“Holy backfire”: Expert says SCOTUS filing misciting Brett Kavanaugh could blow up in Trump’s face

Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that if they do not grant him absolute immunity against prosecution for his effort to overturn the 2020 election it would “incapacitate every future president."

Trump’s lawyers outlined their arguments ahead of oral arguments scheduled for April 25 arguing that Trump should have full immunity for acts he took as president.

"The president cannot function, and the presidency itself cannot retain its vital independence, if the president faces criminal prosecution for official acts once he leaves office," Trump’s team said in the brief.

Failing to grant Trump immunity, they argued, would leave all future presidents vulnerable to “de facto blackmail and extortion while in office.”

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing Trump’s D.C. prosecution, and a D.C. appeals court previously rejected Trump’s immunity claims.

New York University Law Prof. Ryan Goodman noted that Trump’s brief quoted Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, whom he appointed, but misstated what he had written.

“Grossly partisan move”: Legal analyst spots the “tells” in Supreme Court’s Trump immunity case

Trump’s brief cited an old law review article in which Kavanaugh wrote that “a President who is concerned about an ongoing criminal investigation is almost inevitably going to do a worse job as President.”

But Kavanaugh in the Minnesota Law Review article the filing cited went on to write that that was not an argument against prosecuting a former president.

“The point is not to put the President above the law or to eliminate checks on the President, but simply to defer litigation and investigations until the President is out of office,” Kavanaugh wrote.

“Holy backfire,” Goodman tweeted, noting that Kavanaugh actually said that a “FORMER President is NOT immune.”

Goodman told CNN that it was a “good move” to quote the justices back to them but “the problem for Trump is that’s not really what Kavanaugh was saying.”

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“Kavanaugh was talking about why an incumbent president should not be distracted by ongoing criminal prosecutions or investigations… Kavanaugh I don’t think wants to be associated with this ‘absolute immunity’ argument that they’re making so it actually might turn him off.”

Trump’s lawyers in the brief also argued that Trump communicated with his vice president and other officials to urge them to exercise their official duties based on his view that the election was tainted by fraud.

CNN legal analyst Elie Honig said that it’s a “potentially legitimate” argument if Trump was acting within the scope of his duties but “the twisting of logic and reality that Trump has to do to get there, to get what he did within the scope of the presidency is facially ridiculous.”

Trump was asking his vice president and other officials to “violate their oaths of office. That's where I think he's going to run into trouble,” Honig said.

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The former prosecutor also pointed out that Trump’s lawyers “make the mistake of saddling a good, decent argument about whether he's in the scope or not with a ridiculous argument which is this impeachment argument, that he can only be indicted if he's been impeached and then convicted by the Senate."

"I don't know why they include that,” he said. “They don't need that. And to me, that sinks the arguments. So, if I'm advising Trump's legal team — which I'm not — but if I'm advising any normal person, I would say, 'leave out the lousy argument, just bank on the good one here.'"

about Trump's immunity bid

Trump is dangerously desperate for a bailout

Donald Trump had an epic meltdown on his social media site Trump Social on Tuesday. Even for someone who is prone to ranting and raving in public, this was one for the books. Apparently on the verge of cracking under the financial pressure stemming from the civil judgments against him for defamation and fraud, he let fly post after post filled with whining and invective against New York Attorney General Letitia James and New York State Justice Arthur Engoron.

"Any business thinking about moving into New York State is CRAZY! The level of anger and hostility toward businesses and business people is incredible," Trump wrote. "Numerous people have spoken to me about this since the Racist and Politically Corrupt A.G., who ran for office on a platform of 'I will get Trump' without knowing anything about me or my business, and her corrupt puppet Judge, Arthur Engoron, who has already been overturned 4 times on this case, a record, started doing a number on me."

He seems a little bit stressed, wouldn't you say?

Trump went on to claim that the two are trying to take his fortune and force him to sell his assets in a "fire sale," a good indication that his boasts in his fraud trial deposition that he could find a "buyer from Saudi Arabia to pay any price he suggests” (a claim Engoron pointed out in his ruling “may suggest influence buying more than savvy investing") might not be a sure thing. Trump testified that he undervalued his properties, not overvalued them. He also said he was flush with hundreds of millions of dollars and no debt. Now it turns out he can't get a bond — possibly because his properties are already leveraged and the lenders don't want any other liens on them — and he's crying that he doesn't have any cash. It sure looks like Engoron's ruling was right on the money. Trump is an inveterate liar about his fortune. Why anyone ever lent him money in the first place remains one of life's biggest mysteries.

“I would be forced to mortgage”: Trump melts down on Truth Social as lawyers admit he can’t get bond

But maybe he can find a Russian oligarch to step up.

Back in 2016, one of Russia's likely assets, Paul Manafort, was Trump's campaign manager. He turned out to be massively in debt to a Russian oligarch and used inside information from the Trump campaign to pay him back. Back in those early days, Trump didn't yet know that he could get away with anything so he fired Manafort when this information came out. Manafort ended up being sentenced to 47 months in federal prison in one case and 73 months in another for a variety of crimes uncovered in the course of Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the election. You may recall that among other crimes like tax fraud and illegal foreign lobbying, Manafort pleaded guilty to money laundering related to his work in Ukraine with various Russian players. But he subsequently lied so much to the special counsel's office that they withdrew the plea agreement and he went to trial.

Trump is an inveterate liar about his fortune.

Today Manafort's relationships with Ukraine and Russia should be of renewed concern to federal authorities since, according to the Washington Post, he's now expected to join Trump's 2024 campaign — at a time when we know that Trump badly needs money.

One stated reason for the hire, as cited in most reports, is that they need him to run the convention. It's a job that he was well known for back in the 1980s before he decamped to Ukraine to run their campaigns and launder money. In 2016 the GOP didn't have a real organization and had to take what they could get. They eagerly hired anyone with a pulse and Manafort was placed in the campaign by his former business partner and Trump's personal dirty trickster Roger Stone (also pardoned by Trump before he went into temporary exile at Mar-a-Lago). But there is zero need to hire Manafort to "run the convention" now. There are plenty of people who could do that. It's the other stated reason that makes more sense. The Post reported that the job would "include Manafort playing a role in fundraising for the presumptive GOP nominee’s campaign."

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Manafort hasn't been involved in fundraising in America in many years. But he sure knows his way around Russian oligarchs and spies, and he definitely knows how to broker a quid pro quo. As journalist Marcy Wheeler reminds us, Manafort's contact during the 2016 campaign, the Russian asset Konstantin Kilimnik (who is under indictment in the U.S.) had once pitched him on Russian help in the election in exchange for allowing Russia to carve up Ukraine.

That deal didn't pan out in the first term, but you can see why Trump, in his desperate financial straits, might want to reopen that line of communication. It sure looks like Trump is ready to close the deal if he gets elected in November. He clearly intends to withdraw military funding and let Russia have its way with the country (and anywhere else it chooses, for that matter).

The weird and inexplicable relationships between Trump, Ukraine and Russia have been a constant refrain for the past eight years and nothing ever shakes Trump's bizarre willingness to court this scandal over and over again. There have been investigations and impeachments and trials and convictions yet he just can't leave it alone. His obsequious behavior toward Vladimir Putin, his hostility toward Ukraine, the fatuous rationale for ending NATO because "it doesn't pay its bills" and the recent comments that he would allow Russia to invade any country it wants have never made any sense, even for him. Yes, he is a shallow, puerile narcissist who loves to suck up to tyrants so they'll let him into the strongman club but that doesn't fully explain his apparently endless need to prove his fealty to Putin.

And now he wants to re-hire the convicted felon he later pardoned, a man who admitted to laundering money for Russian oligarchs to do fundraising. Indeed, Trump is overwhelmingly stressed out about having his lies about his fortune exposed and possibly losing everything, but it's hard to believe that even he'd be so reckless as to go there for a bailout. But then he's gotten away with everything so far. So why not?

As he says, he likes Putin and he knows Putin likes him too. He's always been there for him. Why shouldn't he turn to his good friend in his time of need?

Trump: People say I like Putin. That's a good thing pic.twitter.com/RZhBRILDSi

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) March 19, 2024

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White evangelicals embrace raunchy photos — yet they hate sex as much as ever

For those readers who have the self-esteem not to engage in the world of Christian right social media, let's just get this out of the way: It's heavy on the cheesecake, sometimes verging on softcore adult content. That's a startling thing to say, especially to those of us who came of age any time before the invention of TikTok. It may be hard to believe, but it's true: The same people who wanted to slap "parental advisory" stickers on every album with curse words, distributed "purity rings," and banned leggings in public schools now often take a decolletage-oriented approach to social media content.

Ultra Right Beer put out a pin-up calendar featuring scantily clad influencers from the Christian right-o-sphere. MAGA lawmakers like Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo. and Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., wear skintight clothes and make sexualized remarks to draw attention. And, as Ruth Graham reported in the New York Times over the weekend, popular evangelical leaders online frequently use "vulgarities," aping the language of shock jocks to be "relevant and appealing" to young men they want to bring into white evangelicalism. In the world of "tradwife" social media, good Christian "housewives" celebrate their godly womanhood with leg-baring photos and videos of them lustily stirring dough while their bosoms jiggle over mixing bowls.

@naraazizasmith my love language🫶🏽 #easyrecipes #baking #brownies #icecream #fypシ #homecooking #coupletok #marriage #dessert ♬ Chill Vibes – Tollan Kim

Graham notes that the cause is twofold: First, the worshipful devotion to Donald Trump, for white evangelicals, means embracing his crude, sexually objectifying form of misogyny. Second, as evangelicals use "new technology as a way to reach more people," their content is shaped to the demands of the algorithm. If you want people to linger on your right-wing TikTok videos, you have to lead with cleavage.

What Graham all but ignores, is actually crucial to understand about this phenomenon: It is only a surface-level shift. The movement is as sex-negative as it ever was. They may like pin-up posters, but the Christian right still very much opposes people actually enjoying sex, especially if those people are women or LGBTQ people.

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In my investigative report on Christian right social media, I asked couples therapist Jeremiah Gibson, who co-hosts the "Sexvangelicals" podcast, about the unsettling sexualization of evangelical online culture. "I would actually suggest that conservative folks are less concerned about sex and more concerned about the performance of gender," Gibson told me. "Sex just happens to be the vehicle" they are currently using, he explained, to push a rigid gender ideology where "men are expected to be the leaders" and "women are supposed to be submissive." He pointed out that much "tradwife" content may be sexually provocative, for instance, but it still pushes the notion that "women aren't sexual people" because "the purpose of a heterosexual relationship is for a woman to please a man."

The T&A framework for Christian right content may be new, but the message is very old: compulsory heterosexuality and male dominance. It's certainly not about pleasure, except the straight man's pleasure in exerting control over women. That much was on full display this week, when state Rep. Kelly Keisling, R-Tenn., called on fellow male legislators to sexually harass underage girls.

"I'm disappointed in this whole chamber right now," the self-described "Christian, Husband, Father, Grandfather" said as he presented a group of high school basketball champions. "I didn't hear a dadgum whistle when these girls came up through here. Not a whistle!"

In the Tennessee House, GOP Rep. @KellyKeislingTN chides his colleagues for NOT whistling at a group of high school girls who were being honored for winning a basketball championship. Listen to the howls of laughter! (H/t @TheTNHoller) pic.twitter.com/eKUZ1cWQ7G

— Phil Williams (@PhilNvestigates) March 19, 2024

"Tradwives" offer an alluring vision of right-wing Christianity — online warriors are fighting back

This is a perfect distillation of Gibson's point. Keisling isn't celebrating sex, much less sexual pleasure. On the contrary, he's signaling to these girls that sex is a weapon to be used by men to degrade them. He is telling these girls that their accomplishments are a joke to him and that the only value he sees in them is as sex objects. His behavior is in direct opposition to sex-positivity. Instead, girls and women are made to feel bad and grossed out by sex.

Graham mentions, almost in passing, that despite the "boobs-and-booze ethos" of the current Christian right, they still are teaching "their young people to save sex for marriage." This is a dramatic understatement. White evangelical culture has not changed their punitive attitudes towards sex in the slightest. In many ways, the anti-sex views of the Christian right have grown more draconian in recent years.

It's not just the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the subsequent avalanche of abortion bans in the past two years. In his concurrence on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, Justice Clarence Thomas openly invited Christian right activists to challenge legal birth control, so the Supreme Court could take that right away as well. Last week, anti-choice activists scored a legal victory, when the Fifth Circuit Court ruled that minors have to obtain parental permission to use birth control. The coalition of Christian right activists putting together the policy agenda for Trump's potential second term have also proposed reviving the Comstock Act, which, as written, would ban any interstate transportation of contraceptive medicine or devices. Clearly, the Christian right does not want women to feel safe enough to enjoy sex.

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Moms for Liberty may be having hard times, but the Christian right has continued to ramp up its campaign to censor materials that promote sexual health or safety, educate people that sex is supposed to be pleasurable, or affirm that LGBTQ identities are good and normal. At the behest of religious conservatives, abstinence-only programs are being foisted back on public schools. Schools and libraries are being forced to remove books that have messages like "sex isn't supposed to hurt" and "rape is bad." This week, the Supreme Court allowed a publicly funded university in Texas to ban a "PG-13" drag show, once again reaffirming that what offends the right is the idea that love, fun, and acceptance have any relationship to sexuality.

While the mainstream press still finds it puzzling that the anti-sex Christian right loves a sexually loose cad like Trump, he actually embodies the evangelical attitude towards sex: That it's about male domination over women, not pleasure. Consider, for instance, his infamous sexual encounter with adult film actress Stormy Daniels. While she doesn't describe it as an assault, Daniels has emphasized that she was not attracted to Trump and had sex with him under duress. She told CNN in 2018 that she felt she "had it coming for making a bad decision for going to someone's room alone and I just heard the voice in my head, 'Well, you put yourself in a bad situation and bad things happen, so you deserve this.'"

Gross, but in a sense, that reflects how sex is regarded in right-wing Christian culture: As something women do to placate men, and certainly not because the woman enjoys it. On the contrary, Daniels ended up feeling bad, which is clearly how Christian "purity culture" wants women to feel about sex. Consider, too, how the MAGA audience howled in delight when Trump went on CNN and implied that journalist E. Jean Carroll had it coming when he sexually assaulted her. Trump obviously doesn't want women to enjoy sex. He sees it as something men inflict on women, to debase them. No wonder the Christian right loves him so much.

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The MAGAttorney movement’s takeover is now complete

The MAGA-indoctrinated Supreme Court just dropped pro-police ruling that expands local law enforcement's ability to criminally penalize migrants at the border. Unfortunately this ruling is not an isolated consequence of the continual wildfire of MAGA ideology that has infected our courts, our statehouses, and both chambers of Congress. Even at a local level, over the past few weeks, big blue liberal strongholds like San Francisco, Washington DC, and New York have moved "tough on crime" proposals that have been proven to be ineffective at preventing crime and keeping communities safe. This damning anti-public safety policy trend from the Supreme Court to local City Councils can be traced back to a familiar opponent of criminal legal reform and Democrats in general – former President Donald Trump. Now Trump is asking the Supreme Court for absolute immunity for criminal prosecution for his attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

In a recent appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Trump asserted that President Joe Biden had overseen a surge in “bloodshed, chaos, and violent crime.” Trump, and his far-right allies, have launched this fear-mongering rhetoric into every corner of the GOP’s political strategy, from the White House to local prosecutor races. This “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) messaging on crime and safety has given some unfortunate life to a movement aimed at blocking progressive criminal legal reform, at the great expense of real community safety.

Trump and his conservative pawns have made it their mission to upend any lawful attempts at changing the oppressive nature of our criminal legal systems. And this election year the Republican Party and sadly some moderate Democrats have seemingly been won over by his rhetoric on criminal justice. There has been a marked increase in attacks against criminal justice reform, and particularly against prosecutors who were elected on reformist platforms. Before Governor Ron DeSantis dropped out of the Republican presidential race earlier this year, he made a promise to crack down on reform-minded prosecutors a pillar of his campaign. Worse, some moderate Democrats have co-signed this messaging and, despite evidence to the contrary, started to blame reform-minded prosecutors and their policies for crime.

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The rise of the MAGAttorney movement— a term for the increase in attacks against reform-minded prosecutors and their policies— can be traced back to the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Heritage had close ties with the MAGA wing of Republicans, reportedly “stocking Trump’s government” with its staff. In 2018, when justice reform advocates scored high-profile wins by electing reform-minded prosecutors like Larry Krasner in Philadelphia and Rachael Rollins in Boston, Heritage fought back. The organization launched an intense disinformation campaign against reformers, falsely claiming that they were “creating chaos in American cities.” Heritage also coined terms like “woke prosecutors” and employed antisemitic tropes like “Soros-funded” to delegitimize them.

Following the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in the summer of 2020, support for criminal justice and policing reform spiked, and the movement became more closely aligned with progressives and the Democratic Party. Amidst a growing perception that crime had spiked during and after COVID-19, Republicans seized the moment and blamed reform-minded prosecutors and their policies. None of these accusations were based in fact, but irresponsible voices in the media and in politics began to echo these explanations. Soon, there were widespread attempts to roll back reforms amidst a sense that changes had “gone too far.” In Georgia, state lawmakers passed legislation designed to discipline and remove reform-minded prosecutors. In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis suspended State Attorney Andrew Warren and State Attorney Monique Worrell. In California, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price is facing a recall fueled by special interest groups inspired by the recall of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin in 2022.

In a bid to address voters’ concerns about public safety, many Democrats have capitulated to parroting the MAGAttorney movement talking points. In California, Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell is fueling the recall attempt against Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price by blaming increased crime on her policies. In Minnesota, Democratic Governor Tim Walz is contemplating removing Mary Moriarty as lead prosecutor in a police killing case at the instigation of the Minnesota House Republicans and a police association. Prosecutors like Ivan Bates in Baltimore City and Brooke Jenkins in San Francisco, who unseated their reform-minded predecessors on a tough-on-crime platform, regularly employ MAGA talking points and tactics. Bates, for example, has touted harsher outcomes for minor offenses as a solution to crime and Jenkins recently announced that her office would be pursuing murder charges for fentanyl dealers, following the lead of conservative prosecutors in California. It is perplexing that Democrats are ceding ground to the Republican party on crime, when the leader of the tough-on-crime movement, Donald Trump, faces four indictments and ninety-one criminal charges. It can also be counterproductive, as Democratic New York Mayor Eric Adams proved when he was blamed for Democrat losses in his state because of his fear-mongering on crime.

To be clear, everyone deserves to feel safe, and there are steps that elected officials should be taking to improve public safety. However, these Republicans are not interested in real solutions. They want to dog-whistle about crime to their base, and bring back the racist policies of the 1990s to keep Black people locked up and beaten down. Anyone who truly cares about public safety and the rule of law must reject the MAGAttorney platform, and put forward their own solutions. Only then can we have true justice.

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Aaron Rodgers has a long history with anti-LGBTQ evangelical groups

Aaron Rodgers has a history of involvement with and support for two evangelical organizations that reportedly had anti-LGBTQ+ policies, a number of videos and old interviews show.

The groups did not publicly engage in anti-LGBTQ+ activism, and there’s no indication that Rodgers knew about or endorsed their internal policies. He has spoken out on behalf of LGBTQ+ people on a number of occasions over the years.

Rodgers, a four-time NFL MVP as quarterback for the Green Bay Packers who now plays for the New York Jets, became the subject of intense scrutiny last week after he made independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s short list for running mate. On March 14, Rodgers issued a statement about the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, after CNN reported he had shared conspiracy theories years ago about the shooting and other big news events.

According to multiple interviews and videos in which Rodgers participated after he became an NFL player, as recently as 2014 he was still involved with a group called Young Life that he first joined while in school. The group is known for activities and events that put a youthful, upbeat face on evangelical Christianity.

RFK Jr. and Aaron Rodgers: How con artists exploit male insecurity for political gain

On paper, however, the group’s policies align with biblical prohibitions against “sexual misconduct,” including a “homosexual lifestyle.” Young Life does not allow people known to be LGBTQ+ to hold leadership positions.

During his involvement with Young Life, Rodgers held leadership positions that his LGBTQ+ peers would not have been allowed to hold. (Requests for comment were sent to the Jets and the Kennedy campaign, but neither responded.)

Rodgers has called Young Life “a great organization” with “the right message.” In addition to his involvement as a student, he remained active even as an NFL player, supporting and endorsing Young Life publicly.

Young Life says it wants to create a "safe space for LGBTQ youth," but a number of its leaders have gone on to more stringent religious and political positions.

Also, in 2014, Rodgers accepted an award from Athletes in Action, a sports ministry of Cru, which was formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ. Like Young Life, AIA had been an influence on him, Rodgers said while accepting the award. Also like Young Life, Cru does not allow LGBTQ+ people to hold leadership positions.

Reportedly, AIA supplies team chaplains to a number of NFL teams. Author Tom Krattenmaker, who has written about evangelicals and sports, told The Nation, “Like its Campus Crusade for Christ parent organization, AIA has not been a friend to gays.”

Some students have made similar allegations about Young Life. And its official position was made explicit in an internal Young Life policy statement that has been posted online by several sources.

On “the delicate matter of homosexual lifestyle and practice,” one policy statement says, “in the light of biblical data regarding creation, Young Life believes such activities to be clearly not in accord with God’s creation purposes":

We do not in any way wish to exclude persons who engage in sexual misconduct or who practice a homosexual lifestyle from being recipients of God’s grace and mercy as expressed in Jesus Christ. We do, however, believe that such persons are not to serve as staff or volunteers in the mission and work of Young Life.

James Madison University’s The Breeze newspaper obtained internal Young Life discussions about how to address the issue. One talking point advised leaders to “Stress that we seek to be faithful to our sincerely held beliefs regarding sexuality while showing grace and humility toward those who do not share those beliefs.”

The document also noted the group’s interest in “creating a safe space for LGBTQ youth and for giving them a chance to experience and respond to the gospel.”

Despite Young Life’s inclusive nature, it’s not uncommon for benign-seeming evangelical groups to serve as feeder systems for more hardline organizations. A number of Young Life leaders have gone on to adopt more stringent religious and political positions.

Its board of trustees, for instance, includes former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, a Republican who backed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. Young Life alum Doug Burleigh reportedly now runs the Fellowship Foundation, also known as The Family, the organization behind the National Prayer Breakfast.

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As I’ve reported, The Family has sponsored congressional travel with an anti-LGBTQ+ itinerary. And The Family has refused to condemn Uganda’s anti-LGBTQ+ death penalty, even after Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., urged Uganda to “stand firm” during a trip there that was paid for by The Family.

Rodgers in recent years has distanced himself from the religious aspects of his upbringing. In 2017 he told ESPN that he’s not affiliated with any religion. And he has questioned belief in a God who condemns people to hell.

In his 2017 ESPN interview, Rodgers said he was “incredibly proud” of retired NFL lineman Ryan O'Callaghan for coming out. “I think society is finally moving in the right direction, as far as treating all people with respect and love and acceptance and appreciation,” Rodgers said. “And the locker room, I think the sport is getting closer."

(During the same interview, Rodgers backed former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who was sidelined by the NFL for kneeling during the national anthem to protest racist policing. Rodgers said he was “100 percent supportive of my teammates or any fellow players who are choosing not to” stand.)

Rodgers spoke out on behalf of LGBTQ+ people as early as January 2016. Defending the rights of kids to chant in the crowds at high school games, Rodgers said some chants were out of bounds. “I don’t agree with any type of racist or homophobic language, any of that type of stuff from the crowd to the people on the field,” he said.

By 2019, Rodgers said in one interview, “I don’t know how you can believe in a God who wants to condemn most of the planet to a fiery Hell.”

Rodgers told ESPN how he left his religious past behind. "I think in people's lives who grew up in some sort of organized religion, there really comes a time when you start to question things more," he said in that 2017 interview. "That happened to me six or seven years ago."

The timeline, however, doesn’t quite sync up with Rodgers’ involvement with Young Life and AIA. He was still publicly embracing Young Life just three years prior.

Within Young Life, “the Gospel was presented in a way that’s not over your head,” Rodgers said, “with analogies and demonstrations that made you think, ‘Jesus is someone I could really hang out with.’”

Accepting the AIA award in 2014, Rodgers said his Young Life mentor in high school “really taught me what John 10:10 really means and what it looks like to live that abundant life that Jesus talks about and I thank him for that.” (That verse from the Gospel of John concludes, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.")

He also cited “some incredible Athletes in Action men and women I got to spend time with in college in Berkeley, and had some great memories with them.” He added, “I thank them for the influence on my life.”

Rodgers also cooperated with a cover story on him in the spring 2013 edition of Young Life magazine. In it he said, “I … enjoy supporting [Young Life] to this day.”

The magazine reported that Rodgers first met his future Young Life mentor in 1997, and their friendship began in 1998. (The article no longer appears on Young Life’s website, but a version of it was archived.)

“You have a faith that’s your parents’,” Rodgers told the magazine, “and you say the prayer to be saved, but at some point it’s got to be a personal relationship. To be honest with you, Young Life was a big part of that, because for the first time I saw how much fun Christians could have.”

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There was hard work too. He went with Young Life to Mexico to build homes there.

“[T]he Gospel was presented in a way that’s not over your head,” Rodgers said, “with analogies and demonstrations that made you think, ‘Jesus is someone I could really hang out with.’”

In college, the magazine reported, Rodgers was a Young Life junior leader, and “loved the process of learning the philosophy behind leading a Young Life club.”

It’s not clear whether his training meant that Rodgers knew about Young Life’s ban on LGBTQ+ volunteers. In an undated video posted by a Young Life club in 2016, Rodgers said he “had a lot of fun leading from the front … taking some high schoolers to lunch, just being part of their lives.”

Rodgers said in the video that “Young Life is a great organization that has the right message. They present the gospel in a way that anybody can relate to, and to be able to see it modeled by the leaders who I was in contact with, I think, really made an impact on me.”

He said he had remained involved even as a pro. “We’ve done some great things with our local Young Life group back in Chico [California], and continue to support them and the Young Life out here actually in Green Bay.”

He was still in touch with his Young Life mentor as of 2013. That was Matt Hock, who also spoke with Young Life’s magazine. Hock suggested that Rodgers was conscious of the platform his NFL role gave him.

“Aaron understands relationships and the platform Jesus has given him. He doesn’t always have to verbally proclaim he’s a follower of Jesus,” Hock said. “He really understands the platform he has right now and he uses it to bring life to people.”

And Hock was working to keep Rodgers in the fold. “My goal with Aaron is to keep trying to put Jesus in front of him. I send books and encouraging texts to him.”

Hock said that, “I just remind him he’s God’s beloved in the midst of people telling him he’s something or he’s not. My job is to keep reminding him of who he is in the eyes of Jesus.”

reporting from Jonathan Larsen

Was that an earthquake or a Taylor Swift concert? Swifties give new meaning to “shake it off”

Like Taylor Swift, her fans are apparently lightnin' on their feet. When thousands of Swifties shook it off last August as the pop star's record-breaking "Eras Tour" touched down at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., they caused earthquake-esque activity, according to a study conducted by researchers at Caltech and UCLA. "It's been well known that concerts make these harmonic signals and it’s not always been clear as to why," Caltech seismologist Gabrielle Tepp, who oversaw the study, told The Los Angeles Times. "This was one thing that we were kind of interested in seeing if we could really nail down what was causing it."

The study, titled, “Shake to the Beat: Exploring the Seismic Signals and Stadium Response of Concerts and Music Fans," centered on Swift's Aug. 5 performance, which was reportedly attended by 70,000 Swifties. Tepp and other researchers were able to trace the "seismic signature" of each song Swift performed, with "Shake It Off" resulting in the "largest local magnitude of 0.851." But what, specifically, was the cause of the seismic activity? It was likely the "dancing and jumping motions" of the singer's own fans — not SoFi's audio system.

"It turns out jumping is very effective at creating these harmonic signals. The stronger or the more people you have jumping, the more energy is going into [the ground]," Tepp added. "I would definitely say for the stronger songs, you probably have a lot more people excited, a lot more people jumping around."

This isn't the first time we've heard rumblings of a so-called "Swift Quake." Last July, following Swift's two-night stay at Seattle's Lumen Field, a geology professor from Western Washington University determined that the concerts "caused seismic activity equivalent of a 2.3 magnitude earthquake."

“The View”: Sunny Hostin and Whoopi Goldberg reveal they also used weight-loss drugs

"The View" hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Sunny Hostin are sharing their personal experiences with weight-loss medications. During Tuesday's discussion about Oprah Winfrey's new ABC special, “An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution," in which the talk show host detailed her own struggles with weight, Goldberg shared how she weighed nearly 300 pounds during the filming of the 2022 film "Till," after being prescribed steroid for back pain in 2021. “I had taken all those steroids and was on all this stuff,” Goldberg said, noting how “one of the things that helps me drop the weight is Mounjaro." The tirzepatide prescription weight loss drug, is similar to Ozempic, an injectible semaglutide.

Hostin also stated that she used Mounjaro, ultimately losing the weight she gained during the pandemic. “During COVID I gained 40 pounds,” Hostin said. “All I did was eat. I love to cook and I found out I love to eat. And I was horrified by the fact that I would have to come out on air. So I took Mounjaro.” "The View" co-host added that her weight loss, like Winfrey's was not entirely received well by the public. “I got all these nasty emails saying, 'You’re too skinny. And, why did you do this? And you’re taking the drug away from diabetics,'" Hostin said. "So there is shame when you’ve gained weight, and I had never experienced that kind of shame before. And what I loved about what she [Oprah] said is obesity is a disease."

OPRAH SPECIAL EXPLORES WEIGHT-LOSS DRUGS: After Oprah Winfrey opened up about changing the conversation around obesity and shared her own struggles in the spotlight, #TheView co-hosts discuss. https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/GUVfMPdW0T

— The View (@TheView) March 19, 2024

Getty Images says a photo of the late Queen Elizabeth with royal children was digitally manipulated

Another digitally altered photo of the royal family is making news and photo agencies do a double take.

This time the photo is of the late Queen Elizabeth II and her grandchildren and great-grandchildren at Balmoral Castle. It was released last year to mark the late Queen's 97th birthday. However, the photo taken by Kate Middleton in 2022 is said to be "digitally enhanced," a spokesperson for Getty Images told the Telegraph.

Getty Images slaps notice on this photo released from Kensington Palace of Queen Elizabeth and her grandchildren stating “the image has been digitally enhanced at the source”. pic.twitter.com/LKJoQkELv4

— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) March 19, 2024

When you look closer at the photo, there seem to be several slight inconsistencies like a line where the Queen's skirt does not match. There is also said to be a dark shadow behind Prince Louis’s ear and another black patch behind Prince George’s shirt collar. Also, there are signs of digital repetition of Mia Tindall’s hair.

“Getty Images has reviewed the image in question and placed an editor’s note on it, stating that the image has been digitally enhanced at source," Getty said.

Currently, Kensington Palace is dealing with another photo scandal after conspiracy theories and rumors about Middleton's months-long absence from the public eye following her abdominal surgery in January. When the public became strongly interested in the Princess of Wales' whereabouts, the palace released a photo of Middleton and her children for Mother's Day. However, global news agencies halted the photo's further distribution because they found it was digitally edited. Following the blunder, Middleton put out a statement apologizing for the mishap saying she was an amateur photographer who experiments with editing.

Cocoa beans are in short supply: What this means for farmers, businesses and chocolate lovers

A shortage of cocoa beans has led to a near shutdown of processing plants in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, the two countries responsible for 60% of global production. With chocolate makers around the world reliant on west Africa for cocoa, there is significant concern about the impact on the prices of chocolate and the livelihood of farmers. Cocoa researcher Michael Odijie explains the reasons for the shortage.

Why has cocoa production declined sharply in west Africa?

Three factors are at play: environmental, economic cycle related and human.

One environmental factor is the impact of the El Niño weather phenomenon, which has caused drier weather in west Africa. It has contributed to problems on farms, such as the swollen shoot virus disease. As a result, Ghana has lost harvests from nearly 500,000 hectares of land in recent years.

The economic cycle of cocoa production refers to the inherent patterns of expansion and contraction in cocoa farming. For example, as cocoa trees age, they become susceptible to diseases, requiring high maintenance costs. Historically, farmers have tended to abandon old farms and start anew in fresh forests. Unfortunately, finding new forests is now increasingly difficult. Perhaps the most severe issue of all is the lack of fair compensation for sustainable cocoa production

The human factor includes challenges such as illegal mining, which has overtaken numerous farms in Ghana. Sometimes, farmers lease their land to illegal miners in exchange for payment. These mining activities degrade the quality of the land, making it unsuitable for cocoa cultivation.

The global market for chocolate and chocolate products is on the rise. It is projected to grow faster than 4% annually over the next few years. This growing demand for cocoa underscores the urgency in addressing the intertwined issues that relate to the industry's sustainability.

Have west African governments intervened to help cocoa farmers?

In February 2024, the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod), regulator of the country's cocoa sector, secured a World Bank loan of US$200 million to rehabilitate plantations affected by the cocoa swollen shoot virus. The board will take over the disease-ridden farms, remove and replace the afflicted cocoa trees, and nurture the new plantings to the fruiting stage before returning them to the farmers.

This practice of Cocobod taking out loans to assist farmers is a longstanding one in Ghana. For instance, in 2018, Cocobod used part of a $600 million loan from the African Development Bank to rehabilitate aging plantations and those hit by diseases. And at the start of the current harvest season in October, the producer price was raised: farmers are paid more, a move made inevitable by the surge in global prices. Also, Ghana Cocobod has established a task force to shield cocoa farms from the harmful impacts of mining. It has cooperated with police to stem the smuggling of cocoa to neighboring countries, particularly those that offer a stronger currency.

In Côte d'Ivoire, relatively little action has been taken. It appears the government is still assessing the situation. But there have been measures to curb smuggling of cocoa, prompted by the fact that the shortage is driving up prices in neighboring countries. Côte d'Ivoire does benefit from numerous sustainability programs initiated by multinational corporations. The current shortage has accelerated these initiatives. Regrettably, some of the programs do not disclose their data, making it difficult for academics to access and analyze their information.

African governments have yet to address significant structural issues in their interventions.

How have cocoa farmers and cocoa-producing countries' economies been affected?

At the farm level, although the rise in prices may initially appear beneficial to farmers, the reality is not straightforward. A decrease in output leads to fewer harvests on average, which means that, overall, farmers are not earning more. This issue is compounded by recent economic challenges in west Africa, such as high inflation and currency devaluation, particularly in Ghana. These factors have resulted in farmers becoming poorer.

Another impact of the output decline is a reduction in local processing. Major African processing facilities in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana have either ceased operations or reduced their processing capacity because they cannot afford to purchase beans. This likely means that chocolate prices worldwide will surge. This, in turn, adversely affects the local production units that have been emerging in recent years.

However, the bargaining power of west African cocoa-producing countries seems to have increased. Now is an opportune moment for these nations to unite and negotiate more favorable terms for their cocoa farmers.

Will chocolate makers eventually turn to cocoa alternatives?

It's inevitable because continuing to cultivate cocoa under current conditions is unsustainable. I don't perceive this negatively; I hope it occurs sooner rather than later. In fact, it is already underway with the rise of cocoa butter equivalents, cocoa extenders and artificial flavors (synthetic or nature-identical flavors that mimic the taste of chocolate without the need for cocoa).

The German company Planet A Foods is a leader in this area. It produces cocoa-free chocolate, using technology to transform ingredients such as oats and sunflower seeds into substitutes for cocoa mass and butter.

Overall, this is beneficial for everyone. The demand for cocoa has resulted in mass deforestation and significant carbon emissions, issues that are likely to worsen due to climate change. Moreover, the push for cultivation has led to various forms of labour abuses. Exploring cocoa alternatives is certainly part of the solution.

Michael E Odijie, Research associate, UCL

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Tennessee Republicans squashed free meal bills. Arby’s stepped in to cover some student lunch debt

Hawkins County Schools in Tennessee received a $16,892 grant from the Arby’s Foundation to assist with student lunch debt. The foundation, which centers on combating childhood hunger, has committed $500,000 to support approximately 200 communities in which Arby’s has a restaurant.

“Hawkins County Schools are humbled with the selection by the foundation to help with this need, which otherwise would have to be paid from district budget funds,” Hawkins County Director of Schools Matt Hixson said in a March 7 meeting with the Hawkins County Board of Education. “The Arby’s Foundation has stepped up to provide a need in an area that others never think about, and we greatly appreciate their generosity.”

The issue of outstanding student lunch debt isn't unique to Hawkins County; according to 2024 statistics from the Education Data Center, on a state-level, Tennessee has $51,610,062 in student lunch debt and about 285,770 food insecure students. However, this recent grant comes in the wake of several Tennessee Republican lawmakers blocking bills that would provide kids free meals in schools.

Back in November, GOP Rep. John Ragan argued that federal funds to feed children from low-income families should not be accepted unless they can substantially help improve test scores. “The question that is, in the top of my mind, is how — we get this money that’s supposedly aimed at the most needy students and the lowest performing students,” Ragan said in a video clip posted by The Tennessee Holler. “What’s the measure of improvement? For this money coming in? How much has it improved the performance of these students?”

The Associated Press reported in February that fourteen GOP-led states turned down federal money to feed low-income children in the summer. States cited philosophical objections to welfare programs, technical challenges due to old computer systems and the inclusion of other summer nutrition programs as reasons to opt out.Tennessee opted into the Summer EBT program for 2024 but doesn’t plan to continue in 2025.

“Bizarre”: Legal expert says Judge Cannon’s “outlandish” order is “sign of her extreme partisanship”

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing Donald Trump's classified documents case in Florida, issued an order late Monday pertaining to jury instructions for the end of the trial — even though she has not ruled yet on when the trial, which is likely to be pushed from its May start date, will begin.

Cannon requested federal prosecutors and the former president's attorneys submit by April 2 proposed jury instructions concerning national security and presidential record laws connected to two defense motions to dismiss the trial altogether. Her order signaled that the question of whether Trump had legal authority to retain national security documents will still be a key question of the case, which could give Trump a boost at trial, according to CNN.

It also confounded legal experts, in some cases, because of its considerations of the Presidential Records Act, a law that declares records created or received by the president as part of his duties as government property.

"Some commentators have described Cannon’s order as 'unusual.' I would use words like wacko, crazy, loony, nutty, ridiculous, and outlandish, and my terms are probably understatements," Bennett Gershman, a Pace University law professor and former New York prosecutor, told Salon.

The Presidential Records Act (PRA) "makes a clear distinction" between a president's personal records, like diaries and journals, and the official, "non-personal" classified documents Trump is alleged to have willfully retained, Gershman added.

Legal experts: Judge Cannon “took the bait” on “breathtakingly baseless” Trump arguments

Cannon's exercise is a continuation of last week's hearing in the case, in which the relatively inexperienced, Trump-appointed judge heard Trump's attorneys' argument that the PRA gave him unlimited power to determine which documents he needed to return to the National Archives.

The Justice Department has maintained that Trump's 32 charges under the Espionage Act are unrelated to the PRA and, instead, take up the issue of his retention of U.S. and foreign military secrets without federal protections at his Mar-a-Lago beach club and alleged efforts to thwart government officials' retrieval efforts.

During last Thursday's hearing, Cannon seemed skeptical that Trump's "attack on the Espionage Act," which criminalizes unauthorized possession of national security documents, or embrace of the PRA would offer strong enough arguments to rescue him from a criminal trial, according to The Washington Post. Cannon, however, did suggest that some parts of the GOP frontrunner's arguments could later impact jury instructions.

Jury instructions tell jurors how to weigh the evidence presented in a case ahead of deliberations. Cannon's focus on the matter at this point "suggests she is not only thinking ahead to a trial of the former president, but already zeroing in on the end, rather than the beginning, of such a proceeding," according to The Washington Post.

Cannon's order also suggests she is receptive to some of Trump's claims that the Presidential Records Act allows presidents to lay personal claims to highly classified documents. National security experts, however, have countered that notion, saying that Trump's interpretation is neither what the law states nor how courts have previously interpreted it.

"If the court is so inclined to adopt former President Trump's arguments under the Presidential Records Act, that there is literally wiggle room to debate the question of application, then Judge Cannon might as well grant the pending motion as a matter of law," Mark Zaid, a D.C.-based national security attorney, told Salon.

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In formulating their instructions, the judge asked the prosecution and defense team to consider, through two hypothetical scenarios, how a jury could be instructed to weigh criminal law around national security documents if Trump could say the Presidential Records Act empowered him to retain them after leaving office. The order also asked the attorneys to define the terms of the Espionage Act.

"The parties must engage with the following competing scenarios and offer alternative draft text that assumes each scenario to be a correct formulation of the law,” Cannon wrote.

Instructions for the first scenario she presented would task the jury with deciding whether prosecutors showed that Trump lacked the authority to keep the classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago, even if they qualified as personal or presidential records. Cannon, according to the Washington Post, included a footnote in the hypothetical permitting discussion of "separation of powers or immunity concerns" if deemed relevant.

Instructions for the second scenario would take the perspective that, as president, Trump had total power through the PRA to take any records he chose from the White House. The second hypothetical appears to offer a circumstance where Trump could not be convicted under "almost any set of facts of improperly possessing classified documents," the Post notes.

The order, Zaid said, is "somewhat mystifying" because Cannon appears to be seeking jury instructions from both parties on issues that "should, and normally would, be determined as a matter of law by the court."

"These issues are not within the purview of a jury to decide," he added.

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A trial typically asks opposing counsel to draft proposed instructions for a jury, Gershman explained, but a judge's instructions to the group require the judge to explain to the jurors the relevant legal principles and ask them to then apply those principles to the facts and evidence of the case.

Cannon's first hypothetical instead asks the jury to "determine the law" surrounding the question of Trump's authority to retain classified records, while the second "in effect advises the jury that if the president believed he was not violating the law, then the jury should find him not guilty," Gershman said.

Why Cannon would issue an order pertaining to end-of-trial jury instruction before solidifying the start date for the trial, which is widely expected to be pushed from May 20 due to pre-trial delays, remains unclear.

Zaid expects the Justice Department will object to the exercise because of the power it could afford the jury to "decide what is or is not a personal record under the PRA."

"How does one read a bizarre order like this except to realize that Judge Cannon lacks experience, is out of touch with the law and criminal trials, lacks an understanding of the proper function of a judge, and lacks an appreciation of the proper role of a judge in our legal system," Gershman added, echoing widespread criticism from legal experts of Cannon's limited experience as a judge and decisions in the case perceived to be favoring Trump thus far.

The order, he said, goes beyond being a simple "sign of her extreme partisanship."

"It portends that if the case ever comes to trial, she will make every effort through her rulings on evidence, controlling lawyer arguments to the jury, and jury instructions, to ensure that Trump is found not guilty," Gershman said. "The government can’t appeal an acquittal."

about Judge Aileen Cannon

Oats and oatmeal aren’t bad for you, as some claim

Oats have long had a reputation for being one of the healthier foods you can choose for breakfast. But some people on social media have been calling this claim into question, suggesting that rather than being a healthy staple, oatmeal (and porridge, which is often made using oats) might in fact have no nutritional value whatsoever.

However, while these claims have garnered plenty of media attention, there's little evidence to back them up. Rather, the science overwhelmingly shows that oats can be beneficial for your health in many ways.

One line of reasoning used to argue oats aren't healthy is that eating them can lead to spikes in blood sugar (glucose). This seems to be linked to the rising use of glucose monitors by people who don't have diabetes. These monitors may depict normal changes in blood glucose, which happen after we eat, as a "spike" in blood sugar.

Foods that contain carbohydrates (including starchy foods such as oats and other cereals) are broken down during digestion into sugar (mainly glucose but also fructose and galactose). As the foods are broken down, the levels of sugar in the bloodstream begin to rise. This is a normal but important process – the sugar provides us with immediate energy or is stored by the muscles and liver cells for energy later.

Some foods take longer to digest, which means they spend more time in the stomach before reaching the intestines. As such, they will cause a smaller but more sustained rise in blood sugar. This can be better understood by looking at the glycemic index, which rates foods based on how quickly they affect blood sugar levels.

The glycemic index shows that the sugars in oatmeal and porridge are absorbed at about two-thirds the rate of sugar from white bread. This means oats are considered a medium glycaemic index food, similar to pasta but absorbed more slowly than many other breakfast cereals.

Generally, it is a good thing for food to be absorbed more slowly, as it is thought this helps with appetite control. So, while your blood sugar may rise after eating oats, this rise is a normal part of the digestive process.

But while the glycemic index tells us how quickly sugars are absorbed by the body, it doesn't really look at the portion size of the food. The more carbs you eat in one go, the more it will increase your blood glucose levels after a meal – even if they are normal overall.

Cholesterol-lowering benefits

Oats are also a great source of fiber, which not only helps us stay full after eating but also keeps our bowel movements regular and healthy.

Oatmeal contains specific types of fiber called beta-glucans. These have been linked to lower risk of insulin resistance (associated with type 2 diabetes), weight gain, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Beta-glucans are also linked with a lower risk of heart disease.

This cholesterol-lowering effect is the result of the way the beta-glucan bind to bile, a fluid that helps with digestion, in our intestines. This process reduces the amount of bile that can be re-absorbed into the body as cholesterol.

But in order to get these benefits from beta-glucans, you need to consume at least 3g of them daily. Given an average 30g serving of oats contains 1g of beta-glucans, pairing a bowl of porridge with other foods that are rich in beta-glucans (such as oat cakes and pearled barley) can help you get enough of these important fibers in your diet each day.

Oatmeal and gut health

Oatmeal is a source of soluble fiber, which means it can be fermented by the bacteria in our digestive tract. This has led to suggestions that oats might be beneficial for our gut microbiome.

Emerging evidence suggests that as well as increasing numbers of bacteria linked to a healthy bowel, oatmeal may also help with short-chain fatty acid production.

These are produced by bacteria and help nourish the cells in the colon. They may even help us to regulate our appetite and control blood fats and glucose, which may help reduce risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Is all oatmeal healthy?

Although all oatmeal will contain fiber, how it's milled can affect how quickly it's digested. Instant oats are digested more quickly compared with rolled oats due to the way they're milled.

Unlike other cereals, oats need steaming and heating before they can be cut or rolled. This is to stop enzymes breaking down the fats in the oats, which would cause rapid spoilage.

Oats can be rolled to make larger oat flakes, or cut first before rolling to make quick or instant oats. Larger (rolled) oats are digested more slowly than cut oats.

Making oatmeal with milk can add additional nutrients such as calcium, vitamin B12 and protein. But even if your porridge is made with water, oats are a good source of manganese, phosphorous and zinc, as it is. These are essential for hormone production, bone health and wound healing. So, although oats may not be fortified in the same way as other cereals, they contain valuable nutrients and fier, and are far from nutrient-free.

Oats clearly have benefits. But what this debate highlights is that no food is perfect – or completely useless – for our health. We need to look beyond the positives and negatives of individual foods, even oatmeal, and look instead at how all the foods in our diet work together when it comes to our health.

Duane Mellor, Lead for Evidence-Based Medicine and Nutrition, Aston Medical School, Aston University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Oprah Winfrey says she “starved” herself for “five months” while discussing weight-loss struggles

Oprah Winfrey is opening up about the ridicule and shame she experienced amid her long-standing weight-loss journey. During her new ABC special, “An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution,” the talk show host reminisced on one particularly painful moment that took place live on her own show.

“In an effort to combat all the shame, I starved myself for nearly five months and then wheeled out that wagon of fat that the internet will never forget,” Winfrey said of the moment which occurred back in 1988. “After losing 67 pounds on [a] liquid diet, the next day, the very next day, I started to gain it back. Feeling the shame of fighting a losing battle with weight, is a story all too familiar.”

Winfrey also said how she was “ridiculed on every late-night talk show for 25 years” and shared some of the nasty headlines that were written about her at the time: “Oprah: Fatter Than Ever” and “Oprah Warned Diet or Die.”

“The thing that’s been the biggest relief for me, and I hope that many of you watching this episode of Shame and Blame, will release the shame for yourself,” she said later in the special. “Because I, as I said at the beginning of this, took on the same for myself and carried it for myself.”

She continued: “And now that I know that I’m just holding my breath underwater, I have been able to release that shame, and it doesn’t matter what anybody says.”

Experts warn Trump’s “completely wacko” ABC News lawsuit over rape remark is “ill-advised”

Former President Donald Trump on Monday sued ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos, accusing them of defaming him during an interview earlier this month with Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C.

Stephanopoulos in the interview pressed Mace, a rape survivor, over her support for Trump after a jury found him liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s.

“You endorsed Donald Trump for president. Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming the victim of that rape,” Stephanopoulos said at one point. How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony that we just saw?”

A jury last year found that Trump had sexually abused Carroll but did not find that she proved that he had raped her. But in dismissing Trump’s countersuit, the judge in the case concluded that the claim that Trump raped Carroll was “substantially true,” according to CNN.

“Indeed, the jury’s verdict in Carroll II establishes, as against Mr Trump, the fact that Mr Trump ‘raped her’, albeit digitally rather than with his penis. Thus, it establishes against him the substantial truth of Ms Carroll’s ‘rape’ accusations,” Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote.

Trump’s lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Florida, claims Stephanopoulos’s statements were “false, intentional, malicious and designed to cause harm.”

“Hot damn is this an ill-advised lawsuit,” warned Georgia attorney Andrew Fleischman.

“This complaint is completely wacko, like the person who filed it,” tweeted George Conway, a conservative attorney and frequent Trump critic who advised Carroll on the case, adding that the judge “has said that in written opinions at least *three* times.”

Trump’s theory is that since the jury unanimously found that Trump “forcibly and without consent penetrated Carroll’s vagina with his fingers and not his penis, and since this constituted sexual assault and not rape as defined by the New York Penal Code, Stephanopoulos libeled him by saying he had been held liable for ‘rape,’ even though the judge in the Carroll case has held multiple times since the verdict that in common parlance (and the law of most other jurisdictions) forcible digital penetration is rape,” Conway explained.

“In other words, Trump is suing Stephanopoulos and ABC because Stephanopoulos repeated what a federal district judge has said repeatedly in written opinions,” he added. “By bringing this lawsuit, Trump will only bring more public attention to what he did to Carroll. And he and his lawyers may very well be—in fact, ought to be—sanctioned. Another brilliant stable-genius move.”

“Trump lost almost everything”: Legal expert says judge’s evidence ruling a “disaster for Trump”

A New York judge ruled on Monday that prosecutors can introduce damaging evidence against former President Donald Trump in his upcoming Manhattan hush-money criminal trial.

Justice Juan Merchan said he would not allow prosecutors to play the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump brags about grabbing women by the genitals but would allow them to question witnesses about the video, according to The New York Times.

The judge also denied Trump’s motion to keep former fixer Michael Cohen off the witness stand and rejected motions to prevent testimony from or about adult film Star Stormy Daniels as well as Karen McDougal and Dino Sajudin — who also allegedly received hush-money payments.

“Testimony from these individuals is essential to the case,” tweeted CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen, noting that the D.A. “won almost everything & Trump lost almost everything.”

“It’s a disaster for Trump and a home run for the DA,” he wrote.

Merchan also denied Trump’s motions regarding arguments about his intent and another seeking to prevent D.A. Alvin Bragg from arguing that Trump improperly influenced the 2020 election with the hush-money payments.

The judge, however, granted Trump’s motion to preclude polygraphs taken by Daniels in the case.

The judge’s order, wrote former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, “makes it clear he won't tolerate efforts by Trump's lawyers to abuse the court process.”

The Judge takes the same straightforward approach in denying Trump's motion to prevent prosecutors from discussing violations of federal election laws. The Judge says he's already denied that motion & Trump doesn't get a second bite of the apple. Tough but fair. pic.twitter.com/UGgCMmzXdz

— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) March 18, 2024

“Those are his babies”: Ex-Trump aide predicts he’ll be “devastated” if AG seizes beloved properties

Former President Donald Trump faces potential asset seizure if he is unable to secure an appeal bond for nearly a half-billion dollars in his fraud case.

Trump’s lawyers on Monday asked an appeals court to stay the judgment after he was unable to secure the bond despite “diligent efforts,” adding that they were rejected by about 30 bond companies. “If he cannot produce the bond in time, Mr. Trump faces the possibility of financial disaster and humiliation,” The New York Times reported, noting that the former president could have his properties seized by the New York attorney general’s office.

Trump on Monday complained that he may have to sell his properties at “fire sale” prices.

Former Trump White House communication director Stephanie Grisham told CNN that Trump could face losing his building at 40 Wall Street, his Bedminster golf resort, or even Trump Tower or Mar-a-Lago.

“He would hate it,” Grisham said, adding that “those are his babies.”

"You've got the Sterling golf course in Virginia. Any of the properties with golf courses, I think, would absolutely devastate him,” she said, adding that it would also be “very, very hard on his ego.”

New York University Law Prof. Ryan Goodman told CNN that Attorney General Letitia James can “put liens of all of his assets” and “bank accounts” if Trump doesn’t post bond.

“That is not restricted to New York. So, she probably at this point understands where he has different assets in Florida, Mar-a-Lago, and elsewhere,” he said. “Ot would be fought out in some part in the courts. But for that period of time, it really becomes unusable. And how does he get any additional business going when these are under foreclosure or are being seized by the courts?” he added.

Kitten season is out of control. Are warmer winters to blame?

It’s almost that magical time of year that the Humane Society of America likens to a “natural disaster.” Kitten season.

“The level of emotions for months on end is so draining,” said Ann Dunn, director of Oakland Animal Services, a city-run shelter in the San Francisco Bay Area. “And every year we just know it’s going to get harder.”

Across the United States, summer is the height of “kitten season,” typically defined as the warm-weather months between spring and fall during which a cat becomes most fertile. For over a decade, animal shelters across the country have noted kitten season starting earlier and lasting longer. Some experts say the effects of climate change, such as milder winters and an earlier start to spring, may be to blame for the uptick in feline birth rates.

This past February, Dunn’s shelter held a clinic for spaying and neutering outdoor cats. Although kitten season in Northern California doesn’t typically kick off until May, organizers found that over half of the female cats were already pregnant. “It’s terrifying,” Dunn said. “It just keeps getting earlier and going later.”

Outdoor cats are an invasive species and a threat to themselves, scientists say

Unweaned kittens rest inside terrariums at the Best Friends Animal Society shelter in April 2017 in Mission Hills, California. A chart helps workers keep track of their behavior, weight, and care schedule. Patrick T. Fallon / The Washington Post via Getty Images

Cats reproduce when females begin estrus, more commonly known as “going into heat,” during which hormones and behavior changes signal she’s ready to mate. Cats can go into heat several times a year, with each cycle lasting up to two weeks. But births typically go up between the months of April and October. While it’s well established that lengthening daylight triggers a cat’s estrus, the effect of rising temperatures on kitten season isn’t yet understood.

Regardless of the exact mechanism, having a large number of feral cats around means trouble for more than just animal shelters.

One theory is that milder winters may mean cats have the resources to begin mating sooner. “No animal is going to breed unless they can survive,” said Christopher Lepczyk, an ecologist at Auburn University and prominent researcher of free-ranging cats. Outdoor cats’ food supply may also be increasing, as some prey, such as small rodents, may have population booms in warmer weather themselves. Kittens may also be more likely to survive as winters become less harsh. “I would argue that temperature really matters,” he said.

Others, like Peter J. Wolf, a senior strategist at the Best Friends Animal Society, think the increase comes down to visibility rather than anything biological. As the weather warms, Wolf said people may be getting out more and noticing kittens earlier in the year than before. Then they bring them into shelters, resulting in rescue groups feeling like kitten season is starting earlier.

Regardless of the exact mechanism, having a large number of feral cats around means trouble for more than just animal shelters. Cats are apex predators that can wreak havoc on local biodiversity. Research shows that outdoor cats on islands have already caused or contributed to the extinction of an estimated 33 species. Wild cats pose an outsized threat to birds, which make up half their diet. On Hawaiʻi, known as a bird extinction capital of the world, cats are the most devastating predators of wildlife. “We know that cats are an invasive, environmental threat,” said Lepczyk, who has published papers proposing management policies for outdoor cats.

Scientists, conservationists, and cat advocates all agree unchecked outdoor cat populations are a problem, but they remain deeply divided on solutions. While some conservationists propose the targeted killing of cats, known as culling, cat populations have been observed to bounce back quickly, and a single female cat and her offspring can produce at least 100 descendants, if not thousands, in just seven years.

Although sterilization protocols such as “trap, neuter, and release” are favored by many cat rescue organizations, Lepczyk said it’s almost impossible to do it effectively, in part because of how freely the animals roam and how quickly they procreate. Without homes or sanctuaries after sterilization, returning cats outside means they may have a low quality of life, spread disease, and continue to harm wildlife. “No matter what technique you use, if you don’t stop the flow of new cats into the landscape, it’s not gonna matter,” said Lepczyk.

Rescue shelters, already under strain from resource and veterinary shortages, are scrambling to confront their new reality. While some release materials to help the community identify when outdoor kittens need intervention, others focus on recruiting for foster volunteer programs, which become essential caring for kittens who need around-the-clock-care.

“As the population continues to explode, how do we address all these little lives that need our help?” Dunn said. “We’re giving this everything we have.”

This article originally appeared in Grist at https://grist.org/science/kitten-season-animal-shelter-cat-wildlife/.

Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Grist.org

about cats and the environment

Stormy Daniels doc shows how disbelieving one woman can be a blueprint for our democracy under Trump

Throughout “Stormy” we’re shown the many ways Stormy Daniels has been co-opted to suit others’ purposes. To right-wing bullies, she’s a safe target for venom and death threats.

To her one-time lawyer Michael Avenatti, she was a ticket to the national stage.

For a time, she was a symbol of the #MeToo movement and a great hope for white feminists battling Trump, despite her being a registered Republican.

At this moment, she’s at the heart of a New York criminal trial charging Trump with falsifying business records connected to paying off Daniels to remain quiet about their 2006 affair during his 2016 campaign. It was set to go to court this week but was delayed for another month.

No matter the time or context, Daniels is an effective distraction. Adult film stars aren’t considered to be fully human, Daniels says. That makes her a prop to be hoisted when it’s convenient for a particular constituency and abandoned at will.

Avenatti proved that by loudly playing her biggest advocate only to cost her dearly. Without her knowledge or consent, he filed a defamation suit against Trump that Avenatti announced on Twitter which he then lost, along with an appeal. A judge ordered Daniels to pay Trump’s legal fees, a tally that currently sits at more than $600,000.

That public defeat became the first domino that knocked down sales of her once-bestselling book, “Full Disclosure.” The same people who once supported her said they wouldn’t buy it, knowing the proceeds would be going to Trump.

Manhattan DA bends to Trump's request for a delay in Stormy Daniels hush-money case

As for Avenatti, he’s serving time for defrauding and extorting several entities and former clients – including Daniels, from whom he stole nearly $300,000.

Daniels, meanwhile, can’t find a moment’s peace. She’s still on the hook to pay back Trump. The trial reignited his cult’s hatred for her, forcing her to uproot her life again. Someone shot a rubber bullet at one of her horses, hoping to lure her into the open. She fears for her daughter’s safety.

Stormy Daniels in "Stormy" (Peacock)By now we know this story and should be troubled by how familiar it is. The political and pop cultural frenzy over Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, may have peaked in 2018 but has never entirely subsided. After the Wall Street Journal broke the story about Daniels’ affair with Trump and the hush-money payment facilitated by Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, Daniels became a household name.

Adult film stars aren’t considered to be fully human, Daniels says. That makes her a prop to be … abandoned at will.

She would go on to appear on “60 Minutes,” giving the news magazine its highest ratings in more than a decade. A “Saturday Night Live” cold open followed, and then she sold out strip clubs across the country as a featured headliner. This wasn’t a deviation from how she earned money before Trump hauled her into the spotlight, she says in "Stormy." “If you drive an ice cream truck . . . and you don’t drive it the week of a heat wave, you’re an idiot,” she deadpanned.

If you didn’t already know it, or assumed otherwise, “Stormy” establishes the woman isn’t dumb. But she is exhausted from being politically and monetarily exploited.

Much more than that, she says she is frustrated that the justice system has failed her at each turn, both the ones we know about and others revealed in Sarah Gibson’s documentary, which she co-produced with Erin Lee Carr (“Mommy Dead and Dearest”).

But as MSNBC pundit Rachel Maddow reminds us, “The issue is not her. The issue is the crime.”

The hush-money charges are among the 91 felony counts Trump is currently facing, and one of several cases in which women play a prominent role either on the prosecutorial side or, in Daniels’ case, as a star witness. He has relished threatening their lives and professional reputations.

At the height of the scandal, news vehicles were parked in front of Daniels' house and photographers followed her. In one scene she’s unable to stop reading aloud explicit death threats against her and her family posted on social media from accounts that no longer bother to mask their identity. Their users know nothing will happen to them.

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Her situation isn’t terribly dissimilar to other women who have since gone public with accounts of politically powerful men who they allege to have sexually abused or assaulted them.

E. Jean Carroll, for example, may receive some monetary remedy from Trump after a civil jury found him liable of sexual abuse, battery and defamation, but any sense of safety she might have felt before she went public has surely vanished.

Stormy Daniels in "Stormy" (Peacock)Daniels’ case differs in that she maintains that the sex with Trump was consensual although she didn’t want it, a statement that implies caveats. As she describes in the documentary, she’d met Trump in his hotel room in 2006 to discuss the possibility of her appearing on “The Celebrity Apprentice.”

“He told me that I reminded him of his daughter . . . I thought we had this mutual respect,” she said, “which is why it was so crazy when having no red flag whatsoever in a conversation, I came out of a bathroom to find myself cornered.

“I don’t remember how I got in the bed, and the next thing I know, it was humping away and telling me how great I was,” Daniels continued. “It was awful. But I didn’t say no.” (Trump has always officially denied having any relationship with Daniels.)

Later in the film she makes a connection between Trump’s infamous statement in that infamous "Access Hollywood" tape statement” and that uninvited sexual interlude. She realizes that she could have put up a fight but didn’t, perhaps because she was raised not to question powerful men.

People want to believe what they want to believe, no matter what, she says. And many do. Among those who appear in the documentary to speak on her behalf are Seth Rogen, whom she befriended while working on “Knocked Up” (a film by Judd Apatow, an executive producer on “Stormy”), and Jimmy Kimmel.

If Trump is serious about taking revenge on his enemies, "Stormy" is one version of what that looks like.

Believing doesn’t necessarily translate to supporting the woman’s account. As my Salon colleague Amanda Marcotte has pointed out the MAGA faithful is entirely fine with Trump having assaulted women or his extramarital affairs because, to them, powerful men dominating women is the natural hierarchy upended by the feminist and the civil rights movements.

“Stormy” brings us inside a few headlines we may have forgotten in the blur of Trump outrage between 2016 and 2020, courtesy of footage from journalist Denver Nicks. His video constitutes the bulk of the candid scenes featured in “Stormy”; he began filming Daniels around the same time as the “60 Minutes” interview, and they eventually became romantically involved, contributing to her divorce from her third husband Brendon Miller.

He’s present, for example, when Daniels was arrested in Columbus, Ohio, after two undercover vice cops who were also Trump supporters asked her to rub her breasts in their face, thereby luring her into committing a crime.

The charges were dropped, but not before police took her mugshot. She went on to receive $450,000 to settle a suit accusing the city of Columbus of civil rights violations.

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In 2019 she was also denied entry into Canada after 17 false felony charges appeared on her FBI record; her interaction with a border officer was captured via cellphone footage. More than a nuisance, this further curtailed her ability to make a living since she understood that if the wrong person pulled her over, she could be jailed.

Stormy Daniels in "Stormy" (Peacock)This is among the most salient takeaways from “Stormy” for those viewing it as a part of a warning system for our democracy, with which the star wouldn’t take issue. If Trump is serious about taking revenge on his enemies, Daniels’ story is one version of what that looks like.

Thus it’s understandable that the defiant Daniels we meet at the beginning of the documentary is unbowed but tattered by the end of “Stormy,” regretting that she ever spoke out because of what it cost her. She won’t give up, she says, because she’s telling the truth.

But, as she tells a pair of "Good Morning Britain" hosts during a recent visit to the U.K., “Nobody cares what the truth is anymore.”

One of the presenters asks, “Are you frightened?”

“Yes,” she answers. “I think we all should be.”

"Stormy" is now streaming on Peacock.

about culture and politics

“I would be forced to mortgage”: Trump melts down on Truth Social as lawyers admit he can’t get bond

Former President Donald Trump lashed out at the judge who imposed a $450+ million penalty in his New York fraud case after his lawyers admitted he was unable to secure a bond to appeal the case.

Trump’s lawyers on Monday asked a New York appeals court to stay the enforcement of the judgment in his fraud case, saying it has been impossible to secure a bond necessary to appeal the judgment after approaching 30 different underwriters.

The former president lashed out at the judge on Truth Social after the filing.

“Engoron wants me to put up the ridiculous fine (I DID NOTHING WRONG!) before I get a chance to Appeal his crazed ruling – A first!” Trump falsely wrote. New York law requires a defendant to put up the full judgment amount with interest in order to appeal a civil judgment.

“Judge Engoron actually wants me to put up Hundreds of Millions of Dollars for the Right to Appeal his ridiculous decision. In other words, he is trying to take my Appellate Rights away,” Trump falsely claimed again in another post. “Nobody has ever heard of anything like this before. I would be forced to mortgage or sell Great Assets, perhaps at Fire Sale prices, and if and when I win the Appeal, they would be gone. Does that make sense? WITCH HUNT. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!”

Trump continued to lash out at the judge in a series of more than a half-dozen posts on Monday night and Tuesday morning, claiming that his Mar-a-Lago property is worth “50 to 100 times” more than what Judge Arthur Engoron valued it at — even though the valuation was based on estimates by local officials.

Trump further lashed out at Engoron as a “Crazed, Trump Hating, Rogue Judge.”

“The Corrupt Political Hacks in New York, Judge and AG, are asking me to put up massive amounts of money before I am allowed to appeal the ridiculous decision. Never done before. No jury, no victim, full disclaimer clause, happy banks,” Trump repeated, falsely, about the New York law the requires him to put up the money to appeal.

“I shouldn’t have to put up any money, being forced by the Corrupt Judge and AG, until the end of the appeal,” he complained. “That’s the way system works!”

“All I’m trying to do is protect women”: Olympian Caitlyn Jenner supports ban on trans athletes

Former Olympian and reality television star Caitlyn Jenner said that she supported a local ordinance in New York that barred women's sports teams with female transgender athletes from using the country's facilities.

The Associated Press reported that the ban applies to over 100 athletic facilities in the Long Island suburbs. Jenner, who won the gold medal and broke the world record in decathlon in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, said that allowing trans athletes like herself against other women would “ruin women’s sports” in the future and “all I’m trying to do is protect women."

The reality star, who came out as a trans woman in 2015 said of the ban, “Let’s stop it now while we can.”

Nassau County's Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican like Jenner, issued the order in February, which requires any teams, leagues or organizations to request a permit from the county’s parks and recreation department to share the athletes' genders. However, the ban doesn't apply to men's teams with trans athletes — only teams with trans women would be denied a permit to use the facilities. This includes basketball and tennis courts, swimming pools and ice rinks.

While Jenner said that she has “sympathy” for LGBTQ people and “understands their struggles," she has been a longtime opponent of trans athletes from competing in women's sports. The former athlete argued that allowing transgender women to compete with cisgender women would weaken the progress female athletes have secured under Title IX, a law banning gender discrimination in programs that receive federal funds.

Republicans are using Tyson’s decision to hire migrants to push their “Great Replacement” lie

Leadership from Tyson Foods announced last week they would be shuttering one of the company’s pork plants in Perry, Iowa. It’s not great news for a town that is home to just over 7,800 people, however the shutdown comes after news of over ten similar closures that punctuated a year of record losses for the pork industry; in 2023, there was average loss for producers of about $32 per hog.

The same day Tyson made that announcement, the head of the company’s social efforts division, Garret Dolan, appeared in an article by Bloomberg with the headline “Tyson Is Hiring New York Immigrants for Jobs No One Else Wants.” The story details how companies like Tyson are struggling to fill what they characterize as “unpleasant jobs” with a US unemployment rate of 3.9%. As a result, the meatpacker is joining the nonprofit Tent Partnership for Refugees with a plan to hire some of the nearly 200,000 migrants who have come through New York City’s intake system over the past two years.

In the article, Dolan stated that Tyson “would like to employ another 42,000 [immigrants] if we could find them.”

There really is a "great replacement" — but it's not what Tucker Carlson says it is

Currently, according to Bloomberg, Tyson already employs about 42,000 immigrants among its 120,000-member American workforce, which is very likely why he invoked that specific number. However, in light of the news out of Perry, some top-level Republicans — including Ohio senator and potential Trump running mate JD Vance — are spinning a narrative wherein Americans are being replaced with thousands of migrant workers, leading some to refer to the situation as “‘The Great Replacement’ in motion.”

Strands of Great Replacement theory, sometimes also called the “white genocide” theory, originated in the late 19th century, but the concept was introduced to the wider contemporary public through the release of French author Renaud Camus’ 2011 book “Le Grand Replacement..” The theory, which has gained significant popularity in alt-right circles, argues that there is some deliberate plot among global leaders to replace white populations in Western countries with non-white immigrants.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, “the ‘great replacement’ philosophy was quickly adopted and promoted by the white supremacist movement, as it fit into their conspiracy theory about the impending destruction of the white race, also know as ‘white genocide.’ It is also a strong echo of the white supremacist rallying cry, ‘the 14 words:’ ‘We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.’”

The theory has been widely discredited by scholars and experts, who argue that it is a lie based on racist and xenophobic beliefs rather than factual evidence. Despite this, it continues to influence extremist ideologies and has been linked to acts of violence and terrorism. For example, Payton S. Gendron, who killed 10 in a 2022 mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket, allegedly wrote “a 180-page document filled with hateful rants about race and ties to the ‘great replacement,” according to NPR.

Sometimes, like in the case of chatter on social media about the Tyson situation, references to the theory are more straightforward. For instance, one YouTube video from the conservative account Pinball Preparedness, which has 109,000 subscribers, is literally titled: “The Great Replacement Theory in Action.”

“Well, Tyson Foods just did it,” the video description read. “They are getting rid of American workers and openly admitting they are trying to hire Illegals to replace them. Get ready, your stores, schools, communities…are all about to have you living as the problem if we let this continue.”

"All we know is that they are firing American workers and hiring illegal aliens to replace them."

However, sometimes Republicans’ allusions to the theory in public are a little more muted, though they are meant to stoke similar fears among their followers. For instance, Senator Vance appeared on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime” on Thursday and suggested that Tyson was complicit in the “decimation of the American dream.”

"All we know is that they are firing American workers and hiring illegal aliens to replace them,” Vance said. “This is the entire point of illegal immigration — and Republicans, we've got to hammer this point home."

This is, of course, despite the fact that studies from the Pew Research Center shows that Americans generally agree that immigrants, whether undocumented or living legally in the country, mostly “do not work in jobs that U.S. citizens want” which a majority saying so across racial and ethnic groups and among both political parties. According to a 2020 survey, about 77% of adults say undocumented immigrants mostly fill jobs U.S. citizens do not want. Remember the title of that Bloomberg article? “Tyson Is Hiring New York Immigrants for Jobs No One Else Wants.”

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In this case, Republicans’ “Great Replacement” narrative also assumes that all the Tyson plant employees who are losing their jobs in Perry are white. According to reports from NPR, Perry is one of only four communities in Iowa where Latinos make up at least one third of the population, many of whom were drawn there specifically for manufacturing and factory jobs. Local news reports indicate that the Perry Latino community is deeply impacted by the news.

Knock and Drop Iowa, a nonprofit organization based in Des Moines, is raising money to help support the employees who will be out of a job on June 28, the plant’s last official day. "We know that there's a lot of Latino families — they work at Tyson," Zuli Garcia, the organization’s founder, said in an interview with KCCI Des Moines.

Garcia continued: "That's their place. That's where they live. That's where they work. That's their home."

In a statement emailed to Salon Food, a representative from Tyson said that there has been a lot of misinformation in the media about their company and "felt compelled to set the record straight."

"Any insinuation that we would cut American jobs to hire immigrant workers is completely false," they said. "Tyson Foods is strongly opposed to illegal immigration, and we led the way in participating in the two major government programs to help employers combat unlawful employment, E-Verify and the Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers (IMAGE) program."

They continued: "Since being founded in 1935 in Arkansas, Tyson Foods has created jobs and employed millions of people in states all across America, the majority of whom are American citizens. Today, Tyson Foods employs 120,000 team members in the United States, all of whom are required to be legally authorized to work in this country. We have a history of strong hiring practices, and anybody who is legally able is welcome to apply to open job listings.”

Update: This story has been updated with a statement from Tyson.

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“The feeling is mutual”: Trump ripped for “depraved antisemitic screed” against Jewish Democrats

The White House and Jewish Democratic groups on Monday condemned former President Donald Trump’s claim that Jewish Democrats “hate” Israel.

“I actually think they hate Israel,” Trump told Sebastian Gorka, a former White House aide and conservative radio host. “And the Democrat party hates Israel.”

“Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion,” he later added. “They hate everything about Israel, and they should be ashamed of themselves because Israel will be destroyed.”

Trump’s comments came after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called on Israel to make “significant course corrections” in their assault on Gaza and hold new elections.

“The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7. The world has changed — radically — since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past,” Schumer said last week.

Donald Trump's last line of defense: Ramp up the "transactional antisemitism"

Schumer responded to Trump’s remarks on social media, warning that making Israel a “partisan issue only hurts Israel and the US-Israeli relationship.”

“Trump is making highly partisan and hateful rants,” he tweeted. “I am working in a bipartisan way to ensure the US-Israeli relationship sustains for generations to come, buoyed by peace in the Middle East.”

To make Israel a partisan issue only hurts Israel and the US-Israeli relationship.

Trump is making highly partisan and hateful rants.

I am working in a bipartisan way to ensure the US-Israeli relationship sustains for generations to come, buoyed by peace in the Middle East. https://t.co/uCMvZWZ8rF

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 18, 2024

James Singer, a spokesman for the Biden campaign, said the “only person who should be ashamed here is Donald Trump.”

“Donald Trump openly demeans Jewish Americans and reportedly thinks Adolf Hitler ‘did some good things,’” he said in a statement. “He has said the only people he wants counting his money are ‘short guys wearing yarmulkes,’ and praised neo-Nazis who chanted ‘Jews will not replace us’ as ‘very fine people.’”

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The White House also issued a statement saying that President Joe Biden “has put his foot down when it comes to vile and unhinged Antisemitic rhetoric.”

“As Antisemitic crimes and acts of hate have increased across the world – among them the deadliest attack committed against the Jewish people since the Holocaust – leaders have an obligation to call hate what it is and bring Americans together against it,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement. “There is no justification for spreading toxic, false stereotypes that threaten fellow citizens. None. Like President Biden said, he was moved to run for President when he saw Neo Nazis chanting ‘the same Antisemitic bile that was heard in Germany in the 1930s’ in Charlottesville.”

Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., called Trump’s comments “revolting, repugnant, and reprehensible,” according to Axios.

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Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., called Trump’s remarks an "outrageous slander against the vast majority of American Jews."

"Luckily I don't know any Jews who look to Donald Trump for advice on how to be Jewish," he said. "After all, this is the guy who saw 'very fine people on both sides' of an antisemitic riot and entertained the neo-Nazi Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes over at his house at Mar-a-Lago for dinner."

Trump has “no religion,” Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., told the outlet. "[He] never goes to church, certainly doesn't know anything about Matthew and the New Testament and less about Jews and their commitment to social justice and Israel."

Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, tweeted that accusing Jews of hating their religion because they might vote for a particular party is “defamatory” and “patently false.”

Halie Soifer, the head of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, noted that surveys have found that 79% of American Jewish voters have an unfavorable opinion of Trump.

“Another day, another depraved antisemitic screed from Donald Trump, who has repeatedly vilified the overwhelmingly majority of American Jews,” she wrote. “He first called us ‘uninformed or disloyal’ in 2019 and essentially repeated it today. The feeling is mutual.”

about Donald Trump

Jacques Pepin’s 8 best vegan and vegetarian dishes

Jacques Pepin's influence and sheer presence in the culinary world is unparalleled.

A living legend, Pepin was the personal chef of the French President in the 1950s before moving to the United States and becoming a top chef in various French restaurants throughout the city. He was close with Julia Child, appearing in many instructional television shows with her, and has written over 30 cookbooks.

He has 24 James Beard awards, an Emmy Award for Lifetime Achievement and a litany of other honors and awards. He also established a foundation in 2016 to support marginalized and lower-income adults looking to enter the culinary field.

Wolfgang Puck's 7 best vegan and vegetarian dishes

To put it simply, Pepin is an icon, through and through.

Within his vast recipe oeuvre, Pepin also has an amazing assortment of plant-based dishes. Looking to get away from animal proteins this spring? Look no further.

Black Olive Tapenade with Figs and Mint

Pungent, briny and bright, black olives are heightened by the nuanced flavor of fig and the freshness of mint. This tapenade mixes both oil-cured black olives with kalamata and also incorporates garlic, more olive oil and capers. The recipe calls for anchovy, but if you're looking to keep it vegan, just omit.

Pepin recommends pairing with bagel chips — and who are we to disagree?

Crêpes Suzette

The epitome of a classic French dish, this vegetarian staple is truly supreme and not all that challenging to make on your own. It also calls for staples that you most likely already have on hand.

If you're not well versed with crepe making, you may want to make some practice ones to start, but once you get the hang of it, you'll be rocking and rolling before you know it.

This dish is the perfect embodiment of the wonders of orange, butter and a touch of liqueur.

Maman's Cheese Soufflé

There's an intimidating narrative that's developed around soufflé making; I promise it's not incredibly difficult!

This dish is inspired by a minor mishap made by Pepin's mother when she was first learning to cook (not separating her egg whites from the yolks when making the batter) — but the mistake made the dish.

Another recipe that calls for staples you already have on hand, perhaps sans gruyere and chives, it is an exercise in simplicity and the end result will blow you away. Pair with a well-dressed green salad and some crusty bread for a light, perfect meal.

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Peas and Carrots with Two Onions

A stellar distillation of a classic vegetable pairing, this dish interestingly incorporates two alliums along with butter, water, flour and thyme to elevate the simple taste of the carrot and the verdant, tender peas. It all comes together in under 15 minutes and is an ideal side dish for practically any entree.

You may never make peas and carrots in a different manner after trying this.

Gnocchi Parisienne

Step aside, gnocchi made from potato or ricotta — this Parisienne Gnocchi is a whole different animal.

Fluffy, tender gnocchi made from flour, butter and milk are cooked thrice, ensuring a custardy interior and a crisped, slightly browned exterior. Finished with nothing more than oil, butter and Parmesan, the dish is classic and simple, with an incredible depth of flavor.

Grapefruit Granité with Mangoes and White Rum Mojito

There may not be a more refreshing dessert imaginable. A slushy, sweet iteration of a granita, with flavors of mango, grapefruit and a white rum enhancement, this dessert is akin to an icy, sightly-melted frozen margarita. This should go without saying, but it's stellar. Of course, feel free to skip the rum, if preferred.

The incredible pairing of grapefruit and mango, plus lime, honey, mint and even grenadine (Shirley Temple FTW) makes this one incredibly special recipe. Enjoy it all spring and summer long.

Skillet Apple Charlotte

If you've never had a charlotte before, this is a wonderful iteration with which to start.

Enhanced by honey, maple syrup, apricot preserves and butter, apples are sweetened and highlighted, and then paired with — believe it or not — white sandwich bread and sour cream. The end result is like nothing you've had before.

Pepin calls for Granny Smiths but if you have another variety of apple on hand, feel free to swap them in.

Summer Fruit Soup

Fruit soup — yep, you read that correctly!

This magnificent, wildly refreshing dish calls for a litany of fresh fruit plus white wine, creme de cassis, pomegranate juice, orange zest, basil and strawberry preserves, along with toasted brioche, mint, sour cream and sugar. You have to try it to understand how terrific this dish is, preferably on a scorchingly hot day. It's incredibly unique and the flavor is exquisite.

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Trump blows the MAGA whistle — and his signal is heard loud and clear

It may seem superfluous to say this, but it needs saying: He means it. Donald Trump meant it when he called his mob to Washington in December of 2020 by telling them, “Be there, will be wild!” and he means it right now when he tells the mobs at his rallies that the members of the January 6 Committee belong in jail, and if he is elected in November, he will have his Department of Justice “go after” President Biden and his family.

Donald Trump is dangerously escalating the rhetoric he is using to rile up his followers at his rallies. On Saturday in Dayton, Ohio, he saluted those convicted of violently attacking police officers and doing damage to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He called them “hostages” and “unbelievable patriots.” And he executed a military-style salute as a loudspeaker played a version of the National Anthem sung into a telephone in a federal prison by felons convicted of crimes at the Capitol.

Let’s stop right there and discuss what it means for Donald Trump to salute people convicted of committing crimes on Jan. 6. A report on ABC News way back in September of 2021, just eight months after the assault on the Capitol, said that a comprehensive review of police body-cam footage taken on Jan. 6 found that about 1,000 individual assaults had been committed against police officers. That doesn’t mean that 1,000 people had assaulted police officers. Instead, it means that an indeterminate number of people had committed 1,000 assaults on police officers – individual strikes with weapons, hits with fists, sprays with chemicals, pushing officers off their feet, dragging them by their feet, even in one case, dragging an officer down steps in front of the Capitol so that his head bounced as it fell from step to step.

Hundreds of supporters of Donald Trump have been convicted of violent offenses at this point. Some of them are facing years in prison for the assaults they committed. Remember the guy who beat a police officer with a flagpole? His name is Peter Stager, and he struck the officer as one of his compatriots, Logan Barnhart, was dragging the officer down the Capitol steps. In January, Stager was sentenced to 52 months in federal prison. Last April, Barnhart was sentenced to 36 months.

MAGA rage is making schools more dangerous

Those are just two of the “unbelievable patriots” Donald Trump saluted on Saturday in Ohio. Trump stood at attention with his right arm bent at the elbow and hand extended touching his right eyebrow. This is the position soldiers assume every day on an army post as the flag is lowered and the bugle call “Retreat” is played. It is the position soldiers assume when one of their compatriots is buried and a trio of riflemen fire their weapons seven times in quick succession just before “Taps” is played. Soldiers salute each other as they pass, the junior between them saluting the senior, and the senior officer returning the salute. It’s a sign of mutual respect that also honors the rank of the more senior officer. Soldiers stand at attention and salute as the flag passes in review at a parade, or when it is marched to the middle of a playing field before a football game as the National Anthem is sung.

Soldiers do not stand at attention and salute criminals convicted of assaulting police officers or invading the Capitol building. Soldiers do not salute felons convicted of interfering with the certification of an election by the United States Senate and House of Representatives. A salute is a form of honor.

Donald Trump has no honor to bestow on anyone. He doesn’t know what honor is. His supporters understand this. They don’t support him because he is an honorable man, but because he isn’t. They get that his salute is not a sign of respect but one of defiance. His salute signifies his belief that the laws that his supporters broke are illegitimate. Trump doesn’t believe in those laws, so his supporters don’t, either. What Trump is saying with his salute to his supporters is that he, and they, stand apart from the laws of this nation. They are a law unto themselves. When he promises that he will pardon the “hostages,” as he calls them, he is saying that they did not break the law because they were following his orders.

That was the defense of the Nazi defendants at the Nuremberg trials, and it has been used again and again by defendants facing charges for their actions on Jan. 6. They went to the Capitol because Donald Trump told them to. Donald Trump is acknowledging his role in what they did, in the crimes they committed, by promising to pardon them.

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But he’s doing more than that. He is signaling to the people at his rallies that if they follow him and obey his orders and somehow end up getting arrested, he will stand up for them and give them pardons, too.

He is turning them loose, and they know it. They come to his rallies so they can hear it directly from Trump himself and then go home and get ready to take his next set of orders as they did before Jan. 6, when he told them it was okay to “be wild” at the Capitol. If you can be wild at the Capitol and attack police officers with weapons like batons and flag poles and bear spray, you can be wild anywhere, and you can do anything.

What is Donald Trump really saying when he tells his crowds that he will protect their “sacred” Second Amendment? He is escalating his movement to the next level. He’s telling them that guns will be okay next time. Don’t leave them at home. Take them and use them.

Trump has begun his escalation. He has threatened a “bloodbath” if he is defeated in November. We watched the bloodbath on Jan. 6 at the Capitol. We get it. Here are the questions that remain: How far will it go this time? How many will die?

about the election from Lucian Truscott