“I’m offended”: Vili Fualaau feels exploited by “May December” ripping off his life story

Vili Fualaau, Mary Kay Letourneau's ex-husband, ripped Todd Haynes' Oscar buzz melodrama "May December" for its lack of "respect" for his life story.

"May December" follows the relationship between Gracie (Julianne Moore) and the much younger Joe (Charles Melton), with whom she began a relationship when he was 13 and she was 36. While Haynes' movie is fiction based on Samy Burch's screenplay, it is loosely inspired by the real-life controversial and predatory relationship that began when Fualaau was 12 and Letourneau was 34 in the '90s. The Hollywood Reporter said that Fualaau, now 40, has seen the movie and felt exploited by the media yet again.

“I’m still alive and well,” said Fualaau. “If they had reached out to me, we could have worked together on a masterpiece. Instead, they chose to do a rip-off of my original story.”

Burch has acknowledged that Fualaau and Letourneau are the film's inspirations, although it is not their story. The movie's details differs from the real-life people, such as changing ethnic backgrounds (Joe is half-Korean in the film, and Fualaau is Samoan). "May December" does however mimic the dialogue copied from a viral televised interview with the couple.

“I’m offended by the entire project and the lack of respect given to me — who lived through a real story and is still living it,” Fualaau said.

During the film's press rounds, the creative team behind "May December" tried to separate itself from the real-life inspiration. But Haynes said, "There were times when it became very, very helpful to get very specific about the research, and we learned things from that relationship."

Representatives for Netflix, Haynes and Melton did not respond to a request to comment, THR reported.

Here’s what you didn’t see about the Von Erich family in “The Iron Claw”

"The Iron Claw" is a 20th century Greek tragedy. Sean Durkin's two-hour biopic, led by Zac Efron in a career-defining role as former wrestler Kevin Von Erich, tells the devastating cautionary tale of the iconic wrestling Von Erich brothers in the 1980s and the supposed multi-generational curse that haunts their close-knit Texas family.

The Von Erich family's wrestling legacy begins with patriarch Fritz (a terrifying Holt McCallany), a big star in 1960s wrestling known for his signature move, The Iron Claw. He was a three-time wrestling world champion but tragedy struck the family the first time when eldest son Jackie died at six. Already the family had buzzed about curse that followed the Von Erich name, but this is the event that supposedly kicked off the streak in the '80s. Later, Fritz went on to create one of the first-ever renowned wrestling dynasties with his four boys, Kevin (Efron) Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), David (Harris Dickinson) and Mike (Stanley Simmons). The charismatic, muscled-up ensemble is a warm showing of what sibling love and dedication look like.

As the eldest, Kevin is a natural-born leader of the boys and steers them to the right path with compassion and empathy as their wrestling title-hungry and money-obsessed father pushes them beyond their limits in the sport. When they reach past those limits, their edges begin to fray and there's nothing even their love of wrestling and family can do to save them from their fatal ends — some say it is their fate or the curse but the film shows their intense familial circumstances and expectations. Each brother and son, one by one, die in the prime of their lives, leaving Kevin as the sole survivor.

"They perform pain": "Iron Claw" filmmaker on the contradictory emotional life of wrestlers

While the heartwrenching true story of the Von Erichs is dramatized in "The Iron Claw," there are still many details the movie leaves out. Here's what you didn't see about the Von Erich family in "The Iron Claw." The following contains descriptions of self-harm.

If you are in crisis, please call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

There were in fact six Von Erich brothers

While the movie accurately includes the heartbreaking death of Jackie, the eldest Von Erich — it omits that there were actually six Von Erich brothers in total. According to the director and writer Sean Durkin, the youngest brother, Chris, was included in earlier versions of the script. But since Chris's death is so similar to his older brothers, Kerry and Mike, who both died by suicide — Durkin decided that “the movie just couldn’t withstand another brother’s death.”

Instead, Mike and Chris' stories are combined into one. In the movie, Mike is the brother who is not interested in wrestling and quite honestly doesn't have the same physique as his ripped brothers. But in real life, he was also well built and was just as tall as his brothers Kevin and Kerry, standing at 6-foot-2. Chris was the smaller brother. He was only 5-foot-5 and was more susceptible to bone fractures because of his asthma medication. After his older brother Mike died by suicide at 23, a teenage Chris became depressed and developed a dependency on drugs. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot at 21 in 1991.

Fritz Von Erich and his wife Doris divorced in 1992

At the end of "The Iron Claw," the marriage between Fritz and his wife Doris (Maura Tierney) is teetering on the brink of collapse after the third consecutive death of their sons.

Fritz comes home from a long day of working out on his farm and asks Doris what's for dinner. She tells him she didn't make anything because she wasn't hungry. The camera pans to Doris painting.

It's the first time the audience sees her do something just for herself, acting beyond her domestic responsibilities to her now late boys and emotionally distant husband. In real life, after 42 years of marriage the couple divorced in 1992 shortly after Chris' death and before Kerry's. Doris lived in Hawaii with Kevin and his family in the last years of her life.

Fritz Von Erich threatened his son Kevin at gunpoint

Following the compounding loss of his sons and his divorce, Fritz was diagnosed with brain and lung cancer. Fritz, who was in a state of delusion, pulled a gun on Kevin, he said in a VICE documentary "Dark Side of the Ring." He held the gun to his only living son Kevin and said, “You’d kill yourself too if you have the guts.” Kevin replied, “Dad, it takes guts to live, not guts to die.”

Fritz died in his home in Texas in 1997. He lies in the same plot as his late son Kerry.

Kevin wasn't the only brother to get married and have children

While Kevin married Pam (Lily James in the movie), had four kids and a plethora of grandchildren and currently lives on a ranch with his extended family, he wasn't the only Von Erich brother to get married and have children.

When David was sent off to Japan to compete for an international title, he was married. His wife Trisha Matter did not appear in the movie. Before Matter, his first marriage was to Candy Mcleod but it fell apart after their infant daughter Natosha, died due to sudden infant death syndrome at 13 weeks old.

Kerry was also married. He was with his wife Catherine Murray for 10 years until they divorced in 1991, just a year before his suicide. They had two daughters together. One who would eventually join the wrestling ring with the Von Erich name, same as her cousins: Kevin's sons Marshall and Ross.

The Fake Von Erich Brothers

Wrestling can be gimmicky, and the fake Von Erich brothers prove exactly that. When Fritz's dynasty was dying out, he hired men who weren't part of his family to liven up the Von Erich name, following a wrestling tradition of debuting complete strangers as siblings.

The other wrestler who took on the Von Erich moniker was Lance Von Erich whose real name is William Vaughan. He was a wrestler brought on by Fritz. After Mike's injury, Lance was called in to replace him even though the rest of the brothers and even fans objected to it. The movie doesn't cover the fake Von Erich storyline, but Lance makes an appearance shortly after Mike’s shoulder surgery. In a scene where Kevin is waiting to be tagged into the ring in a tag-team match, Lance played by wrestler Maxwell Jacob Friedman, is inside the ring wrestling instead of Kevin.

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Grocery therapy: Rediscovering the joys of shopping small

Because the early days of the pandemic were such a blur, I honestly don’t remember who gave me this advice (it could have been a friend, an Instagram caption, the host of one of several vaguely cerebral podcasts I had in rotation at the time) but one thing I’ve found to be increasingly true is that when life’s tragedies, small and large, start to compound and everything begins to feel just suffocatingly big — that’s when it’s time to make your own life small again.

To get off Twitter, to unfollow and unsubscribe, to turn off the talking heads, even if for just a little while. It’s advice that echoes a favorite poem of mine by Kentucky writer and farmer Wendell Berry called “The Peace of Wild Things,” which begins:

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

When Berry is overwhelmed, he retreats to nature; these days, when I am overwhelmed, I retreat to tiny, locally-owned grocery stores.

There are still so many flavors of independent grocery stores — the crunchy-granola macrobiotic health food store, the Mexican tortilleria, the specialty pantry a la Alison Roman’s First Bloom or Ina Garten’s iconic Barefoot Contessa — but in his book “Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America,” author Michael Ruhlman details how we as a country moved relatively rapidly from the days of the neighborhood grocer to those of the big-box supermarket. In 1916, Piggly Wiggly changed the way we buy groceries permanently when they allowed shoppers to to pick out their own food and the development of the wheeled shopping cart soon followed.

From computerized carts to "Chef Bots," how AI is becoming a bigger part of grocery shopping

On August 4th, 1930, a 46-year old Michael J. Cullen opened the doors to King Kullen Grocery Company, which is largely regarded as the first supermarket because, according to the Smithsonian Institute, it fulfills “all five criteria that define the modern supermarket: separate departments; self-service; discount pricing; chain marketing; and volume dealing.”

A more modern, but perhaps mightier threat to the corner store than that of the supermarket is the dollar store. Every year, a thousand new ones open, and they are especially concentrated in rural stretches of the United States where access to grocery stores is already limited. Last year, Rigoberto Lopez, a professor of agricultural and resource economics at the University of Connecticut, found that when dollar stores enter these areas, independent grocery stores shut down.

On average, he writes, dollar stores coming into an area corresponds to a 5.7% decrease in sales at independent grocery stores, and a 2.3% increase in the likelihood of independent grocery retailers going out of business.“If two or three dollar stores come in, over time, this result will be magnified,” Lopez said in a December release from the university.

Between the steady influx of dollar stores and the impending $25 billion mega-merger of Kroger and Albertsons, a coupling so massive the Federal Trade Commission has held special sessions debating just how much of a monopoly it would create, it’s a tough landscape for locally-owned groceries — which is perhaps part of why it feels increasingly essential to support them (and definitely why I keep meaning to bring back my short-lived personal newsletter, “market share,” which highlighted beautiful independently-owned groceries across the country).

This is especially true when you consider how the average supermarket trip is now often just a collection of a tiny sensory nightmares: Waxy, plastic-wrapped produce languish in the oppressive, arctic blue-tinted glow of rectangular fluorescent ceiling lights; the relentless staccato chirping of the self-service check-out scanners, punctuated by the occasional, stern androidic reminder to actually scan all the items in one’s basket; pushing a cart with one wonky wheel through an aisle crowded with other carts with wonky wheels, their handlers idling nearby on their phones, blocking access to the jarred pasta sauce.

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It’s easy to romanticize the small grocery in comparison. Growing up in the suburbs, I certainly always did. When I got my license as a teenager, one of my favorite weekend activities was driving to the healthfood store near the state college campus and wandering the aisles that smelled of fresh-squeezed juice and incense, partially to buy the one particular brand of chocolate-soy pudding I liked, but mostly to people-watch.

On summer Saturdays, a farmer’s market was held nearby and it was always interesting to see shoppers come in to augment their bags of produce — with cans of coconut milk and scoops of bulk grains and blocks of firm tofu — and imagine the recipe for which they were shopping so methodically. It felt distinct from the overall energy of the big chain supermarket where my mom ran her errands and everyone seemed a little miffed while ticking items off their lists.

The ability to shop deliberately, fawning over individual perfect peaches and carefully comparing two beautiful cuts of meat, is a privilege, of course. For many Americans juggling time and budgetary concerns, it’s also just not a practical option. When you’re pulled between your full-time job, your side hustle and your kid’s dance recital, why not load up a supermarket cart with as many groceries it can hold, get out and get on with your life? It doesn’t make sense to make several stops at various corner and specialty stores because none of them carry the one brand of applesauce your toddler will actually eat.

But, in my desire to make my life a little smaller — an impulse that only seems to become more intense in the winters — I’m shopping smaller, too.

These days, for instance, I’ve been leaning on a lot of Vietnamese dishes because I happen to live on a street with three beautiful Vietnamese markets within walking distance. Compared to the local Mariano’s, my favorite, Viet Hoa Plaza, is an unexpected sensory delight, from the aisle with a kaleidoscopic array of bright tea tins and puffy bags of dried mushrooms, to the crates of burnt-orange yams and light green cabbages, to the flock of pigeons that burst into a frenzy of beaks and wings every time the sliding glass doors open or shut.

Their ingredients helped me attempt to mimic the cà ri gà, a coconut-chicken curry, from my favorite pho spot on the block. Plus, blessedly, they seem to play only instrumental music at a just-audible level (no realizing that your favorite song from high school has become supermarket music! Not here!).

Where Wendell Berry found solace in the company of wildlife, I like to commune with my fellow cooks. I like shopping where my neighbors shop, seeing all the same people I see out in the park every morning with their dogs picking out ingredients for dinner, even if we only acknowledge each other with a smile or a nod or some of my very poor, broken Vietnamese. After years of being separated by social distancing and sickness, it helps me feel like my world is both smaller and larger — just in the way I like.

essays about food and cooking

“White House for sale”: Report reveals Trump made over $6M from China and Saudi Arabia in office

Donald Trump's businesses raked in at least $7.8 million from 20 foreign governments throughout his presidency, new documents released by House Democrats on Thursday show, according to The New York Times. The overseas transactions, outlined in a 156-page report called "White House For Sale" produced by House Oversight Committee Democrats, provide hard evidence of the former president's engagement in the kind of conduct House Republicans accuse President Joe Biden of as they attempt to build an impeachment case against him despite their probe of his alleged dealings failing to yield any evidence.

The report details how foreign governments and their controlled entities, including a top U.S. adversary, patronized Trump's businesses while he was in office. They shelled out millions to the now-defunct Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.; the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas; Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York City; and Trump World Tower at 845 United Nations Plaza in New York. China made the largest total payment to Trump's properties, amounting to $5.5 million including millions from China's U.S. Embassy, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Hainan Airlines Holding Company, the report found.

Saudi Arabia was the business' second-largest customer, having dolled out more than $615,000 at the Trump World Tower and Trump International Hotel. ”By elevating his personal financial interests and the policy priorities of corrupt foreign powers over the American public interest, former President Trump violated both the clear commands of the Constitution and the careful precedent set and observed by every previous commander in chief,” wrote Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., in a foreword to the document. “That narrative is insane,” Eric Trump told the Times of the Democrats’ report, adding “there is no president in United States history who was tougher on China than Donald Trump.”

Fox News host highlights Trump’s inclusion in newly unsealed Jeffrey Epstein court documents

A Fox News host on Thursday emphasized Donald Trump's inclusion in the list of names mentioned in the newly unsealed court documents pertaining to child trafficker and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

"Fox & Friends" began its Thursday morning show diving into reports about the 40 files and over 900 pages of court documents related to a 2015 civil lawsuit made public on Wednesday that disclosed the names of more than 100 people allegedly connected to the disgraced financier described as his associates, victims or affiliates. Former President Bill Clinton, lawyer Alan Dershowitz and magician David Copperfield seemed to be the most noticed among those named in the documents, but former President Trump, according to Mediate, has largely evaded the spotlight garnered from the documents' release.

Following a brief news report, the talk show's panel mostly approached the subject with caution, but host Steve Doocy highlighted a New York Post report about Epstein's brother, Mark Epstein's, claim that his brother suggested to him that he had incendiary information on both the Clintons and Trump.

“His brother, Mark Epstein, spoke to The New York Post a couple of days ago,” Doocy said. “Mark Epstein, the brother, said Jeffrey told him once, quote, ‘If I said what I know about both candidates running in 2016' — meaning Hillary and Donald Trump — 'they’d have to cancel the election.’ He did not elaborate what that meant, however.”

Federal judge orders unsealing of documents naming over 150 Jeffrey Epstein associates

Doocy then referenced an alleged victim who testified that Jeffrey Epstein informed her Bill Clinton "likes them young" and that in one instance when she was traveling on Epstein's plane, they made an unplanned stop in Atlantic City, Epstein said, "Great, we’re going to call up Trump," and they went to visit the billionaire at a casino.

“But she wasn’t sure which casino it was,” host Ainsley Earhart said, to which Doocy replied, "They didn’t know that. But they did know it was Trump.”

Trump and Clinton are not accused of any wrongdoing. Trump previously lauded his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein in a 2002 profile in New York Magazine.

“I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy,” Trump told the magazine at the time. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”

Trump and Clinton were among the dozens of powerful men linked to the convicted trafficker through the court documents, which Manhattan-based federal Judge Loretta Preska ordered unsealed last month.

According to NPR, the documents also refer to Prince Andrew, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, actor Kevin Spacey, the late New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former Vice President Al Gore, among others. Their presence in the documents does not translate to evidence of wrongdoing or mean that any of them have been accused of wrongdoing.

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Many of the most prominent individuals named in the documents were already known to have ties to Epstein because of his previous court cases and media disclosures. Most of those named publicly have denied wrongdoing or previous knowledge of Epstein's criminal acts.

These newly unsealed records do, however, provide more details on the highly publicized case and new salacious allegations about these powerful men's behavior, NPR notes.

Federal prosecutors said Epstein, whose decades of private financial work served a secretive list of wealthy clients, also ran an underage sex-trafficking ring based in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida. He allegedly hatched a plot to identify and exploit "dozens" of vulnerable young women and girls, some of whom were 14 years old, that began around 1994 and lasted until at least 2004.

In civil lawsuits that came later, some of his victims claimed that Epstein instructed them to have sex with a slate of powerful men. He arranged sexual encounters for "numerous prominent American politicians, powerful business executives, foreign presidents, a well-known Prime Minister, and other world leaders," one suit filed in 2014 claimed.

The newly unsealed records naming associates of Epstein were originally compiled as part of a 2015 civil lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was one of Epstein's underage victims.

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Bill Clinton's name appears frequently in the documents, with another mention alleging that the former president took a trip with Epstein to Thailand.

Angel Ureña, a spokesman for Clinton, said it had been nearly 20 years since Clinton had last had contact with Epstein, who died in 2019, and that the former president has never been accused of any wrongdoing. Ureña also referred NPR to a previous 2019 statement on behalf of Clinton responding to the allegations of ties to Epstein.

"President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New York," the statement began.

Statement on Jeffrey Epstein. pic.twitter.com/98ha9YYd1l

— Angel Ureña (@angelurena) July 8, 2019

As early as 2005, local, state and federal authorities in Florida probed Epstein's alleged illicit sexual activity involving minors.

After thorough negotiations with prosecutors, Epstein dodged federal prosecution and was allowed to plead guilty to relatively minor state charges involving prostitution and prostitution involving a minor. He was given an 18-month sentence, much of which took place in a Florida work-release program.

Epstein, who was released in 2009, continued to move in circles with influential, wealthy and powerful people. A Wall Street Journal investigation released last month found that following his conviction, the then registered sex-offender was often accompanied "by attractive women in their late teens or twenties" to meetings with celebrities, billionaires and politicians.

The Miami Herald's 2018 exposé of Epstein's crimes and legal deal-making made Epstein's world come crashing down, and the then-66-year-old was arrested in July 2019 on federal sex-trafficking charges.

Officials in the Department of Justice said he died by suicide in prison a month later while awaiting trial.

about Jeffrey Epstein

“Sure, Jan”: Legal experts mock Trump’s motion seeking to hold Jack Smith in contempt

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday filed a motion arguing that special counsel Jack Smith should be held in contempt for continuing to submit court filings in the D.C. election subversion case while proceedings are paused. Smith last week asked U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan to bar Trump from introducing “irrelevant disinformation” into the case in a filing Trump claimed was “illegal.”

"The stay order is clear, straightforward, and unambiguous," Trump attorney John Lauro wrote in the filing. "All substantive proceedings in this court are halted. Despite this clarity, the prosecutors began violating the stay almost immediately." The filing asked Chutkan to release an order showing why prosecutors should not be held in contempt or ordered to withdraw their filing and be barred from making future filings.

MSNBC legal analyst Katie Phang noted that Trump also used the filing to “repeat his story that he ‘called only for peaceful and patriotic protest and assembly’” ahead of the Jan. 6 attack. “Sure, Jan,” she wrote. “The proceedings are stayed” anyway, pointed out national security attorney Bradley Moss. “Trump doesn't have to do anything in response to the filings. Doesn't stop DOJ from still producing discovery and filing things. If the case is thrown out by the Supreme Court, the filings will become irrelevant.”

“F**king clown”: Republican rips Fox News host who “cheated on his wife and left her with twins”

Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, went after Fox News host Jesse Watters after he dinged the lawmaker over his stock trades.

Watters on Tuesday cited a report showing lawmakers outperforming the stock market in the last year.

🚨BREAKING🚨

I have just released the full report on politicians trading in 2023.

Like every year since 2020, US politicians beat the market.

And many in Congress made unusually timed trades resulting in huge gains.

Here are the top performers of 2023. pic.twitter.com/ykf9VICsBw

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 2, 2024

The host noted that Crenshaw beat the stock market by 13 points while listing other lawmakers who performed even better.

"Uh-oh": Fox News hosted a psychic to predict Trump's 2024 fate — and it didn't go well

“A lot of them investing in companies they had inside information on,” Watters said. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is what corruption looks like. And that is why Congress still hasn’t passed a ban on insider stock trade.”

Our politicians crushed the market in 2023- smoking professional money managers who do this all day for a living. Some of them are even investing in companies they have inside information on.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is what corruption looks like. And this is why Congress… pic.twitter.com/fdyXhBx5WS

— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) January 3, 2024

The segment did not sit well with the Texas Republican.

“Hey you fu**ing hack, if you’re gonna accuse me of literal corruption, get your facts straight and man up and accuse me to my face,” Crenshaw wrote on Instagram, according to The Daily Beast. “You’re a fu**ing clown, desperate for clickbait.”

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Crenshaw claimed he had only invested $10,000 in stocks and did not make any trades in over a year. He also said that he never had more than $20,000 invested since coming to Congress.

“Fox knows this but they’re desperate for fake controversy to get clicks,” Crenshaw wrote. “Watters is a tool, making millions to push conspiracies on tv, and bash veterans like me who are barely a fraction of his net worth. Wake up America. The political entertainment industry is almost always lying to you.”

Crenshaw called Watters a “dirt bag millionaire at Fox” who was accusing him for a crime with no evidence and said the host “grew up with a silver spoon” because his family is made up of “well connected journalists and politicians.”

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Watters has “fooled” his fans into “believing he’s some genuine blue collar conservative,” Crenshaw wrote. “Yeah, he’s such a ‘conservative’ he cheated on his wife and then left her with twins while he went off with another Fox producer,” he added, referring to Watters’ previously reported affair.

After his tirade at Watters, Crenshaw wrote that Fox “canceled an interview we had pre-scheduled tonight.”

“Guess I hurt their feelings by calling out their bulls**t,” he added.

A Fox News source told The Daily Beast that Crenshaw was not scheduled to appear on the network but he was previously booked to appear on a Fox Business show and the cancellation was unrelated to the outburst.

about Fox News

“No shame. No decency”: Experts shocked at “weakness” of Trump’s bizarre Supreme Court ballot appeal

Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday appealed the Colorado ruling barring him from the state’s primary ballot to the Supreme Court.

The Colorado Supreme Court last month found that Trump engaged in an insurrection on Jan. 6 and was barred from appearing on the ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment — a post-Civil War provision barring insurrectionists from office.

Trump’s lawyers in a filing asked the U.S. Supreme Court to put his name back on the ballot, arguing it would "mark the first time in the history of the United States that the judiciary has prevented voters from casting ballots for the leading major-party presidential candidate.”

Trump’s team called on the court to "return the right to vote for their candidate of choice to the voters,” arguing that only Congress has the authority to determine who is eligible for the presidency.

Trump’s team also disputed that he engaged in insurrection, citing a "long history of political protests that have turned violent."

Legal experts criticized Trump’s filing starting with the very first line, which noted that it is a “fundamental principle” of the Constitution that “the people should choose whom they please to govern them.”

“No shame. No decency,” tweeted former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, alluding to Trump’s own efforts to disenfranchise voters after his 2020 loss.

This is, quite literally, the first thing Trump's lawyers write: it is a fundamental principle that the people should choose whom they please to govern them.

No shame. No decency. https://t.co/waf83QzPQ9 pic.twitter.com/sLLEM8i6in

— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) January 4, 2024

“The sort of gall that the brief represents, it's really, I think, shocking,” former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, who served on special counsel Bob Mueller’s team, told MSNBC. “It's really sort of beyond the pale and legally wrong.”

“It would not surprise me”: Experts on how Supreme Court may bail out Trump in Colorado and Maine

“Donald Trump is charged with, essentially, disenfranchising, trying to disenfranchise 80 million people,” Weissmann said.

Conservative attorney George Conway went through the indictment on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday.

"This is a bizarre document, and I think it reflects the weakness of Trump's position,” he said.

"He is throwing stuff up at the wall, or throwing stuff up in a zoo cage, and seeing what would stick,” Conway said, noting that Trump lacks “real appellate advocates” on his legal team and that the filing is effectively “channeling Trump’s narcissism.”

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"The third reason, I think, is the fundamental weakness of his position. The fifth point in this brief, point five, Roman numeral five, is he didn't engage in insurrection. It is not number one. The reason is, it's because his arguments are very, very weak. If you look at the question in terms of President Trump should be removed from the ballot, it's kind of a shocking notion to those of us who haven't lived, until now, in an era where public officials engage in insurrection. But it was familiar to the people who enacted the 14th amendment,” he said.

"When you go through the issues one by one by one, the way lawyers are supposed to, his case looks terrible," he added.

CNN legal analyst Elie Honig, a former federal prosecutor, noted that Trump’s argument that he did not engage in insurrection is a “weak argument.”

“First on the facts but second, the Supreme Court’s not going to touch that,” he said. “They’re not a fact-finder, they don’t do trials. They generally won’t make that kind of finding.”

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Honig said it is unclear how the court might look at Trump’s arguments that the matter should be left to Congress or that he was not given due process in the Colorado case.

"And then the fourth argument is this claim that the term 'officers,' as it's used in the insurrection clause, doesn't include the president. I tend to side with Colorado and [the plaintiffs] on that one. You can carve that up linguistically either way but just [on] common sense, how could it not apply to the president?” Honig questioned. "All of this is new… whatever happens here, we're all going to learn together."

1.3.24 915 PM CNN's @kaitlancollins w/ CNN contributor and Former Nixon White House Counsel @JohnWDean and CNN Senior Legal Analyst @eliehonig Topic: Insurrection 101 (5 Minutes) pic.twitter.com/fJnpjT1Kau

— Jeff Storobinsky (@jeffstorobinsky) January 4, 2024

about the Trump ballot challenges

Americans are tuning out. That’s a good thing

Welcome to 2024. What a brave new world.

The White House conducted its first press briefing of the new year on Wednesday. Press secretary Karine Jeanne-Pierre defended U.S. actions in the Middle East and tried to remind us that President Biden has done more in one term than most presidents have done in two.

Yes. We’ve heard this before.

Donald Trump, on the other hand, remains the political equivalent of a ravenous zombie terrorizing the populace as he doubles down on his Nazi propaganda.

Yes, we’ve seen this before.

Also, in the brave new world of 2024, Harvard’s president Claudine Gay has resigned, following former University of Pennsylvania president M. Elizabeth Magill, who resigned in December, four days after the two sat before Congress and appeared to evade the question of whether students who called for the genocide of Jews should be punished. On Wednesday, Gay wrote a New York Times opinion piece that said, “My character and intelligence have been impugned. My commitment to fighting antisemitism has been questioned. My inbox has been flooded with invective, including death threats. I’ve been called the N-word more times than I care to count.”

Yes, we’ve heard this before as well.

Outrage after Harvard president resigns amid "attacks and threats fueled by racial animus"

It is interesting to note that she was laid low after appearing before Congress. This is, of course, the same Congress that wants to conduct impeachment hearings on the president without having any evidence. It also can’t pass a budget, and includes members itching for a national ban on abortion and the ability to prosecute women for murder if they have one.

So, in other words, 2024 at this early stage looks just like its predecessor. Donnie Dork is terrified of a fast approaching criminal reckoning while he also whips himself into a frenzy to remain the center of attention. Part of him longs for the spotlight and would enjoy being strapped to the back of a hydrogen bomb as it is dropped on an unsuspecting countryside. He’d whoop and holler, screaming like a wild banshee overdosing on Adderall, waving his cowboy hat and loving the attention. If he had to flagellate himself in public while wrapped around a flag and taking a golden shower in used Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, Trump would do it.

But, do not add me to those who are criticizing Donald Trump for his sights, smells or sounds. I’m immune to such scatological references. I’ve helped my wife raise three boys. The difference, as near as I can tell, is that Trump still acts like a small boy while my boys conduct themselves as men. I couldn’t care less how he smells, or what Sarah Sanders, Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell, and a host of other national politicians look or smell like.

I only care what their policies and public agenda look and smell like. Okay, some of them are physically repulsive, but I ain’t saying who and I’m including every politician I know in the pool of potential offenders.

But, I for one would like to move on, shall we?

We face the first week of 2024 still appearing to be as divided as ever.

There are those among us who enjoy the division. In fact, sowing the seeds of anger and fear, some hope to erode public faith in the pillars of our society: education, journalism, electoral politics, and the Constitution. If we only dwelled online, our hope would appear minimal.

There is another way.

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The last week of 2023 found me in the Boji Stone Café in Chillicothe, Mo. It’s the city advertised as being “the home of sliced bread.” Supply your own punchline. I enjoyed the area. The family found itself there to meet my son’s in-laws as we traveled for the holidays. The café’s business card includes “Get Boji Stoned” underneath a photo of a single espresso in a demitasse. You know just what kind of place it is. The food was great and it is as authentic as the greatest neighborhood diners in New York and more so than most places there, in D.C., Chicago or L.A.

The topic of conversation that morning was about Gypsy Rose Blanchard, the victim of child abuse who spent eight years of a 10-year sentence behind bars for her role in the murder of her abusive mother. She had been released at 3:30 a.m. that morning from the state prison just, “down the road.”

“You know they did that so there would be no press,” my waitress explained. Other diners chimed in similar opinions. It was around 10 a.m. and the atmosphere was friendly and cordial. It was a “red” crowd in a “red” state – but I felt right at home.

No one in that diner spoke about the coming presidential race. Indeed, a friendly waitress said her parents and grandparents always told her the two things you don’t discuss with people are religion and politics. And now, she told me, that’s all people talk about. Amen. I’ll vote for that.

And while it seems we’re an angry culture, I didn’t see it in Chillicothe and I didn’t see it anywhere in Missouri, or when I visited California.

While in the Golden State, my son and I took a drive to Ventura to see where a “mini-tsunami” better known as a rogue wave, splashed ashore. No one at Duke's on the oceanfront was talking about the presidential race either. The food was good, and most of the conversations were of a personal nature, or about the strange, large wave that rolled ashore two days ago. Nowhere did I find anyone as angry and as divisive as we’ve been led to believe we all are.

The real world? We still have hope. On the Internet, everyone’s pissed off and the world seems hopeless. But, when people actually interact with one another, face to face, I’ve found that the anger subsides. The fear recedes. The connection expands. Not always, but enough to give me hope.

Only online do we see people wrapping themselves around binary choices. The fact is many people on both sides of the aisle say they want “better choices than we got now,” and many people grow tired of listening to the coyotes howl.

How politicians are dealing with this apparent disconnect depends on whether you have hope for the future or are running from it.

GOP's Biggest Losers of 2023: Donald "Smells Like A Butt" Trump and his fellow insurrectionists

Trump continues to sow fear. President Biden? Well, so far the Democrats and Joe Biden have been called “bargain basement” in their strategy in various media posts, or “alarmingly calm” and completely confident they have 2024 well in hand.

According to a recent CNN report, Biden’s folks remain calm because they think Trump is like a broken record. “You have this moment in the first quarter where he is continuing to go full MAGA extremist now in order to shore up support in his own base,” a senior campaign aide told CNN about Trump, asking for anonymity to discuss internal strategy. “While he may be successful in that effort, if we do our job, we’ll point out that everything he’s saying is extreme and unpopular.”

“(Trump) does take up a lot of oxygen right now. But most of that oxygen right now is about the stakes for him – what may or may not happen to Donald Trump, and very little about how that is going to impact the American people,” the senior campaign aide told CNN. “We have to make sure it’s about the harm he’s going to inflict on the American people.”

I think you need more than just telling us why Donald Trump sucks, but the Associated Press reports nearly the same thing. “In a strategy memo obtained by The Associated Press, Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said her team is already looking beyond the Republican presidential primary to a general election “that will be very close.” But “the message Joe Biden ran on in 2020 remains popular with voters and central to this campaign.”

“The president and vice president have a strong message that resonates with voters, a clear contrast with whoever the MAGA Republican Party nominates,” Rodriguez wrote. “This campaign will win by doing the work and ignoring the outside chatter — just like we did in 2020.”

Cautiously optimistic, or is Rodriguez out of touch with reality? Only 45,000 votes in a few states, after all, kept Donald Trump from a second term.

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Hello. Clearly, millions of people don’t get it – thus once again pointing out the need for more interaction. Without laying blame at anyone’s feet for this, it appears the ability to communicate with one another has receded as our ability to communicate has expanded. Facts, figures, news reports, advertising and wrapping oneself in an American flag while using “influencers” to spread the word via the Internet is taking over political communication. Meanwhile the personal touch withers and dies.

Okay, maybe you are convinced it is because Trump literally smells. But a personal touch is needed. Just consider Donald Trump. He’s creepier in person than he is on television or the Internet. The more people who meet him, the better off we all are. And, remember, It was Harry Truman who went on a whistle-stop tour of the country and that helped him snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat in 1948. Maybe it’s time for some old-school hand-shaking with less time spent on social media – by everyone.

Facts have become far too malleable. Our collective sense of humor is far too brittle. Our reactions to one another are far too extreme. It is driven by a lack of personal interaction, fear and ignorance.

At the end of her New York Times op-ed, Gay said something many of us have said often during the last decade.“At tense moments, every one of us must be more skeptical than ever of the loudest and most extreme voices in our culture, however well organized or well connected they might be. Too often they are pursuing self-serving agendas that should be met with more questions and less credulity.”

No kidding. That is so 2023.

I’m looking forward to better from everyone in 2024.

And from Joe Biden? His campaign kicks off this week. He has a State of the Union speech coming up soon. Those two events will show whether he still has the fire in his belly – as will the number of personal appearances he makes.

from Brian Karem

Can family doctors deliver rural America from its maternal health crisis?

CAIRO, Ga. — Zita Magloire carefully adjusted a soft measuring tape across Kenadie Evans’ pregnant belly.

Determining a baby’s size during a 28-week obstetrical visit is routine. But Magloire, a family physician trained in obstetrics, knows that finding the mother’s uterus and, thus, checking the baby, can be tricky for inexperienced doctors.

“Sometimes it’s, like, off to the side,” Magloire said, showing a visiting medical student how to press down firmly and complete the hands-on exam. She moved her finger slightly to calculate the fetus’s height: “There she is, right here.”

Evans smiled and later said Magloire made her “comfortable.”

Being Black and pregnant in the Deep South can be a dangerous combination

The 21-year-old had recently relocated from Louisiana to southeastern Georgia, two states where both maternal and infant mortality are persistently high. She moved in with her mother and grandfather near Cairo, an agricultural community where the hospital has a busy labor and delivery unit. Magloire and other doctors at the local clinic where she works deliver hundreds of babies there each year.

Scenes like the one between Evans and Magloire regularly play out in this rural corner of Georgia despite grim realities mothers and babies face nationwide. Maternal deaths keep rising, with Black and Indigenous mothers most at risk; the number of babies who died before their 1st birthday climbed last year; and more than half of all rural counties in the United States have no hospital services for delivering babies, increasing travel time for parents-to-be and causing declines in prenatal care.

“Obviously the crisis is here,”

There are many reasons labor and delivery units close, including high operating costs, declining populations, low Medicaid reimbursement rates, and staffing shortages. Family medicine physicians still provide the majority of labor and delivery care in rural America, but few new doctors recruited to less populated areas offer obstetrics care, partly because they don’t want to be on call 24/7. Now, with rural America hemorrhaging health care providers, the federal government is investing dollars and attention to increase the ranks.

“Obviously the crisis is here,” said Hana Hinkle, executive director of the Rural Training Track Collaborative, which works with more than 70 rural residency training programs. Federal grants have boosted training programs in recent years, Hinkle said.

In July, the Department of Health and Human Services announced a nearly $11 million investment in new rural programs, including family medicine residencies that focus on obstetrical training.

Nationwide, a declining number of primary care doctors — internal and family medicine — has made it difficult for patients to book appointments and, in some cases, find a doctor at all. In rural America, training family medicine doctors in obstetrics can be more daunting because of low government reimbursement and increasing medical liability costs, said Hinkle, who is also assistant dean of Rural Health Professions at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Rockford.

In the 1980s, about 43% of general family physicians who completed their residencies were trained in obstetrics. In 2021, the American Academy of Family Physicians’ annual practice profile survey found that 15% of respondents had practiced obstetrics.

Yet family doctors, who also provide the full spectrum of primary care services, are “the backbone of rural deliveries,” said Julie Wood, a doctor and senior vice president of research, science, and health of the public at the AAFP.

There are many reasons labor and delivery units close, including high operating costs, declining populations, low Medicaid reimbursement rates, and staffing shortages.

In a survey of 216 rural hospitals in 10 states, family practice doctors delivered babies in 67% of the hospitals, and at 27% of the hospitals they were the only ones who delivered babies. The data counted babies delivered from 2013 to 2017. And, the authors found, if those family physicians hadn’t been there, many patients would have driven an average of 86 miles round-trip for care.

Mark Deutchman, the report’s lead author, said he was “on call for 12 years” when he worked in a town of 2,000 residents in rural Washington. Clarifying that he was exaggerating, Deutchman explained that he was one of just two local doctors who performed cesarean sections. He said the best way to ensure family physicians can bolster obstetric units is to make sure they work as part of a team to prevent burnout, rather than as solo do-it-all doctors of old.

There needs to be a core group of physicians, nurses, and a supportive hospital administration to share the workload “so that somebody isn’t on call 365 days a year,” said Deutchman, who is also associate dean for rural health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus School of Medicine. The school’s College of Nursing received a $2 million federal grant this fall to train midwives to work in rural areas of Colorado.

Nationwide, teams of providers are ensuring rural obstetric units stay busy. In Lakin, Kansas, Drew Miller works with five other family physicians and a physician assistant who has done an obstetrical fellowship. Together, they deliver about 340 babies a year, up from just over 100 annually when Miller first moved there in 2010. Word-of-mouth and two nearby obstetric unit closures have increased their deliveries. Miller said he has seen friends and partners “from surrounding communities stop delivering just from sheer burnout.”

In Galesburg, Illinois, Annevay Conlee has watched four nearby obstetric units close since 2012, forcing some pregnant people to drive up to an hour and a half for care. Conlee is a practicing family medicine doctor and medical director overseeing four rural areas with a team of OB-GYNs, family physicians, and a nurse-midwife. “There’s no longer the ability to be on 24/7 call for your women to deliver,” Conlee said. “There needs to be a little more harmony when recruiting in to really support a team of physicians and midwives.”

Were midwives the OG witches? How the history of mystic medicine and reproductive health intertwine

In Cairo, Magloire said practicing obstetrics is “just essential care.” In fact, pregnancy care represents just a slice of her patient visits in this Georgia town of about 10,000 people. On a recent morning, Magloire’s patients included two pregnant people as well as a teen concerned about hip pain and an ecstatic 47-year-old who celebrated losing weight.

Cairo Medical Care, an independent clinic situated across the street from the 60-bed Archbold Grady hospital, is in a community best known for its peanut crops and as the birthplace of baseball legend Jackie Robinson. The historical downtown has brick-accented streets and the oldest movie theater in Georgia, and a corner of the library is dedicated to local history.

The clinic’s six doctors, who are a mix of family medicine practitioners, like Magloire, and obstetrician-gynecologists, pull in patients from the surrounding counties and together deliver nearly 300 babies at the hospital each year.

Deanna Buckins, a 36-year-old mother of four boys, said she was relieved when she found “Dr. Z” because she “completely changed our lives.”

“She actually listens to me and accepts my decisions instead of pushing things upon me,” said Buckins, as she held her 3-week-old son, whom Magloire had delivered. Years earlier, Magloire helped diagnose one of Buckins’ older children with autism and built trust with the family.

“Say I go in with one kid; before we leave, we’ve talked about every single kid on how they’re doing and, you know, getting caught up with life,” Buckins said.

Magloire grew up in Tallahassee, Florida, and did her residency in rural Kansas. The smallness of Cairo, she said, allows her to see patients as they grow — chatting up the kids when the mothers or siblings come for appointments.

“She’s very friendly,” Evans said of Magloire. Evans, whose first child was delivered by an OB-GYN, said she was nervous about finding the right doctor. The kind of specialist her doctor was didn’t matter as much as being with “someone who cares,” she said.

As a primary care doctor, Magloire can care for Evans and her children for years to come.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

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about pregnancy

Scientists solve mystery behind why pee is yellow

"Don't eat the yellow snow” and “drink until clear" are common phrases about the color of urine that many people live by, used as guidance to avoid eating pee-tainted snow or as a reflection on how hydrated a person is. But have you ever asked yourself: why is pee the color yellow in the first place?

Researchers at theUniversity of Maryland and National Institutes of Health were curious to find an answer, as it’s a question that has perplexed scientists for nearly a century. According to a new study published in the journal Nature Microbiology, the case has finally been cracked: yellow urine is the cause of a microbial enzyme.

The enzyme is called bilirubin reductase, and it’s a result of the degradation of red blood cells. Once they break down, a bright orange pigment called bilirubin is produced. Typically, bilirubin is secreted into the gut where it has to be discharged. It can also be reabsorbed, which in excess can cause jaundice, which is when a person’s skin and eyes become yellow.

“Gut microbes encode the enzyme bilirubin reductase that converts bilirubin into a colorless byproduct called urobilinogen,” lead author Brantley Hall, an assistant professor in the University of Maryland’s Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, said in a media statement. “Urobilinogen then spontaneously degrades into a molecule called urobilin, which is responsible for the yellow color we are all familiar with.”

Scientists are not only excited to finally unravel the mysterious phenomenon, but they are also hopeful this finding could have implications for other health issues. That’s because the research team found that bilirubin reductase is present in almost all healthy adults. However, it is often missing from newborns and individuals with inflammatory bowel disease.

“Now that we’ve identified this enzyme, we can start investigating how the bacteria in our gut impact circulating bilirubin levels and related health conditions like jaundice,” said Xiaofang Jiang, the study’s co-author. “This discovery lays the foundation for understanding the gut-liver axis.”

Fear of MAGA “backlash” is no reason to let Donald Trump make an illegal run for president

Despite hand-wringing mainstream media coverage calling it "controversial," the most remarkable aspect of the debate over whether Donald Trump should be banned from accessing the ballot is how one-sided it is. Once you start reading about legal arguments on each side, what becomes swiftly clear is there is no good argument for keeping Trump in the race. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution, as both Colorado's Supreme Court and Maine's secretary of state have correctly decided, is clear in its language: Anyone who has "engaged in insurrection or rebellion against" the U.S., after taking an oath of office, is forbidden from running again.

There's no use pretending Trump didn't engage in insurrection in his two-month campaign to overthrow an election. Even Trump's lawyers don't really contest that he did it, which is why they resort to a nonsensical argument that the presidency isn't an office of the United States. This is an obviously dumb argument from people who are out of ideas.

Once you start reading about legal arguments on each side, what becomes swiftly clear is there is no good argument for keeping Trump in the race.

Most arguments for allowing Trump on the ballot rely on treating the Constitution's clear guidance as merely optional. They claim it's vaguely "undemocratic" to deny Trump supporters their number one pick going into the election. This also falls apart under the slightest scrutiny. Even more Americans would like a chance to vote for Barack Obama again, but he can't run because of term limits. Millions would love to vote for Taylor Swift, but she isn't old enough. If those minor restrictions can be honored, surely the much more pressing need to keep a man who is running to end democracy off the ballot is valid.

As Perry Bacon of the Washington Post noted, "The real affront to democracy is Trump, not officials following laws intended to keep people like him from gaining power." He also reaffirms this is not a "partisan" claim, as no one is trying to boot Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla. or former Gov. Nikki Haley, R-S.C. from the ballot.

So bereft of any legal argument for keeping Trump on the ballot, there is always the argument of last resort: Taking their butt-smelly orange master off the ballot will draw a "backlash" from MAGA.

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There are two camps making this argument: outright Trump supporters and bed-wetting centrists who don't want to face up to the fact that we live in perilous times that require unprecedented action to save our democracy.

Of the first camp, there is little to say. They're Trump supporters and therefore incurably dishonest. The latter, however, is gaining traction with their short-sighted stance that prioritizes their immediate fear of being yelled at over the long-term dangers to our democracy. For instance, Jonathan Chait of New York offered a typical knock-kneed argument, writing that disqualifying Trump "would be seen forever by tens of millions of Americans as a negation of democracy."

What is this "would" you're talking about, Jon? The voters in question are MAGA voters, who already claim that democracy was ended in 2020. Polling shows fewer than a third of Republican voters accept that President Joe Biden won in 2020. If the concern is that they'll latch onto some conspiracy theory about how Democrats stole "their" democracy, and thus they're justified in using illegal and violent means to regain control, guess what? They're already there.

The Hill published an article recounting the largely anonymous "concerns" that other Democrats supposedly have: That this will somehow hurt Biden. Voters will allegedly "recoil at efforts to throw the leading contender for the GOP nomination off the ballot" and "end up more likely to vote for him."

Well, if he's disqualified, then they can't vote for him. But the larger assertion that there's some mass of would-be Biden voters who will switch to Trump is shaky at best. On the contrary, seeing Trump face an actual consequence for his attempt to overthrow democracy would likely convince any fence-sitters out there to take Trump's crimes seriously. One of the reasons Trump is even able to muddy the waters about his own behavior is this lack of official punishment, which allows some folks to believe what he did can't be that serious if no one is doing anything to hold him responsible.

Legal scholar calls out "deeply flawed" arguments against Colorado and Maine rulings barring Trump

Ultimately, it comes down to this: Who cares if MAGA voters are mad? They're always mad.

MAGA means you live in a perpetual state of unjustified grievance. If they aren't whining about Trump being thrown off the ballot, they're whining about tap-dancing Christmas routines or Taylor Swift taking pictures with her cat. Every morning, there's a new excuse for why it's time to end democracy and replace it with a Trump-led fascist state. The only difference here is that, unlike a Taylor Swift cat photo, taking Trump off the ballot is a meaningful step towards preserving democracy.

I suspect a lot of the fear of "backlash" comes from a more unspeakable place than mere mean tweets or unjustified fears about the outcome of the 2024 election. A lot of this, I suspect, is about violence. We all saw what happened on January 6, when Trump whipped up a mob in order to stay in power. We all know it's only by sheer luck no one was outright murdered that day, though many lost lives. People fear something worse will happen if those MAGA people get organized to violence again.

As Zack Beauchamp wrote at Vox this week, "Trump’s most fanatical followers have created a situation where challenging him carries not only political risks but also personal ones," and this threat of violence "is quietly reshaping American politics." It's almost certainly a factor in the pretzel logic being rolled out by officials and judges who have defied the plain reading of the law to keep Trump on the ballot. And it's a fear that is vibrating off every "don't poke the bear" argument against applying the law to Trump by denying him another shot at the White House.

We were reminded of the threat Wednesday, when multiple state capitols were evacuated due to bomb threats. But, by keeping Trump on the ballot, all that we're doing is temporarily delaying MAGA violence. As Brynn Tannehill wrote Wednesday at the New Republic, polling data shows "an unbreakable plurality of the GOP explicitly wants fascism." These are folks "who believe they should be forever atop the social and political order because of their race and/or religion and are angry at society for changing." You cannot placate such people. All you can do is beat them.

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The hand-wringers claim they want this, but by beating Trump at the polls instead of through rule of law. But the very same people who will throw a fit if Trump is removed from the ballot will go absolutely haywire if he loses another election. They will claim it was "stolen" and use it as a pretext for violence. They already hate democracy, and won't like it any better if they lose again. January 6 should remove all doubt that losing at the polls is enough to quell MAGA violence.

And if Trump wins or successfully steals the next election? MAGA won't be placated then, either. As Trump has indicated, the goal is "retribution." Fascists are infamously sore winners, who react to seizing power by lashing out violently against everyone they hate. The longer we put off dealing with the issue of MAGA's violence, the more their sadism will fester and expand. The only way to limit the damage is nip this in the bud sooner rather than later.

The good news is we do know what prevents MAGA violence, and it's not rolling over and giving them what they want. It's the opposite: punishing violence with swift certainty. Fear of consequences is the only thing that checks these folks, who otherwise let their outrageous sense of entitlement justify all sorts of transgressions against basic morality. We've seen this since January 6, where widespread arrests and convictions of the rioters has done a great deal to tamp down MAGA enthusiasm for another riot.

On the flip side is Trump, who hasn't yet faced any meaningful consequences for January 6. As a result, he's doubled down on his violence, calling for it so routinely that it doesn't even make the news anymore. And when one of his followers acts, such as the man who tried to murder the husband of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Trump gloats about it and publicly longs for more. His impunity is seeping back into his followers, and will get worse if they start sensing that they have won illegitmate victories by force, such as keeping him on the ballot with threats.

It boils down to this: You don't stop MAGA violence by giving in, but the opposite. You stop it by fighting back and holding people accountable. Removing Trump from the ballot, as the law requires, is a first step. It sends a strong message to MAGA: This is what happens when you use violence to get your way. By not taking his name off the ballot, states are signaling that they will accede to violent threats. We should not be surprised if rewarding MAGA violence means we see more of it.

John Fetterman’s shameful betrayal of the left

Amongst Democratic and progressive voting circles, there arguably has been no politician more popular over the last two years than John Fetterman.

The statuesque 6’8 figure has catapulted himself from mayor of the small town of Braddock, Pennsylvania, and a vocal fan of Bernie Sanders' presidential candidacy in 2016, to a competent lieutenant governor under Tom Wolf’s leadership in the Keystone State. And of course, Fetterman’s rising star status reached its zenith when he defeated the clown show that was TV personality Dr.Oz. Fetterman's focused yet funny campaign offered an effective template for Democratic candidates to use against Republicans: tell casual voters of politics, in direct and creative ways, about their conservative opponents’ hypocrisy.

Fetterman became even more beloved in left-leaning circles due to the abhorrent, ableist attacks from the right over his various health scares. There was Oz’s shameful desperation in trying to use Fetterman’s May 2022 stroke to convince voters that the tall man wasn’t physically capable of being a senator and Laura Ingraham’s theory that Fetterman's hospitalization for feeling lightheaded 10 months ago was part of a “strategic political calculation” plot by Fetterman's wife to transform him into a national sympathetic figure and even an inspirational champion. The eternal conspiracy theorists of QAnon believed that Fetterman had a body double impersonating him. And as if he needed any more people to view him as a rare, relatable personality in the millionaire-filled, out-of-touch Senate, Fetterman’s desire to casually dress in the chamber instead of adhering to its stupid dress code drew levels of ire from not only Republicans but also his fellow members of the Democratic Caucus. His response to his colleagues’ unanimous resolution to reinstate the formal attire rules was a timely, cheeky reply with actor Kevin James' viral shrug meme, perfectly summing up how Fetterman is hip to pop culture.

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But as the tragic war on Gaza continues to unfold, Fetterman finds himself as the latest in a long list of Democratic politicians sadly punching left.

Fetterman is acting like he wants to replace Joe Manchin or Kyrsten Sinema for the most left-loathing Democratic centrist in the Senate

As calls for Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israel to adhere to a ceasefire against not only Hamas but Palestinian lives have grown louder and louder from progressive and the left online populace, only to fall on deaf ears, Fetterman has been proud to fully back any militaristic decision from the Israel Defensive Force (IDF). 11 days into the war, the 54-year-old announced his unwavering “no” perspective to any ceasefire. The many progressive supporters of Fetterman in Pennsylvania and throughout the country, who were the backbone reason he was elected, and gave him their impassioned support through the conservative echo chamber’s hatred of him, were alarmed at his tweet and urged him to reconsider his hawkish take, most notably 16 former staffers on his Senate campaign. He refused to relent on that position and decided to anger his core backers even more by wavering the Israel flag while they protested in front of him outside of New York’s junior Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s office. That same day, he told a pro-Palestine U.S. veteran protester that she “should be protesting Hamas” instead. When 411 anonymous Congressional staffers signed a letter advocating for their bosses to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza, Fetterman’s chief of staff Adam Jentleson sent a letter that stated staffers were prohibited from making public statements everywhere. That letter angered the Congressional Progressive Staff Association, who fired off a response on Twitter/X saying, “Not-so-gentle reminder — no office can prohibit you from signing onto an anonymous letter or survey if you do so using personal time and resources, no matter what they tell you.”

As the days have gone by, Fetterman has only increased his dismissive approach toward anti-war progressives over this literal life-and-death crisis. He called a Philadelphia group of pro-Palestine supporters “pathetic” for protesting in front of an IDF-supporting restaurant whose former employee alleged she was fired by the owner for her contrasting views. And he went on CNN last week to blame those on TikTok for producing “warped” views of the war and feeling “they aren’t reflective of history and actually the way things absolutely are.”

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Fetterman stridently declared to Politico last week, “I would be the last man standing to be absolutely there on the Israeli side on this with no conditions.” Somewhere, forever hawk and enemy of progressives Joe Lieberman would be flattered by Fetterman matching his sentiments.

To that point, Fetterman has plainly stated: “I’m not a progressive.”

Regardless of whatever perspective you feel about the war on Gaza, Fetterman’s rude, gruff side of his personality was always a major concern. During the primary campaign, he was dogged by questions of whether he has the temperament to be a consistent advocate for all. And for him to not even seriously consider whether he should be on the side of wanting the least amount of death, when possibly 20,000 people have lost their lives, is apathetic behavior. Apathy begets apathy, perhaps from the heart of his own voting block. It was already bad enough that he called justified votes against funding Israel’s Dome by the likes of the Squad, including the only Palestinian-American in Congress, Rashida Tlaib, “fringe” and “extreme.” But he has debased himself further in acting like he wants to replace Joe Manchin or Kyrsten Sinema for most left-loathing annoying centrist in the Senate.

He won’t be back on the ballot until 2028, but Fetterman’s abrasive attitude repels parts of the Democratic base as we head into the presidential and congressional elections of 2024. With Joe Biden currently having his lowest approval ratings ever, Fetterman has contributed to giving progressive Americans another reason to not get excited about those we elect and have high hopes for. By turning his back on those who cared the most to have his back, the Pennsylvania giant of a senator has unfortunately come up so very small here.

about Fetterman's time in the spotlight

Why harm reduction is more about ending stigma than syringes and naloxone

In recent years, several harm reduction interventions have been outsourced and integrated into the day-to-day work of various professions outside of harm reduction settings. One example includes police officers trained to administer naloxone to opioid overdose victims, since they are often the first on the scene after 911 is called.

However, research suggests that police officer views about people who use drugs are generally negative, and studies show that prior experience administering naloxone to an overdose victim is not associated with more positive views about this aspect of their jobs. Expecting a police officer to respond to an overdose may present a conflict for him within the broader context of the war on drugs. Law enforcement officers have been taught to see an overdose victim as a criminal who illegally acquired and used drugs from the underground market for half a century. Rather than viewing an overdose as a medical emergency, many have been trained to see it as evidence of criminal activity.

Yet we now instruct officers to look at the overdose victim as needing medical assistance and intervene with naloxone. And at the same time, we expect people who use illegal drugs to be willing to call 911 for help with the full knowledge that officers with the power to arrest them may be the first to respond. 911 Good Samaritan Laws were passed to protect overdose victims and bystanders from arrest when police officers respond to overdose calls. However, these laws have not significantly reduced overdose deaths because many people still fear arrest due to the limitations of state-specific protections in the Good Samaritan Laws and because many people still fear arrest.

Attempts to ban an emerging drug threat are repeating the mistakes of the drug war, experts caution

The disconnect between the criminalization of drug use and our desire to promote a public health approach to the overdose crisis plays out in these situations every day. While it is important to ensure that any potential first responder, including a police officer, is prepared to help save a life and armed with naloxone, we must question whether police officers should be dispatched to overdose 911 calls at all. Why are police officers the first to the scene of a medical emergency rather than an EMT or another first responder with training in crisis response? What else could an emergency response look like?

Studies with pharmacists in several US states suggest that only a small percentage of them are willing to sell syringes without prescriptions and that many pharmacists hold negative and stigmatizing views of people who inject drugs.

Many harm reductionists support alternative crisis response hotlines which dispatch people trained in mental health and crisis response, like social workers and paramedics, to overdoses rather than police. More of these alternative hotlines are popping up in communities across the country, since it is clear how these trained responders would be better equipped to save lives, and vulnerable people may feel safer when calling for help. Harm reductionists also want public funds to prioritize buying and distributing naloxone for community distribution in higher quantities because families and friends respond to far more overdoses in our neighborhoods than law enforcement. Beyond this, harm reductionists continue to advocate for Overdose Prevention Centers so people can avoid calling 911 and get the help they need on site.

Another example that comes to mind is the provision of sterile syringes outside Syringe Service Programs (SSPs). Some states have passed laws so that you can legally buy syringes at the pharmacy without a prescription to increase access to sterile syringes for people who may not have an SSP nearby. In New York State – where most counties do not have an operational SSP – you can buy ten syringes without a prescription at any pharmacy through the Expanded Syringe Exchange Program (ESAP). By offering these services, pharmacies can fill this harm reduction gap in more parts of the state.

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However, there are limits to how much these programs can increase access to sterile syringes for the most marginalized people who use drugs. There’s often a large difference between what is legal and what happens in practice. Just because someone can legally sell syringes does not make their program a harm reduction program. And just because you can sell syringes to people who use drugs does not mean you will. Studies with pharmacists in several US states suggest that only a small percentage of them are willing to sell syringes without prescriptions and that many pharmacists hold negative and stigmatizing views of people who inject drugs.

I once guest lectured on harm reduction to a class of pharmacy students enrolled in the university’s PharmD program when I was an Assistant Professor of Social Work. Almost all of the students had current internships for school credit at community pharmacies across New York City and Long Island, so I asked them if they knew about the state’s ESAP law. Most of the students did not.

Think about how hard it must have been for these customers to walk through the door in the first place, given the stigma toward injection drug use and the fact that they “outed” themselves.

One student raised his hand and told me he recently had a customer come up to the counter to purchase syringes without a prescription but the managing pharmacist told him to lie and say they had no syringes in stock. Another student then raised her hand and said she had a similar experience; however, the managing pharmacist told her to tell the customer they only had large gauge syringes (intended for intramuscular injections) in stock, not the smaller hypodermic syringes the person had requested. In both cases, the customers left without the syringes they wanted.

I asked the class why they thought their classmates were discouraged from selling syringes. Some described a phenomenon known in the research as the “honeypot effect.” They believed that the managing pharmacists worried that selling syringes to people who used drugs would attract more of them to their pharmacies, particularly from other communities.

The students hypothesized that the pharmacists wanted to avoid serving these so-called undesirable customers and did not want to gain a reputation as a pharmacy that sold syringes to drug users because they wrongly believed it would invite more criminal activity to their neighborhood. Other students talked about how perhaps the pharmacists were worried about “enabling” or “encouraging” injection drug use by selling syringes.

Overdoses are soaring, but medications can reduce death by 50 percent. So why aren't we using them?

I used these anecdotes as an opportunity for further discussion. First, I dispelled the honeypot theory by discussing existing research both in the United States and internationally that found that harm reduction programs of all types typically draw in only existing members of the neighborhood and do not increase crime in the vicinity of the program. I also encouraged them to think about how hard it must have been for these customers to walk through the door in the first place, given the stigma toward injection drug use and the fact that they “outed” themselves by making such a request.

I asked them how these customers must have felt when they were treated this way – did the students think the customers believed the staff when they said they had no syringes or only had certain ones, or did they know the pharmacy staff simply did not want to serve them? I asked them to imagine what happened when the customers left the pharmacy after being unable to buy those syringes. Would they try another pharmacy? Would they wake up the next day and simply stop injecting drugs because they had no new syringes? Would they reuse or share a syringe with someone else the next time, since they did not have sterile syringes of their own?

I also reminded the students that these customers came to the pharmacy fully intending to pay for these syringes. After all, SSPs give them out for free. So, if someone is coming to a pharmacy, they either have no nearby program or prefer the setting. By refusing to serve them, the pharmacists made it hard for these customers to engage in health-promoting behavior.

And they may have just discouraged these people from seeking syringes at a pharmacy ever again. I encouraged the students to think about what they would do if they were in this situation in the future. Would they behave differently? Many raised their hands when I asked whether they would consider selling syringes to customers.

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I left that presentation thinking about the pervasiveness of drug-related stigma in our society and how much work it will take to get people to challenge their deep-seated thoughts and beliefs about people who use drugs. But it also reminded me that we cannot simply expect systems and institutions to be effective substitutes for harm reduction programs without adequate training and monitoring for compliance.

Of course, ESAP programs are reducing the spread of blood-borne infections, and police officers are reversing overdoses every day, and there are well-intentioned people who want to do it. But reviewing the research and reflecting on conversations like the one in my classroom also highlight exactly why harm reduction programs are still so essential and can never truly be replaced (at best, they could be supplemented by such approaches.)

Harm reduction programs clearly fill a gap in our communities because, unlike many parts of our healthcare system and criminal legal system, they not only welcome the highest-risk and most marginalized people in the door but also want them to be there.

about harm reduction

WHO leader says COVID-19 is “still a pandemic”

Another year has passed where COVID-19 has been part of our reality. While the U.S. remains in a federal public-health emergency free zone, a leader at the World Health Organization voiced concerns on X (formally known as Twitter) about where the world stands at this stage in the pandemic. In a post, Marian Van Kerkhove, M.D. said COVID-19 is “still a global health threat.”

“It’s still a pandemic causing far too many (re)infections, hospitalizations, deaths and long covid when tools exist to prevent them,” she wrote. “Cases and hospitalisations for #COVID19 have been on the rise for months; hospitals in many countries are burdened and overwhelmed from COVID and other pathogens, and deaths are on the rise.” Dr. Van Kerkhove said governments and individuals can’t give in to complacency, emphasizing that the world has gone through something “traumatic.”

“I’m worried that too many think #COVID19 is not something to worry about, that they need a new variant with a Greek letter to take this virus seriously,” she said. “When we need to assign a Greek letter, we will not hesitate.”

The message comes as JN.1, a virus variant in the Pirola clan, is now the most dominant strain in the United States, according to recent estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC.) Deaths and hospitalizations from COVID-19 are also on the rise across the country and other parts of the world. “We can’t forget those who died alone and the people dying now- thousands each week,” Dr. Van Kerkhove said. “The hundreds of thousands in hospital right now fighting for their lives. "Those suffering from #LongCOVID struggling each and every day.”

New study describes how insects heal injured workers, putting the “ant” in antibiotics

Just like their mammalian counterparts, many insect species are quite social. Among these social insect colonies, a rather brave sub-Saharan species of termite-eating ant has offered researchers a look at how these animals care for each others' injuries. A new study in the journal Nature Communications found that Matabele ants (Megaponera analis), which sustain frequent battle wounds hunting their fearsome termite prey, are able to tell when their nestmates' wounds are infected and actually produce a number of antimicrobial compounds to heal them. This reduced mortality of their infected comrades by a whopping 90%.

"Injured workers are carried back to the nest where other workers treat their wounds, by licking and grooming the wound during the first three hours after injury. When the wounds of injured workers are not treated by nestmates, 90% of the injured workers die within 24 hours after injury, but the mechanisms behind these treatments are unknown," the study authors write. "Remarkably, the primary pathogen in ant’s wounds, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, is also a leading cause of infection in combat wounds, where infections can account for 45% of casualties in humans. In M. analis [ants] the targeted treatment with antimicrobial compounds was extremely effective in preventing lethal bacterial infections by P. aeruginosa. This could potentially lead to promising new medical compounds to cure infections in human societies."

The researchers found that wound care behavior among the colonies included more than just cleaning and grooming behavior by a nursing ant toward an infected individual. The nursing ant also produces a particular secretion in its metapleural gland that contains antimicrobial compounds, which the nursing ant then applies to its wounded fellow — similar to how some mammals lick wounds to apply antiseptic saliva. The nursing ants were also remarkably keen at distinguishing between the infected and sterile ants added by researchers, opting to spend more time and spit-salve on their critical-care nestmates as opposed to those dropped in with clean wounds.

Britney Spears says she will never return to the music industry

Amidst rumors that Britney Spears has been working on a new full-length studio album — which would be her first since "Glory," released in 2016 — the singer puts all that to rest via a strongly worded post to Instagram on Wednesday.

Likely inspired to speak out after Page Six ran a report the same day, writing that Charli XCX and Julia Michaels have been "tapped to pen tracks for what Spears’ team hopes will become the Princess of Pop’s first full-length release in nearly a decade," she calls the news "trash."

Next to an image of the painting "Salome with the Head of John the Baptist" by artist Guido Reni, Spears writes:

Just so we’re clear most of the news is trash !!! They keep saying I’m turning to random people to do a new album … I will never return to the music industry !!! When I write, I write for fun or I write for other people !!! For those of you who have read my book, there’s loads that you don’t know about me … I’ve written over 20 songs for other people the past two years !!! I’m a ghostwriter and I honestly enjoy it that way !!! People are also saying MY BOOK WAS RELEASED WITHOUT MY APPROVAL ILLEGALLY and that’s far from the truth … have you read the news these days ??? I’m so LOVED and blessed !!!

Buzz of a new album has been circulating for some time now, with Forbes sourcing an earlier rumor from Page Six back in August 2023 that the singer was working on a writers camp and getting songs from "some big artists." But based on what Spears herself is saying, fans will just have to keep on waiting.

You can finally use a reusable cup on most Starbucks orders

Are you a fan of Starbucks, but not a lover of all those single-use cups? It just got easier to enjoy your morning brew and keep your New Year's resolution to reduce waste.

As of Wednesday, Starbucks will allow customers to use their own cups and mugs on visits to company-operated locations in the U.S. and Canada, as well as participating licensed stores. If you're placing a mobile order, simply click "customize," then scroll down and select the option to use a "personal cup." To "ensure hygiene and safety," your barista will collect it from you "using a contactless vessel."

There are a few things you'll want to keep top of mind, according to CNN's Jordan Valinsky. First, don't forget to clean your own cup before you order — the chain won't do so for you — and it can't exceed 40 ounces. Also, you can't use a personal mug if you order via a third-party app.

If you opt to use a reusable cup, you'll receive a 10-cent discount, and if you're signed up for Starbucks Rewards, you'll collect 25 additional bonus stars.

"This is part of a larger cultural movement the company is leading to shift toward reusables and away from single-use plastics, making it convenient for customers to use their own personal cup for every visit," the company says, adding that it aims to reduce waste by 50% as of 2030.

Trump asks Supreme Court to overturn Colorado ballot removal

After Colorado led the charge in a state level determination as to whether or not Trump is eligible to appear on the 2024 presidential ballot — with Maine following behind them in their decision that no, he is not — the former president and GOP frontrunner's team is asking the Supreme Court for help in getting him back on.

Arguing that the “question of eligibility” for the presidency should be determined by Congress, not the states, and that the Colorado Supreme Court erred when it ruled that an insurrection occurred on January 6, 2021, and that Trump “engaged” in it, per CNN, Trump's attorney's made a case for this in their filing to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, writing, “This Court should grant certiorari to consider this question of paramount importance, summarily reverse the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling, and return the right to vote for their candidate of choice to the voters."

As CNN points out, "Trump’s appeal comes nearly a week after the Colorado GOP, which is also a party in the case, filed a separate appeal, and two weeks after the Colorado ruling came down. The ruling has been put on hold while appeals play out and Colorado’s top election official has already made clear that Trump’s name will be included on the state’s primary ballot when it’s certified on January 5 – unless the US Supreme Court says otherwise."

Why listening to your circadian rhythm may be important when it comes to losing weight

When it comes to losing weight, many people want to know what the best diet is. But increasing research shows that when you eat may just as important for your health and weight as what you eat.

The importance of when we eat is tied to our internal 24-hour biological timing system, called the circadian system. This is controlled by a master clock in the brain which helps regulate many metabolic processes in the body — including digestion, the release of hormones, and blood sugar levels, as well as when we sleep, wake up and eat. Regular circadian rhythms (our eating and sleeping times) help to maintain normal body functions.

From a physiological perspective — for humans and many other mammals, at least — the body is used to us eating when it's light and sleeping when it's dark. This is in sync with our circadian rhythm.

Emerging evidence from the field of chrono-nutrition shows that eating more in line with this natural biological rhythm may help boost your health and wellbeing and potentially help with weight loss.

Timing your meals

If you prefer to skip breakfast in favor of eating later in the day, you're not alone. The majority of people in the UK consume most of their day's calories in the evening. But given our body's preference for daylight, there may be some advantage to eating breakfast — or at least, getting more of our day's calories into our diets earlier on.

Most evidence from the field of chrono-nutrition suggests eating breakfast regularly may protect against gaining body fat. Research also shows that eating most of your calories a couple of hours before bedtime may increase hunger and reduce your metabolism to favour fat storage in the body's fat tissue. Habitually skipping breakfast and eating mostly in the evening is associated with a greater risk of weight gain as well.

Having irregular mealtimes can also affect your body weight. Shift workers, for example, are predisposed to weight gain and metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers. It's been suggested that the reason for this, in part, is circadian misalignment, which is when your sleep and wake cycle is misaligned with your mealtimes. Jet lag can affect digestion and sleep patterns too.

Sleep loss has also been shown to alter food desire — with studies showing that people crave high-calorie foods after a night of poor sleep. This may further result in weight gain.

However, if you're someone who finds it hard to eat breakfast in the morning, don't despair. Research by myself and colleagues shows that when it comes to weight loss, the timing of your meals doesn't affect your ability to lose weight — though early eating may have some advantages.

Our study compared the effect of eating calories predominantly in the morning versus in the evening. In one group, participants ate 45% of their day's calories at breakfast, 35% at lunch and 20% at dinner. The other group had the opposite eating pattern, with 45% of their day's calories consumed at dinner.

We found that adults in both groups had similar weight loss regardless of when they ate the bulk of their day's calories. This result might be particularly reassuring for people who work shifts.

One thing we did find, though, was that eating a big breakfast was most beneficial for appetite control. This may be useful when sticking to a strict calorie limit in order to lose weight.

The type of breakfast you eat is also important. Another study we conducted shows that appetite and satiety (feeling full) are influenced by the macronutrients (fat, protein and carbohydrates) in your meal. For example, high-protein meals were shown to make participants feel fuller for longer. And because these meals were satisfying, it also made participants less likely to give into cravings later on.

Some good examples of high-protein breakfasts include yoghurts, eggs, baked beans and toast, kedgeree (smoked fish, boiled egg and rice) or a fruit and vegetable smoothie with added quark or tofu.

So, based on the available evidence, it appears that eating most of your meals during the earlier daylight hours may be beneficial for your health and body weight.

Timing your workouts

Exercise is also important when it comes to our health. However, it's not yet clear whether exercising at a certain time of day is more beneficial.

One study, which compared the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on blood sugar levels in men with type 2 diabetes, found that exercising in the afternoon was better than exercising in the morning when it came to improving blood sugar levels. This may be important in managing the condition in the long term.

However, a separate study conducted in people who did not have any health conditions found the timing of your workout was less important than when you ate.

The researchers found that participants who consumed around 700 calories before 11am were more physically active and had more stable blood sugar throughout the day, compared with participants who fasted until noon. Both of these factors may help to prevent weight gain in the long run.

So, while the timing of your workout may be personal preference, when you have your pre-workout meal does matter when it comes to health.

In general, by taking lessons from chrono-nutrition and tuning back into our body clocks, it may be possible to better look after our health in a way that's more aligned with our biology.

Alex Johnstone, Personal Chair in Nutrition, The Rowett Institute, University of Aberdeen

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

“I don’t think she was a devious person”: Gypsy Rose Blanchard says her ill mother needed help

The world's fascination with Gypsy Rose Blanchard has reached new heights.

After serving 85 percent of her 10-year prison sentence for the murder of her mother Clauddine Blanchard in 2015, Blanchard is back in the public eye. The now-paroled 32-year-old told The Hollywood Reporter that she is "constantly learning new revelations from" her family about her life.

In the upcoming Lifetime docuseries "The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard," filmed over 18 months while Blanchard was in prison, a doctor called Blanchard's mother a psychopath. When asked if it was an accurate statement or if it was too harsh on Clauddine, Blanchard said, "I don’t think that that is an accurate description."

Blanchard continued, "She was a very sick lady that had a lot of mental health issues and she would have needed medication . . . So that’s what I think the issue with my mom was, I don’t think she was a devious person. I just think that she would have needed a lot of mental health therapy and help."

During her seven years in prison, Blanchard said she gained a sense of maturity and has become her own advocate.

"You can see the transformation from when I first got to prison to me actually walking out of prison and feeling, as a confident woman, like I could stand my ground, say no when I need to, be my best advocate," she said.

Blanchard even revealed that she is a big fan of Taylor Swift, calling herself a Swiftie and noting that "Karma" is the song that she's been listening to the most.

“Desperate”: Legal experts call out “wild and irrational claims” that Trump wants D.C. jury to hear

Former President Donald Trump's legal strategy in the 2020 election interference case has primarily focused on delaying the March trial until after the November presidential election, but recent court filings reveal a new strategy: aiming to absolve Trump of responsibility for the attack on the Capitol and portray him as a victim of disinformation and government overreach, according to CNN.

His most recent filings indicate that during his trial, Trump’s lawyers plan to employ a new defense by highlighting individuals in the federal government whom the former president perceives as biased against him, pointing to foreign influence and emphasizing election disinformation that contributed to his belief that the 2020 election was stolen, the publication reported.

“Trump’s lawyers are taking a belt and suspenders approach to his cases,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Salon. “They know their best defense is procedural: that is, delay until after the November election. But they also want to put on a substantive defense.”

Legal experts highlight "lurid" Jack Smith warning that may hint at "scandalous Trump crimes"

The ex-president’s legal team has already requested a judge’s permission to grant him access to additional government documents, including classified information from his administration. He believes these documents would support his argument that the election result couldn’t be trusted, according to CNN.

“The Office cannot blame President Trump for public discord and distrust of the 2020 election results while refusing to turn over evidence that foreign actors stoked the very same flames that the Office identifies as inculpatory in the indictment,” his lawyers wrote.

Even though multiple investigations have found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, Trump and his allies continued to spread baseless claims. Now, his lawyers are presenting an argument that evidence of “covert foreign disinformation campaigns” tied to the 2020 election supports the defense argument that Trump and others acted in good faith even if specific reports were later deemed inaccurate.

Pointing to a foreign action by Russia's foreign intelligence service, Trump's legal team emphasized the December 2020 hack of SolarWinds, which compromised data in several federal agencies. They asserted that this attack prompted reasonable concerns about the election's integrity and the potential for “technical penetrations of election infrastructure.”

The SolarWinds hack has not been linked to election systems and officials have consistently discovered no indications of widespread election fraud, CNN reported.

Experts: Smith's "smart motion" undermines Trump's plans to inject "outrageous remarks" at trial

Another tactic Trump’s legal team has employed includes understanding how various investigative agencies within the federal government examined his actions following the 2020 election.

His legal team would use this approach to highlight that Trump only faced charges after Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel in November 2022. “Undermining the prosecution by pointing to politics could be an opportunity to help Trump before a jury,” CNN reported.

The trial court will likely find that allegations of foreign influence, disinformation and biased prosecutors and other government officials will mostly "confuse" the jury and are evidently "not relevant" to Trump's state of mind, Bennett Gershman, a former New York prosecutor and law professor at Pace University, told Salon. This is particularly true given that he was “repeatedly” and “strongly” advised by insiders close to him that he lost the election.

“It’s a desperate and distracting effort to throw all sorts of wild and irrational claims against the wall and hope that something sticks,” Gershman said. “In legal circles, it’s mockingly referred to as the ‘shotgun’ or ‘kitchen sink’ defense.”

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First, it’s “unlikely” that the trial judge will allow any of these claims to be presented, he added. It's important to recall that Trump's lawyers litigated stolen election claims in over 60 courtrooms and lost every one of them.

“It’s difficult to see how these new allegations – which appear to have been invented out of nothing but wild speculation – are based on any credible or reliable facts,” Gershman said.

There is also the danger that this information might be misused by the defense to try to get the jury, or even one juror, to engage in what in legal terminology is called "jury nullification,” he explained. It is “improper” for a lawyer to try to get jurors to “disregard or nullify” the law and the facts and conclude, without any evidence, that Trump was a “victim” of an insidious political plot to rob him of the election.

Election fraud requires prosecutors to prove that Trump knew he lost the election, and that he intended to overturn the results anyway, Rahmani explained. If Trump reasonably believed that disinformation and foreign influences were unlawfully interfering with the 2020 election and that his actions were part of an investigation into the results, this could serve as a defense against fraud.

If Trump wants to claim that he was a victim of a disinformation campaign that made him believe he won despite “massive evidence to the contrary,” he probably would have to testify, which he will never do, Gershman said.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

The defense also will have to support these allegations with “a foundation of concrete evidence,” which they probably lack, he continued. And again, they will not be allowed to convince the jury to “disregard the facts and the law” to somehow find that Trump was a victim of a “nefarious plot” by foreign officials in tandem with a “hodgepodge” of government officials to steal the election from Trump.

“It’s quite ironic that Trump was helped to his election in 2016 by Russia’s disinformation campaign,” Gershman said.

Trump's legal team has raised concerns about potential "political bias" among the intelligence community and law enforcement witnesses in the trial. Despite this, some of Trump's former Cabinet members, including then-Attorney General Bill Barr, then-Vice President Mike Pence, and top intelligence officials, may be called to testify against him, according to CNN. Many of them remained vocal that there was no indication of widespread fraud after the election.

“The bias and selective prosecution are weaker arguments, but the defense is throwing every argument they can out there to see what sticks,” Rahmani said.

about Trump's D.C. case

New lawsuit seeks to ban GOP Rep. Scott Perry from ballot over “insurrectionist activities”

An activist has filed a lawsuit to remove Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., from the Pennsylvania primary election ballot for his role in the attempt to decertify the 2020 election results, PennLive reports. Gene Stilp, who ran for the state House of Representatives in 2014, filed the petition in the Commonwealth Court, arguing that Perry's connection to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack is enough to disqualify him from running for office under the 14th Amendment, which bars anyone who has "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the United States from holding office.

“Scott Perry’s own actions and efforts have awakened the application of the Fourteenth Amendment, Section Three, of the United States Constitution which stops those who participate in insurrectionist activities from serving in certain capacities in the government of the United States,” Stilp said. The lawsuit ties Perry, through his cellphone records, to several people involved in former President Donald Trump's White House and campaign discussing methods of overturning his 2020 electoral defeat through voter fraud cases or interfering with the Jan. 6 certification process. Perry talked with White House officials and Trump campaign staff to discuss election fraud and procedural mechanisms, the lawsuit said.

Perry has been involved in a three-year battle to keep his cellphone records away from investigators in Trump's federal election subversion case. A federal judge ruled last month that Perry must turn over around 80 percent of those records to prosecutors. Stilp also previously filed a lawsuit aiming to keep Trump off the Republican primary ballot in Pennsylvania, but withdrew that petition last Friday. Stilp's latest lawsuit comes after rulings in Colorado and Maine that have disqualified the former president from the 2024 primary under the 14th Amendment.

Hate salad or veggies? Just keep eating them. Here’s how our tastebuds adapt to what we eat

Do you hate salad? It's OK if you do, there are plenty of foods in the world and lots of different ways to prepare them.

But given almost all of us don't eat enough vegetables, even though most of us (81%) know eating more vegetables is a simple way to improve our health, you might want to try.

If this idea makes you miserable, fear not, with time and a little effort you can make friends with salad.

Why don't I like salads?

It's an unfortunate quirk of evolution that vegetables are so good for us but they aren't all immediately tasty to all of us. We have evolved to enjoy the sweet or umami (savory) taste of higher energy foods, because starvation is a more immediate risk than long-term health.

Vegetables aren't particularly high energy but they are jam-packed with dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals and health-promoting compounds called bioactives.

Those bioactives are part of the reason vegetables taste bitter. Plant bioactives, also called phytonutrients, are made by plants to protect themselves against environmental stress and predators. The very things that make plant foods bitter, are the things that make them good for us.

Unfortunately, bitter taste evolved to protect us from poisons and possibly from over-eating one single plant food. So in a way, plant foods can taste like poison.

For some of us, this bitter sensing is particularly acute, and for others it isn't so bad. This is partly due to our genes. Humans have at least 25 different receptors that detect bitterness and we each have our own genetic combinations. So some people really, really taste some bitter compounds while others can barely detect them.

This means we don't all have the same starting point when it comes to interacting with salads and veggies. So be patient with yourself. But the steps toward learning to like salads and veggies are the same regardless of your starting point.

It takes time

We can train our tastes because our genes and our receptors aren't the end of the story. Repeat exposures to bitter foods can help us adapt over time. Repeat exposures help our brain learn that bitter vegetables aren't poisonous.

And as we change what we eat, the enzymes and other proteins in our saliva change too. This changes how different compounds in food are broken down and detected by our taste buds. How exactly this works isn't clear, but it's similar to other behavioural cognitive training.

Add masking ingredients

The good news is we can use lots of great strategies to mask the bitterness of vegetables and this positively reinforces our taste training.

Salt and fat can reduce the perception of bitterness, so adding seasoning and dressing can help make salads taste better instantly. You are probably thinking, "but don't we need to reduce our salt and fat intake?" — yes, but you will get more nutritional bang-for-buck by reducing those in discretionary foods like cakes, biscuits, chips and desserts, not by trying to avoid them with your vegetables.

Adding heat with chillies or pepper can also help by acting as a decoy to the bitterness. Adding fruits to salads adds sweetness and juiciness, this can help improve the overall flavor and texture balance, increasing enjoyment.

Pairing foods you are learning to like with foods you already like can also help.

The options for salads are almost endless, if you don't like the standard garden salad you were raised on, that's OK, keep experimenting.

Experimenting with texture (for example chopping vegetables smaller or chunkier) can also help in finding your salad loves.

Challenge your biases

Challenging your biases can also help the salad situation. A phenomenon called the "unhealthy-tasty intuition" makes us assume tasty foods aren't good for us and that healthy foods will taste bad. Shaking that assumption off can help you enjoy your vegetables more.

When researchers labeled vegetables with taste-focused labels, priming subjects for an enjoyable taste, they were more likely to enjoy them compared to when they were told how healthy they were.

The bottom line

Vegetables are good for us, but we need to be patient and kind with ourselves when we start trying to eat more.

Try working with biology and brain and not against them.

And hold back from judging yourself or other people if they don't like the salads you do. We are all on a different point of our taste-training journey.

Emma Beckett, Senior Lecturer (Food Science and Human Nutrition), School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle

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