his right side as he looks towards the ground, an image placed over a dark green background.

It’s big change from the old cover, which featured Ross rocking a luxurious look, including delicate white gloves and a lavish hat, while his hands covered his face. Ross did not share why he made the switch, but many people did not care for the original cover, so feedback from it may have pushed him to make the change.

The change comes after Ross shared the tracklist for the album, revealing guest appearances from 21 Savage, Jazmine Sullivan, The-Dream, Willy Falcon, Benny The Butcher, Wale, Future, Yungeen Ace, Major Nine, and Blxst through the album’s ten songs.

You can take a look at the new cover and revisit the old one in the posts above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The loudest Republicans in the party right now are the die hard, ride-or-die Trumpists. They’re loud and the things they say are often ridiculous. Marjorie Taylor Greene doesn’t seem to know cancer isn’t contagious; Matt Gaetz claims catching COVID is safer than a vaccine. But some in the party have dared take public umbrage with them and what they stand for.

That’s what Dan Crenshaw did on Tuesday. As per The Daily Beast, the Navy SEAL-turned-Texas representative was speaking at a campaign event in his home state when he torched those in his party who had angrily accused him of being one of 80 Republican who voted for a “vaccine database,” which he hasn’t. “If it sounds too ridiculous to be true, it’s probably not true,” Crenshaw told the crowd.

But he went further. “There are two types of members of Congress: there is performance artists and there is legislators,” Crenshaw said. “Performance artists are the ones who get all of the attention, the ones you think are more conservative because they know how to say slogans real well. They know how to recite the lines that they know our voters want to hear.”

He claimed the crowd would “probably cringe a bit” to hear who in the party voted most often with former president Donald Trump’s agenda. “Adam Kinzinger voted with Trump almost 99 percent [of the time],” Crenshaw said, referring to the outspoken Trump critic, who is one of only two Republicans on the Jan. 6. House committee.

Who voted with Trump the least among Republicans? “Everyone in the Freedom Caucus,” Crenshaw said, trashing the group comprised of outspoken firebrands like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Paul Gosar, Matt Gaetz, and more.

“What you hear so often is not true. It’s not true. We have grifters in our midst,” Crenshaw averred. “Lie after lie after lie, because they know something psychologically about the conservative heart. We’re worried about what people are going to do to us, what people are going to infringe upon us, that’s the nature of conservatism!”

Mind you, Crenshaw is not some old-fashioned, traditionalist conservative. He’s made bizarre videos, in which he beats up libs. And he’s tried, and failed, to thread the needle between denying the “Big Lie” about the 2020 election and not enraging the base that’s bought into it. But at least this is something.

(Via The Daily Beast)

It’s no secret that Damian Lillard wants to compete for championships with the Portland Trail Blazers. The team’s All-Star guard has aspirations of lifting the Larry O’Brien trophy in the only city that he has called home during his NBA career, and one of the biggest storylines in the league over the summer was that Lillard wanted Portland to get into a position where its roster could do that.

Ultimately, the Blazers’ front office didn’t take any big swings to give him an All-Star running mate, and the team is currently a half game up on the final play-in spot in the Western Conference. The front office is, however, in the midst of a shakeup following the results of an independent investigation that led to longtime top executive Neil Olshey being removed from his position due to allegations that he fostered a hostile work environment.

On Tuesday, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN wrote a piece about the Blazers that suggested Lillard’s hopes for a 2-year, $107 million extension at the end of this season is scaring away some potential people who can take over for Olshey. It appears Lillard got word of the piece, as he shared a tweet that both implicated Wojnarowski and Olshey worked together to slander him and compared them to Donald Trump and Mike Pence.

The piece also reported that Lillard and his camp wanted the Blazers to part ways with CJ McCollum and four first-round picks to bring Ben Simmons to Portland. A report in The Athletic earlier this week indicated that Lillard would like to bring Simmons to Portland, but there were no indications he wanted the team to part ways with McCollum to make it happen — although, that is certainly the player that makes the most sense to be going out in such a deal.

The trial of Jussie Smollett, the actor accused of faking a hate crime in early 2019, is underway, and it’s been even more of a circus than the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse. On Monday, the former Empire performer took the stand, and what he said was shocking. For one, he admitted that he got high, hooked up with, and even masturbated with one of his alleged attackers. On Tuesday, Smollett was back in the hot seat, grilled by a top shelf prosecutor, and it did not go well.

That prosecutor was Dan Webb, whose CV includes playing a key role in the Iran-Contra affair in the ‘80s, even doing a desposition with no less than then-president Ronald Reagan. He delivered what The Daily Beast called a “masterclass in how to zero in on details and seal the deal,” zeroing in on what happened during the attack in the wee hours of Jan 29, 2019. Throughout the cross-examination, it was clear Webb had succeeded in getting under Smollett’s skin.

Webb has insisted that Smollett, who had claimed that his attackers were white and MAGA, tried to weaponize race as part of his claim, as per the Beast:

“Did you think by saying that the people that attacked you were white, it would lend credibility to a fake hate crime?” Webb asked.

Smollett replied curtly: “You’d have to ask someone that did a fake hate crime.”

At one point, Webb dug in on evidence that Smollett had repeatedly driven around in a car with his attackers, brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, by the area they would later attack him:

“Do you have any reason to disagree with police testimony that you passed by the intersection three times?” Webb asked.

“I don’t know,” Smollett replies. “I circled around the block.”

“How long were you there?”

“Well you have the surveillance, you have to tell me,” Smollett snapped back. “It was three years ago.”

Webb also inquired about the marks left on his face by the attack:

As Webb wrapped up his questioning, he asked Smollett if “getting a few bruises” had really impacted his acting career.

“Mr. Webb, I have a scar under my eye that looks like a bag for the rest of my life,” Smollett replied, while also mentioning a “black circle” on his face. “It’s absolutely a problem.”

Webb then showed Smollett a photo of him during his controversial Feb. 2019 Good Morning America interview with Robin Roberts a few weeks after the attack. In the photo, Smollett did not appear to have any of the markings he’d just described on the stand.

(Via The Daily Beast)

St. Louis rapper Smino is two years removed from his last full-length album, 2018’s slinky, soulful Noir. In the interim, he’s kept his fans sated with a slow but steady trickle of releases, including “Reverend,” “Rice & Gravy,” and “I Deserve,” as well as the 2020 lockdown mixtape She Already Decided and a string of features with the likes of JID (“Baguetti“), Thundercat (“Dragonball Durag” remix with Guapdad 4000), Denzel Curry (“So.Incredible.Pkg” remix), Yebba (“Louie Bag“), Syd (“Right Track“), and Khalid (“Scenic Drive“).

However, fans have still looked forward to his third full-length album with increasing anticipation, and today, he shared just enough information to pique their interest and turn up the anticipation from “eager” to “rabid.” Appearing on the latest episode of YouTube Originals’ Bear Witness, Take Action conversation series, Smino joined comedian Teddy Ray for “What Say What?!”, a discussion about the new album and each artist’s respective influences and creative process. During the discussion (at about the 8-minute mark), Smino reveals the title of his upcoming album: Love For Rent. He also explains the meaning behind the title:

“It’s based on different types of love,” he says. “It could be bad love, petty love, obsessive love, real good love, family love. But it’s just about the different ways I lent out my heart to the point where I didn’t have enough left for myself. I just put a pause on a bunch of sh*t. Letting everybody come eat and then you go get the plate last and you like, ‘Damn, I’m hungrier than a b*tch.’”

Later in the episode (at the 10-minute mark), Smino hits a makeshift stage on the set (made up to resemble a kitchen) to perform his new singles “I Deserve” and “Black Luv Ain’t Dead.” You can watch the full episode above and stay tuned for more information about the long-awaited comeback album, Love For Rent.