Not your average stocking stuffersOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest
Pete Buttigieg is reportedly ready to make his political return — if President-elect Joe Biden can find a suitable place for him.The former South Bend, Indiana, mayor proved a strong contender in the crowded 2020 Democratic primaries before dropping out and endorsing Biden. He's now seeking a spot in the Biden administration, and is a little picky about where he ends up, people familiar with the matter tell Axios.Buttigieg's top choice in a Biden administration was reportedly ambassador to the United Nations — a Cabinet-level post in Buttigieg's preferred arena of foreign policy. But Biden passed Buttigieg over for that role, giving it to Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who has worked in Foreign Service almost as long as Buttigieg has been alive.It's not that Biden isn't fond of Buttigieg; He has gone so far as to compare the former mayor to his late son Beau. Instead, Biden has been focused on picking women and people of color for his top spots — something that has frustrated those looking for LGBTQ leaders in the Democratic administration, Washington Blade reports. And Buttigieg hasn't made it easy for Biden to include him either. Buttigieg shook off talks of being Biden's Office of Management and Budget director because he wanted a "real Cabinet" position and not a "staff-level" job, a Democratic insider tells Washington Blade. He also reportedly squashed talks of leading the Department of Veterans Affairs.Now, Biden is considering giving Buttigieg a high-profile ambassadorship, potentially even sending him to China, Axios reports. Buttigieg is also reportedly being considered for some remaining domestic roles — something his supporters see as a way to build his profile before another presidential run.More stories from theweek.com Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson says he won't be part of Biden administration Trump's jaw-dropping vaccine screwup Bernie Sanders calls White House's $600 stimulus check proposal 'crap'
Nancy King's nephew told local news he didn't understand why the officer couldn't handle the elderly, 110-pound woman in a less lethal way.
DUBAI (Reuters) -Some of those involved in the assassination of Iran's top nuclear scientist last month have been arrested, an adviser to the Iranian parliament speaker said on Tuesday, according to the semi-official news agency ISNA. Iran has blamed Israel for the Nov. 27 killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was seen by Western intelligence services as the mastermind of a covert Iranian nuclear weapons programme.
Speaking from his hospital room, Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday he hasn't changed his mind regarding the coronavirus or mask use, despite his recent COVID-19 diagnosis.Giuliani, President Trump's personal lawyer and a former mayor of New York City, was admitted to a Washington, D.C., hospital on Sunday, after traveling across the country in his futile attempt to overturn the election results. Giuliani did not wear a mask during meetings last week in Arizona, Michigan, and Georgia, exposing lawmakers and others to the virus.During an interview with New York radio station 77 WABC, the hosts asked Giuliani if his views on the virus have changed, now that he is sick and in the hospital. They mentioned former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), who contracted the virus after attending a super-spreader event at the White House; Christie later said it was "wrong" to be there without a mask."No," Giuliani responded. "I have exactly the same view. You know, I've also been through cancer, a couple of other things — very serious, very serious, emergency knee operation. Things happen in life, and you have to go with them. You can't overreact to them. Otherwise, you let the fear of illness drive your entire life." Regarding face coverings, which provide protection to the wearer and those around them, Giuliani said he thinks "you can overdo the masks."Giuliani revealed that he has received two of the same medications Trump took during his hospitalization for COVID-19: remdesivir and dexamethasone. One of the radio hosts told Giuliani the drugs are "not something that the normal American is going to be able to get, because it's quite expensive." Giuliani deflected, saying he "didn't know that. I mean, they give it to us here at the hospital."Giuliani did admit that his high profile is why he's receiving treatment that the average American can't get, saying: "I think if it wasn't me, I wouldn't have been put in the hospital. Sometimes, when you're — you know, when you're a celebrity — they're worried if something happens to you, they're going to examine it more carefully, and they do everything right." He said his advice to people is "get early treatment," falsely claiming that "the earlier you get treated for this, No. 1, you totally eliminate the chance of dying."More stories from theweek.com Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson says he won't be part of Biden administration Trump's jaw-dropping vaccine screwup Bernie Sanders calls White House's $600 stimulus check proposal 'crap'
The only surviving crew member of a World War II-era bomber that crashed in Connecticut last year, killing seven people, told investigators that “everything was perfect” before takeoff and he doesn't understand what went wrong, according to federal documents released Wednesday. Mitchell Melton was the mechanic aboard the four-engine, propeller-driven B-17G Flying Fortress bomber that crashed at Bradley International Airport north of Hartford on Oct. 2, 2019. The NTSB made documents in the investigation public on its website Wednesday, including a transcript of a nearly two-hour interview with Melton in November 2019.
Axios reported that President-elect Joe Biden was considering Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, to be his China ambassador.
Reverend Raphael Warnock, the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Georgia, repeatedly obstructed a 2002 police investigation into child abuse at a church-affiliated summer camp, according to a new report.Maryland State Police reports obtained by the Washington Free Beacon detailed Warnock’s attempts to interfere with interviews and to discourage counselors from speaking with police during an investigation of physical abuse at Camp Farthest Out. At the time, Warnock served as senior pastor at Douglas Memorial Community Church, which ran the summer camp.Warnock, who now faces a tight runoff race against Republican Kelly Loeffler on January 5, interrupted police interviews of counselors on July 31, 2002, according to the report."This investigator informed [camp administrators] that if the counselors requested that an attorney be present that was their right, however, no one else could [invoke] their rights to an attorney on their behalf," the report reads.The Free Beacon reports that the names in the documents are redacted, but match closely with newspaper articles about the incident, which ultimately led to Warnock’s arrest. The state attorney later dropped the charges.At the time The Baltimore Sun reported that Warnock and a colleague were "accused in court documents of trying to prevent a state trooper of interviewing counselors at Camp Farthest Out" and that the ministers "interrupted a police interview of a counselor." Warnock said then that he was "only asserting that lawyers should be present when the camp counselors were interviewed."During a debate on Sunday, Warnock said that law enforcement officers “actually later thanked me for my cooperation and for helping them," and the deputy state attorney told the Baltimore Sun the same in November 2002.Police reports filed by state troopers after Warnock and Reverend Mark Andre Wainwright were arrested for “hindering and obstructing” police show that investigators warned Warnock a number of times to stop disrupting the investigation ahead of his arrest.Tfc. Danielle Barry, an investigator with the Maryland State Police’s child abuse division, wrote in her report that the pair "interfered with a criminal investigation by interrupting interviews and directing people not to talk to investigators."Though Warnock and camp administrators agreed to cooperate when investigators arrived to conduct interviews with counselors, they later voiced concerns about "legal ramifications from the alleged abuse case" and insisted that the camp’s attorney be present for any interviews with counselors or campers.Warnock and Wainright entered the room where investigators were conducting their first interview of the day with a 17-year-old counselor in a private camp office and “demanded that [they] be present for the interview,” according to the report.Barry told them they were "not permitted to join the interview and warned that they were "hindering and obstructing the investigation."Warnock then announced he would no longer allow investigators to use the camp office for interviews, and he and Wainright told Barry that they "did not like how things were progressing and therefore ‘they’ would not be cooperating in the case further." "This investigator explained to the reverends that what they were doing was committing a crime for which they could be arrested," the report says.After investigators relocated to an outside picnic area to continue their interviews, the reverends once again demanded to sit in on an interview being conducted, forcing Barry to cut her interview short.A camper later tried to give investigators the location of another potential subject to interview when one of the reverends "grabbed the camper by the arm and directed him away from these investigators" and "told the camper that he was not to talk to these people," according to the report.Barry then reached out to the deputy state attorney about the interference, she wrote, and a decision was made to arrest Warnock and Wainwright.
Nearly 160 people were arrested during the weekend at an illegal party in Los Angeles County, where coronavirus cases are surging, Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Tuesday. He has previously vowed to crack down on “super-spreader events.” (Dec. 8)
The Army on Tuesday said it has fired or suspended 14 officers and enlisted soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, and ordered policy changes to address chronic failures of leadership that contributed to a widespread pattern of violence, including murder, sexual assault and harassment. In a sweeping condemnation of Fort Hood's command hierarchy, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy fired three top commanders and suspended two others pending a further investigation.
CNN overtook Fox News in its average viewership in the month after the US election in the latest sign that Donald Trump’s once favourite cable news outfit has taken a hit. CNN, the cable news channel which has been a persistent target of the US president’s ire, averaged 1.73 million viewers between November 4 and last Sunday. That figure, released by the company Nielsen, beat the Fox News Channel which had an average viewership of 1.56 million. MSNBC, a left-leaning cable news channel, got 1.53 million. It is the first time CNN has outperformed Fox News on the metric for a month since the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attack in 2001, according to the Associated Press. CNN this weekend took out adverts championing its boost in viewership in the aftermath of the US election, which took place on November 3. “Since the day after the election, there has been a clear winner,” the adverts said, jokingly referencing Mr Trump’s refusal to concede the election to Democrat Joe Biden, the victor. The drop in popularity of Fox News in part reflects the recent phenomenon that channels aligned with one particular political ‘side’ in America see a fall in viewers after a perceived 'defeat', in this instance Mr Trump’s election loss. However it also could reflect the US president’s outright criticism of Fox over its election night coverage and refusal to back-up his baseless claims that victory was “stolen” from him by mass voter fraud.
Step aside Congressman Matt Gaetz, Florida man personified, you’ve got real competition now.
Congressman Tim Ryan told Business Insider he "hopes the White House follows our lead in the House" and makes internships paid positions.
Police in Russia said on Wednesday they were searching for thieves who plundered technical equipment from a top-secret military aircraft known as the Doomsday Plane that is designed for use during a nuclear war. Police in the southern region of Rostov said in a statement that a search for the culprits was under way. Russian military experts speculated that the items had been stolen because some of the units had been assembled using precious metals such as gold and platinum.
Investigators say DNA testing has identified a Missouri toddler whose body was found on a riverbank in Mississippi in 1982. The child long known only as “Baby Jane” or “Delta Dawn” has been identified as 18-month-old Alisha Ann Heinrich. The sheriff of Jackson County, Mississippi, announced the child’s identity at a news conference Friday.
Donald Trump's childhood home in New York - already sold twice since 2016 – is back on the market. But this time, the real estate agency is appealing directly to the president's fans to buy the house for the unprecedented price of $3 million and offer it to Mr Trump as a gift. Paramount Realty agency on Tuesday launched a fundraiser on the crowdfunding site GoFundMe, calling on Trump fans to contribute towards the goal of reaching $3 million. If the money is raised, the house will be given to the outgoing president. The agency had recently tried to sell the house, located in the affluent Jamaica Estates neighbourhood in New York's Queens borough, for $3 million at classic auctions, but without success. But then they came up with the crowdfunding strategy, which has "never been done before," Paramount real estate agent Misha Haghani told AFP. "It is more likely that one million people who love Trump would each give three dollars, rather than a wealthy buyer giving three million," he said.
Kristen Choi had a high fever, nausea, and fatigue after her second shot, but the effects subsided. She said getting the shot was worth it.
Explore the most unique properties the Big Easy has to offerOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest
Instead of their projected gains, Democrats lost at least nine House seats in the 2020 election, leaving them with just 222 seats to Republicans' 211. And with the appointments of Reps. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) and Cedric Richmond (D-La.) to top Biden administration positions, Democrats will be left with their smallest majority in more than a century, Politico reports.Shortly after the election, President-elect Joe Biden chose Richmond to lead his Office of Public Engagement. And on Tuesday, Biden announced Fudge would be his nominee to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development. That would leave Democrats with just 220 seats in the House once the next Congress is sworn in, and their margin over the GOP could shrink even more when the last two House races are called. As Politico's Jake Sherman notes, that's the smallest majority Democrats have had since 1893, and could make it harder for Democrats to win relief negotiations they're expected to hold early next year.> 220 IS THE SMALLEST MAJORITY since 2001, when Republicans maintained incredible party discipline with a similarly sized majority. In those days, they had TOM DELAY and earmarks to keep things in line -- and they never lost a vote. This included lots of screaming.> > — Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) December 9, 2020Fudge and Richmond's seats are both in safely blue districts, so the Democratic majority will likely grow again once special elections are held to replace them. But when asked about keeping the Democratic caucus united for a few months, Fudge didn't seem incredibly confident. "I just have to hope that we can hold together long enough to make sure that something like that would happen if I should leave," she told Politico.More stories from theweek.com Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson says he won't be part of Biden administration Trump's jaw-dropping vaccine screwup Bernie Sanders calls White House's $600 stimulus check proposal 'crap'
The father of a severely autistic 16-year-old Michigan boy who drowned in a family pool has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors accused Tim Koets of failing to supervise his son whose hands were bound while he stood in the pool in March 2019. Koets pleaded guilty Tuesday to involuntary manslaughter and fourth-degree child abuse, a misdemeanor.
Conservatives have officially become a sad group of angry, bitter, whining, radicalized, and mostly white men, who fear being made irrelevant by the inevitable demographic changes of America’s 21st century and as such now call themselves, wait for it, “victims.”At his campaign rally in Georgia this weekend, President Trump assured his maskless followers, “We’re all victims. Everybody here, all these thousands of people here tonight, they’re all victims. Every one of you.”What a stunning declaration of powerlessness, one that prompts the question: victims of who and what, Mr. President? I’m so glad you asked.They are victims of the younger, more diverse America that rejected Trump and voted for Joe Biden. They are victims of their own white male aggrievement and resentment. Yes, Trump increased his vote share among white women, but it’s men like him—older, wealthier, powerful—who are leading the way toward the politics of victimhood.The Authoritarian Threat in This Country Isn’t SocialismThey lie, openly. They distort the truth. They claim that their heritage is being stolen from them when confederate flags and monuments are removed from public places. They rail against critical race theory, diversity and inclusion training, calls for social justice and police reform, and label it “socialism,” which they associate with every Democrat from AOC to Biden.These folks are mad. But more than that they are foul hypocrites.One of my most prized possessions used to be my autographed copy of The Book of Virtues by former U.S. Secretary of Education and devout conservative Bill Bennett. Bill had been a man of virtue and a defender of the U.S. Constitution until Donald J. Trump became president of the United States. All of that went out the window as he joined Paula White, Franklin Graham, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, and so many so-called Christian conservatives in sucking up to an openly bigoted, sexist Birther who cheats on his wives, pays off porn stars, gropes young beauty pageant contestants, and has been accused credibly of sexual assault by no fewer than 20 women.These supposed conservatives once talked about defeating communism, lifting the poor from poverty, home ownership, and small business growth. They believed in the sanctity of marriage and of family, and the promise of America as a beacon to the world. Now they follow a rudderless fool of a man. A charlatan. A soulless monster who cost countless Americans their lives with his feckless response to COVID-19.Their fearless leader, Donald Trump, has no ideas. He has no hope to offer a nation of sick, ill, mourning people. He only thinks of himself. Everybody is picking on me. They are after me. They are after us. We are all victims.I’ve always admired free market, pro-values, pro-national defense conservative Republicans like Jack Kemp and Jeane Kirkpatrick, who formed “Empower America” in the 1990s. Those two have left us, and I’d like to think they would have known better than to follow a racist creep like Trump.I know that Bennett, who is still with us, did not know better or did not care. After hearing him defend Trump’s attacks on election officials and refusal to concede an election he lost badly, I threw the book Bennett gave me and signed for me in the trash. Where it belongs.I, for one, am trying to understand and remain open to dialogue with these “Trumpsters,” so this past week I invited someone who is a friend, a neighbor, an American conservative, businessman, and yes, Trump 2020 voter onto my One America Podcast, where we talked about how he views the world as a white male conservative. I was enlightened by our dialogue. He was candid. Thoughtful. And he helped me to see beyond Trump’s dumpster fire rhetoric, and after talking with him and truly listening to him, I get how Trump tapped into white frustration in 2016 and 2020 with America’s racial justice, economic justice, and diversity demands.But here’s the bottom line: The vast majority of these New Jack Trump “conservatives” have no values. They hate the U.S. Constitution, which is one that espouses American liberty, and they are victims of their own making. They are so focused on the white male past, where they ran and were in charge of everything, that they can not see the bold, brave, bright, diverse America standing in front of them.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
