N.Y. redistricting chaos leads to Democratic infighting, charges of “thinly veiled racism”

House progressives lashed out at Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, after he announced he plans to run this year in a House district represented by Rep. Mondaire Jones, a first-term progressive who is one of the first two openly gay Black men elected to Congress.

Maloney, who runs the fundraising committee tasked with protecting incumbent Democrats, said earlier this week that under New York’s newly redrawn congressional map he would abandon his current seat in the 18th district, in the Hudson Valley north and west of New York City, to run instead in the new 17th district further south, most of which is currently represented by Jones. Maloney made the announcement less than an hour after a New York court released a draft map of the state’s new districts.

The Democrat-dominated state legislature’s map was an extreme gerrymander that would have given Democrats an advantage in 22 of the state’s 26 districts. Maloney pushed for Democrats in Albany to be even more aggressive, until the new boundaries were repeatedly rejected by courts as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. It now appears that the gamble backfired in spectacular fashion: The New York court appointed a special master who released a draft map on Monday that would only give Democrats an advantage in 15 of the state’s districts, which is fewer than the 19 seats they currently hold, and set up several intraparty primary matchups between incumbents.

Minutes after the court-ordered map was released, Maloney took to Twitter to announce his plans to run in the district currently represented by Jones.

“While the process to draw these maps without the legislature is against the will of voters, if the newly-announced maps are finalized, I will run in New York’s 17th Congressional District,” Maloney wrote. “NY-17 includes my home and many of the Hudson Valley communities I currently represent.”

The 17th district, which President Biden carried by 10 points in 2020, is slightly more favorable to Democrats than the 18th, which Biden won by eight points. While it’s true that Maloney’s home is in the new 17th district, Jones currently represents about 71% of it. The districts are not yet official and could still be tweaked further, but are likely to be finalized on Friday.

The move took Jones by surprise, who said the DCCC chair didn’t even bother to give him a warning.

“Sean Patrick Maloney did not even give me a heads up before he went on Twitter to make that announcement,” Jones told Politico’s Ally Mutnick. “And I think that tells you everything you need know about Sean Patrick Maloney.”

If Jones chooses not to run against Maloney, his other alternative might be to run in the 16th district bordering New York City, which is now represented by Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a fellow Black progressive freshman. Jones’ home, in fact, has been drawn into that district under the new map. (Under New York law, however, legislators do not have to live in the district they represent.)

“I’m really shocked that my district will be obliterated in the way that it was and that they would draw my residence into the same district as Jamaal’s residence,” Jones told Politico.

Bowman criticized the map for diluting Black communities’ voting power “in favor of more compact but less fair maps.”

“By splitting these communities, the map further alienates them and perpetuates the opportunity for further historical neglect by the electoral system,” he tweeted. “These are communities who have been kept together in maps for decades for good reason and with good intention. Their voting power is directly tied to their lives and they deserve a fair chance at electing representatives that take their unique needs into full consideration.”

Maloney’s allies have suggested behind the scenes that Jones would be “ideologically better suited to another district,” according to reporting by Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman. Some Democrats were angered by that argument.

Rep. Ritchie Torres described Maloney’s maneuvering as “thinly veiled racism,” while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called it “shameful” and suggested Maloney should resign his DCCC post.

“The thinly veiled racism here is profoundly disappointing,” tweeted fellow freshman Rep. Ritchie Torres, who represents the 15th district in the Bronx, just south of Bowman’s district. “A black man is ideologically ill suited to represent a Westchester County District that he represents presently and won decisively in 2020? Outrageous.”

Torres tweeted that the “simple solution” would be for Maloney, Jones and Bowman to all run in the districts they already mostly represent.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose district in the Bronx and Queens borders both Torres’ and Bowman’s, called Maloney’s announcement “terrible” and “hypocritical.”

“It’s also particularly shameful as a member of Dem leadership, especially as the leadership of the DCCC, who asks all of us to make sacrifices … who cannot seem to take his redistricting on the chin,” she told Mutnick.

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Progressive groups also criticized Maloney’s move, suggesting that a powerful white moderate is seeking to force two ideologically similar lawmakers of color into a race against each other.

“Leadership and corporate donors may want two progressive Black men to scrap it out, but that doesn’t serve working people’s interests,” Max Berger, co-founder of Justice Democrats, wrote on Twitter. If Jones “takes on Sean Patrick Maloney in his current district, the progressive movement will be united behind him,” he added. “If Mondaire jumps into Jamaal Bowman’s district, the progressive movement will be united against him.”

The New York chapter of the climate-focused Sunrise Movement warned that Maloney’s move could help cripple Democrats’ chances of maintaining their House majority in November.

“Congressman Maloney must take his responsibility as the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee seriously,” the group said in a statement. “Instead of seeking personal political advantage, he should fight to keep NY-18 in Democratic control this year.”

Ezra Levin, the co-founder of Indivisible, accused Maloney of “cowardice” and “hypocrisy.”

“Maloney’s job is to help Dems win tough seats. He’s now abandoning his own district to run against a fellow Dem in a safer district,” he tweeted. “Maloney is RUNNING from a fight he’s supposed to be LEADING. Embarrassing, disgraceful behavior.”

It’s not just progressives lashing out at Maloney. There is a “lot of anger” and “frustration” in the Democratic ranks over the move, according to Sherman. Swing-district members have even privately discussed ousting Maloney as head of the DCCC, though such a move is unlikely just six months away from the fall election, according to HuffPost’s Kevin Robillard. Some lawmakers worry that they are “unable to raise that issue publicly, given that Maloney and his team decide how much the DCCC will spend in individual battleground races,” according to Politico.

Ocasio-Cortez said that Maloney should resign from the DCCC leadership if he goes through with his plan to challenge Jones.

“Given the resources he has at his helm, it creates a conflict of interest,” she told Mutnick, adding that Maloney’s move “absolutely further imperils our majority by him vacating that seat, leaving it open and also really intruding on the district of a wonderful member.”

Maloney drew the support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday, however. She dismissed the New York drama during her weekly press conference, calling Maloney a “great chairman” that she is “very proud of.”

Maloney’s allies told HuffPost that the map struck down by the court would have put the congressman in a more difficult district than the two he can run in under the new boundaries.

“Rep. Maloney fought harder than anyone to get maps that reflect the will of the people of New York, even at his own expense, and continues to fight against this illegitimate process,” DCCC spokesperson Chris Hayden said in a statement. “He has proven he can lead the DCCC without his own race interfering and he will continue to do so.”

In a press conference on Tuesday, Maloney blamed the current fracas on the new court-ordered map, arguing that a “broken process has produced a broken result.”

“From my point of view, I’m just running where I landed,” he said. “If someone else is looking at the district as well, obviously we’ll try and work through that as colleagues and friends. Ultimately this is up to the voters, and that’s what it should be.”

In a new Manhattan district, Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerry Nadler, two powerful committee chairs, may be forced to run against each other.

Other Democrats also offered their support to Maloney. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., who may now face his own intraparty primary battle against House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. — after the two were drawn into the same Manhattan district — told Politico that the DCCC chairman should be able to oversee the House campaign arm and run for re-election “as long as he can compartmentalize.”

An unnamed senior Democratic aide told Politico that Maloney “clearly has the confidence of his colleagues.”

“This sort of pointless sniping is detrimental to our efforts to keep the majority,” the aide said. “We have an extremely capable DCCC chair who has demonstrated he can walk and chew gum.”

The court-ordered map has caused chaos in a number of other New York districts. Maloney told Politico she was “absolutely stunned” by the new boundaries. The DCCC has issued a letter calling on the court to reconsider the draft map, arguing that it would reverse “decades of hard-fought racial progress” and break up “important communities of interest throughout New York.” The map would pit four of the state’s seven Black incumbents against each other, reducing the congressional delegation’s diversity, the DCCC said in the letter, which was first reported by CNN.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., the chair of the House Democratic Caucus — who was himself drawn into the same Brooklyn district as Rep. Yvette Clarke — vowed to take legal action if the district boundaries are not changed.

“The draft redistricting map viciously targets historic Black representation in NY, and places 4 Black members of Congress into the same district,” he said on Twitter. “This tactic would make Jim Crow blush. The draft map is unacceptable, unconscionable & unconstitutional.”

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Mormon leader speaks out against racism and defends democracy

Mormons should defend democracy and condemn racism, a church leader argued in a recent speech.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports, “In the wake of a deadly racist attack in Buffalo, President Dallin H. Oaks urged Latter-day Saints to condemn racism and ‘avoid extreme or polarizing positions and teachings that undermine the U.S. Constitution.'”

Oaks, a former Utah Supreme Court justice, is the first counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“In condemning and working against racism, we encourage our students, our teachers, and all our members to avoid extreme or polarizing positions and teachings that undermine the U.S. Constitution and other core institutions,” Oaks said. “[The Constitution’s] inspired principles, including the freedoms of speech and religion and its authorized amendments, have allowed subsequent generations to continue to improve and strengthen the rights of all of its citizens.”

He also urged “fair treatment” for members of the LGBTQ community.

“Individuals or groups who do not treat our LGBTQ members with empathy and charity are not aligned with the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ,” Elder Gilbert said. “At the same time, ignoring God’s laws has never been the Savior’s pattern for showing love. Remember, Jesus asked us to love God first.”

Watch the speech below:

Herschel Walker left out millions in his financial report

Herschel Walker, the Georgia Republican candidate running for the U.S. Senate endorsed by former President Donald Trump, is facing scrutiny for failing to report more than $3 million in earnings over a five-month period as part of his federal financial disclosure.

According to Business Insider: “Walker’s original candidate report, filed in December 2021, listed him and his spouse cumulatively earning $927,886 from late 2020 to the end of 2021 through various corporations, including a $100,000 salary from ‘Renaissance Man Food Services, LLC.'”

Five months after filing the original candidate report, Walker reportedly amended it to include that he’d garnered an additional $3.2 million through a company called “H. Walker Enterprises.” Business Insider’s review of the amended documents indicates that he “amended his overall income in the disclosure to $4.1 million, more than four times higher than the original candidate report.”

Per the H. Walker Enterprises’ website, the company stated that its mission is to “establish a business structure capable of servicing food service, corporate and retail customers with a variety of products on a national level.” However, it remains unclear what Walker’s role is within the company as his campaign report describes the “partnership distributions.”

Speaking to Business Insider, Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, who serves as the government affairs manager for the Project on Government Oversight, weighed in on Walker amending his reports. According to Hedtler-Gaudette, Walker’s decision to do so at such a late point on the campaign trail “undermines ‘the basic compact between a person running for office and the people they are trying to recruit to support them.'”

“There’s some potential a voter who may find him supportable may have already contributed some money on the basis of the information they had at that point,” Hedtler-Gaudette said. “But as we’re seeing now, that information was incomplete.”

Under the laws stated in the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics, all candidates are required to submit candidate reports that disclose “their honoraria payments, income, assets, liabilities, compensation, and other personal financial details within 30 days of becoming a candidate,” per Insider.

Candidates that do not may face a number of different penalties including but not limited to a fine or an inquiry launched by the U.S Department of Justice (DOJ).

“The Kids in the Hall” are old now, and that makes their comedy still very much all right

Six episodes into the new season of “The Kids in the Hall,” corporate overlord Don Roritor (played by Mark McKinney) summons his underling Marv (Dave Foley) to ask him if he knows what Amazon wants from the revived version of the sketch show.

Yes, Marv answers: “A funny show, but one that is free of targets, topical topics, alarming edginess, or unsettling settings.”

“That leaves puns, Marv,” replies a nonplussed Don, shortly before bringing in another man to entertain him by repeatedly socking his loyal underling in the gut.

Provided you’ve watched all the sketches before this, you’ll understand that this entire exchange is a mille-feuille layered joke.

McKinney’s executive has already made empty theater out of pretending to listen to women, dismissing a long conference table full of them with the condescending parting gift of a fanny pack. (The Kids are Canadian, making that one a special laugh riot for the Brits, too.) He also speaks in a voice that mimics Lorne Michaels, who executive produces the revival and the five classic seasons coming before it.

Moreover, this back-and-forth comes after sketches that lampoon, among other current subjects, Jeffrey Toobin’s New Yorker incident, cultural appropriation, conspiracy-obsessed vigilantes, and post-apocalyptic boredom, all without specifically referring to any of the targets.

RELATED: The problem with Mike Myers

And some will recognize Don Roritor from the troupe’s feature debut in 1995’s “Brain Candy,” whose flop status the revival embraces by describing in the very first scene as having been “dry heaved into existence because of a dark deal with the devil.”

To know and love “The Kids in the Hall” means gleaning a twisted guffaw from these winks, but the comedy works even if its crumbs of topical humor slide by unnoticed. And this is the essence of this Canadian troupe’s subversive genius, won by shuffling critiques of first-world stupidity into a tall stack of inane.

“The Kids in the Hall” are old and they know it.

“The Kids in the Hall” originally aired between 1989 and 1995, with its original pilot episode debuting in 1988. Its revival is stuffed with callbacks to their greatest creations, including Scott Thompson’s popular nightclub host Buddy Cole. Buddy, a controversial character back in the 1990s, is now a gay elder mourning the culturally eradicating effects of gentrification, transforming his former gay paradise into rows of tony cafes and restaurants. But the producers accentuate the keenness of this loss less than his passionate sentimentalizing of the only part that remains of his favorite bathhouse: the Last Glory Hole, which has somehow gained sentience.

“The Kids in the Hall” are old and they know it. They revel in their age, actually – the group’s youngest member, Foley, is 59. But despite the eight-episode return’s official reintroduction, which shows McKinney, Thompson, Foley, Bruce McCulloch, and Kevin McDonald being unearthed from their shared burial site by longtime writer Paul Bellini, they’re decidedly not dead.

Kids in the Hall (Jackie Brown/Amazon Studios)

This too is a wink, picking up from their 1995 farewell, when they were buried together to decisively end the series. But for Gen Z viewers and millennials who might not have ever heard of them – and many haven’t – it’s also their way of saying, “Hey folks, here are those Canadians whom Gen X olds used to think were edgy!”

But they’re also reminding the audience of their status as television’s premier sketch troupe, one of the few that has found lasting success outside of “Saturday Night Live” (which featured McKinney as a cast member from 1995 through 1997), “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” and more recent hits like “Key & Peele.”

“The Kids in the Hall” took advantage of the Gen X tendency to label everything as inauthentic and pointless by occasionally nestling uncomfortable commentary within their whacked-out scenarios.

“SNL” and “Key & Peele” thrive(d) on topical comedy, with the latter going all-in and hard on race and other social issues and the former grinding the bones of that week’s headline horror to make its bread. The “Kids,” who have been together since 1984, were never that straightforward in the televised version of their act, leaning more heavily on cultivating bizarre and easily imitable characters.

To younger viewers sorting through a waning obsession with all things ’90s, here’s a sketch troupe that played a role in defining the era by marrying that decade’s bastardization of irony with absurdism. “The Kids in the Hall” took advantage of the Gen X tendency to label everything as inauthentic and pointless by occasionally nestling uncomfortable commentary within their whacked-out scenarios. This was mainly the role Thompson’s Buddy played, but it also popped up elsewhere, as in sketches featuring characters driven to their edges by baseless and often entirely goofy paranoia.

Miraculously, the reboot captures this spirit without drowning in nostalgia, one of the current era’s more toxic indulgences. Familiar and beloved characters pop up in these eight new episodes because . . . why wouldn’t they?

For one thing, Amazon prides itself on being a company devoted to meeting the customer’s every need, and in a show like this, that translates to fan service. There is no way the show would not dust off weirdos like McKinney’s Headcrusher and McCulloch and Thompson’s Cathy and Kathie, chatty admins at the “Kids” all-purpose corporation A.T. & Love.

(In my view the “Kids” are among the precious few all-male troupes who pull off playing women by foregrounding those characters’ distinct comedic traits without resorting to stereotypes. This is still true, along with the fact that each of them looks fantastic in a wig and fully made-up face.)

Kids in the Hall (Jackie Brown/Amazon Studios)

Returning to Bellini’s visual nonsequitur role, the man serenely traipsing around in nothing but a bath towel underscores their take on aging and physical change. As hilarious as their childishness was as young men, it’s even funnier and a tad more haunting when viewed in the form of late middle age folds and sags.

Those wondering why favorites like The Chicken Lady aren’t in the mix may take a closer look at the figures they chose to bring back instead, each of which provides an entry to relevant punchlines without sprinkling them in glitter. The fastidious restaurant staffers Tory, Dory, Rory, and Cory, who obsess over correct culinary terms and codes about pooping embody the lunacy of genteel elitism.

When this “Kids” zips back to Hotel La Rut to visit Sylvie and Michelle, they cannot bring themselves to rise from their couch to cross the room and retrieve an iPad. They could be fellow victims of pandemic malaise, or it may be that they’re taking their characteristic malaise to the next level; who can say?

Gord (McCulloch) and Jeff (McKinney) were even less popular back in the day, but in 2022 their huckster routine is all too apropos.

Time has redeemed “Brain Candy” into a cult classic, and with the debut of these eight Amazon episodes maybe more people will watch their 2010 miniseries “Death Comes to Town,” which aired on a pre-“Portlandia” IFC. And time has changed these men physically, which is also true of the people who loved them 30 years ago . . . and shrink in horror at the realization that our youth is several decades years gone.

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The bizarreness of being human has no expiration date, as “The Kids in the Hall” remind us by leaning into their age, and our era, by picking up where they left off and treating time as their ally. Their aging activates a fresh kind of humanity in their characters, letting us reconnect to our goofiness and, in some cases, feel better the inevitable loneliness that drives people to do silly things.

That makes their self-aware approach to repurposing old friends from the show incredibly topical – unsettling, even. But it also comforts by reminding its longtime fans that who we were is still who we are, and that alone makes me hope we haven’t seen the last of them.

All episodes of “The Kids in the Hall,” including the original five seasons, are currently available to stream on Prime Video. Watch a trailer via YouTube.

Why stop there? Check out the two-part documentary “The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks,” which begins streaming on Prime Video Friday, May 20.

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Elon Musk allegedly asked a SpaceX flight attendant to “do more” during a massage

A former SpaceX flight attendant is alleging that while on Elon Musk’s Gulfstream G650ER, Musk exposed himself to her and then offered to give her a horse in exchange for sexual favors.

During the incident, which Musk’s accuser states took place in a private cabin on the aircraft en route to London in 2016, Musk rubbed the woman’s leg and pleaded for a sexual massage, which she firmly declined. The details of the offense were laid out in a signed declaration, and Musk threw $250,000 at the problem in 2018, hoping it would all go away. But, unfortunately for him, the internet is forever.

In emails and other documentation obtained by Insider, the woman worked as a contracted member of the SpaceX cabin crew and, shortly after taking the position, was encouraged by Musk to also become a licensed masseuse for the sole purpose of giving him massages while onboard. It was during one of these massages that Musk is said to have asked her to “do more.” After entering into a private cabin on the aircraft, the woman states that she was met by a fully naked Musk covered only by a sheet laid over his privates, which was later moved to expose his erect penis.

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After being asked by Insider to explain himself, Musk reportedly asked for more time to craft his response and then returned with the following:

“If I were inclined to engage in sexual harassment, this is unlikely to be the first time in my entire 30-year career that it comes to light.” Musk then referred to the claim as a “politically motivated hit piece,” according to Insider.

The flight attendant, who is choosing to remain anonymous, told a friend that professional opportunities took a dive after refusing Musk’s proposition. In 2018, assuming her lack of work was linked to turning Musk down, she hired an employment lawyer and human resources was contacted. Rather than go to court, Musk offered a severance agreement amounting to $250,000 and made the woman promise not to pursue the matter further. The woman’s friend, whose intel was included in the signed declaration against Musk, decided to speak up about the incident now and she herself is a survivor of sexual assault.

“I absolutely felt a responsibility to come forward with it, especially now,” the accuser’s friend said to Insider. “He is the richest man in the world. Someone with that level of power causing that kind of harm and then throwing some money at the situation, that’s not accountability.”

According to Pet Rogue Science, the cost of a horse ranges from $100 – $10,000, but the most expensive breeds such as an Arabian or Thoroughbred can run almost exactly $250,000.

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Is the Marvel Cinematic Universe getting too big?

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for Marvel. With both the season finale of the Disney+ limited series “Moon Knight” and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” releasing in close succession, it’s felt like the Marvel deluge has been fast and furious of late.

But then, doesn’t that describe just about every week nowadays?

I’ve been religiously following the Marvel Cinematic Universe since the first “Iron Man” movie dropped back in 2008, and was a fan of this stuff since long before that thanks to the 2000s-era “Spider-Man” and “X-Men” films. And something about Phase 4 of the MCU just feels . . . different. They say that all great empires expand until they reach a point where they can no longer sustain their own weight, at which point they crumble. Yes, I’m drawing a parallel between the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Rome, and no I’m not sorry about it. It’s the biggest media empire of our time.

Having watched both “Moon Knight’s“ finale and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” I keep finding myself circling back to the same question: is the MCU getting too big to tell a coherent interconnected story?

Is the Marvel Cinematic Universe buckling under its own weight?

Let’s be clear here: in some ways the MCU is not big enough. Marvel Studios lagged way behind during the first three Phases of its movie universe in terms of representation, and it feels as if it’s just now starting to make serious strides. Despite fans lobbying for a “Black Widow“ movie as early as 2015, the disorganized DC Extended Universe beat Marvel to the punch in making a superhero movie with a female character in the lead; 2017’s “Wonder Woman” came out a full two years before Marvel took the leap in its 21st film with Brie Larson in “Captain Marvel.” The fact that Marvel is now including superheroes with different backgrounds is a great thing, and without a doubt one of the best aspects of Phase 4.

What worries me about the MCU is its storytelling. The Russo Brothers, who directed the latter two “Avengers” and “Captain America” movies, recently revealed that Marvel Studios didn’t have a set-in-stone plan for their early run of films. Depending on how movies did, they adjusted. And obviously that’s true; there was a time when films like “Guardians of the Galaxy 2” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp” were not on the docket for Phase 3, until those characters became popular enough for the studio to invest more in them. And Robert Downey Jr.’s first MCU post-credits stinger, where he appeared in “The Incredible Hulk,” was something that came together on the fly because he just happened to be in town when that film was shooting.

But try and tell me that Feige and the rest of the brains at Marvel Studios didn’t at least have an inkling of where they’d like to go. The first “Iron Man” movie set up “The Avengers” eventually becoming a thing. “The Avengers” set up Thanos, who would not be played by Josh Brolin until 2014’s “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Marvel Studios may not have had a plan, but it never felt like they didn’t have a plan.

(Marvel Studio)Right now, it kind of does. Instead of two to three movies a year, as was the norm in Phases 1-3, the content is so constant it can be challenging to keep up with. There were five Marvel shows and four Marvel movies released in 2021, all of which will presumably factor into future shows and movies in one way or another. These shows and movies overlapped to the extent that May was the only month in all of 2021 that did not have new Marvel Studios content. Part of that was the pandemic, but still.

Phase 3 of the MCU consisted of 11 films. Hour for hour, we got more Marvel content in 2021 alone than we did in all of Phase 3, which spanned 2016-2019.

2022 will see at least three Marvel shows, three Marvel movies, two holiday specials, and the animated “I Am Groot” series on Disney+. That’s still more than double the yearly content we got during Phase 3, where everything was speeding toward the endgame of the Infinity Saga. And that’s not even taking into account the actual hours you need to spend to watch each thing, since most of the shows average close to 5 or 6 hours total. It’s a lot.

Can the Multiverse tie it all together?

Loki (Disney+/Marvel Studios)Right now, it seems clear that Marvel is working toward a Multiverse War. And that’s a pretty cool idea. There’s no doubt that if and when Marvel does an “Avengers in the Multiverse” or “Secret Wars” movie, it will be awesome. But the big question is how well the MCU can feasibly tie together all the disparate plot threads it’s juggling. We’ve had 11 Marvel shows/movies total in Phase 4 thus far, and the plot threads tying them together are minimal at best. Again, that’s the equivalent of the entire Phase 3 slate, which had two “Avengers” movies and the crossover “Civil War.”

Let’s also keep in mind that at the end of each of those previous Phases, there was a crossover “Avengers” film to tie most of the characters together before releasing them to go on their individual adventures in the next Phase. So far as we know, the final movie planned for Phase 4 is “The Marvels.” (It was previously “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” but the release dates for those two films recently flipped). That will be a crossover event film; we know that “Ms. Marvel’s” Kamala Khan and “WandaVision’s” Monica Rambeau will appear in it. But that makes it more of a mini-crossover than a full-scale “Avengers” event. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” included a slew of cameos and “Thor: Love and Thunder” also brings together a larger group of heroes. To some extent, the main thing missing from this slate of Marvel stuff is the big crossover films. Instead we’re getting a bunch of smaller crossovers, as in “The Marvels” and “Thor 4.”

And maybe that’s just the direction things are going. Maybe that’s the only way to keep this all manageable when you’re dealing with this many characters. I’m not here to put down things people love; if you’re enjoying Phase 4, that’s great. There has been a lot of excellent storytelling in it. But it feels less focused than the first three Phases, less sure of where it’s going.

And despite the machine gun of content, it seems we have to wait longer between appearances for characters. Take Anthony Mackie’s Captain America; Sam Wilson (Mackie) took up the shield during the finale of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” in April 2021. As things stand, Sam isn’t slated to reappear until “Captain America 4,” which has no release date as of yet and almost certainly won’t hit theaters until at least 2024. There’s always a chance he’ll turn up elsewhere (the smaller crossovers can come in handy for that), but he’ll still have a longer gap between “Captain America” movies than at any time during Phases 1-2, when a new film would come around typically every two years. And let’s not even get started on when we’ll see Shang-Chi, the Eternals, or some of the other new characters again. Who knows?

Phase 4 is Marvel’s victory lap

At the end of the day, there’s a certain amount of faith that’s required to invest in a massive film franchise like the MCU, and the larger and more convoluted it gets, the more faith is required. Can Kevin Feige pull it off and tie everything together? The man has engineered the most successful movie franchise of all time, who am I to say he can’t?

But as the Marvel Cinematic Universe stands right now, Phase 4 feels a lot more like Marvel’s victory lap for finishing the Infinity Saga than an epic tale building methodically toward a fulfilling climax the way it did during Phases 1-3.

Who is Teal Swan, the controversial spiritualist or scammer in “The Deep End”?

Teal Swan claims she’s not a cult leader, but a quick look at the spiritual teacher’s controversial preachings and large-scale following raises questions.

Swan’s tale, which was highlighted in the 2017 documentary “Open Shadow: The Story of Teal Swan,” is now being revisited in the four-part docuseries, “The Deep End,” airing on Freeform and Hulu. In the first episode, titled “The Misfit Toys,” we learn about Swan’s “Teal Tribe” — an intimate community of her ardent fans — and her self-exploration and self-restoration program called the Completion Process.

According to Swan, spirituality was a discipline she initially had no interest in pursuing as a career. But over time, the self-declared clairvoyant joined the likes of Deepak Chopra and Jagadish “Jaggi” Vasudev, aka Sadhguru, after advocating for an array of eyebrow-raising homilies all in the name of “healing.”

Swan describes herself as an individual who “travels the world teaching people the truth of the universe, helping people to see the truth of themselves, and teaching them how to transform their emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual pain.” But a closer look at her mental health advice proves to be more troubling in nature. For years, she has profited off of glorifying death, oftentimes going so far as to encourage suicide, which she says is “our safety net or our reset button that’s always available to us.”

So much of Swan’s practices still remain a mystery. “The Deep End” strives to make sense of her methodology and acclaim through features of Swan’s followers, business partners and a former fling.

From Swan’s otherworldly beginnings to her established community or “tribe,” here’s a closer look at the spiritualist who continues to make a living off of scamming vulnerable individuals:

Who is Teal Swan?

The 37-year-old spiritual teacher also describes herself as a “personal transformation revolutionary” and “spiritual catalyst.” In the documentary, Swan says her journey with spirituality and healing began during childhood, when she realized she didn’t quite “fit in” at home or at school. She also suffered from hypersensitivity while growing up and claimed to have clairvoyance abilities – knowing information through ESP – including “clairsentience,” being able to perceive that which is not perceivable, and “clairaudience,” hearing what is inaudibe.

Her capabilities supposedly further ostracized her from loved ones and placed her at the forefront of abuse and sexual violence. From the age of 6 onward, Swan says she was abused, raped, drugged and psychologically tortured by a family friend who promised to help “cure” her. She later told HuffPost that she was also inducted into two separate satanic cults, where she participated in religious blood sacrifices and rituals.

“When I was 12, I was placed on a metal table in a veterinary office after hours. The cult trainer of the group had black mesh over his face,” Swan said. “He hooked me up to electrodes, placing gel under each one and used an old projector to project images of dead animal carcasses onto the wall in front of me. Every time he would change the slide on the projector screen, he would shock me. He kept saying ‘Look what you did,’ over and over, trying to suggest that I had killed all of those animals.”

As a teenager, Swan attempted to take her own life and was sent to see a psychiatrist, whose techniques, she claimed, did not work. Swan successfully escaped both cults at the age of 19 and spoke out about the longstanding abuse she endured.

Fast-forward a few years later, Swan launched her YouTube channel and began uploading videos on self-help, mental health, manifestations and other self-development topics. She also authored six books and organized an array of events, from live speeches to personalized self-love courses (which are priced at a whopping $400).

A great indicator of Swan’s vast success is her millions of fans and followers, all of whom make up the “Teal Tribe.”

What is the Teal Tribe, more like “Cult”?

Per the community’s Facebook group page, Swan’s Teal Tribe is “a network of people around the globe focused on positive change in how we live together and interact with one another.” The group also describes itself as “a collection of people focused on Emotional Healing, Support, Authentic Communication and people thriving together in a community.”

The group has an international page along with location-specific pages for Swan’s followers in Germany, Prague, Scandinavia, France and the United Kingdom, just to name a few.

Swan’s worshippers are also showcased in the documentary and as a whole, entirely embrace her influence and profound words of wisdom.

“I feel like she’s Jesus,” says one starstruck follower. Another states that it’s Swan’s “mission to heal us all.”

“What it boils down to is that I’m teaching truth. I’m the one that’ll tell you how it is whether or not you’re able to handle it,” Swan herself explains. “I lack the capacity to stand on the stage and be like, ‘This is wonderful, just soak up the good vibes!’ when I’m like, ‘You are literally in a chain of addiction right now. But if you come to me, you will watch transformation take place.'”

“The Deep End” airs Wednesdays on Freeform and next day on Hulu. Watch the trailer for the docuseries, via YouTube:

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Scammers and price gougers are taking advantage of desperate parents seeking baby formula

Just as Terri Bair’s second son was born, baby formula maker Abbott Laboratories issued a huge recall of its baby formula products. The recall, which occurred in February of 2022, included several lots of Abbott’s Similac, Alimentum and EleCare formulas, and occurred after two infants died and some reported bacterial infections.

When Bair heard about this, she was disappointed, but didn’t fret too much: she preferred Similac, but didn’t mind a more generic brand, which was in stock.

Until two weeks ago.

“They didn’t have any on the shelf,” Bair said.

She returned next week; the shelves were still empty. The much-talked about baby formula shortage had finally reached her sleepy town of Narvon, Pennsylvania.

Bair turned to a Facebook group called Moms Helping Moms: Formula Shortage Donations, specifically designed to help parents find formula during this shortage, where she came across a post from a man selling extra formula cans he had in his possession. She paid him the shipping fee, and within an hour she had the tracking number. The transaction worked: a couple days later, she had the formula in her hands.

Then she saw another post from a woman who claimed to lived in a small town whose stores were well-stocked with formula. Bair asked her if she’d seen any Enfamil Gentlease.

“I don’t care if it’s generic brand or name brand, I’ll take one,” Bair told the woman. “She writes back and says ‘Oh girl, I’m at Walmart, they have all the sizes of the Enfamil.'”

Bair sent her money on PayPal for formula, and later another PayPal payment for shipping costs, which totaled $22.32. The woman sent Bair a tracking number. Later when Bair checked the status on her delivery, the update only said that a label had been created. The status didn’t change the next day, nor the next, nor the next. Other members of the group connected with Bair, put the pieces together, and realized that they were being scammed. When Bair repeatedly asked for her money back, the seller blocked her on Facebook Messenger.

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The supply shortage of baby formula has put many parents in similar positions as Bair: desperately scouring Facebook groups for formula-dealers, or in some cases, buying breast milk on online platforms. And Bair is not alone among parents who have encountered scammers preying on desperate parents.

Last week, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) issued a scam alert, warning parents that because of the shortage, online groups and marketplaces have become breeding grounds for unscrupulous formula dealers. According to the BBB, scammers typically post on social media and send a direct message to a parent saying they have baby formula. The scammer will oftentimes include photos of cans. Then, the parent will send money through Venmo or Paypal, but never end up getting the formula. The Federal Trade Commission has also issued a warning to consumers about scams.

“Scammers exploiting the high demand for baby formula have sunk to new lows,” the FTC stated. “They’re popping up online and tricking desperate parents and caregivers into paying steep prices for formula that never arrives.”

Milk banks are typically used to serve NICU babies, but they’ve also seen an uptick in demand amid the shortage from people who are desperate to feed their babies.

And scams aren’t the only issue stemming from the shortage: price gouging, too, is rampant. On OfferUp, an online marketplace app, one seller asked for $25 for a 12.5 ounce can of Enfamil — a 46% increase over Walmart’s price, where a single can usually be purchased for $17.08.

“Although OfferUp does not generally control pricing on our marketplace, we did create price gouging protocols at the beginning of the pandemic for certain items,” a spokesperson at OfferUp told Salon via email. “We recently engaged those protocols on baby formula.”

The shortage is also leading many parents to search for breastmilk from donors, which is being sold or donated both on social media or via milk banks. Milk banks are typically used to serve NICU babies, but they’ve also seen an uptick in demand amid the shortage from people who are desperate to feed their babies.

“In light of this current crisis of infant formula shortage, we have seen approximately a 20% increase in demand in the United States — that’s what our member milk banks are saying,” Lindsay Groff, executive director of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA), which has a network of nonprofit member banks in the United States and Canada, told Salon. “And as the days go on, we are expecting that that demand could increase; now, we are seeing potentially light at the end of the tunnel here with some solutions that are being worked out, so hopefully things will level off soon because of course, we want babies to get what they need.”

This week, President Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to increase baby formula manufacturing in an effort to address the shortage. He also directed the Health and Human Services Department and Department of Agriculture to pick up infant formula from overseas that meets U.S. health and safety standards. While the House tried to pass a bill for emergency funding to allow the FDA to properly inspect foreign manufacturers, GOP leaders voted against the bill.

Though Abbott Laboratories announced earlier this week that it could reopen its manufacturing plant in the next two weeks, it could take up to six to eight weeks to see the results on shelves. Indeed, the February recall led to Abbott halting production while Food and Drug Administration inspectors conducted a six-week investigation of the plant. A preliminary report released found traces of a bacteria called cronobacter on surfaces throughout the plant. Since then, the plant has been closed, which was a major cause of the aforementioned supply shortage.

Until then, many parents will have to worry about navigating scams and price gouging in addition to the stress of finding food for their babies.

For other Salon stories on the baby formula shortage and supply chain issues:

“Loki” creator teases “more mischief” ahead in season 2

There’s always more on the way in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The latest Marvel movie is “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” which sees Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) go on a universe-hopping adventure to avoid getting horrifically murdered by the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). It’s an outrageously fun time filled with surprise cameos and shocking turns.

Michael Waldron wrote the screenplay for “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” but he was already a regular face at Marvel before that with his Disney+ series “Loki.” It should come as no surprise that while Waldron is out talking up Doctor Strange’s latest adventure, the topic of “Loki” season 2 has come up. As of now it’s the only one of the live-action Marvel shows on Disney+ to be renewed for a second season, and while Waldron won’t be returning as showrunner for this one, he’s still got plenty to say about it.

Loki writer promises “more mischief” in season 2

Waldron recently talks with Syfy Wire and hinted at what lies ahead for everyone’s favorite trickster god. “More mischief, lemme tell ya,” Waldron said. “It’s gonna be fun and we’ve got a great story. [Writer and co-producer] Eric Martin is taking over as head writer, and we’re all working on it together, and I’m excited. It’s gonna be great.”

As for when “Loki” season 2 will actually start filming, Waldron’s keeping things close to his chest. Although Tom Hiddleston (Loki) may have spilled the beans already. “Tom was talking about that recently, I should throw him under the bus,” Waldron said. “I don’t know . . . he gave some timeline. So whatever he said, subtract that from when it is now and that’s my answer.”

Waldron is most likely referring to an interview Hiddleston did in late April. “We’re in it already. I mean, we’re not filming, but we’re in prep, but we start in like six weeks or something,” the actor said. “So we’re in full steam ahead in terms of a script and story and it’s really exciting. Yeah, I can’t say too much, but lots of questions to be answered.”

If we crunch the numbers and the dates, that means that “Loki” should start filming early next month. The Film & Television Industry Alliance lists the start of Loki’s shooting schedule as June 6, 2022, which lines up pretty well with these teases from Hiddleston and Waldron.

In the meantime, “Loki” season 1 is still available to stream on Disney+. It’s a pretty good primer for “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” since Loki and Sylvie did break the multiverse and all.

Ice cream is better between bread: Try this new 3-ingredient dessert recipe inspired by Ali Slagle

There’s a gelato place in New York City that makes an amazing version of the ice cream sandwich by filling toasty brioche rolls with its frozen treats. I started going to L’Arte del Gelato a decade ago, yet I never in all my days had the lightbulb moment that I could make exactly the same thing at home until I interviewed cookbook author Ali Slagle.

Slagle’s exceptional, accessible debut “I Dream of Dinner (so You Don’t Have To): Low-Effort, High-Reward Recipes” brims with incredible ideas for main courses but boldly omits a single dessert recipe. When I asked her about it, she said she’s more of a store-bought dessert person. But then she cracked open my world.

“Something you see in Italy a lot is often a brioche bun with chocolate ice cream inside,” she told me during an appearance on “Salon Talks.” “But you could just use a buttered potato burger bun with a scoop of ice cream.”

Mind. Blown. I couldn’t have rushed home to eat this dessert faster if I tried. The results were expectedly fantastic — like the most luxurious version of supermarket freezer Turkey Hill imaginable.

When I recently mentioned the concept to a colleague, she immediately offered this perfect riff — King’s Hawaiian rolls stuffed with Kona coffee ice cream. Voilà, you’ve got a Sicilian treat that takes a detour to the 50th state.

Much like my beloved grilled chocolate and waffled donut sandwiches, this is a dish that’s exactly as delicious as it is effortless. To paraphrase Joey Tribbiani, hamburger bun, good. Ice cream, gooooood. So very, very good.

***

Recipe: Ice Cream Sandwich Sliders
Inspired by Ali Slagle

Yields

8 servings

Prep Time

5 minutes

Cook Time

0 minutes

Ingredients

8 King’s Hawaiian sweet slider buns, or slider buns of your choice
Butter, softened
1 pint coffee ice cream, slightly softened, or your favorite flavor

Directions

Split the slider buns and lightly butter them. If you’re feeling very motivated, you could run them under the broiler for a minute — but don’t feel obligated.
Scoop a dollop of ice cream on one side of each bun, then gently squeeze closed. They’re best when made to order and eaten immediately, but you could pop them back in the freezer to hold until you’re ready to enjoy.

Cook’s Notes

You can, of course, use any rolls you like here, as well as any ice cream that pleases you. I think pretzel rolls with strawberry ice cream would be a phenomenal spin on the Jell-O classic.

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More easy ice cream recipes we love:

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House GOP swallows fake news on Costco hot dog price hike

On May 18, Twitter user @JohnWRichKid, whose username at the time was “Breaking911,” sent out this tweet: “***BREAKING–COSTCO ANNOUNCES PLANS TO RAISE FOOD COURT HOT-DOG PRICES BY $1 DUE TO INFLATION.”

Two hours later, @HouseGOP, the official account of the Republican Conference of the U.S. House of Representatives, retweeted the announcement, adding that “#Bidenflation comes for everything.”

However, that claim about Costco hiking its prices is false. In the GOP’s rush to get in a jab at President Joe Biden, they spread fake news from a source whose Twitter bio reads, “Wendy’s Fry Cook – I like to make memes – PARODY.”

Since it debuted in 1985, the price of Costco’s hot dog and drink combo has not changed. Through booms and recessions, it has stayed steady at $1.50. During a 2018 presentation for the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce, Costco CEO Craig Jelinek recounted a now-viral exchange he had with Costco co-founder Jim Singal.

“I came to him once and I said, ‘Jim, we can’t sell this hot dog for a buck fifty. We are losing our rear ends,'” Jelinek said. “And he said, ‘If you raise the effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out.'”

And figure it out, Jelinek did. Costco built its own hot dog-manufacturing plant in Los Angeles, followed by one in Chicago, in order to produce Kirkland Signature hot dogs.

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“By having the discipline to say, ‘You are not going to be able to raise your price. You have to figure it out,’ we took it over and started manufacturing our hot dogs,” Jelinek said. “We keep it at $1.50 and make enough money to get a fair return.”

According to Jelinek, the $1.50 hot dog and drink meal has become, in many ways, synonymous with Costco. It’s basically set in stone.

I called the Costco location closest to me, which is the Chicago South Loop Warehouse. The food court representative confirmed the price of the meal was still $1.50.

The House GOP deleted the original tweet, though its feed continues to be dominated by tweets about #Bidenflation. @JohnWRichKid, meanwhile, posted a screenshot of the GOP’s retweet with the caption “got ’em.”

More stories about about food and politics:

Monkeypox has reached the United States — but experts say you shouldn’t fret just yet

If there is one point on which most Americans will almost certainly agree, it is that we have had more than our fill of pandemics. Though COVID-19 was the first pandemic in the U.S. in about a hundred years, the nation’s history is littered with examples of pandemics and epidemics long before COVID-19: A 1793 yellow fever outbreak that forced President George Washington to flee Philadelphia and a 1918 influenza pandemic that kicked the United States while it was still down from World War I are just two of the most prominent examples.

Yet not all pandemics — or epidemics, even — are the same. That’s why public health officials strike a balance between keeping an eye on potential outbreaks and avoiding alarmist language. This is the situation Americans now face with monkeypox: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the exotic-sounding ailment can cause symptoms like painful rashes that can appear all over your body, swollen lymph nodes, muscle aches, backaches, headaches, fever, fatigue and chills. Eventually lesions form and progress through a number of stages before falling off. Most people will recover within two to four weeks after developing symptoms, although it can be fatal for as many as one out of 10 people. Current data from this strain suggests a 3.6% fatality rate, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

And, as of Wednesday, it is confirmed that a man in the United States who recently visited Canada was infected with monkeypox.

Before you prepare for another lockdown, however, bear in mind that Massachusetts’ health department has issued a public statement explaining that the case “poses no risk to the public,” although they add that the public should familiarize themselves with monkeypox symptoms.

Notably, this is also not the first time that monkeypox has reached America’s shores; 47 people in six states had confirmed or probable cases in 2003. Usually Americans who fear monkeypox could take comfort in the fact that the disease originates in West Africa, where it is endemic, and is therefore more likely to have infected individuals who visited that region of the world.

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Yet experts are now concerned because they are seeing monkeypox cases among people who did not travel to Africa, which was once highly unusual. Infections have been reported throughout Europe: Italy, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, Sweden. Canadian authorities believe there may be a cluster of outbreaks in Montreal. All of the patients so far have been men who had sex with other men, yet it is unclear whether the disease can be spread through sex. Traditionally humans have been known to catch monkeypox either through respiratory transmission (e.g.,, an infected person sneezes or coughs on someone else) or by being exposed to an infected animals such as by eating its meat or getting bitten.

“By nature, sexual activity involves intimate contact, which one would expect to increase the likelihood of transmission, whatever a person’s sexual orientation and irrespective of the mode of transmission,” Michael Skinner, a virologist at Imperial College London, told ABC News. The United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) summed up the scientific concerns about the new wave of monkeypox outbreaks through a series of tweets.

“The high proportion of cases in the current outbreak in England that are gay or bisexual (4/7, 57%) is highly suggestive of spread in sexual networks,” tweeted UKHSA epidemiologist Mateo Prochazka. “This is further suggested by the fact that common contacts have been identified for only 2 of the 4 latest cases.”

Prochazka later added, “More to come and lots of work going on, especially focused on rapidly protecting the health of people [and] health care workers, implementing a response working closely with sexual health services, as well as tackling discourses that reinforce inequalities and stigma.”

American health officials already had their eye on monkeypox — and have made it clear that, while there is certainly no reason to fear another COVID-19 pandemic, it could still infect many Americans and hurt a lot of people in the process.

“Given that we have seen now confirmed cases out of Portugal, suspected cases out of Spain, we’re seeing this expansion of confirmed and suspect cases globally, we have a sense that no one has their arms around this to know how large and expansive it might be,” Jennifer McQuiston, deputy director of the CDC’s division of high consequence pathogens and pathology, told STAT News. “And given how much travel there is between the United States and Europe, I am very confident we’re going to see cases in the United States.”

For more Salon articles on diseases:

Was a Capitol tour given by Rep. Barry Loudermilk on Jan. 5 a dress rehearsal for the insurrection?

Georgia Republican Barry Loudermilk is being called into question by the House select committee regarding a tour he gave of the Capitol building the day before the January 6 riot.

In a letter written by the committee to Loudermilk they state a need for further clarity on the purpose of the tour, and the identities of those who were present for it.

An excerpt from the letter:

We write to seek your voluntary cooperation in advancing our investigation. Based on our
review of evidence in the Select Committee’s possession, we believe you have information
regarding a tour you led through parts of the Capitol complex on January 5, 2021.

The foregoing information raises questions to which the Select Committee must seek
answers. Public reporting and witness accounts indicate some individuals and groups engaged in
efforts to gather information about the layout of the U.S. Capitol, as well as the House and Senate
office buildings, in advance of January 6, 2021.

The letter further states that a committee review of security footage taken within the Capitol contradicts previously made Republican claims that there were no tours, and no known public-facing MAGA presence on the property during the days leading up to the Jan. 6 riot.

According to CNN coverage of the investigation, representatives for Loudermilk have not yet responded to the inquiry, but it is known that a meeting with Loudermilk has been requested by the committee to take place sometime next week.

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CNN also points out that New Jersey Democrat Mikie Sherrill made statements following the Capitol riots indicating his belief that there had been “insiders” giving tours of the Capitol in the days prior, but didn’t name any names at that time.

[There were] “members of Congress who had groups coming through the Capitol that I saw on January 5th for reconnaissance for the next day,” Sherrill said.

Loudermilk, a member of the Committee on House Administration, was among the 147 Republicans who voted to overturn Biden’s election.

Read more:

“Stranger Things” hasn’t even returned yet, but spoilers have leaked: “Lessons have been learned”

Things just got a little stranger in the Upside Down.

Just before the highly anticipated fourth season of Netflix’s hit drama series “Stranger Things,” images that unfortunately spoiled some key scenes were leaked. Only, they weren’t really leaked in the traditional sense; somehow, these were made readily available to one fans who were able to purchase them.

An official Monopoly board game affiliated with the upcoming season of the show was released that used images that revealed plot twists and other surprises that have not yet been publicly released. According to The Hollywood Reporter, news of the unsuspecting leak was first revealed in an undisclosed Reddit thread, where one user claimed the game was purchased at “a nationally recognized retailer and purchased fair and square by a consumer. Nobody stole it; nobody leaked a sample.”

At this time, purchase details are still unconfirmed. And while Monopoly boards centered on past seasons are still being sold by major retailers, a couple games focused on the new season are reportedly being advertised on eBay.

The latest hoopla was also met with negative reactions from the show’s creators, The Duffer Brothers, who allegedly had a “total meltdown” afterwards. Sources close to both Matt and Ross Duffer added that the twins were not aware of the game prior to the leak.

“Lessons have been learned and, I expect, there will be more cohesion going into season five,” said an unnamed source close to the Netflix series.

The streaming giant recently announced that the fifth season of “Stranger Things” will officially be its last. Despite that, the Duffer Brothers have teased a possible sequel or spinoff series outside of the show’s original story and cast.

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

Here’s what viewers can expect in season 4, which will be split into two parts:

“It’s been six months since the Battle of Starcourt, which brought terror and destruction to Hawkins. Struggling with the aftermath, our group of friends are separated for the first time — and navigating the complexities of high school hasn’t made things any easier. In this most vulnerable time, a new and horrifying supernatural threat surfaces, presenting a gruesome mystery that, if solved, might finally put an end to the horrors of the Upside Down.”

The first part, “Volume 1,” will premiere Friday, May 27 while the second part, “Volume 2,” will debut July 1. Watch the show’s official trailer below, via YouTube:

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Every Republican — and 4 Democrats — vote against House bill to stop Big Oil’s price gouging on gas

Four Democrats broke ranks in a vote on a Democratic House bill designed to clamp down on price gouging by oil and gas companies amid the nationwide surge in the cost of fuel.

Reps. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Lizzie Fletcher, D-Tex., all joined their Republican colleagues in a vote against the measure, which passed along a narrow 217-207 vote.

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Kim Schrier, D-Wash., is unlikely to see enough support from the Senate to reach the president’s desk. Still, the bill encapsulates the party’s broad messaging campaign to blame price-gouging, as opposed to policy, on the soaring prices at the pump.

“What’s infuriating is that this is happening at the same time that gas and oil companies are raking in record profits and then putting those dollars into stock buybacks,” Schrier said on Thursday.

The measure expressly prohibits the practice of setting fuel prices that are “unconsciously excessive” and encourages the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to pursue legal action against wrongdoers.

But several of the bill’s Democratic detractors argued this week that the measure could be liable to reduce the supply of oil.

“At best, this bill is a distraction that won’t actually address the problem. At worst, it could make the problem more severe,” told CNN.

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Fletcher echoed that sentiment, telling The Hill that “legislation is not the answer.”

“The Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act would not fix high gasoline prices at the pump, and has the potential to exacerbate the supply shortage our country is facing, leading to even worse outcomes,” she said. “For these reasons, I voted no on this legislation today.”

Rice likewise told The Hill that the bill “will not have any meaningful impact for consumers and could ultimately cause a chilling effect when we need to increase supply.”

Back in April, House Democrats called on several big oil executives to provide congressional testimony on why the price of fuel, currently at a national average of $4.59 per gallon, is experiencing a record high. For the most part, the executives blamed Biden’s oil policies as well as external market forces.

The most beautiful smoothie I’ve ever seen

Every week in Genius Recipes — often with your help! — Food52 Founding Editor and lifelong Genius-hunter Kristen Miglore is unearthing recipes that will change the way you cook.

When Diana Yen and I got matched up to create an item for the snack break at Cherry Bombe Jubilee, Diana wanted something playful, something visual. As the founder of A LA CARTE, a studio that specializes in food photography, styling, and recipe development, Yen is always focusing on how to make individual ingredients sing. She lives in Ojai, California (which she’s dubbed “the Upstate of L.A.”) and visits the farmers market weekly, letting local and seasonal produce guide her cooking. In her work, ingredients come first, keeping in mind the simplest way to execute. Usually a recipe is done once and then never used again.

I, on the other hand, am the founder of Anita’s Yogurt based in Brooklyn, NY. I’m a former vegan chef, and I created my signature coconut yogurt in my home kitchen to use in dessert recipes. Nine years later, the brand has sold over a million cups of yogurt from coast-to-coast including 150 locations of Whole Foods. My recipes have been featured on Food52, Munchies, Cherry Bombe and Bon Appétit.

So together, Diana wanted to make something using Anita’s Yogurt that evoked the magazine’s logo. So she thought, “How do I make two cherries?” She sliced strawberries horizontally and that led to drawing a stem between them. A big part of what made it popular was drawing that stem on the outside of the cups, and sticking the strawberries on the inside. It was colorful and the flavors evoked springtime — a floral hint from rosewater and the tart strawberries. The smoothie had three layers, red strawberry puree on the bottom, white chia and yogurt in the middle, and a classic pink strawberry smoothie on top. It’s a technicolor dream of a smoothie, a pousse-café meets a parfait meets a smoothie, as delicious as it was visually stunning.

Most impressive to me was how she showcased my yogurt so beautifully, and the engineering that was involved. Each layer had to be slightly less thick than the previous one in order for them to stay on top of each other without mushing together. With our team of five, we carefully spooned each layer into hundreds of glasses (each one hand drawn with the stem by Diana) the morning of Jubilee. Diana hand cut hundreds of paper straws so that they were the perfect length for the mini tumblers. Once the snack break started, attendees poured into the room and the smoothies were gone within minutes. But our efforts paid off. Diana’s strawberry rose smoothing made with my yogurt became the most Instagrammed snack of that year’s event.

Recipe: Diana Yen’s Strawberry Rose Smoothie, from Anita Shepherd

This post contains products independently chosen (and loved) by our editors and writers. As an Amazon Associate, Food52 earns an affiliate commission on qualifying purchases of the products we link to.

The most helpful cleaning tips we’ve ever learned (thanks, grandma!)

Clean Like You Mean It shows you how to tackle the trickiest spots in your home — whether they’re just plain gross or need some elbow grease. You’ll get the cleaning secrets we’ve learned from grandma, a guide to our handiest tools and helpers, and so much more. Pull on those rubber gloves and queue up the tunes: It’s scour hour!

There have been times when you hear or read about a cleaning tip or hack from a friend or family member (or, let’s face it, the Internet) that just sticks with you and that you use for the rest of your life. Here’s a roundup of some of our favorites.

“Saving a squeezed lemon half during cooking and then using it to scrub down the inside of your kitchen sink after cleanup leaves it shiny and smelling great! That was from my grandmother.” — Kaleigh Embree, Product Development Coordinator

“My Aunt Jayanti taught me that when you’re storing empty containers in the cupboard, wash them and cover them with paper towels. If you don’t, you’ll get a musty, stinky smell. She also says to always keep Bon Ami, Bar Keepers Friend, and Goo Gone handy at all times.” — Brinda Ayer, Content Director

“From my mom: Hairspray takes out ball-point pen ink. And creamy peanut butter gets gum out of your hair if you fell asleep on a road trip and woke up with gum in your hair . . .” — Cyndy Chan, Continuous Improvement Technician

“I have a stash of warped sheet pans that I use as pantry and refrigerator shelf liners. I don’t use them in the oven anymore because I’m afraid of burning my house down, so I repurpose them elsewhere. The sheet pans catch flour and sugar that leak out of their bags before I can decant them into deli containers and contain spills in the fridge so they’re less annoying to clean.” — Jada Wong, Market Editor

“My old roommate and I used to cook literally everything in our oven and would ‘forget’ about wiping it down. So once a year (I know, gross), we would finally clean it, using 1/2 cup of baking soda and about ¼ cup of white vinegar to create a paste. The oven would come out spotless. I still use this method to clean my kitchen sink and if my oven gets grimy these days.” — Janine Sanabria, Senior Product Development Associate

“Use a dough scraper to get hard bits (or even grease stains!) off surfaces or even caked-on sticky stuff in the fridge. I prefer a plastic one so I don’t scratch the walls, but a metal one works well if I’m not worried about scratching.” — Genevieve Yam, Recipe Developer

“Dawn dish soap is great at getting grease stains out of clothes, particularly grimy bike grease/brake dust.” — Erin Sanders, Customer Care Operations Manager

“My parents got me totally hooked on Bar Keepers Friend for stubborn dishes. And in my current kitchen, I learned it works wonders on the always-getting-scratched white sink too.” — Emma Laperruque, Food Editor

“Here’s my tip for avoiding pine needles everywhere when the sad time comes when you need to take the Christmas tree out to the curb. (Disclaimer: This has only been tested in an NYC apartment.) Open the window next to where the tree is standing (because everyone puts their tree by a window), look both ways, and shove the tree out. Then walk down the stairs and drag it to the curb or, preferably, your local composting location. No, I don’t expect you to actually use this.” — Mark Linderman, VP, Engineering

“My dad taught me to use dry newspapers for streak-free windows and mirrors when he was out washing his car.” — Danielle Curtis-Williams, Manager, Marketing

“White vinegar and hot water also for streak-free windows but also literally for anything.” — Stacey Rivera, SVP, Content

“Most stains: Dampen the fabric with cold water. Rub a bar of soap into the stain. Then scrub the stain (using the fabric) under cold running water. Also, never paint your house yellow — it attracts bugs.” — Amanda Hesser, Cofounder and CEO

“This isn’t revolutionary, but recently good old baking soda has been my cleaning default. For a slightly clumsy, messy cook like me, it’s a lifesaver. Such a lifesaver that I have a giant Costco-sized-bag under the sink. A grease fire stains your new oven? Baking soda. Accidentally burned an entire pot of farro? Baking soda. Your stainless steel pans are discolored? Baking soda. I like making a paste of baking soda and a bit of water, sometimes I’ll add a bit of white vinegar if I want it to be a more heavy-duty paste.” — Delaney Vetter, Recipe Developer

“The best duster in the world, according to my mum, is an old sock! I have to agree. Just pick up a cleaner in one hand and wear your sock like a glove over the other and spray and wipe. My favorite uses include dusting my plants and wiping down my fan’s blades (dampen your sock for this one). What better use than this for those orphan socks in your drawer (we know you have ’em).” — Arati Menon, Senior Content Lead

“My mama always told me to clean wood with soapy water, dry completely, then seal with oil. She often used olive oil because of what she had on hand. I do this at home too on all my cutting boards, wooden bowls, wood serving platters, wooden spoons. Important to gently clean the wood without removing too much of the oil natural oils, and replenish with more oil to keep a barrier against moisture, which will make wood warp and crack.” — Sean Patrick Gallagher, Recipe Developer

“My grandmother taught me to stretch an old pillowcase over a ceiling fan blade, so you can catch the dust in it, then dump it in the trash afterward.” — Ellery Hight, Customer Care Specialist

“Using dish soap to clean your shower, it breaks up the people-grease and soap scum. Also, keeping a sponge and small bottle of soap IN the shower at all times to clean while you condition your hair.” — Johanna Hagan, Trade Account Representative

“Remove built-up minerals in your coffee maker by mixing half vinegar to half water and a tablespoon of a hard, clear liquor like vodka. Boil the two mixtures as you would coffee without the filter and coffee grounds so it’s running clean, then add a pot of regular water to rinse it out!” — Catherine Yoo, Recipe Developer

“Well here’s one I just learned . . . If you’re reworking a Schoolhouse Factory Sconce with a dead LED and then it suddenly explodes with a thousand live ants, you can use glass cleaner to get rid of most of them.” — Lou Lanning, CID Technician

This post contains products independently chosen (and loved) by Food52 editors and writers. Food52 earns an affiliate commission on qualifying purchases of the products we link to.

Jayapal reverses and backs challenger to anti-abortion Democrat Cuellar: “I simply cannot stand by”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, broke with the House Democratic leadership on Thursday and endorsed Jessica Cisneros, a human rights attorney looking to unseat anti-abortion Rep. Henry Cuellar in Texas’ 28th District.

“At a time when our reproductive freedoms are under attack by an extremist Supreme Court, we must elect pro-choice candidates that will fight to make sure abortion remains the law of the land,” Jayapal, D-Wash., said in a statement to Politico just days out from next Tuesday’s primary runoff.

“I don’t make the decision to endorse an opponent to a colleague in my caucus lightly,” Jayapal added, noting that it’s atypical for a sitting member of Congress to endorse primary challenges against incumbents in their party—though a number of prominent lawmakers, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., have also endorsed Cisneros.

“However,” Jayapal continued, “the freedom for people to make choices about our own bodies is at stake, and I simply cannot stand by when there is a strong pro-choice, pro-worker Democrat ready to step in.”

Cisneros, an outspoken supporter of Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, and other top progressive priorities, fell just shy of defeating Cuellar in 2020, and she forced a runoff with the right-wing Democrat in the first round of voting earlier this year.

Despite Cuellar’s steadfast opposition to abortion rights, climate action, and other key elements of his party’s agenda, the top three Democrats in the House—Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn D-S.C.—have endorsed the corporate-funded incumbent’s reelection bid and campaigned on his behalf in the final stretch of the race.

“Pelosi has endorsed me. Steny has endorsed me. Clyburn has endorsed me,” Cuellar bragged during a recent campaign rally.

A number of political vendors approved by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee—the campaign arm of House Democrats—are also working to reelect Cuellar as the Supreme Court’s right-wing majority appears poised to overturn Roe v. Wade in the coming weeks, potentially paving the way for a nationwide abortion ban.

Earlier this month, Cisneros called on the House Democratic leadership to drop its support for Cuellar, declaring that “with the House majority on the line, he could very much be the deciding vote on the future of our reproductive rights and we cannot afford to take that risk.”

“On May 24th, we will defeat the last anti-choice Democrat and South Texas will finally have a representative in their corner that will fight for their healthcare and freedom,” Cisneros said in a statement. “I hope Democratic Party leadership won’t stand in the way of delivering for South Texans. I am ready to work with them to deliver on the Democratic agenda.”

New Trump business partners compile list of his business failures — showing he poses financial risk

Donald Trump’s extensive history of business failures was documented in new legal filings by his new business partners.

“Donald Trump’s business history has been so filled with disastrous ventures that it’s been hard to keep track of them all,” wrote Los Angeles Times business columnist Michael Hiltzik. “No longer. Digital World Acquisition Corp., which is the special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, taking Trump’s ‘Truth Social’ media platform public, has conveniently listed them in a document it is required to file publicly before selling stock. DWAC is aiming to raise at least $875 million.”

Hiltzik linked to the S-R registration statement, which he described as “hilarious reading.” The 107th page of the filing begins a section on “Risks Related to our Chairman President Donald J. Trump.”

“A number of companies that were associated with President Trump have filed for bankruptcy,” the filing states. “There can be no assurances that TMTG [Trump Media & Technology Group] will not also become bankrupt.”

The document details Trump’s history of repeatedly bankrupting casinos.

“The Trump Taj Mahal, which was built and owned by President Trump, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1991. The Trump Plaza, the Trump Castle, and the Plaza Hotel, all owned by President Trump at the time, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1992. THCR, which was founded by President Trump in 1995, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2004. Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc., the new name given to Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts after its 2004 bankruptcy, declared bankruptcy in 2009,” it acknowledged.

It also noted the demise of other organizations associated with the former reality-TV star, specifically listing, Trump Shuttle, Inc., Trump University, Trump Vodka, Trump Mortgage, LLC, travel website GoTrump.com and Trump Steaks.

The document also noted Trump’s legal exposure as he is reportedly under investigation in multiple states and by the House Select Committee Investigating the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“President Trump is involved in numerous lawsuits and other matters that could damage his reputation, cause him to be distracted from the business or could force him to resign from TMTG’s board of directors,” the document reads. “Additionally, TMTG’s business plan relies on President Trump bringing his former social media followers to its platform. In the event any of these, or other events cause his followers to lose interest in his messages, the number of users of TMTG’s platform could decline or not grow as TMTG has assumed.”

The document listed lawsuits by Capitol Police Officers, members of Congress, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund along with investigations by the district attorneys in Manhattan and Georgia, along with New York Attorney General Letitia James. It also noted lawsuits from protesters, Michael Cohen and writer E. Jean Carroll.

Although TMTG is not a party to any of the above-referenced matters, TMTG cannot predict what effect, if any, an adverse outcome to such matters, or even their continued existence, may have on President Trump’s personal reputation and TMTG’s business or prospects,” it wrote.

Hiltzik, the LA Times business columnist, identified what he said may be “the scariest line in the entire document” for investors.

“The foregoing does not purport to be an exhaustive list,” it reads.

Read the full report.

Lone dissenter: Kentucky Republican casts sole vote against House resolution condemning antisemitism

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was the lone dissenter in a vote on a bipartisan resolution condemning antisemitism and honoring the Jewish heritage.

The resolution, passed along a 420-1 vote, calls on elected officials to recognize the “dangerous rise of antisemitism globally and in the United States” and “condemn and combat any and all manifestations of antisemitism.”

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Debbie Schultz, D-Fla., said this week that she hoped the resolution would send a message that America whole-heartedly rejects any and all forms of antisemitism.

“Our story is woven into America’s history through generations of leaders,” Schultz said on the House floor. “Yet as we honor the profound impact American Jews made on our nation and culture, I must sadly acknowledge that the recognition and understanding that [Jewish American Heritage Month] seeks to foster is critically needed now more than ever.”

The resolution also calls on social media companies to crack down on antisemitism and for U.S. lawmakers to work with the Inter-Parliamentary Task Force to Combat Online Antisemitism, an international group of polictians from America, Australia, Canada and the U.K.

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Following Massie’s vote, StopAntisemitism, a Jewish advocacy group, said that it was “outraged” over Massie’s objection to the resolution. The group also cited Massie’s past refusal to fund Holocaust education in 2020, which earned him a rare rebuke from the Republican Jewish Coalition.

In Sept. 2021 we featured Massie as an 'Antisemite of the Week' highlighting his:

– refusal to fund Holocaust education
– refusal to condemn the antisemitic BDS movement
– outrageous COVID comparisons to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust https://t.co/6Ur3waRPTf

— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) May 18, 2022

Massie’s vote comes as incidents of antisemitism hit an all-time record in the U.S. According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an estimated 2,717 incidents, including harassment and vandalism, occurred just last year. The estimate marks the highest number of antisemitic incidents the group has seen since 1979.

The resolution also comes as the U.S. reels from a racially-motivated shooting in Buffalo, New York. The attack was carried out by an 18-year-old white supremacist, who in a 180-page screed expressed antisemitic views and promoted the “Great Replacement” theory, which holds that the Democratic Party is deliberately loosening borders to “replace” the white electorate with ethnic and racial minorities

Fetus-powered street lamps? Republicans ramp up outrageous anti-abortion lies ahead of Roe’s demise

It was only one half-hour into Wednesday’s congressional hearing on abortion access when it became clear that the Republican contributions to the day would be loonier than a QAnon message board.

“In places like Washington D.C.,” fetuses are “burned to power the light’s of the city’s homes and streets,” claimed Catherine Glenn Foster, who had, just minutes before, sworn not to lie under oath. The GOP-summoned witness let loose the wild and utterly false accusation that municipal electrical companies are powered by incinerated fetuses.

“The next time you turn on the light, think of the incinerators,” she said, apparently repeating a misleading talking point from the same anti-choice activists caught stashing fetuses at home. Everything on the right is psychological projection.

So that’s where Republicans are these days: Arguing that we live in a janky version of the Matrix, except powered by fetuses instead of actual people.

Foster is not some random nut that Republicans pulled off a soapbox at a subway station minutes before the hearing started. She is a Georgetown law school graduate who is paid $190,000 a year to be the president of Americans United for Life, one of the largest anti-abortion non-profits in the country. So it’s not surprising that Foster believed she would get away with this absurd nonsense. Hers was merely one of a truly overwhelming number of lies that poured out of Republican lawmakers and witnesses alike throughout the course of Wednesday’s hearing. When lies are coming out like chocolates on a conveyor belt aimed at Lucille Ball, the liars can be assured they’ve overwhelmed the fact-checkers beyond any hope of accountability.

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The GOP contributions to the hearing were a blizzard of bullshit, meant to totally white out the efforts by Democrats and reproductive rights activists to remind the public of the great human cost that results from banning abortion.

As their actual political views become harder to defend on the merits, Republicans increasingly embrace conspiracy theories and urban legends to justify the unjustifiable.

Republicans pretended progressives don’t know what a “woman” is. They insisted that the mere existence of abortion shows that birth control efforts are useless. (On the contrary, the abortion rate has gone down as birth control access has improved.) They pretended, over and over, that the issue at hand was only late-term abortions. In reality, the abortion bans being passed start at two weeks after a missed period, if not sooner. And then there was the repulsive contributions of Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, who pretended that women wait until they go into labor and then abort the pregnancy right before the baby is born. Having made this lie up, he then berated Alabama-based OB-GYN Dr. Yashica Robinson for the existence of a procedure that, quite literally, only happens in his bizarre fantasies. (Thanks to Charles Pierce at Esquire for the transcript.)

Johnson: Do you support the right of a woman who is just seconds away from birthing a healthy child to have an abortion?

Robinson: I think that the question you’re asking does not realistically reflect abortion care —

Johnson: In that scenario, would you support her right to abort that child?

Robinson: I won’t entertain theoretical —

Johnson: It’s not a theoretical, ma’am. You are a medical doctor.

Indeed it is not theoretical — it is entirely fantastical. Johnson’s showboating was the equivalent of berating a doctor over unicorn horn removal surgery. But Johnson, eager to talk about anything but the realities of abortion care, continued to play this game. He went on to insist that Robinson answer for killing a baby “halfway out of the birth canal,” forcing her to pointedly remind him that actual murder is already illegal.

When lies are coming out like chocolates on a conveyor belt aimed at Lucille Ball, the liars can be assured they’ve overwhelmed the fact-checkers beyond any hope of accountability.

Anti-choicers love this hypothetical of a woman who aborts during labor. In reality, it makes about as much sense as banning men from touching their penises out of fear one might one day he might cut his off. But of course, Republicans would rather talk about their lurid fantasy lives than the realities of abortion.

In the aftermath of the leaked draft opinion that indicates that the Supreme Court will be overturning Roe v. Wade in a few short weeks, the grim reality of what banning abortion means is just starting to dawn on the larger public. Poverty, child abuse, derailed lives, women trapped in abusive relationships, people mutilated or killed in attempted self-abortions, people being imprisoned for trying to get abortions, and even just the looming anxiety hovering over every sexual encounter: That’s what the GOP wants to inflict on Americans, and it is not exactly the most popular politics.

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Sadly, there’s nothing surprising about this turn towards wild tales about fetus-powered street lamps and women demanding abortions during labor.

As their actual political views become harder to defend on the merits, Republicans increasingly embrace conspiracy theories and urban legends to justify the unjustifiable. Want to ban schoolchildren from reading about Martin Luther King Jr.? Just falsely claim that something called “critical race theory” is being taught to school kids and use that as cover. Want to deny trans kids the right to be treated with dignity in public schools? Roll out some wild story about how kids are now “identifying” as cats and using litter boxes in school. Want to rile up the GOP going into the midterms? Screw making any substantive arguments! Just claim that Democrats are conspiring to “replace” white Christians with people of different races and ethnicities, a conspiracy theory lifted directly from neo-Nazis, with the details barely tweaked before being repeated hundreds of times on Fox News.

Of course, in the latter case, the cost is paid in blood. We’ve seen repeated mass murders as a result of this “great replacement” conspiracy theory, with the latest in Buffalo, New York. This points to another, even darker purpose of the Republican reliance on urban legends instead of evidence: Dehumanizing the targets of their sadistic political views.

Lately, Republicans have accused their political opponents of “grooming” children, which is basically just a way of saying all Democrats are pedophiles. It’s an idea directly borrowed from QAnon, just like “great replacement” is borrowed from white supremacist groups. The purpose of this kind of rhetoric is to paint your opponents — or in many cases, your actual targets— as subhuman and therefore deserving of any abuse you dish out, including violence.

Indeed, it’s arguable that the abortion debate is how conservatives honed the art of spooling out monstrous false accusations in order to dehumanize their opponents. Falsely accusing doctors and abortion patients of “murder” has been standard conservative rhetoric for decades, and the human cost has been staggering: Assassinations of doctors, the bombing of clinics, and mass shootings of patients. Yet Republicans never let up, because despite claiming to be “pro-life,” they can always be counted on to prioritize political point-scoring over actual human life.

So yes, laugh at the weird anti-choice lady raving during a congressional hearing about fetus-powered street lamps. But remember the almost unfathomably deep cynicism that fuels such lies. Republicans are determined to set back women’s rights by decades, punish people for having sex, and prop up racial inequities. They frankly do not care how many lives are ruined — or lost — in the process. And they don’t care how stupid they sound when they roll out urban legends, so long as they finish the sadistic task of making unwanted childbirth mandatory across much, if not all, of the United States.

GOP launches “factually inaccurate” attempt to “expunge” Trump’s impeachment — which is not a thing

Former President Donald Trump is the only president in history to have been impeached twice. The number of presidents impeached was already a small number, with only two prior to Mr. Trump. In fact, the former president doubled the number of presidential impeachments after he attempted to shake down Ukraine for dirt on President Joe Biden and incited a riot at the United States Capitol after losing the 2020 election.

Writing Thursday, Rachel Maddow producer Steve Benen wondered why Republicans would be so focused on “expunging” Trump’s second impeachment if he wasn’t even convicted by the Republicans in the Senate. But the reason comes from the man himself.

“Should they expunge the impeachment in the House?” Trump asked rhetorically after Republicans blocked attempts to call witnesses in the trial and voted to end it without conviction.

It’s worth noting that an impeachment can’t be “expunged.” It’s not a criminal proceeding and it’s already part of the public record. Even if Republicans wanted to vote to eliminate it from the public record, their actions of eliminating it would be recorded in the public record.

Trump’s impeachment was passed by Congress, and if something is passed by Congress it can’t be un-passed years after the fact. They could pass something saying they don’t agree with it, declare the future Congress believes it was wrong, or even pass laws that attempt to change the articles of the Constitution that regulate impeachment.

Still, far-right Republicans jumped to deliver his demands.

Oklahoma Rep. Markwayne Mullin, a Republican running for the U.S. Senate, proposed a resolution that would declare Trump’s first impeachment “expunged.” The bill only got eight cosponsors.

This week, Mullin introduced legislation to “expunge” Trump’s second impeachment. Given that it’s an election year, people were clamoring to join. The Fox network reported that more than two dozen Republicans signed on, including GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and GOP Conference Vice-Chair Mike Johnson. Stefanik was once what Benen called a relative moderate who refused to even say Trump’s name. After taking a leadership position, however, that changed.

“Stefanik’s justification is itself bizarre,” wrote Benen. “Democrats held Trump accountable to advance their political agenda? The second impeachment was on Jan. 13, 2021 — a week before Democrats took control of both the White House and both chambers of Congress. Whether the then-president was impeached or not had literally no bearing on Democratic governing.”

Secondly, Benen explained that for Stefanik to describe the second impeachment as a purely partisan exercise is factually inaccurate and inconsistent with the congressional record she hopes to “expunge.”

Ten House Republicans supported the impeachment, making it the most bipartisan impeachment in American history. What’s more, seven Senate Republicans voted in favor of convicting him.

Benen closed by noting that in a Democratic-led House it’s hard to see a bill like this ever passing, but if the GOP takes over, it could become a top priority in their agenda.

Read the full column at MSNBC.com.

Ted Cruz hit with ethics complaint seeking to disbar him over failed effort to overturn election

A group of lawyers want the State Bar of Texas to investigate Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz for his “leading” role in attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

Lawyers with the 65 Project, an organization aiming to hold attorneys accountable for trying to keep former President Donald Trump in power despite his reelection loss, filed an ethics complaint with the association Wednesday. It cites Cruz’s role in a lawsuit seeking to void absentee ballots, numerous claims he made about voter fraud, plus an attempt to stop four states from using 2020 election results to appoint electors — all of which failed.

“Mr. Cruz knew that the allegations he was echoing had already been reviewed and rejected by courts. And he knew that claims of voter fraud or the election being stolen were false,” the complaint says.

Trump has falsely insisted he won the 2020 election — even after multiple failed legal attempts to challenge the election results and his own attorney general’s assurance that the election was accurate and secure. Republicans in Texas and throughout the country have echoed Trump’s baseless claims and some have played roles in attempting to prevent or delay President Joe Biden from being officially certified as the winner.

Cruz represented Pennsylvania Republicans in their efforts to cast out nearly all 2020 absentee ballots in their state, which the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected. Cruz accused the state court of being “a partisan, Democratic court that has issued multiple decisions that were just on their face contrary to law.”

The complaint wants to see Cruz disciplined. It does not say how, though it mentions a New York appellate court’s suspension of Rudy Giuliani’s law license. Guiliani was one of Trump’s lawyers who also repeated false voter fraud claims.

Cruz also agreed to represent Trump in a Texas lawsuit aiming to bar Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin from using its election results. The complaint argues Cruz pushed forward with a frivolous claim, which the U.S. Supreme Court quickly denied.

“The 65 Project is a far-left dark money smear machine run by a who’s who of shameless Democrat hacks,” a Cruz spokesperson said in an email. “They’re not a credible organization and their complaint won’t be worth the paper it’s printed on.”

The complaint against Cruz comes just weeks after the State Bar of Texas moved to sue Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for professional misconduct in his lawsuit challenging the 2020 presidential election, which included his decision to file the federal lawsuit hoping to overturn election results in battleground states where Trump lost.

Disclosure: State Bar of Texas has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2022/05/18/ted-cruz-donald-trump-complaint-texas-bar/.

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GOP slams President Biden on baby formula shortage, then refuses to vote for supply increase

Nine House Republicans voted against a bipartisan bill to help low-income mothers access baby food amid the national formula shortage.

The bill, dubbed the “Access to Baby Formula Act” (HR 7791), was passed with 414 “yes” votes. The measure would allow the Department of Agriculture to waive restrictions on baby food for recipients of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Typically, WIC limits the range of baby food brands that parents can purchase through the federal program.

Among the lawmakers to vote “no” were Reps. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., Thomas Massie, R-Ky., Clay Higgins, R-La., Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Chip Roy, R-Tex., Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., Louie Gohmert, R-Tex., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.

Gaetz has argued that the measure would “allow WIC to utilize a far greater portion of the baby formula market, crowding out many hard-working American families.”

“All considered, government-empowered swings to markets typically create more problems than they solve,” he tweeted. “Instead of creating new emergency authorities for the Incompetent Biden Regime, we should source more product for all American families and solve the problem.”

Biggs echoed a similar sentiment this week, arguing that “empowering the Secretary of the USDA so that they can waive administrative requirements for the WIC program is ineffective and artificial.”

“The better solutions are to distribute formula currently in the hands of federal agencies and reduce regulatory barriers that would allow for the expansion of domestic formula production,” he tweeted.

Republicans have spent weeks capitalizing on the shortage for political gain, slamming President Biden for failing to end the crisis.

The Access to Baby Formula Act was one of two bills that were passed this week to shore up the nation’s baby food supply — both of which ran into Republican opposition.

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House lawmakers also approved a bill, known as the “Formula Supplemental Appropriations Act,” that would provide the Federal Drug Administration with $28 million in emergency funds to ameliorate the shortage and stop fraudulent products from seeing store shelves. The measure, passed by a 231-192 vote, was introduced by Rep. Rosa Delauro, D-Conn., who told NBC that the appropriation would be mostly dedicated to beefing up the agency’s staffing. Nearly 200 Republicans voted against the effort, while only 12 supported it.

“FDA does not have the adequate inspection force to be able to do that and to do it in a timely way,” she told the outlet. “So the crux of this is providing infrastructure … in order to do what needs to get done. And that is about, as quickly as possible, how we get product in and get it on the shelves.”

On Thursday, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf appeared before Congress to answer questions about why the agency did not step in sooner to address the shortages.

The day before, President Biden invoked the Defense Production Act in order to address the nation’s formula shortage, requiring suppliers to send ingredients to baby food manufacturers before any other customers. The administration is also launching Operation Fly Formula, which allows the Pentagon to pick up baby food from overseas on behalf of the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services.

According to The Wall Street Journal, roughly 40% of baby food brands sold in the U.S. have been out of stock since late April.