"M*A*S*H" ran for 11 seasons, even though the Korean War, during which the CBS series was set, lasted three years. When the show finally signed off 40 years ago -- with a special 2.5-hour episode titled "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" -- it set a ratings record that will never be equaled, and indeed, has become virtually impossible in the fragmented media market that exists today.
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Tuesday, February 28, 2023
Patrick Warburton won't apologize for 'Family Guy' role: 'We need humor'
Patrick Warburton has arguably one of the most recognizable faces and voices in the entertainment industry.
From his iconic "Puddy" character on "Seinfeld" to voicing paraplegic cop Joe Swanson on nearly 300 episodes of "Family Guy" and greeting guests during the Soarin' Around the World instructional video at Disney's California Adventure, Warburton's signature baritone voice and charming disposition are unmistakable.
Warburton recently marked another personal milestone by raising more than $4.7 million to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital at his 13th annual celebrity golf tournament, The Warburton. Patrick has now raised over $26 million for St. Jude, which treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
He has endured decades of changes in the acting world and proved longevity may look easy amid uncertain ebbs and flows of cancel culture, but his positive outlook toward comedy has always helped him stay grounded.
Warburton holds steady in his belief that "Seinfeld" jokes stand the test of time. "I think that's why the show's in perpetual syndication and people love it. There's always, you know, the way things change, and this and that… what would fly today? What flew yesterday can't fly today," he exclusively told Fox News Digital.
"I used to apologize for being on 'Family Guy,' and I apologize no more because this world is a horrible native satire. Everybody takes themselves too seriously, and… I think in many ways become an overwhelming mess. But we need humor in our lives, and we need love and humor, acceptance. It's all rather simple."
Easy enough for the guy who played Elaine Benes' on-and-off boyfriend on "Seinfeld" for 10 episodes of the cult classic sitcom but is still one of the most quoted and memorable characters from the long-running show.
Years ago, Warburton told an outlet that he "desperately avoided" Jerry Seinfeld while on set out of fear of saying something stupid.
"You know, it's funny. You make a comment on something that was actually in an interview in Australia," he said. "I was working on a project down there, and they asked me about working on ‘Seinfeld.’ And I said, ‘Oh, yeah, I avoided Jerry like the plague,’ which is… that's the story. It's like, everybody's curious, 'Why? You're such a horrible person?' It was just simply because I knew how fortunate I was to be on that show and I wanted to hit my marks, get my laughs, get out of there and just not be an issue and just have 'em say, 'Let's bring that guy back.' That's what I wanted."
The misguided remarks didn't seem to instill any ill will from Seinfeld when the men reunited by chance at a Manhattan eatery years later.
'SEINFELD': 12 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE SHOW
"It was a few years back. I was in New York doing press for ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ and I just bumped into Jerry in a diner… in a random diner," Warburton recalled. "I got a tap on my shoulder, and you know how your brain microcomputes? I was thinking to myself, ‘I bet I know who this person is.’ This isn't going to be just somebody going, 'Hey, Puddy, can I have your autograph?' I turn around and there is Jerry's face, six inches away from mine.
"He goes, 'You here by yourself?' I go, 'ya.' He goes, ‘Come on and join me; I'm having breakfast with Colin Quinn. Then I had breakfast with them, and he says, 'What are you doing tonight?' I go, 'I don't know.' He says, 'Come on over for dinner.' So I went over to his house. I had dinner with Jerry and his lovely wife and their kids, and it was just a great evening."
‘SEINFELD’ CHARACTER PUDDY (AKA PATRICK WARBURTON) MAKES APPEARANCE AT NHL GAME
His relationship with Seinfeld feels like a "high five" all around. Despite living on different coasts and growing up with distinctly different backgrounds, they recently found out they share a common denominator.
"I was brought up very Catholic. My father was in the monastery for three months. He almost became a monk... and then decided that wasn't his calling and wanted to do medicine. That being said, my mother was worse than my father," Warburton said. "I mean, she has scrupulosity, so it's all religion all the time with my mother. Cut to, like, two years ago, when my wife's doing Ancestry.com, she finds out that I'm actually 12.4% Ashkenazi Jew."
Warburton said he was "very excited" to find out about his Jewish ancestry, and immediately picked up the phone to tell his buddy, Seinfeld, that he was part of the chosen few.
"The first text I sent was to Jerry," he said. "I go, 'Hey, Jerry, I'm 12.4%.' He immediately sent me a text back welcoming me to Yidland (a Yiddish term for Jewish land), so that was lovely."
Warburton, who has more than 100 voice credits to his name, said, "Working in voiceover sort of allots you that opportunity, you know, because it doesn't take a lot of time, you can usually fit in some works. There are things that you go after. I'm a Disney-phile, so I love anything and everything Disney."
The actor puts everything he has into his work, and gives just as much energy to his favorite passion project: The Warburton, an annual celebrity golf tournament benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Now in its 13th year, Warburton has raised more than $22 million for the hospital, which ensures families never receive a bill for treatment, travel, housing or food at St. Jude while being treated for childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
His goal this year as the leading celebrity golf tournament is to break $4 million in contributions — no easy feat by any means. He has a few helping hands to support the mission, including Alice Cooper, Mark McGrath and his nephew, "The Bachelor" Zach Shallcross.
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"So, golf is the great common denominator. You've got your musicians, your sport, your athletes, your actors and your business people," he said. "Everybody says play golf. I found, you know, golf with so many musician friends I have is that if you've survived addiction, and you've gotten to the other end of that, you end up playing golf every day of your life.
"I know so many musicians play golf every day of life, starting with Alice Cooper, and it's a healthy addiction. They play golf. They go watch TV, go to bed, wake up, repeat. I've met so many musicians through golf. We have the big concert on Friday night, and we've had as many as eight or 10 Rock and Roll Hall of Famers on stage in the same night. Some of my old buddies who I have known for years performed in this, you know, constantly, like Alice Cooper, Robby Krieger from The Doors, Mike Mills from R.E.M."
He added, "We've had everybody from Mike Reno and Loverboy to Huey Lewis to Michael McDonald. Stephen Stills was the last guy to walk off-stage one year, 1:00 in the morning. We went a little long."
Golf is still on his mind, but making sure he can raise as much money as possible for St. Jude Children's Research Center through the Warburton tournament is what keeps him going.
"We keep setting the bar higher and higher, and the goal is to make as much money as we can," Warburton said. "In the early years, we always broke our record every year and it was great. And then we realized, this isn't sustainable. We can't break our record every year. Doesn't work like that. But, you know, we did it again last year. So we are going to do it again this year."
As any devoted Puddy fan would say: "Yeah, that's right."
AK to provide $1.7 million to help stock food pantries, address backlog in food stamps
Funding is being directed to help stock Alaska food pantries as part of a broader effort to address a state backlog in processing food stamp benefits.
Major delays by the state in processing applications for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program have heavily impacted rural parts of Alaska where food costs are high and food pantries rare, and strained food bank resources across the state, the Anchorage Daily News reported. The state has attributed the processing delays to staffing shortages, a 2021 cyberattack that disrupted online services, an outdated system and a flood of recertification applications.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy redirected about $1.7 million previously earmarked for food security efforts to help address the current need, and state health officials worked with food bank leaders to determine the best use of the funds, Alaska Department of Health Commissioner Heidi Hedberg told reporters Monday. The money is intended to go toward the bulk purchase of food to stock food pantries and for cards that can be used by Alaskans to buy food at local grocery stores. It will also support some school programs, according to the state health department.
ALASKA REPUBLICAN CAROL BEECHER CHOSEN AS HEAD OF ELECTIONS
The money was previously intended for the state emergency management office to purchase shelf-stable food supplies for disaster situations. But those purchases had not yet been made, and the money was redirected, a spokesperson for the health department, Shirley Young, said in an email.
"We’re thankful and encouraged that the administration and Department of Health have taken this step to provide immediate relief to struggling Alaskans," said Ron Meehan, the Food Bank of Alaska’s policy and advocacy manager. "One of the ongoing concerns that we’ve had in addressing the SNAP backlog was finding ways to quickly meet the current need, and this will help us meet some of that."
Meehan, who joined Hedberg on a video conference Monday, could not say how far the aid might stretch. He said it will depend in part on transportation and distribution costs, noting that getting supplies to more rural, remote areas of Alaska is more expensive. Many Alaska communities aren't connected to the main road system.
Meehan indicated there were transportation organizations that had agreed to help with the effort.
The Department of Health, as part of its broader efforts to address the backlog, has said it also is hiring additional staff and that it plans to launch an online benefits application by the end of the year. Dunleavy has proposed as part of his budget funding to modernize the eligibility enrollment system.
What travelers to Turkey need to know
Those due to visit Turkey have been left wondering how the devastating earthquake will impact their travel plans. Here's what we know so far.
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Matthew McConaughey poses with lookalike sons in rare family photo shared by Camila Alves
He is a man of many talents – including being a hairstylist to his young son.
Matthew McConaughey was photographed cutting his son Livingston's hair in a new Instagram photo shared by his wife Camila Alves McConaughey.
In the shot, McConaughey can be seen hard at work chopping the locks off his youngest child's head, using appropriate barber scissors while Livingston, 10, sits in a salon chair.
The couple's eldest child, Levi, 14, who is the spitting image of his father, looks on while his father gets to work.
WHY MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY TOOK HIS CHILDREN TO A VIEWING OF A YOUNG UVALDE VICTIM
"Then this happened," the Brazilian model captioned the photo, with a chunk of Livingston's blonde highlighted locks on the floor.
McConaughey and his wife have been married since 2012. They also share daughter Vida, 13, together.
The couple rarely speak about or post their children, choosing to raise their family in Texas, away from the limelight.
Last year, Alves McConaughey told Fox News Digital that living in Texas was a great experience for her family.
"It’s been great," she shared. "It really embodies our belief system, especially the ones I grew up with, like going to church every Sunday, saying ‘yes ma’am’ or ‘no, sir.’ I grew up saying those things coming from a family of farmers. For me, being from Brazil and then coming to Texas, I discovered a lot of similarities in terms of what families practice here, especially going to church on Sundays, and being very into the outdoors. It’s been a great transition."
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In 2020, McConaughey expanded on what being a parent looks like for him, telling Town & Country, "Sometimes loving your kids means giving them just what they want. Other times it means tough love. Affluent people can give their kids everything they want, but they’re not usually going to get what they need. Loving a child is a lot harder if you really give a damn. ‘No’ takes a lot more energy. It’s a lot easier to say ‘yes.’"
In July, Alves McConaughey spoke of the challenges of parenting as her children get older.
"You know, it's interesting because when you have little ones, you are physically exhausted, right? And I feel like when you get to the teenagers ... it's almost like you need more energy," she told US Weekly.
"You need more brain power because it becomes all very about the mind, right? It's like a teenager [is] trying to find their identity and find how they're going to navigate their lives. So I think that ... for me, it's more challenging in a good way."
Just weeks ago, the couple celebrated Vida's 13th birthday, with a special guest from close family friend Woody Harrelson.
"Uncle @woodyharrelson is questioning if the cake is vegan or not!!!" Alves McConaughey joked beneath a photo of her daughter in front of a cake, as Harrelson looks on, perplexed.
Although they do not speak of their own children frequently, the couple is incredibly philanthropic, often doing advocacy work for children. They founded the just keep livin' Foundation, which is "dedicated to empowering high school students by providing them with the tools to lead active lives and make healthy choices for a better future."
The "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" actor has also been incredibly outspoken in his hometown community of Uvalde, Texas, advocating for gun reform after the horrific school shooting that claimed the lives of 19 children and two adults.
Monday, February 27, 2023
A proposed 'takeover' has sparked a battle for power in one of America's Blackest big cities
Republican-dominated state government and the Blackest big city in the US over some of the most incendiary flashpoints of American politics: voting rights, public safety and race.
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73-year-old Kentucky coal miner dies in southern WV from fatal injuries
A coal miner has died in an incident in a southern West Virginia mine, Gov. Jim Justice said.
William Mapes, 73, of Freeburn, Kentucky, died Sunday, Justice said Sunday in a news release. Mapes had 53 years of mining experience and was working as a contractor for LSM Contracting near Central Appalachian Mining LLC's Grapevine South Surface Mine in Mingo County, along the Kentucky border, Justice said Sunday in a news release.
WA AUTHORITIES HAVE NO PLANS TO ATTEMPT TO RECOVER THE BODIES OF 3 CLIMBERS KILLED IN AVALANCHE
The statement said Mapes was "fatally injured" but did not include details of the incident.
It was the first reported U.S. coal mining fatality of the year. There were at least 10 coal mining-related deaths nationwide last year, including four in West Virginia and two each in Kentucky and Pennsylvania, according to the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Sale of late Egyptian President Sadat's passport in Texas sparks outrage among family
The late president's grandson has called the sale an "insult."
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Most vehicles can't pass muster in new tougher crash tests
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS') new crash test criteria are tripping up many cars and trucks.
The organization updated its rules for 2023 making it harder for vehicles to achieve its highest ratings.
The evaluation now includes a side-impact test that simulates a larger, heavier vehicle ramming into the side of the test subject at a faster speed.
The weight has been increased from 3,300 pounds to 4,200 pounds and the speed from 31 mph to 37 mph to better reflect current road conditions.
FED OFFICIAL CONCERNED THAT ELECTRIC VEHICLES MIGHT BE GETTING TOO HEAVY FOR SAFETY
The IIHS has also started to factor in the nighttime performance of automatic emergency braking systems faced with avoiding running into a pedestrian and requires that the best headlights be available across an entire model lineup.
As a result, the overall number of vehicles achieving either a Top Safety Pick+ or Top Safety Pick designation has dropped from 101 to just 48.
"The number of winners is smaller this year because we’re challenging automakers to build on the safety gains they’ve already achieved," said IIHS President David Harkey. "These models are true standouts in both crash worthiness and crash prevention."
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Toyota and Lexus led the way, combining for 15 awards, followed by Honda/Acura and Mazda at six each.
Here is the full list of vehicles that qualified for the two designations:
Acura Integra
Subaru Outback
Toyota Camry built after January 2023
Genesis G90
Honda CR-V
Honda HR-V
Lexus UX
Subaru Solterra (electric) built after October 2022
Hyundai Palisade
Kia Telluride
Nissan Pathfinder
Subaru Ascent
Toyota Highlander
Volkswagen ID.4 (electric)
Acura MDX
Acura RDX
Infiniti QX60
Lexus NX
Lexus NX Plug-in Hybrid
Lexus RX
Tesla Model Y (electric)
Volvo XC90
Volvo XC90 Recharge (electric)
Honda Odyssey
Toyota Sienna
Rivian R1T crew cab (electric)
Toyota Tundra crew cab
Toyota Tundra extended cab
Honda Civic hatchback except Type R performance variant
Honda Civic sedan
Mazda 3 hatchback
Mazda 3 sedan
Toyota Corolla hatchback
Toyota Corolla sedan
Hyundai Sonata built after December 2022
Subaru Legacy
Lexus ES 350
Mazda CX-30
Mazda CX-5
Mazda CX-50
Nissan Rogue
Subaru Forester
Toyota RAV4
Toyota RAV4 Prime (plug-in hybrid)
Toyota Venza
Ford Explorer
Mazda CX-9
Lincoln Nautilus.
XFL quarterback tells teammate to ‘shut the f--- up’ after trying to call plays in the huddle
Orlando Guardians quarterback Deondre Francois had it with one of his offensive lineman trying to call plays during the XFL team’s disastrous home opener on Sunday and the hilarious interaction was all caught on video.
Trailing the San Antonio Brahmas 27-6 early into the fourth quarter, Francois was attempting to call a play in the huddle when one bold teammate appeared to repeatedly suggest a play he thought might be better suited.
The ex-Florida State Seminole did not appreciate the input and the entire moment was caught on the XFL’s "Live Mic" feature.
SUPER BOWL CHAMPION TURNED XFL COACH RIPS TEAM DURING MIDGAME INTERVIEW: ‘LOOK AT THE SCOREBOARD’
"Shut the f--- up, y’all," Francois said. "Listen."
Francois, a backup quarterback to former NFL first-round pick Paxton Lynch, completed 6-of-13 attempts for just eight yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Lynch completed just 9-of-19 for 79 yards and one touchdown.
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Frustrations were certainly boiling over in what would be the Guardians second straight loss of the season.
Head coach Terrell Buckley, a 14-year NFL veteran and Super Bowl champion, ripped his own team midgame over their lack of effort.
"Obviously I’ve got guys out there that are not competing, that are not making plays, so we’ve gotta get people in there, young men that want to play – that want to compete and make plays."
"I’m seeing guys not performing," Buckley continued. "Look at the scoreboard. They got to perform."
The Brahmas picked up their first win of the season with a 30-12 victory over the Guardians.
Sunday, February 26, 2023
Pink is 'saddened and disappointed' by feud headlines with Christina Aguilera, Madonna: 'I should say less'
They say no press is bad press, but for singer Pink, some press is hard to digest.
The 43-year-old singer has been prevalent in the media lately as she continues to promote her new album "Trustfall." With a career that spans nearly three decades, Pink's tenure as a musician has seen the artist make waves for her performances, achievements and unfortunately, her public feuds.
Taking to Instagram, Pink shared her frustration with the media pigeonholing her to storylines of her past.
"I’m so saddened and disappointed by the narrative surrounding some of the press I’ve been doing around my album," Pink wrote. "While some of the responsibility lays with me and my inability to lie, and my uncanny ability to overshare- my real disappointment lies in the fact that the art can never be the focus when you’re a woman."
In the past week, Pink has been transparent about her relationship with both Christina Aguilera and Madonna.
While ranking her music videos, Pink seemingly shaded Aguilera, saying the music video shoot for their collaboration "Lady Marmalade" was not enjoyable due to "personalities" on set. The song also features rapper Lil' Kim and Mya with intros and outros by Missy Elliot.
"It wasn't very fun to make," she told Buzzfeed UK in a video shared to TikTok last week. "I'm all about fun and it was like a lot of fuss. And there were some personalities…Kim and Mya were nice."
When faced with backlash, Pink took to Twitter to share her opinions on the Aguilera matter, even writing "Also- I kissed xtinas mouth. I don’t need to kiss her a--."
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In her Instagram statement, Pink voiced that what should be a celebratory time of her new music has now become an opportunity to promote feuds.
"The fact that I created one of the most beautiful albums with the most beautiful people -sang my a-- off, made Myself wholly Vulnerable - eleven albums in, selling out stadiums, raising good kids, steadily Employing hundreds of Good, Hardworking people, the only Thing they ask you about over and over is a silly feud (sic) from your Twenties. I take responsibility also- I’m out of Practice Dodging the bulls--t that gets thrown at us hardworking women. I’m notorious For saying too much," she wrote beneath a silly selfie with her child.
Her written statement mirrors a conversation she had earlier in the week with Howard Stern.
While acknowledging her love for Madonna, Pink also admitted the singer "doesn’t like" her following a "silly" incident on "Live with Regis and Kelly" when they first met 20 years ago. During the talk show appearance, Pink made a joke about Madonna wanting to meet her, as opposed to the other way around. Pink shared that at the time, she was super excited to meet the "Material Girl" singer.
"Some people just don’t like me," she told Stern. "I’m a polarizing individual."
Despite a "polarizing" personality, Pink stands firm in her depictions of past events.
"I’ve never lied," she wrote on Instagram. "And for every one or two women I’ve had issue with - there are hundreds that I’ve complimented and supported and loved on. But we don’t talk about that. I wonder when the last time Bradley Cooper or Robert DeNiro (sic) were asked in interview after interview about any argument they’d ever had. How about Christian Bale? We stick to the art with them, don’t we? I’d like to have the same opportunity," she said, calling out the parody between how women and men are interviewed.
"I also believe in authentic apology- and owning Your Mistakes. I should say less. Every time. Say less. Something I’m working on. This was a good Reminder. My wish is To share the pains and the celebrations of this messy life through music and on stage. And I’ve accomplished that. Incredibly and consistently," she concluded, before directly addressing Aguilera.
"To Christina- you know where we stand. Resolved. Onwards and upwards. And thank you all for listening- and for the 25 years Of kick a-- love and support. Peace"
Woody Harrelson receives 'Saturday Night Live' honorary jacket from Scarlett Johansson
Five times was a charm for Woody Harrelson this weekend, when he returned to host "Saturday Night Live."
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Victims of 1993 WTC bombing remembered 30 years later: 'Innocent people going to work'
Victims’ relatives and survivors of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York City gathered Sunday at the trade center to honor the six people killed in the terror attack that injured more than 1,000.
"They were innocent people going to work," Marileen Brown, a Port Authority employee who survived the attack, told FOX5 New York. "Just cherish every day you have because you never know. Before you leave your house just tell your loved ones that you love them."
The deadly bombing killed six people, including a pregnant woman, and injured more than 1,000 in a foreshadowing of the 9/11 attack eight years later.
Relatives read the names of their loved ones who died in the bombing. Their names were John DiGiovanni, Robert Kirkpatrick, Stephen A. Knapp, William Macko, Wilfredo Mercado and Monica Rodriguez Smith, who was due to start maternity leave the next day.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, FEB. 26, 1993, WORLD TRADE CENTER BOMBED IN HORRIFIC ATTACK
All six victims' names are now inscribed on one of the Sept. 11 memorial pools, and the 9/11 museum has their photos and a room devoted to discussing the ’93 explosion.
The noontime explosion, set off in a rented van parked in an underground garage, was planted by Muslim extremists who sought to punish the U.S. for its Middle East policies, particularly Washington's support for Israel, according to federal prosecutors.
JIHADIST NYC BIKE PATH KILLER'S FATHER, UNCLE EXPRESS SHAME, UNLOAD ON ISIS AT DEATH PENALTY TRIAL
The relatives of the victims led those in attendance in laying roses at the memorial.
Anniversary observances also include a Mass Sunday at a church near the trade center and a panel discussion Monday at the 9/11 Memorial Museum.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
US Energy Department assesses Covid-19 likely resulted from lab leak, furthering US intel divide over virus origin
The US Department of Energy has assessed that the Covid-19 pandemic most likely came from a laboratory leak in China, according to a newly updated classified intelligence report. The assessment further adds to the divide in the US government over whether the pandemic began in China in 2019 as the result of a lab leak or whether it emerged naturally.
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Amber Alert canceled for 2 children, ages 6 and 2, allegedly abducted by father in California
An Amber Alert issued Sunday morning for two young children allegedly abducted by their father in southern California has been canceled after the children were found safe.
Lilianna Acosta, 6, and her brother Elias Acosta, 2, were reportedly taken by their father, Frank Acosta-Ortega, 27, Sunday morning in Riverside, according to the California Highway Patrol.
CHP tweeted just after 9:15 a.m. local time that the alert was deactivated.
Authorities told KABC the children were found unharmed in San Bernardino. Authorities say an off-duty deputy recognized the suspect vehicle.
The children were reportedly being reunited with their mother while Acosta-Ortega was arrested. The 27-year-old had been considered armed and dangerous.
Saturday, February 25, 2023
GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley pledges to cut billions in foreign aid to China, other US adversaries
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is breaking from the Washington establishment on foreign aid, promising to stop sending billions of taxpayer dollars to "anti-American countries and causes."
In an op-ed for the New York Post published Friday, Haley criticized both Democratic and Republican presidential administrations for how they've handled foreign aid, noting that the U.S. spent $46 billion last year aiding countries like Iraq, Pakistan, and even China.
"This is not just Joe Biden. It’s been happening for decades under presidents of both parties. Our foreign-aid policies are stuck in the past. They typically operate on autopilot, with no consideration for the conduct of the countries that receive our aid," Haley wrote.
"The Washington bureaucracy and its defenders in Congress inevitably dig in to save these global giveaways. It will take a determined president to root out these taxpayer rip-offs," she said.
NIKKI HALEY SAYS THE DESANTIS ‘PARENTAL RIGHTS IN EDUCATION’ LAW IN FLORIDA DOESN'T GO ‘FAR ENOUGH’
Haley specifically called out aid to Iraq and Pakistan, countries where terrorist organizations operate and the governments are not pro-America.
And, as a former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., she slammed the Biden administration for restoring funding to the United Nations Relief and Works agency, which exists to help Palestinian refugees but Haley asserted "covers for deeply anti-Semitic propaganda against our ally Israel."
NIKKI HALEY ANNOUNCES PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: ‘IT’S TIME FOR A NEW GENERATION OF LEADERSHIP'
"American taxpayers still give money to Communist China for ridiculous environment programs, despite the obvious threat China poses to Americans. We give money to Belarus, which is Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s closest ally. We even give money to Communist Cuba — a country our own government has designated as a state sponsor of terrorism," Haley wrote.
If elected president, Haley said she would "cut every cent in foreign aid for countries that hate us."
NIKKI HALEY ENDORSED BY TOP TRUMP ALLY RALPH NORMAN WHO SAYS GOP NEEDS ‘NEW LEADERSHIP’
"A strong America doesn’t pay off the bad guys. A proud America doesn’t waste our people’s hard-earned money," she continued. "And the only leaders who deserve our trust are those who stand up to our enemies and stand beside our friends."
She insists that she will be such a president.
Haley declared her candidacy for president two weeks ago, joining former President Donald Trump in the 2024 Republican primary. Trump welcomed her and other would-be challengers into the race, saying, "the more the merrier." Health care and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is also running for president as a Republican, and many more candidates are texpected to toss their hats into the ring before the year ends.
Florida bill would give DeSantis more power over state universities and ban gender studies
A new bill overhauling Florida universities to match Gov. Ron DeSantis' vision for higher education would shift power at state schools into the hands of the Republican leader's political appointees and ban gender studies as a field of study.
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Serial killer’s child-rapist cellmate found dead in a California prison
A convicted serial killer is suspected of killing his pedophile cellmate less than a month after he arrived at prison, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Juan Villanueva, 53, who was serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole for aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14, was found unresponsive by North Kern State Prison officials during a welfare check at 8:49 a.m. Friday, according to CDCR.
By 9:03 a.m., Villanueva was pronounced dead.
He shared a cell with 51-year-old Ramon Escobar, who pleaded guilty last year to killing five men and wounding seven others after fleeing Houston where he ultimately pleaded guilty to the 2018 slayings of his aunt and uncle.
LA DA VIOLATES OWN POLICY IN CATHOLIC BISHOP MURDER CASE: ‘DOESN’T KNOW THE BASIC ETHICAL RULES'
Villanueva was transferred into North Kern State Prison, a medium-security facility that houses 3,500 inmates, on Feb. 2.
The Kern County Coroner ruled Villanueva's death a homicide, and Escobar has since been placed in restrictive housing while the prison's Investigate Services Unit and the Kern County District Attorney investigate Villanueva's death.
Officials didn't release any other details or say how he was killed.
After fleeing Texas, Escobar began a string of deadly assaults in Santa Monica, where prosecutors said he beat his victims with bolt cutters or a baseball bat while they were asleep on the streets or the beach during a two-week crime spree that claimed five lives and left seven others wounded.
All but one were homeless, according to authorities.
Escobar is originally from El Salvador and had been deported six times before the murders, according to authorities.
Jimmy Carter's children and grandchildren remain at his side during hospice care, relative says
Close relatives of former US President Jimmy Carter are remaining by his side as he receives hospice care at his home in Georgia, a family member told CNN Friday.
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Viral travel tip involves locking a shoe away in a hotel safe
Putting a shoe in a hotel safe deposit box could serve as a helpful reminder to remove your valuables before you check out.
Multiple travel content creators have been sharing the tip on various social media platforms in the last year and the videos have garnered millions of views.
Hope Smith, an esthetician and CEO of the skincare company MUTHA, is one of TikTok’s latest shoe-in-safe recommenders.
THIS AIRLINE CARRY-ON STRATEGY MAY BE THE SMARTEST TRAVEL HACK THE INTERNET HAS SEEN
The beauty entrepreneur, who hails from Palm Beach, Florida, shared the travel life hack with her followers on Saturday, Feb. 11.
"If you’re wondering why I always lock a shoe in the safe now, you can ask Lauren, my assistant, who once had to fly all the way back to Italy to unlock the safe because of what I had left inside," Smith said in her 28-second video.
"Put your shoe in the safe right behind your jewelry so that when it’s time to pack and leave your hotel you never leave your valuables behind because you’ll always be looking for that second shoe," she continued.
Fox News Digital reached out to Smith for comment.
FLIGHT ATTENDANT REVEALS HOW PASSENGERS HAVE SCORED FREE, FIRST-CLASS SEATS
Several other content creators have echoed similar sentiments about the shoe-in-safe reminder.
Social media users have been divided about the suggestion with some writing that they’ve found it helpful while others feel otherwise.
"Why is this actually so genius," one TikTok commenter wrote.
"I would end up leaving the valuables + my shoe," another TikTok user admitted.
THIS TRAVEL HACK REVEALS HOW TO GET A 'WHOLE ROW TO YOURSELF' ON FLIGHTS
"I’d have to put something more obvious like my keys or Airpods," one TikTok user pointed out.
Other commenters on TikTok have offered alternative suggestions to make sure valuables aren’t forgotten in a hotel safe, including leaving sticky notes around the room and setting reminders on mobile devices.
Some travelers have written that they advise checking every hotel room drawer, storage container, closet and bed before leaving.
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The originator of the shoe-in-safe reminder is currently unknown.
Friday, February 24, 2023
TikTok claims EU didn't notify them of continent-wide employee ban
TikTok accused the European Commission on Friday of failing to consult it over a decision to ban the Chinese short video sharing app from staff phones on cybersecurity grounds, a move subsequently followed by another top EU body.
The app, which is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, is facing growing scrutiny from Western authorities over concerns that China's government could use it to harvest people's data. Beijing has regularly denied having any such intentions.
The EU executive and the EU Council, which brings together representatives of the member states to set policy priorities, said on Thursday staff will also be required to remove TikTok from personal mobile devices that have access to corporate services.
EUROPEAN UNION EXECUTIVES TEMPORARILY BAN TIKTOK FROM EMPLOYEE'S PHONES AS A CYBERSECURITY MEASURE
TikTok, which has in the past said that data on its service can not be accessed by Beijing, said it had not been told or contacted by either institution ahead of their decisions.
"So we are really operating under a cloud. And the lack of transparency and the lack of due process. Quite frankly one would expect, you know, some sort of engagement on this matter," Caroline Greer, TikTok's director of public policy and government relations, told Reuters.
She said she could not respond to the bodies' cybersecurity concerns because they had not spelled them out.
The European Commission pointed to EU industry chief Thierry Breton's comments at a news conference on Thursday where he said the EU executive does not have to give reasons for decisions taken to ensure its proper functions.
"To suspend the use of TikTok is a purely internal decision for cybersecurity reasons to protect the Council General Secretariat's (GSC) data and staff. As the GSC has no contractual relationship with TikTok, there is no obligation to consult or inform them," an EU official said.
NORWEGIAN JUSTICE MINISTER APOLOGIZES FOR USING TIKTOK ON WORK PHONE
Greer said TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, who met Breton and other commissioners in Brussels in January, was "concerned and a little puzzled".
"He has always been very available, you know, responding to the Commission ... We have reached out for a meeting in whatever shape or form they would like that to happen."
Other EU institutions should do their own research before making decisions on the app, Greer said.
TikTok is banned on U.S. Senate employees' government-owned devices and also in India. The European Parliament has not taken such a step.
Florida bill would give DeSantis more power over state universities and ban gender studies
A new bill overhauling Florida universities to match Gov. Ron DeSantis' vision for higher education would shift power at state schools into the hands of the Republican leader's political appointees and ban gender studies as a field of study.
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Biden admin's regulations would ban 96% of gas stoves, Republican senator warns
Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., warned in a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm this week that regulations recently proposed by her agency would ban up to 96% of the gas-powered stoves currently available to Americans.
Daines noted in the letter sent Wednesday that the Department of Energy (DOE) itself acknowledges that just 4% of the current gas stove market share would meet the stringent rules governing the efficiency levels of gas stoves, effectively banning the vast majority of products being sold. The DOE issued the proposed rule on Feb. 1, shortly after the Biden administration was slammed for appearing to move ahead with a gas stove ban.
"The Department clearly states in the Proposed Rule … that only 4% of the current market share meet the extremely high new proposed standard," Daines wrote to Granholm. "This means that, according to the Department’s own analysis published in the Proposed Rule, that 96% of existing gas cooking tops would be banned from future manufacturing and sales."
"Obviously, this contradicts President Biden’s position as stated in the hearing by an assistant secretary of the Department that issued the rule," he continued.
DEMOCRAT-LED CITIES ARE ALREADY MOVING FORWARD WITH GAS STOVE BANS THAT WILL AFFECT MILLIONS
On Feb. 16, Andrew Light, the DOE's assistant secretary of energy for international affairs, said President Biden was not in favor of banning gas stoves in response to questions from Daines during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing. The Montana lawmaker wrote in his letter that Light's comments appeared to run counter to the agency's own proposal.
He also noted that, in a "suspicious coincidence," the DOE issued different data that seemed to contradict information in the Feb. 1 proposed rule immediately after the hearing with Light.
INTERNAL BIDEN ADMIN MEMO SHOWS IT WAS SERIOUS ABOUT BANNING GAS STOVES BEFORE PUBLIC UPROAR
"This has led to greater confusion among lawmakers, manufacturers, and consumers. It is extremely important, as I stated during the hearing, that the public understands the effect of the Proposed Rule so they are both able to make official comments and prepare for what could be a substantial reduction in gas cooking appliances available to consumers," Daines continued.
"When there are differing and conflicting data points and when statements during multiple congressional hearings are not being answered effectively, then it is incumbent on the Department to clarify these issues for congressional members and alert consumers and manufacturers of the real impacts of a proposed rule."
Daines concluded the letter by requesting the DOE brief lawmakers and staff members on the impacts of the gas stove rule before finalizing it.
Daines' concerns come after a Biden-appointed member of the little-known Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) made headlines when he told Bloomberg in early January that a gas stove ban was "on the table" given the product's purported impacts on health. The Bloomberg article highlighted a study partially funded by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) that linked gas stove usage to childhood asthma.
After widespread criticism from industry groups and Republican lawmakers, the White House eventually came out against a gas stove ban, saying it wouldn't support such a measure. Granholm called the idea of a ban "ridiculous."
However, Granholm tweeted a link to the RMI study on Jan. 4, saying "we can and must FIX this" and has privately met with RMI officials, according to her internal calendar.
And, despite Granholm's comments, the DOE pushed forward with the new restrictions on gas stove usage.
The DOE didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Harry Styles required to provide personal information for New Zealand census
Harry Styles will be required to participate in the 2023 New Zealand census because he has a concert in Auckland the same night.
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Protest responding to Massachusetts Democrat's comments about disabled unborn babies announced
Framingham, Massachusetts, residents are planning to protest after a local Democrat complained about the cost of special education for children with disabilities who are not aborted, according to a local advocate.
"We are coming together on Tuesday to show our support for the community and encourage others to join us in the healing process," said Jon Fetherston, a disabilities advocate and former Ashland Selectman who's planning the protest. "Every life is important, and words matter."
During a city council meeting earlier this month, Michael Hugo, the chair of the Framingham Democratic Committee, said crisis pregnancy centers could misdiagnose a defect in a baby in the womb, leading to a disabled child not being aborted and becoming a financial strain on a school system. He apologized 10 days later following backlash from irate parents and community members.
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"Mike Hugo’s comments have severely hurt the special needs community," Fetherston said.
The protest is planned for Feb. 28 outside Framingham City Hall half an hour before the 7 p.m. city council meeting.
"Did you hear the comments by Framingham Democrat Town Committee Chair…that Special Needs Children should be aborted, rather than cause a burden to the school budgets," the protest’s Facebook event page said. "If you disagree and want to show support for the Special Needs Community, please join us!"
MA REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR CHARLES BAKER SIGNS BILL PROTECTING ABORTION RIGHTS
The flier for the protest encourages supporters to turn out to "help Framingham heal and move past the hurtful comments and show your support for the disability community."
"Our fear is that if an unqualified sonographer misdiagnoses a heart defect, an organ defect, spina bifida or an encephalopathic defect that becomes a very local issue because our school budget will have to absorb the cost of a child in special education, supplying lots and lots of special services to children, who were born with the defect," Hugo said at the Feb. 7 meeting in question.
MASSACHUSETTS DEMOCRAT TOLD TO STEP DOWN AFTER ABORTION COMMENTS LEAVE PARENTS IRATE
On Feb. 17, in a public statement, Hugo offered his "most sincere and humble apology."
"I am writing to offer my most sincere and humble apology to members of the Framingham Democratic Committee, but more especially my fellow members of Framingham's disability family community, for comments that I made at the last City Council meeting which were offensive and hurtful," he wrote.
The Framingham Democratic Committee also issued a statement, denouncing Hugo’s statement, claiming it did not reflect the full committee, despite the committee receiving Hugo’s remarks several hours in advance of him delivering them. It also said it "put in place processes to avoid future occurrences."
Despite the apology, Hugo is still facing calls to step down.
"He has an influential position inside the party, and if he even thinks that, much less says it in a public meeting, then he shouldn’t be in a leadership position," Fetherston, who has a child with autism, told Fox News. "I think he should immediately step down."
Hugo did not immediately return a request for comment.
To learn more about the backlash to Hugo, click here.
Thursday, February 23, 2023
DOJ seeks court sanctions against Google over 'intentional destruction' of chat logs
Google should face court sanctions over "intentional and repeated destruction" of company chat logs that the US government expected to use in its antitrust case targeting Google's search business, the Justice Department said Thursday.
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Missouri AG moves to fire Dem attorney Kim Gardner after she refuses to resign over public safety outcry
FIRST ON FOX — Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey moved to fire embattled Democratic St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner on Thursday after she refused to resign following a weekend accident involving a repeat offender who was free despite several violations of his bond terms.
The AG's office started the process of filing a petition quo warranto, which is the legal mechanism under state statute that allows the Attorney General to remove a prosecutor who neglects his or her duties. Bailey will have to show a judge that Gardner neglected her duties and needs to be removed.
"This is about a quantum of evidence that demonstrates her failure to prosecute cases, failure to inform and confer with victims in cases and failure to file new cases that are referred by law enforcement agencies," Bailey told Fox News Digital in an interview.
WHO IS KIMBERLY GARDNER, ST. LOUIS PROSECUTOR INVESTIGATING GUN-TOTING COUPLE?
"I'm a former prosecutor. I've worked in a county prosecutor's office, and what motivated me every day was the rule of law and finding justice for victims. And rather than finding justice for victims and protecting victims, the circuit attorney of the city of St. Louis was creating new victims. And someone's got to hold her accountable and that's that's why we're moving forward with our quo warranto," he said.
On Wednesday, Bailey gave Gardner an ultimatum — resign or be removed — after a motorist who repeatedly violated his bond conditions on earlier charges crashed and left a teenage volleyball player with major injuries that required both her legs be amputated. Gardner's office is the one that should be monitoring compliance with bond conditions and revoking them when those terms are violated.
The victim, Janae Edmondson, 16, visited St. Louis with her family on Saturday for a volleyball tournament. While the family was in the downtown area, 21-year-old Daniel Riley was speeding, failed to yield and caused a collision, ultimately striking and pinning Edmondson.
According to local reports, Edmondson only survived due to her father’s quick thinking and military training. She remains in the hospital in critical condition.
In the days following the crash, local reports revealed Riley was out on bail awaiting trial for a 2020 armed robbery. According to KSDK, Riley had violated the terms of his bond at least 50 times, but the circuit attorney's office did not ask for his bond to be revoked.
Bailey said there are three claims that constitute Gardner’s "neglect in office."
One is that she failed to prosecute cases that are filed. "So a law enforcement referral comes in, she files a charge and then she doesn't move the case at all, she fails to move those cases to disposition. So these cases languish on dockets and are eventually dismissed," he explained.
"The circuit attorney failed to file a motion to revoke and now we have another victim in the city of St. Louis because she refused to do her job," Bailey said of the Riley case.
Bailey also said Gardner has failed to inform and confer with victims. "Under the Missouri Constitution and state statute, she has the moral and legal obligation to keep victims of crime the city of St. Louis notified about where their cases are, where they're going and what the dispositions will be. She's failed to do that," he said.
Third, Bailey said Gardner has failed "file new cases referred by law enforcement agencies."
On Tuesday, Gardner released a statement saying, "Our hearts go out to the victim and her family for this unspeakable tragedy that will undoubtedly have a lasting impact not only on her, but her family and loved ones."
"It's unfortunate that there are those who choose to twist the facts to take advantage of this situation for their own selfish motives," he added. "This is not the time for finger pointing, it's time to support this family, and ensure that justice is served."
EDITOR’S NOTE: This report has been updated to clarify the nature of the attorney general’s actions.
'Where does DeSantis get his apology?' Governor's office calls out media's shift in COVID coverage
Gov. Ron DeSantis’, R-Fla., office had harsh words for the mainstream media’s shift in reporting what they referred to as "forbidden facts" on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rapid response director Christina Pushaw penned a Twitter thread on Tuesday on a New York Times opinion piece admitting "The Mask Mandates Did Nothing. Will Any Lessons Be Learned?"
"Today, the New York Times published a Forbidden Fact. It only took them THREE YEARS. Now, where does @GovRonDeSantis get his apology?" Pushaw tweeted.
She added, "Ah well, the conclusion of the NY Times article answers my question" along with a screengrab of a paragraph that highlighted the quote, "But ‘do something’ is not science, and it shouldn’t have been public policy," and concluded, "They may never get the apology they deserve, but vindication ought to be enough."
Press secretary Bryan Griffin and deputy press secretary Jeremy Redfern retweeted her comments with Redfern adding, "Taylor Lorenz reeling right now."
In an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital, Griffin further decried the media for waiting nearly three years into the pandemic to acknowledge different perspectives.
"Florida leads, and three years later the media and medical establishment reluctantly follow. Thanks to Governor DeSantis, Florida came to this conclusion about mask mandates early in the pandemic, and never allowed vaccine mandates or passports to have a foothold. If the media are now acknowledging the errors of their own narrative, it is obvious that they do so reluctantly," Griffin told Fox News.
He continued, "In Florida, we will not let the media or the biomedical security state have the chance to downplay their harms and do this to the public again."
Griffin elaborated that DeSantis has already announced efforts to prohibit mask mandates and vaccine passports as well as provide protections for unvaccinated citizens and medical professionals who disagree with the "biomedical security state."
"When the world lost its mind, Florida was a refuge of sanity, serving strongly as freedom's linchpin," DeSantis told "Unfiltered with Dan Bongino." "These measures will ensure Florida remains this way and will provide landmark protections for free speech for medical practitioners."
DeSantis has been one of the most prominent Republican figures in opposition to mask and vaccine mandates as scientific studies began showing their lack of efficacy. Throughout the course of the pandemic, however, DeSantis faced intense media backlash for lifting mask and vaccine restrictions sooner than pundits felt appropriate.
Despite this, more media outlets and figures have begun acknowledging that certain coronavirus restrictions were likely pointless as Democratic figures began lifting mandates.
The Times faced mixed reactions after columnist Bret Stephens’ op-ed on the mask mandates quoted Oxford epidemiologist Tom Jefferson’s study revealing no proof that masks, whether cloth masks or N-95 masks, have any effect on reducing the spread of the coronavirus.
"There is just no evidence that [masks] make any difference," Jefferson was quoted as saying. "Full stop."
In Jan., CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen conceded in a Washington Post column that the U.S. has been "overcounting" the deaths and hospitalizations caused solely by the coronavirus. Wen later reiterated her argument on CNN.
More recently, NBC News published a study last Thursday that revealed natural immunity acquired from a previous COVID-19 infection provides as strong protection against severe illness as two doses of an mRNA vaccine. This came over a year after DeSantis originally blasted the Biden administration for ignoring natural immunity as a factor.
Pushaw also called out NBC News for providing no comment or apology regarding DeSantis or Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo previously speaking out on natural immunity in their report.
"Another person who deserves an apology is @FLSurgeonGen. Everything he has said that was so ‘controversial’ at the time has been FULLY vindicated, and I have no doubt that what he’s saying now will also be," Pushaw tweeted.
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Federal prosecutors seek to compel Pence to testify in special counsel probe
Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to compel former Vice President Mike Pence to testify in special counsel Jack Smith's investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter.
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Colorado man arrested after robbing bank, leaving fake bomb: sheriff
A Colorado man has been arrested after he robbed a bank earlier this week and left behind a device that was later determined to be a fake bomb, authorities said Thursday.
Leonard Farrar, 38, was taken into custody Wednesday following the robbery at Key Bank on East Smoky Hill Road in Centennial, the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office said.
The suspect entered the bank wearing a dark gray or black hoodie, a face mask and a Walmart bag around 11 a.m. Tuesday, according to authorities.
Farrar allegedly fled with an undisclosed amount of cash and left behind what appeared to be an explosive device.
SEATTLE STORE WORKER KILLS WOULD-BE ARMED ROBBER IN SHOOTOUT: POLICE
The bank and nearby businesses were evacuated as a precaution.
A bomb squad was called to the scene and determined the device was fake, the sheriff’s office said.
Officials ruled the area safe but said the bank would remain closed as the investigation continued.
Farrar is being held on a felony charge of aggravated robbery.
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Former Biden official says admin's latest action 'normalizes' White nationalist beliefs about migrants
A former Biden White House official says that a new asylum rule announced by the administration normalizes white nationalist beliefs about migrants -- part of a wave of left-wing criticism hitting the administration over the proposed rule.
"When I joined the Biden Administration, we cared about preserving access to asylum, not only because it was the law, but because we had evidence that banning new asylum seekers was not an operational solution to the challenge of irregular migration," Andrea Flores tweeted.
"Today, rather than make progress on addressing regional mass migration, the Biden Administration has resurrected a transit ban that normalizes the white nationalist belief that asylum seekers from certain countries are less deserving of humanitarian protections," she said.
Flores, who worked in the Obama and Biden administrations on immigration matters, was reacting to the announcement of a new proposed rule on Tuesday.
SENATE, HOUSE DEMS ‘DEEPLY DISAPPOINTED’ BY NEW BIDEN POLICY LIMITED ASYLUM FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
That rule would make migrants automatically presumed to be ineligible for asylum if they have crossed into the U.S. illegally and have also failed to claim asylum in a country through which they have already traveled.
Unaccompanied children are exempt, and there would be other factors that could rebut the presumption, including an acute medical emergency, being a trafficking victim, and facing an "extreme and imminent" threat to life or safety.
Migrants can still enter the U.S. to claim asylum if they have been denied by a third country, if they present themselves at a port of entry after scheduling an appointment via the new CBP One App or if they are paroled into the U.S. They can also challenge the presumption.
BIDEN ADMIN ANNOUNCES POLICY TO LIMIT ASYLUM CLAIMS AT SOUTHERN BORDER AS TITLE 42'S END LOOMS
The policy is a temporary two-year policy and designed to replace the Title 42 public order, which has been used to quickly expel migrants due to the COVID-19 emergency and is due to end on May 11.
Immigration advocates and Democrats have reacted with dismay to the policy, which is similar to the "transit ban" which was proposed by the Trump administration and ultimately blocked by the courts. Administration officials have repeatedly rejected comparisons to the transit ban, citing the existence and expansion of legal pathways available to migrants. They have argued that, unlike in the Trump administration, pathways remain open to claim asylum.
"We are a nation of immigrants, and we are a nation of laws. We are strengthening the availability of legal, orderly pathways for migrants to come to the United States, at the same time proposing new consequences on those who fail to use processes made available to them by the United States and its regional partners," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
"As we have seen time and time again, individuals who are provided a safe, orderly, and lawful path to the United States are less likely to risk their lives traversing thousands of miles in the hands of ruthless smugglers, only to arrive at our southern border and face the legal consequences of unlawful entry," he said.
But that explanation has failed to satisfy activists, who have accused the administration of chipping away at a right to asylum.
"For an Administration that strives to uphold racial equity, it is deeply disheartening to watch them normalize the dehumanizing narrative that Black and brown migrants at the southern border deserve to be punished for seeking out a legal pathway that Congress provided for them," Flores tweeted.
"Our asylum system is deeply broken, just as broken as the rest of our immigration system. But this new transit ban & CBP One will do nothing to reduce the legal and operational failures of the current system," she said.
Flores’ criticism was similar to Democrats in both the House and the Senate, who have also criticized the policy.
"We are deeply disappointed that the Administration has chosen to move forward with publishing this proposed rule, which only perpetuates the harmful myth that asylum seekers are a threat to this nation," Sens. Bob Menendez, D-NJ, Cory Booker, D-NJ, Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M and Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said in a statement.
"In reality, they are pursuing a legal pathway in the United States. We have an obligation to protect vulnerable migrants under domestic and international law and should not leave vulnerable migrants stranded in countries unable to protect them. We urge President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas to reverse course and pave a better path forward that protects the right to asylum while addressing the real operational challenges at our Southern Border."
Emma Thompson says 'romantic love' is a 'dangerous' myth
Despite having a knack for romantic comedies, Emma Thompson is not a big believer in "romantic love."
The "Love Actually" star discussed her stance on romance on the Radio Times Podcast Tuesday.
"It’s incredibly philosophically calming and helpful and uplifting to remember that romantic love is a myth and actually quite dangerous. And we do have to take it with a massive pinch of salt," Thompson said.
She continued, "It’s led us down so many stupid garden paths, and we can’t think sensibly about love anymore. To think sensibly about love and the way in which it can grow is essential if we’re going to live long lives because long-term relationships are hugely difficult and complicated."
HUGH GRANT REVEALS HE HATED FILMING HIS ICONIC 'LOVE ACTUALLY' DANCE SCENE: 'EXCRUCIATING'
Thompson has been married to British actor and producer Greg Wise since 2003, and the couple have two children. She was also married to Kenneth Branagh from 1989 to 1995, but they divorced after she discovered he was having an affair with his "Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein" co-star, Helena Bonham Carter.
"I was utterly, utterly blind to the fact that he had relationships with other women on set," Thompson said of the situation in an interview last November. "What I learned was how easy it is to be blinded by your own desire to deceive yourself."
On the podcast, Thompson concluded, "If anyone thinks that happy ever after has a place in our real lives, forget it."
The actress and writer, who won an Oscar for best adapted screenplay for "Sense and Sensibility," as well as the best actress award for "Howard’s End," stars in a new romantic comedy titled "What’s Love Got to Do With It?"
The movie follows a young woman, played by Lily James, who begins documenting her childhood best friend’s journey to an arranged marriage to a bride from Pakistan. In the film, she plays the well-meaning, if slightly inappropriate, mother.
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"She’s the sort of person who’ll say, 'The nice thing about a burka is it’s just wonderfully forgiving, isn’t it!' And you just go ‘oh!’" Thompson said of her character, who she added is "lonely" and is "thrilled to be included" with her Pakistani neighbors.
The "Cruella" star found it was something she could relate to. "But I find myself, I can say something at some point and my daughter will say to me, ‘mum, you actually can’t say that,’ and I say, ‘why?’ And then she’ll explain it to me and I’ll go ‘oh, ok ok.’
"She to me represents all of us as we get older and we just don’t know what to do or say because we’re always saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing" she concluded.
What to know about the new J.K. Rowling podcast and her history of harmful anti-trans comments
"The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling," a new podcast out Tuesday, sees the author speak with host Megan Phelps-Roper about numerous controversies, while referencing critics of her comments on gender and trans women. Learn more about what she said, as well as the history behind her remarks.
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Iowa man died in ‘deplorable conditions’ after son, girlfriend denied him care: police
Six months after a 58-year-old, bedridden man was found lying in his own filth and infected with bed sores that went "all the way to his bone," police arrested the man's son and his girlfriend, who were acting as his caretakers.
Steven Schaper needed constant care and was confined to his bed in his Des Moines, Iowa home, where that care was supposedly provided by son, Jacob Schaper, 24, and son's girlfriend Jocelyn Grisham, 23.
On Aug. 10, 2022, medical personnel who responded to an emergency call found the elder Schaper living in "deplorable conditions," according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
Steven was lying in a urine- and feces-soaked bed and covered with bed sores infested by maggots, the court documents allege.
VIDEO SHOWS OFF-DUTY CHICAGO COP IN DEADLY SHOOTING OF ASSAILANT: ‘I TOLD YOU I’D SHOOT YOU'
Steven was allegedly "skin and bones," and his "teeth were black and appeared to be rotting out," the criminal complaint says.
He was rushed to a hospital, where he later died, according to authorities.
The state medical examiner's office conducted an autopsy and ruled the cause of death as polymicrobial sepsis in the setting of a urinary tract infection, osteomyelitis, iliopsoas abscess, pneumonia and endocarditis.
Because of the house's conditions, police opened an investigation that ultimately led to Jacob and Grisham's arrests on Tuesday.
Steven needed continuous care and was not able to leave his bed, get food or bathe on his own, court documents say, and the couple were left as his caretakers.
They have been charged with murder and were accused of "intentionally or recklessly committing dependent adult abuse on the dependent adult which resulted in death," according to court documents.
Jacob and Grisham are being held in Polk County jail without bond, inmate records show.
Russian Union suspended from International Federation of Journalists for actions following Ukraine invasion
The International Federation of Journalists has suspended with immediate effect the Russian Union of Journalists over its action since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its role in annexed Ukrainian territories.
The IFJ, which represents more than 600,000 media workers across the world, said the Russian union's membership was suspended following an investigation then a vote by its global executive committee on Wednesday.
The vote was held after the union refused to reconsider its decision to set up branches in four regions annexed by Russia, the federation said.
FOX NEWS CAMERAMAN PIERRE ZAKRZEWSKI KILLED IN UKRAINE
"The Russian Union of Journalists’ actions in establishing four branches in the annexed Ukrainian territories have clearly shattered ... solidarity and sown divisions among sister unions," said IFJ President Dominique Pradalié.
UKRAINIAN JOURNALIST OLEKSANDRA 'SASHA' KUVSHYNOVA ASSISTING FOX NEWS IN UKRAINE KILLED IN ATTACK
The Kremlin in September illegally annexed the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions, where it claims its rule is welcomed. Pro-Moscow separatists have controlled part of Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk province since 2014.
The IFJ said it will continue to support independent journalists inside and outside Russia while providing aid to its Ukrainian affiliates.
According to the federation, Ukraine was the deadliest country for journalists in 2022, with 12 media workers killed while doing their work.
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
FC Barcelona president pushes back in face of widespread criticism amid referee payment scandal
FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta is defiantly pushing back in the face of widespread criticism amid a referee payment scandal gripping Spanish football.
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Ex-Biden press secretary Jen Psaki will host weekly MSNBC show
Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki will host a new MSNBC program on Sundays starting in March, the network announced Tuesday.
Psaki became a household name during her 16 months as President Biden’s first press secretary, known for spinning on behalf of her boss. After a war among left-leaning outlets for her services, she started her new gig as an MSNBC analyst last year and was expected to eventually have a show on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock.
It tuns out that her show, "Inside with Jen Psaki," will air on MSNBC before it hits Peacock the following day. MSNBC has struggled to attract viewers from the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults age 25-54.
JEN PSAKI OFFICIALLY JOINS MSNBC, WILL HOST STREAMING SHOW AND ASSIST WITH ELECTION COVERAGE
"We have been working on some fun and different features... and can't wait to dig into all of the news," Psaki tweeted. "See you soon."
The program will "leverage Psaki’s wide-ranging expertise to tackle the biggest issues of the week, featuring one-on-one interviews with newsmakers," according to MSNBC.
Psaki is expected to "break down and make sense of the most complex public policy discussions happening in the Nation’s Capital from the debt ceiling to the political campaign trail to the war in Ukraine and more." A recurring segment will focus on the "everyday lives" of lawmakers and other political celebrities.
MSNBC ENDURING MADDOW ABSENCES, PSAKI ETHICS DRAMA AS IT SEEKS IDENTITY IN BIDEN ERA
Psaki will continue to appear on other MSNBC and NBC News programs, and is expected to be part of Election Night programming.
Symone Sanders, the former top aide to Vice President Kamala Harris, similarly left the Biden administration to join the liberal network to host a weekend show.
Last year, Psaki sparked controversy for remaining in place as press secretary when news of her MSNBC gig had leaked, as many felt it was a conflict of interest to field questions from soon-to-be colleagues or rivals.
Karine Jean-Pierre, a former MSNBC political analyst, replaced Psaki as press secretary.
Psaki also served in the Obama administration as White House communications director and a State Department spokeswoman, among other roles. She was notably one of numerous Democrats to share Politico's story about Hunter Biden's laptop being judged to be Russian disinformation by ex-intelligence officials, many of whom who were supporting Biden in the 2020 election.
Fox News' David Rutz contributed to this report.
VA student threatens to 'pop some bullets' in classroom at same school where student shot teacher last month
A fifth-grade student at the same Virginia elementary school where a first-grader shot his teacher last month told classmates in a text message that he would "pop some bullets" and tell someone to shoot up the class, a school official wrote in an email to parents.
Karen Lynch, an administrator who is currently leading the Newport News school, wrote in the email that several fifth-grade students were texting each other on Saturday when one of them allegedly made the threat. Another student told their parent, who contacted the teacher of the student who made the threat, Lynch wrote. The teacher then notified administrators.
"I immediately contacted the student's parent and excluded the student from school," Lynch wrote.
VIRGINIA SUPERINTENDENT FACES TERMINATION FOR TRIO OF SCHOOL SHOOTINGS OVER 18 MONTHS
Lynch said police are investigating and a threat assessment is in progress.
VIRGINIA SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS KNEW BOY POSSIBLY HAD GUN BEFORE SHOOTING TEACHER: SUPERINTENDENT
"Please rest assured that all protocols are being followed and this incident is being addressed accordingly," Lynch wrote.
On Jan. 6, a 6-year-old student at Richneck brought a loaded 9mm handgun to school and shot his teacher Abby Zwerner, seriously wounding her.
Diane Toscano, an attorney for Zwerner, notified school officials last month that Zwerner intends to sue the school district. Toscano said school administrators ignored warnings from several teachers in the hours before the shooting that the boy had a gun and was threatening other students. Zwerner is recovering at home.
Pilot thought instructor who died inflight was 'just pretending'
A flying instructor died inflight after suffering a cardiac arrest, but his co-pilot thought he was fooling around and only realized after landing on the runway with the man slumped on his shoulder, according to a report into the incident.
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New Jersey kidnapping suspect allegedly conman who held hiker hostage years ago, preyed on women for decades
James Parrillo, charged with kidnapping in New Jersey after the woman authorities say he dragged across the country and held captive for nearly a year escaped to a gas station, is a skilled conman who’s been using different aliases to prey on vulnerable victims for decades, sources tell Fox News Digital.
Facebook groups including "Missing on the Pacific Crest Trail" have been sounding the alarm about Parrillo for years after the months-long kidnapping and alleged repeated rape of a transgender California woman named Kira Moon in 2018.
Author Andrea Lankford, who features allegations of Parrillo’s disturbing cons in chapter of her upcoming book, "Trail of the Lost," tells Fox News Digital that the man often will "fake an illness for sympathy," claiming to have cancer or be mute from his time in the Navy, or Army or Marines – whichever false persona – to lure in vulnerable women during his travels.
"He is charming," Lankford told Fox News Digital. "He arouses people's compassion, especially for a woman, and then he arouses her romantic desires, and then they get sucked in, and then he switches, and the mask comes off, and he becomes evil and abusive and mean and controlling."
Moon’s sister, Kat Marchington, detailed to Fox News Digital how Moon, a then-62-year-old from the San Francisco Bay Area who had traveled all over the world, decided to embark on the Pacific Crest Trail after recovering from a back injury. Marchington admitted that despite training, her sister was "woefully unprepared for the reality" of the 2,650-mile trail backpackers take from Mexico up to Canada.
Parrillo, going by the name "Jay Cerilo," or his trail nickname "Medic," claimed to fellow hikers that he was a millionaire veteran with cancer traveling while waiting for his mansions to clear escrow. Moon and Parrillo met about a month into her journey, but the pair never made it past the San Luis Obispo area.
"He held my sister at an abandoned ranger station for four months," Marchington told Fox News Digital, saying Moon was held captive somewhere in Monterey County. "Very similar to this woman in New Jersey. Very similar in even in how she escaped him. It's just the two stories are almost parallel."
"He wouldn't leave her out of his sight. And he had been beating, raping her repeatedly. And so, she changed her tactic to kind of say, ‘I'm on your side. I'm with you,’" Marchington said. "So, he would make her go with him down into town to get supplies to go to the store. And apparently, after several weeks of gaining his trust, she got him to leave her with the backpacks."
"She waited until he went into the store, and then she just bolted and ran into luckily, an urgent care clinic in a strip mall and announced she'd been kidnapped," the sister recalled. "And they locked her in and called the police, and they arrested him as he came out of the store."
A beaten and emaciated Moon was taken to an emergency room where X-Rays showed she had four broken ribs, according to Marchington. Parrillo was reportedly extradited back to Santa Barbara County on a failure to appear warrant. But despite Marchington claiming medical records showed Moon was assaulted, Parrillo was only said to be held in jail for 11 days and then released. Fox News Digital left a voicemail for an assistant prosecutor at the Santa Barbara District Attorney's Office early Tuesday but did not hear back before publication.
"We were really blown off by authorities," Marchington said. "We were told, ‘Well, it's her word against his. And basically, you got her back.' You know, she was poor, and she was trans. She was not seen as a sympathetic witness. They didn't think they could get a conviction based on her."
Parrillo was arrested in the New Jersey case this year on Feb. 7, which Marchington told Fox News Digital is the same date Moon died in an electrical fire in 2019 at a California mobile home. Marchington said both she and the partner of Moon’s son have contacted New Jersey State Police. Parrillo was never previously prosecuted over Moon’s allegations.
At a press conference Tuesday, the New Jersey State Police said it was fielding tips from "across the country" regarding Parrillo's activities, asking anyone with information to call the "completely anonymous tipline" 855-363-6548. Asked if Parrillo had any priors, a state police official sad flatly, "That I do not know."
Reached by Fox News Digital Tuesday, Parrillo's public defender, Anthony Rizzo, said he had no comment, including regarding the Kira Moon case.
During his initial detention hearing, an assistant prosecutor for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office warned that "public safety demands" Parrillo not be released while awaiting trial, noting how information "found on social media and other online sites indicate that Parrillo may have engaged in similar predatory conduct with individuals in other states."
Asked about Moon’s case and Parrillo’s criminal history, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office told Fox News Digital by email Monday, "This an ongoing criminal matter, and we have no further comment at this time."
The woman in the New Jersey case has not been named by authorities.
But prosecutors say she met Parrillo, who went by the name "Brett Parker," at a gas station in New Mexico in February 2022 and agreed to give him a ride to Arizona. The two began a consensual relationship, but about a month in, Parrillo allegedly assaulted her in California, confiscating her phone and using her debit cards. She was held against her will and dragged cross-country from the border states to New Jersey. Parrillo began beating and choking her during an argument on Feb. 7. The woman somehow made a mad dash from the home wearing just shorts and a shirt in 42-degree weather, and security camera footage shows her rush into a gas station, bolt the door shut and alert the attendant.
Parrillo’s predation might stretch back to the late 90s, starting with the case of Valerie Earick, according to Lankford's research and online hiking groups.
Earick, a single mother in her 30s at the time, first met a man believed to be Parrillo while working as a clerk at a truck stop in Ocala, Florida, in December 1993. He introduced himself as Anthony "Tony" Angelo DeCompo, exchanging notes with the woman claiming that he was a young millionaire and former Navy SEAL rendered deaf and mute since the Persian Gulf War, according to 1994 article in the Daily Press. For the next three months, he’d allegedly drag her across Florida, Georgia and Louisiana.
After being severely beaten and allegedly forced into demeaning sex acts, Earick said she managed to escape the Birmingham, Alabama, hotel room they shared and race to the front desk. A bellman would usher her to a hotel courtesy van, where she lay on the floor and was driven to a nearby police station.
Her alleged captor came downstairs to the lobby and asked staff if they had seen her, but the bellman recalled how, "We lied through our teeth and said ‘No.’ It was obvious to us something was wrong. I told everybody to play dumb." Police arrived, but the man "just vanished into thin air," the bellman said.
In the article titled, "She’s searching for Mr. Wrong," the woman recounted to the paper how she initially sat with the man for hours at the Florida truck stop as he claimed his vehicle broke down and that he was waiting for a wire transfer. Taking pity on him, she offered him a place to stay the night.
"He was a man in need," Earick told the paper. "My big heart, I just wanted to help."
Her goal was to warn other women of the alleged conman.
"Everybody's telling me to forget about it and go on with my life," the woman said in 1994. "But I want him caught. What he did to me, I couldn't live with him doing to someone else."
Within hours, the man, who many believe from photos to be a young Parrillo, wrote to Earick on a note, "Will you marry me?" Earick recalled to the newspaper how the man tripped and hit his head just days later, claiming that his ability to speak and hear was miraculously repaired after a visit to the hospital.
The woman believes "DeCompo" was secretly drugging her with prescribed anxiety meds at the time. He soon convinced her, her mother and her two young children they needed to flee because "the Mafia was out to get him." At the start of their journey, they paid a visit to an investment bank in Ocala.
The broker who met with the couple detailed to the newspaper how "DeCompo" had portrayed himself as an investor with a $2.4 million portfolio wanting to open a trust for his soon-to-be bride. Yet, when they left, the broker realized the man provided a phony social security number and address. No money was exchanged.
"DeCompo" relied on Earick’s mother’s ATM cards, but when her husband reported them missing and the cards were canceled, the alleged conman dumped her and the kids at Tampa airport. The man threatened Earick that he’d have the children killed if she didn’t stay with him alone. More than three months dragged on until Earick would escape his grasp in Alabama.
An online obituary says Earick passed away in February 2013 at age 51.
Just months after Earick’s ordeal, a July 1994 article in Orlando Sun Sentinel detailed how a 28-year-old "James Parrillo," allegedly held nine captives at gunpoint aboard a $17 million yacht in Fort Lauderdale. Describing Parrillo as "an ex-convict and drifter from New Jersey," the article says how the man was evading police when he swam up to and climbed aboard the 115-foot vessel near the Bahia Mar hotel.
Hours of hostage negotiations would pass until Parrillo was brought into custody by a SWAT team and charged with armed burglary, false imprisonment, attempted murder of a police officer and aggravated assault with a firearm. Parrillo was acquitted on those charges in August 1995, according to court documents viewed by Fox News Digital.
Initially claiming to be a former Navy SEAL, Parrillo later admitted that was a lie.
Though he was in the Navy at some point, he told the Sun Sentinel in an interview from behind bars that he "got thrown out because I didn't tell them I had a conviction for assault." He also claimed to have taken drugs to attempt to kill himself at the time he took the yacht captain and crew hostage.
Court documents reviewed by Fox News Digital show Parrillo was sentenced in July 1998 to 20 months in prison and three years of supervised release on federal conviction in Virginia of threatening then-President Bill Clinton. He was hauled back into custody several times for violating the terms of release.
Parrillo did time in the early 2000s for allegedly plotting with a Los Angeles woman named Laura Michele Lyde to kidnap her children away from their father, Backpacker reported in 2019.
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