“Private equity firms charged $20 billion of ‘hidden fees’ to almost 600 companies they owned in the last two decades,” according to a new study. Remember: it’s lazy welfare recipients who are robbing this country blind.

http://gawker.com/private-equity...

Donald Trump, a man whose garbage output is matched only by his diet of garbage, just released a doctor’s note saying what fine shape he’s in, using the sort of language usually associated with a racehorse or fighting dog.

The physician’s note is below:

The final claim is, while unfalsifiable, still clearly wrong (Obama is a skilled basketball player and clearly a health nut, Andrew Jackson was an unstoppable killing machine who, at the age of 67, savagely beat his own attempted assassin into submission). But even claims of decent health seem unlikely based on what we know of Trump’s diet, and also just looking at him. Politico reported earlier this month that he makes a habit of intentionally eating the literally worst things a man can eat:

“I love steak and hamburger and pasta and French fries, all of the things that we shouldn’t be eating,” he said in a response to question about his favorite foods. Asked if there were foods he could not resist, Trump responded, “Yeah, bacon, eggs, steak. You hear a report that comes out, and it says you can’t eat it and then you can, so I eat what I like.”

The liberal media: wrong on domestic 9/11 celebrations, wrong on the fat content of burgers.

Photo: Getty

Contact the author at biddle@gawker.com.
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A Paradise, California police officer who responded to the scene of a drunk driving crash will not face charges, Action News Now reports, after shooting the man behind the wheel multiple times as he tried to pull himself from the flipped vehicle.

The District Attorney has decided the Thanksgiving shooting, vividly captured in this newly release footage, was an “accidental shooting,” despite showing what very clearly appears to be the officer involved raising his weapon, firing, and then calmly holstering it.

According to Action News Now, Thomas was hit in the neck and may be permanently paralyzed:

Thomas was shot in the C7 and T1 vertebrae and could be paralyzed for the rest of his life. He remains in stable condition at Enloe Medical Center.

He will also face vehicular manslaughter charges for the crash, which killed his wife.

Contact the author at biddle@gawker.com.
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Someone went to all the trouble of surveying one thousand American consumers. Why?

In order to produce the Hunter Public Relations 2015 Food News Study. It must have taken hundreds or even thousands of man-hours to survey, collate, and assemble this data into a colorful PowerPoint presentation, then write a press release about it and send it to Ad Age. And for what? To gain what knowledge, exactly?

• Thirty percent of Americans believe food and nutrition stories are “very important,” and 45 percent of Americans believe food and nutritions stories are more important than other news stories, meaning that 15 percent of Americans do not believe that food and nutrition stories are very important but do believe that they are more important than other news stories, implying that they believe no news stories at all are very important. Okay.
  
• “‘Millennials want information about food, the good, the bad, the ugly. They’re voracious. Why? Because food is a part of their culture,’ said Grace Leong, Hunter’s CEO and leader of its food practice.’” Get a real job, hippie.
  

Could the time that went into assembling and promoting the Hunter Public Relations 2015 Food News Study have been better spent doing any number of other activities, including but not limited to volunteering in support of a worthy cause, knitting, building a deck out back, getting a massage, and/ or composing a poem that could add every so subtly to the world’s total supply of beauty? Do these sorts of pseudo-news items not, in fact, serve as mere thoughtless trifles that serve to distract the public from real news while even, in extreme cases, making the public dumber by convincing them that such flimsy artificial premises amount to a useful increase in knowledge? You be the judge.

Some might say, “Hey, if the ‘studies’ that are regularly released by PR firms are so bad, why are you writing about one, then?” To point out that the world is bad. That’s why.

[Image via Hunter PR]

Here is a plainly delightful story. As a means of enchanting neighborhood children as well as advertising that all dinner parties at their home will be very uncomfortable, a family in Maine decided to express their disdain for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant with a Christmas decoration that depicts the jolly folk hero Santa Claus urinating on lights that spell out the acronym “ISIS.”

You might think this fine example of First Amendment bravery would be uncontroversial, but the family’s display has caused some confusion in their quiet neighborhood. As you can see in the image above, the intended message of this decoration isn’t immediately apparent at first glance. York County Sheriff William King spoke to Mashable:

“The callers were concerned that the home owner might be an ISIS sympathizer,” King explained in a statement sent to Mashable. “Sheriff’s deputies visited the home and the word ‘ISIS’ is lit up bright and clear. What is not so clear is that Santa Claus is ‘relieving’ himself on the words (see white stream).”

Ah, yes. Your neighbors interpreting your depiction of Santa pissing on ISIS as a bright, glowing red endorsement of ISIS could be a problem.

This can’t be the only misguided political Christmas display lighting up an American neighborhood this holiday season. With tensions running high across the country, surely someone out there is hoping the decorations adorning their house will give Ted Cruz that needed bump in the polls, or will finally end the gun control debate once and for all.

If you’ve seen anything of the sort, please email me with pictures/video, or at least a detailed and humorous description.

[image via York County Sheriff]

Contact the author at jordan@gawker.com.

The holiday season is a time to take a break from life’s dreary annoyances, so you can spend it with the people that you actually love and enjoy. Which is to say, the holiday season is not a time for Jeb. Jeb knows this. And he’s willing to leave you alone, too—for one low, easy payment of $25.

Earlier today, Jeb gave his email list the gift of extortion by promising to stop contacting them for the rest of the year for just a little bit of cash.

As a recipient of Jeb’s emails, I can say with full authority that all things considered, this really isn’t a bad deal.

If you want the ever-downward spiraling candidate to leave you alone, even if just for a little bit, you have about 34 hours to take the deal before it’s gone forever. At which point, Jeb will, as always, remain.

Contact the author at ashley@gawker.com. Image via AP.

Kristin Cavallari has posted two new original articles on her app: “Quick & Easy Holiday Makeup Tricks” and “The Power of Rose.”

This has been 500 Days of Kristin.

[Photo via Getty]

It was nearly a year ago to the day that we were introduced to the plight of Mark Oberholtzer, the Texas City plumber greeted with the not-so pleasant sight of his old work truck on the evening news being used as an anti-aircraft vehicle for Islamic militants in Syria—with his company’s logo still on it, of course. Oberholtzer is understandably still pissed about how that whole thing went down, so he’s suing the dealership to whom he sold the truck.

http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/texas-plumbers...

Courthouse News Service reports Oberholtzer is seeking “$1 million in punitive damages for fraud, gross negligence, negligent misrepresentation, defamation, invasion of privacy and deceptive trade” against AutoNation Ford Gulf Freeway, the dealership where he unloaded his old Ford F-250 work truck in October 2013.

Why sue the dealership? It’s over the decal with his business logo on it, the news service reports:

He traded in his Ford pickup to AutoNation Ford Gulf Freeway in October 2013 for a newer model, and as he waited for the deal to close he started peeling the “Mark-1 Plumbing” stickers off the truck, he says in a Wednesday lawsuit in Harris County Court.

A salesman told him to stop, because it “would blemish the vehicle paint” and “the dealership had something better for removal,” Oberholtzer says in the complaint.

Then in December of last year, a tweet by the militant group Ansar al-Deen started making the rounds that showed a truck shooting shit out of the sky—Oberholtzer’s old truck, with his Mark-1 Plumbing logo still on it.

In the lawsuit Oberholtzer says the photo, and the subsequent viral story around it, ruined his life and his business. Due to angry calls and death threats, he and his family had to flee their town for some time, and they still receive threats today from angry people who believe Mark-1 Plumbing aids and abets terror groups.

The lawsuit says the truck was sold at a Dallas auction, then sent back to Houston to be shipped to Turkey, and it somehow later ended up in Syria, the Houston Chronicle reports.

The AutoNation dealership has yet to respond to requests for comment from media outlets. Are they directly aiding Islamic militants in Syria? Probably not, but as with those Toyota trucks that keep ended up in the hands of ISIS, it just goes to show how a globalized marketplace can have some very unintended consequences.

http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/toyota-we-try-...

Do you know what your old pickup truck is up to these days?

Contact the author at patrick@jalopnik.com.

The American Red Cross, lately, is very bad at being a charity. A deep investigation published by ProPublica today reveals a bit about why that might be.

https://www.propublica.org/article/the-co...

Previously, ProPublica and NPR have reported at length on the organization’s sluggish response to Hurricane Sandy, which involved taking relief trucks from actual crisis areas so that they could be used as a backdrop for a press conference, throwing out meals because they couldn’t find people who needed to eat them, and leaving wheelchair-bound storm victims to sleep in their chairs for days because appropriate cots weren’t available.

Today’s piece looks at specifically at CEO Gail McGovern, a former AT&T executive who has helmed the charity since 2008. The rub on McGovern, according to ProPublica’s reporting, is this: She eliminated jobs, alienated volunteers, and cherrypicked her own incompetent former AT&T colleagues for top positions. Perhaps all of this would be excusable if it were in the service of making more money so that more funds might be put toward helping victims. But it wasn’t: Under McGovern’s corporate-bred leadership, the charity’s revenue is lower now than it was in 2011, and it has been running a deficit since 2013.

The report also includes a few scenes of disaster victims who literally left out in the cold by the Red Cross, as they were during Hurricane Sandy:

In Northern California last year, the Red Cross shuttered the Napa County chapter and laid off disaster relief staff, according to an internal PowerPoint presentation. Then, in September, a drought-fueled fire swept through the area, consuming more than 75,000 acres and 1,200 homes.

Because of the issues with the Red Cross’ shelter, nearly all of 1,000 displaced people at the Napa County Fairgrounds — including the elderly, new mothers and children, and anyone with a pet — ended up sleeping outside in tents, cars or RVs. The problems were first reported by the Press Democrat newspaper.

Until something changes, it’s probably still smart to direct your donation dollars somewhere else.

Image via AP. Contact the author at andy@gawker.com.

Bowe Bergdahl, the Army sergeant who deserted his post in the Patika province of Afghanistan in 2009 and was rescued after five years in Taliban captivity, will face a court-martial for the charges brought against him, military sources said on Monday.

According to The New York Times, the court-martial, essentially a military court that holds members of the armed forces to military laws rather than civilian ones, could mean a stiffer punishment for Bergdahl—including a life sentence. From the Times:

Yet Monday’s decision rejecting that recommendation means that Sergeant Bergdahl now faces a maximum five-year penalty if ultimately convicted by a military jury of desertion as well as potential life imprisonment on the more serious charge of misbehavior before the enemy, which in this case means endangering the troops who were sent to search for him after he disappeared.

The decision was handed down by Gen. Robert B. Abrams, head of Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, N.C. Initially, Bergdahl’s lawyer had asked for a “special court-martial,” in which a year of prison would be the maximum punishment. Monday’s decision ruled that out.

Last March, the 29-year-old was charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, after he was rescued.

Bergdahl’s story has become a hot-button political issue, with many, particularly Republicans, citing his desertion a symptom of weak foreign policy on the part of the Obama administration. Presidential candidate went so far as to call for the sergeant to be executed.

Bergdahl, whose story grabbed the attention of “Serial” creator Sarah Koenig for the podcast’s second season, currently works in a clerical position at the Army’s Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston. A date has not yet been set for his next court hearing.

[Image via AP]

Last week, Daniel Holtzclaw, a former Oklahoma City police officer, was found guilty on 18 of 36 sexual assault charges. On Monday, attorneys for seven of the 13 women who accused Holtzclaw in the criminal case asked a federal judge to allow a civil case to move forward.

http://gawker.com/daniel-holtzcl...

The women are seeking class-action status, the Associated Press reports. The suit, which claims that Holtzclaw violated the women’s civil rights, alleges that Oklahoma City was negligent in its hiring and supervision of Holtzclaw.

According to the AP, the lawsuit, which names Holzclaw and the city of Oklahoma City as defendants, has been transferred from Oklahoma County to U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City.

One of the attorneys handling the suit, Benjamin Crump, told KOCO 5 News that he was representing five women, including Jannie Ligons and Shardeyreon Hill. The jury last week found Holtzclaw guilty in the charges stemming from Ligons’ assault and not guilty in those stemming from Hill’s, recommending a prison sentence of 263 years. As he walked out of the courtroom, Holtzclaw appeared to ask them, “How could you do this?” His formal sentencing is not until January.

http://jezebel.com/sobbing-daniel...

The Guardian reported on the contents of the suit last week:

Jannie Ligons, a 57-year-old daycare worker, was Holtzclaw’s final confirmed victim before his arrest. In the early morning hours of 18 June, Holtzclaw pulled Ligons over as she drove home from a friend’s house and forced her to give him oral sex. Holtzclaw was convicted of several charges related to that assault.

A lawsuit Ligons has filed against Oklahoma City claims that in spite of the investigation beginnign 8 May, the department “left him working as a police officer without supervision or monitoring”.

“The City of Oklahoma City was negligent in that…the City was aware of some, if not all the assaults, weeks prior to the Plaintiff’s assault” by Holtzclaw, the lawsuit reads. “The City knew or had reason to know of the dangerous activities of its servant.” Ligons is suing for $75,000.

“We understand that there were other women who called before [Ligons], whose calls went unanswered,” Crump, who also represents the families of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, said at a press conference on Friday.

“We need to find out how aggressive [investigators] were. We need to find out, how could this happen so many time and nobody see what was going on? … It’s mind boggling how nobody would catch this.”

U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton granted Holtzclaw and Oklahoma City a stay in the civil suit on November 4th, “until January 1, 2016, unless the criminal case is finally resolved in the meantime.”

Photo via AP Images. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.

Bill Cosby’s attorney announced Monday morning that he is countersuing seven women accusing him of rape. Cosby is accusing the women of making “malicious, opportunistic and false and defamatory accusations of sexual misconduct against him.” Around 55 women have said the comedian raped or sexually assaulted them.

Tamara Green, Therese Serignese, Linda Traitz filed a defamation suit against Cosby in December 2014. They were joined by four more women—Linda Traitz, Louisa Moritz, Barbara Bowman, Joan Tarshis and Angela Leslie—in November. The suit accuses Cosby of falsely claiming they were lying about their sexual abuse claims.

At first, Cosby’s attorneys tried to argue that the suit was unconstitutional and a violation of his First Amendment rights. And now, having evidently dropped that, Cosby’s countersuing them on the same defamation claims they brought against him. His attorney Monique Pressley told USA Today the women are lying for financial gain, specifically to ruin his deals with NBC and Netflix:

“Mr. Cosby states plainly that he neither drugged nor sexually assaulted the defendants and that each defendant has maliciously and knowingly published multiple false statements and accusations from Fall 2014 through the current day in an effort to cause damage to Mr. Cosby’s reputation and to extract financial gains.”

This new statement comes despite the fact that Cosby previously admitted under oath to drugging women he wanted to sleep with.

In other Cosby news, Boston University is the latest school to announce they are revoking an honorary degree presented Cosby. BU’s president wrote in a campus-wide email Monday that Cosby’s alleged assaults on a double-digit number of women brought “significant and lasting discredit upon himself and is inconsistent with the University’s mission and values.”

At least nine schools have recently announced their decisions to revoke Cosby’s meaningless fake degrees: Brown, Spelman, Lehigh, Marquette, Fordham, Tufts, Goucher College, Amherst College, and Springfield College. Around 35 schools have yet to revoke the degrees they bestowed on Cosby. That’s still less than the total number of women who have accused him of rape or assault, which, again, is at least 55.

Contact the author at anna.merlan@jezebel.com.

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Cosby in a November 2014 photo via AP Images

There are more than a thousand endangered plants and animals in the U.S., but there are an infinite number of roads and dams that can be built. Guess which interest wins out?

According to a new report, it’s the builders by a landslide. Out of a whopping total of 88,000 cases, exactly zero actions and developments that could harm endangered species in the U.S. were halted by the U.S. government in the past seven years.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the branch meant to protect threatened species from development that would harm them, issued a judgement on only two development projects. In other words, in only two cases did the government say, “hmmm, maybe we should rethink building in the home of an endangered species” in more than half a decade.

As the Guardian points out, this wasn’t always the case. Back in 1991, there were a total of 350 “jeopardy judgements” out of 73,560 consultations—meaning that the government stepped in to lessen the harmful impact of development projects over 100 times more often.

Meanwhile, politicians have taken aim at the Fish and Wildlife Service over the past year, alleging that its powers to protect endangered species are too far reaching—a bizarre claim, given the data. Since the start of 2015, over 80 legislative proposals have been made, mainly by Republicans in Congress, to dramatically slash protections for wildlife under the Endangered Species Act, an act overseen by the Fish and Wildlife Service—clearly an unnecessary step, given the agency’s almost non-existent impact on American wildlife.

[Image via Getty]

Last month, Bloomberg Businessweek published a big story on how Walmart tracks its employees to most effectively anticipate dissent and undermine potential organizers. The piece draws largely on documents produced in the course of discovery for a case before the National Labor Relations Board. (Walmart is accused of illegally firing labor activists.) Now, Walmart alleges, labor group OUR Walmart “intentionally disclosed documents marked and designated confidential.” The documents, according to Walmart, were protected by judicial order.

http://gawker.com/walmarts-absur...

In its initial story, Bloomberg reported that OUR Walmart had provided the documents, which included “more than 1,000 pages of e-mails, reports, playbooks, charts, and graphs, as well as testimony from its head of labor relations at the time,” only “after the judge concluded the case in mid-October.”

Walmart filed a motion against OUR Walmart and the United Food and Commercial Workers union, with which OUR Walmart was until recently affiliated, on December 9th asking the NLRB not only to enter a “cease-and-decist” order but also, “absent some exculpatory explanation,” order the labor group to return the documents. According to Bloomberg, Walmart is also asking that the NLRB prevent OUR Walmart from “using, referencing, or relying on” the documents in future cases.

“We couldn’t imagine that Walmart would be happy about light being shined on these kind of tactics they’re using against their employees,” said OUR Walmart co-director Dan Schlademan. Whatever documents were marked confidential were marked so for the managers to whom they were originally addressed, he added.

“Walmart is trying to bully its way to bar any future documents” from being disclosed, Schlademan said.

Image via Flickr. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.

Seattle City Council has unanimously passed a bill allowing drivers for Uber, Lyft, and other ride-hailing services to form unions. Seattle is the first US city to allow these drivers a way to collectively bargain.

This means drivers will be able negotiate their salaries and working conditions as a unit. It does not mean, however, that they’ll be considered employees—the bill refers to the workers as independent contractors.

The National Labor Relations Act doesn’t give independent contractors the same protections for bargaining directly with the companies they work for as employees, but this bill offers a workaround by allowing a certified non-profit to represent the interests of drivers.

“It’s clear the nature of work has shifted in part because of technology and in part because there are corporations that don’t like labor protections,” Mike O’Brien, the councilman who introduced the bill, told the New York Times. “What is that reality going to look like? I believe there should be some solutions.”

A Lyft spokesperson told Gizmodo by email that the company does not support today’s decision:

Lyft provides consumers with convenient and affordable transportation, and drivers with the ability to make money in their free time. Lyft drivers are entirely in control of where or when they work, and this flexibility is exactly why the service is so popular with with people looking to make extra income. Unfortunately, the ordinance passed today threatens the privacy of drivers, imposes substantial costs on passengers and the City, and conflicts with longstanding federal law. We urge the Mayor and full Council to reconsider this legislation and listen to the voices of their constituents who choose to drive with Lyft because of the flexible economic opportunity it offers.

An Uber spokesperson offered up this comment by email when I asked about the unionization effort:

Uber is creating new opportunities for many people to earn a better living on their own time and their own terms. Drivers say that with flexible and independent work with Uber, 50% of them drive fewer than 10 hours a week, 70% have full-time or part-time work outside of Uber and 65% choose to vary the hours they drive 25% week-to-week.

Photo: Flickr

The town of New Hartford, New York, acting on behalf of its “extremely fearful” residents, has filed a lawsuit against the Word of Life Christian Church seeking to have it enjoined as a public nuisance. In November, eight people were indicted in the October beating death of one of the church’s members.

http://gawker.com/8-indicted-in-...

The town’s complaint against the church was filed last week, seeking an injunction against the church preventing it from “conducting any activities” at the three-story converted schoolhouse.

“Various members of the church including members and/or officers of the Word of Life Christian Church acting with the knowledge, direction and authority of the Word of Life Christian Church did cause the death of a member of said church to wit: Lucas Leonard, and serious physical injury to another member of the church, to wit: Christopher Leonard,” the filing states.

http://documents.gawker.com/town-of-new-ha...

This constitutes a public nuisance, as defined by the Town Code, “in that criminal activity involving assault and/or gang assault and/or harassment and/or disorderly conduct occurred at the defendant’s premises, and as a result of the acts performed therein the quiet and reasonable use and enjoyment of adjacent or neighboring properties was detrimentally affected.”

The church’s founder, Jerry Irwin, died in 2012, the New York Times reported. His daughter, Tiffanie Irwin, is now the paster. The church’s congregation, however, has dwindled, and prosecutors say Irwin accused the Leonard boys of witchcraft out of fear that they would apostatize.

From the Times:

The third floor, where Mr. Irwin’s family took up residence in the late 1990s, became “pretty much a mansion,” Mr. Ames recalled. One room held a trampoline, and another a small basketball court. The bathroom had a whirlpool bath. It was so big the Irwins bicycled through the hallways.

The rest of the building had the institutional feel of the old schoolhouse, with colorless walls, cubby holes and water fountains. Its sanctuary was an old gymnasium that fit 200 people but rarely sat more than 30, with a three-step stage and a plain podium.

But upstairs there were also animals, dozens of them scattered through old classrooms. The Irwins bred birds, accumulating at least six doves, two huge golden macaws and several parakeets, Mr. Ames said. In the next room were the rabbits, and later on the Irwins began breeding Parti Yorkshire terriers, too, calling their operation Kajun Kennels.

It fell to young girls in the church to clean rabbit excrement from the cages. Older members were given the task of building and maintaining the living quarters.

Tiffanie Irwin plead not guilty to second-degree murder last month; the Leonard boys’ father, Bruce Leonard, also plead not guilty. Leonard, Irwin, and the other five indicted in the beating have until early next year to accept or reject plea deals offered to them.

The boys’ mother, Deborah Leonard, was not included in the same indictment and plead guilty to manslaughter.

Photo via AP Images. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.

Once upon a time, a young man was known as the biggest fan of The Princess Bride all through the land. The man could recite every line in The Princess Bride, he could mimic the characters, and he could do all of this in public settings, to the cheers of his adoring devotees.

Over and over, the man finding ways to work the classic film into speeches at fundraisers and gatherings. He even tweeted about it to his peons, spreading his message wide across his kingdom. That man was none other than Ted Cruz, lord and Senator of Texas.

Here’s a video of little lord Cruz acting out a scene from the 1987 comedy, complete with accents:

Over time, this bit became one of Cruz’s go-to shticks, despite what we can only imagine are the pleading warnings from his communications rep:

However, one of the film’s stars is not a fan of Cruz being a fan. In an interview with The New York Times, Mandy Patinkin, the actor who played the swashbuckling fighter Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride, had quite a lot to say about Cruz’s takeaway from the film. Specifically, Patinkin said, Cruz is misinterpreting the film’s meaning—that love is more powerful than revenge—for his own political gain. Patinkin told the Times:

“I would like to be with Senator Cruz for a moment and I would like to respectfully ask him, since he quotes all the lines from ‘The Princess Bride’ and certainly all of my character, Inigo Montoya’s, lines, I would like to know why he doesn’t quote my favorite line?”

That line, says Patinkin, comes at the very end of the film, when Inigo Montoya realizes that, after a life of seeking revenge for the murder of his father, that love, not violence, is the answer. Cruz’s policies that support barring refugees from entering the country and using fear-mongering tactics to appeal to voters, Patinkin said, are against what the film stands for.

“This man is not putting forth ideas that are at the heart of what that movie is all about. I would love for Senator Cruz, and everyone creating fear mongering and hatred, to consider creating hope, optimism and love. Open your arms to these people, these refugees trying to get into our country, and open your hearts.”

Ted Cruz himself hasn’t commented yet on Patinkin’s comments, though it’s likely that he would simply utter the word “inconceivable!” and go along with his day.

[Image via Getty]

Contact the author at melissa.cronin@gawker.com.

Is this really necessary?

Photo of “astromech” “droid” “BB-8” arriving at the world premier of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in Los Angeles on Monday via AP Images. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.

Tonight at a Donald Trump rally in Las Vegas, another black person was shoved around while protesting the American hate leader—and this time, a rally attendee called for the black person to be immolated.

http://gawker.com/donald-trump-s...

The video below comes courtesy of BuzzFeed’s McKay Coppins, who tweeted it’s the “5th or 6th scuffle” of the evening:

As with previous mid-rally altercations, Trump and his fans have taken an obvious amount of glee in seeing someone pushed to the ground and dragged out of a room by force—the night’s secondary entertainment:

Contact the author at biddle@gawker.com.
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A group of nearly 2,000 professional physicists and astrophysicists have signed a letter, drafted by members of the Equity & Inclusion in Physics & Astronomy Facebook group and addressed to the Supreme Court justices, repudiating the lines of questioning put forward by Justices Antonin Scalia and John Roberts which implied that affirmative action disadvantages black students by putting them in situations they are not equipped to handle, and that furthermore diversity has no role to play in the ostensibly objective world of science.

http://gawker.com/antonin-scalia...

“One of the [legal] briefs pointed out that most of the black scientists in this country don’t come from schools like the University of Texas,” Scalia said. “They come from lesser schools where they do not feel that they’re being pushed ahead in classes that are too fast for them.” Roberts went on to ask, “What unique perspective does a minority student bring to a physics class?”

(Justice Scalia, incidentally, does not believe in the existence of genes.)

The letter, endorsed by a sizable contingent of the physics community, responds forcefully, objecting not only to the use of science as a “paper tiger” in the affirmative action debate but also to the premise that science departments are removed from broader social issues.

http://gawker.com/supreme-court-...

“A good scientist is one who does good science,” the letter reads. “We hope to push our community towards equity and inclusion so that the community of scientists more closely matches the makeup of humankind, because the process of scientific discovery is a human endeavor that benefits from removing prejudice against any race, ethnicity, or gender. Indeed, science relies heavily on consensus about acceptable results as well as future research directions, making diversity among scientists a crucial aspect of objective, bias-free science.”

“The implication that physics or ‘hard sciences’ are somehow divorced from the social realities of racism in our society is completely fallacious,” it continues. “The exclusion of people from physics solely on the basis of the color of their skin is an outrageous outcome that ought to be a top priority for rectification.”

“The rhetorical pretense that including everyone in physics class is somehow irrelevant to the practice of physics ignores the fact that we have learned and discovered all the amazing facts about the universe through working together in a community. The benefits of inclusivity and equity are the same for physics as they are for every other aspect of our world.”

Photo via AP Images. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.