A Puerto Rico policeman, Guarionex Candelario Rivera, is in custody after fatally shooting two superior officers and a colleague on Monday. A police spokeswoman told the Associated Press that Rivera took the three police officers hostage before killing them in an office at the station in Ponce.

A 19-year-veteran of the Puerto Rico Police, Officer Candelario, 50, had been on medical leave for about a year and a half, having been forced to surrender his weapon on account of psychological issues, a police spokesman, Sgt. Axel Valencia, said at a news conference.

According to the New York Times, Candelario was deemed fit for duty about two years ago. “The same psychologists recommended to the police that he was ready to be armed again,” Valencia said. “The Police Department does not rearm any police officer until they have gone through the proper protocol: a medical exam or psychological exam. Obviously, the police personnel are stunned by what happened, shocked, saddened.”

At around 9:30 am on Monday, Valencia said, Candelario arrived at police headquarters in Ponce and asked for a meeting with personnel supervisors. From the Times:

Shortly afterward, Officer Candelario shot and killed the precinct commander, Frank Román; a personnel lieutenant, Luz M. Soto, 49, a 23-year veteran of the department who recently passed an exam to become a captain; and Rosario Hernández, 42, a uniformed officer who had worked there for 15 years, the police said. The two higher-ranking victims worked in the administrative division and did not supervise the suspect, the police said.

Department officials confirmed that Officer Candelario was under guard Monday night while hospitalized for multiple gunshot wounds sustained during the encounter.

“The aggressor is arrested and he’s in the hospital with a wounded right arm,” Puerto Rico Police Deputy Superintendent Col. Juan Rodriguez Davila said, according to the Washington Post. “The investigators think that he was shot by one of the officers who was killed.”

Police spokeswoman Mayra Ayala told the AP that Candelario, who worked in the anti-drug division, killed his hostages just as negotiations were about to start.

The Puerto Rico Police department—comparable to state police elsewhere in the U.S.—is in the midst of a 10-year federally mandated reform, after the Department of Justice found in 2011 that it was “broken in a number of critical ways.” Officers were accused of illegal killings, corruption, and other civil rights violations. In September, the Times reports, the FBI arrested 10 Puerto Rico Police officers, who were accused of stealing drugs and money.

Investigators have yet to determine a motive in Monday’s fatal incident.

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

Donald Trump, a man who has very clearly shown that authority is not becoming of him, was just given one doozy of a responsibility.

The Republican presidential frontrunner has been granted access to the Republican National Committee’s enormous voter file—a database that contains information about millions of American voters that could prove vital to his campaign strategy. From Politico, which confirmed the agreement:

For the Trump campaign, it means access to a database containing a trove of information on more than 200 million Americans, which can be used to power a get-out-the-vote effort. And for the RNC, it means that any information Trump collects from his supporters, many of whom are not traditional Republicans, will be fed back into the database for future use by the party and its candidates.

The agreement, similar to others signed by past Republican presidential nominees, may require that the candidate who signs eventually support the Republican nominee—no matter who they may be.

Trump, however, has hinted many a time that he may run on an independent ticket if not nominated by the GOP.

It’s not yet clear if the voter file access will help or hinder Trump’s campaign—unfortunately, the outcome may only be gleaned by close, unending observations of the ongoing trainwreck that is the Republican presidential campaign.

[Image via Getty]

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

Mexican authorities have detained the “affluenza” teen and his mother near a Mexican beach resort town, CNN reports. U.S. Marshals and the FBI have been looking for Ethan Couch for weeks.

http://gawker.com/the-infamous-a...

Two years into his 10-year probation for killing four people in a drunk driving incident, Couch, 19, went missing earlier this month after allegedly violating his probation.

A Tarrant County judge issued a warrant for his arrest two weeks ago. His mother, listed as a missing person, was believed to be helping him.

Citing “officials briefed on the matter,” CNN reports Couch, who is expected to be turned over to the Marshals, was detained in Puerto Vallarta, on Mexico’s Pacific coast, about a three hour flight from Dallas. These people could have gone anywhere in the world, and they went on vacation.

Photo via CNN/DOJ. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.

“Where have all the baby Jesuses gone?” ask New Jersey citizens, befuddled by the sudden disappearance of our lord and savior, the newborn lamb.

According to ABC 7, police are searching for a Jesus thief or thieves in New Jersey, where five churches in four towns report that their statues have been stolen, straight from the mangers.

A spokesperson for the Newark Archdiocese, Jim Goodness, released the following statement:

”It is a police matter. We’ve asked all the parishes to report it to police. It certainly is very distressing that is taking place at this time of year. Our hope is that this is nothing more than a prank. We are hoping police will find out who is doing this.”

Local marauding teens, dark of soul and black of heart, are the chief suspects. However, this is not the first time the little Lord has been stolen from his nest. Apparently, the theft is a yearly tradition in New Jersey, so depraved that last year, a GPS tracker was installed in one of the Jesuses to keep him from galavanting around town.

What has this world come to, when a baby Jesus may not lay peacefully in his cradle? And where in the world are the baby Jesuses of New Jersey?

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

An official formerly in charge of regulating the waste dump that collapsed and triggered a landslide in the Chinese city of Shenzen has reportedly killed himself.

From CNN:

The former director of the Urban District Administrative Enforcement Bureau in the city’s Guangming district where the landslide disaster took place December 20, jumped off a residential building Sunday night, the Shenzhen Nanshan District public security bureau said on its official Weibo social media account.

Police only identified him by his family name Xu but Caixin, an influential financial magazine identified the official as Xu Yuan’an.

Police and state media have not said whether Xu had been directly responsible for authorizing the dump.

According to CNN, it appears that Xu was the director of the site as recently as July. “Those responsible for the incident will be seriously punished in accordance with laws and regulations,” a state investigation team said last week.

More than 70 people were still missing in the landslide as of Sunday. Four bodies had been recovered.

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

Affluenza teen Ethan Couch—who was recently detained in beautiful, sunny Puerto Vallarta—is apparently beleaguered by not just his wealth, but a terrible new dye job as well. We’d know those wispy face hairs anywhere, kid.

http://gawker.com/report-ya-boy-...

Contact the author at ashley@gawker.com.

First, let’s toast to Netflix’s impeccable timing. It’s hard to imagine a better moment when the platform could have released Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos’s series Making a Murderer. Its target audience of socially conscious liberals with the kind of disposable income that can fund a Netflix subscription and the devices to use it with is, at this point, fed up with the mishandling of power by the police (generally in the form of racism, though Murderer is entirely about whites). Capping a year when Serial and The Jinx were the talk of the internet, Murderer is as familiar and definitive as every single end of year Top 10 list attempts to be.

It debuted December 18, a week before Christmas. In my case, this meant hearing and reading chatter about it for a few days before having enough free time—mostly in the form of the three-day Christmas weekend—to dive into Ricciardi and Demos’s deep inquiry into the strange case(s) of Steven Avery, a Wisconsin man who was accused of rape and sentenced to jail in 1985, served 18 years, only to be exonerated, only to be convicted again. For 10 hours, I held this show in my hand, mostly watching it on my iPad. Since at least The Sopranos, narrative television has been compared to the novel, but I’ve never felt more like I was watching a book than when gulping down Making a Murderer. I didn’t binge as much as I was spoon-fed.

[Beware. Spoilers below.]

Depending on how you look at it, Making a Murderer is a docu-series or a 10-hour documentary. It’s also a reality show. Though part of the meticulously detailed, calculated-to-drop-jaws true crime pop-cultural zeitgeist, what Making a Murderer reminded me the most of was the O.J. Simpson trial. Given how much of it takes place in the courtroom and how immense Murderer feels (Ricciardi and Demos squeezed 700 hours of footage into 10, but you’d swear you watched at least 100 when the final credits roll), the comparison is obvious. But lest we be seduced by the allure of prestige TV, lest we be blinded by the status that the most think-pieced and tweeted show of the moment is afforded, I think that O.J. comparison also gives us perspective. In an essay for Vanity Fair last year that commemorated the 20th anniversary of that must-see Bronco chase, Lili Anolik wrote:

What made the case such an addictive fix—beyond even the sensational nature of the crime, the glitziness of the players, the almost irresistible pull of the question What really happened?—was the voyeuristic kink it provided. It gave us the dirty little thrill of putting our eye to the keyhole, looking in on a world that we’d normally never have access to.

Virtually the same could be said for the trials of Steven Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey, except our gaze here is turned to a car-salvage yard run by poor people in Wisconsin, as opposed to an affluent community inhabited by celebrities in Los Angeles. The snapshot of Manitowoc County culture that Making a Murderer provides is reminiscent of the rural/lower class pop culture that had its moment a few years ago—Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Duck Dynasty, Winter’s Bone, and the like. Murderer’s aesthetics are as indelible as any consciously fashion-forward programming—the trailer’s wood paneling, the fried-out hair, the convertible jeans with visible seams where the legs zip off to make shorts. (If I see a Williamsburg hipster rocking the Ski-Doo jacket worn by Avery’s ex Jodi, I won’t know whether to scream or salute.) Here, though, economic status isn’t the punchline or merely the definitive trait that makes this group of people worthy of attention; it’s crucial context for Avery’s inability to navigate the justice system that he contends affords him no actual justice. “Poor people lose...poor people lose all the time,” we hear him say early on.

On Murderer, there’s more at stake than on your average reality show (the principles here aren’t fighting for the love of a man, for example, but for their lives), but the human behavior is often just as extreme. “I hate you for what you did to my kid, so you can rot in hell,” says Barb Janda, the mother of Brendan Dassey and sister of Steven Avery, right into a news camera at one point. She exhibits the kind of full-body scene-stealing that would make her a gif-able, breakout star...if she weren’t reacting to her son with learning disabilities being convicted of a crime he was coerced to confess to. When at last Dassey is found guilty, Janda storms from the courtroom and loses it outside, kicking and flailing and ranting in frustration. News cameras capture her display until her partner Scott Tadych tells them to back off. Most of them do immediately. It’s quite a contrast from the dispassionate, fixed gaze we’ve come to expect from reality TV cameras.

As on reality TV, we watch humans being molded into characters. Here, Avery and Dassey are made out to be the unsavory, possibly murderous ones by the system. While this is usually an implicit process on reality TV, on Murderer we watch the assembling take place before our eyes in explicit detail. We see investigators essentially shaping Dassey’s story by bombarding him with leading questions, and the poor confused kid finally tells them what they want to hear because, from what I can tell, he seems like a gentle person who just wants to get along with whoever is in front of him. With allegedly planted evidence as part of a larger conspiracy to wipe Steven Avery from free society once and for all, the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office may have performed a similar character-reassembly on Steven Avery. Or, as one of his lawyers muses at one point, the 18 years he spent in jail for a crime he didn’t certainly didn’t commit changed him and made him into a person capable of murdering Teresa Halbach and burning her body. Either way, the system is responsible; the difference is how detectable its machinations are.

At any rate, Making a Murderer takes that reality show convention of funneling a person’s humanity into a digestible narrative, and exposes how devastating it can be when that convention is divorced from the low-stakes fame whoring of reality television and applied to a criminal justice system that can be exploited—both in the courtroom and in press conferences—via a well-constructed story. You don’t get to write your own obituary; your worth as a human is ultimately determined by other people, be they jurors, the general public, or a potentially corrupt police force. Making a Murderer documents this sad truth in sometimes excruciating detail.

Again and again, Making a Murderer smacks of familiarity. It functions like so much of what led up to it, yet it’s more tastefully arranged, something for those who care about high/low culture divides to feel less guilty about enjoying. And yet, for a story that materialized when a 25-year-old woman was murdered and burned, it is quite enjoyable. I found it hard, sometimes, to properly balance my compassion between the Avery family and the Halbach family—the apparent miscarriage of justice toward the former felt so much more outrageous to behold than the somewhat conventional tragedy of the latter. We’ve heard Teresa Halbach’s story before; we haven’t really heard Steven Avery’s, and what makes it that much less ignorable is it comes with the idea that this sort of corruption is everywhere. We should have heard it before now.

In terms of fostering compassion for the dead, Halbach family spokesperson Mike (Teresa’s brother) doesn’t help things at all by creepily grinning when discussing his sister’s murder trial, and by blindly investing faith in the police (“We love the police!” he gushes at one point). Did he need closure so much that he refused to see the defense’s reasonable suggestion that his sister’s actual murderer might still be somewhere on the loose or did he need to show solidarity with the police, for some other reason? (Some Reddit obsessives speculate that Mike Halbach should have been a suspect.)

At the point when I realized that I had far less emotional connection to the Halbachs than then Averys, I watched a journalist ask Mike Halbach this question during a news conference: “Theoretically a trial is supposed to be about the day your sister died and how she died and who did it, yet it seems as though the state is spending an inordinate amount of time, especially with law enforcement officers not talking about that, but who had access to what: to what scene, to what vehicle. Are you concerned that with each witness, this window of reasonable doubt keeps getting wider and wider?” It’s like the show was reading my mind. The construction is impeccable.

I could speculate and ask questions all day. All of us who watched it could—this piece, from a Wisconsin resident who before the show was convinced of Avery’s and Dassey’s guilt, contains almost 60 questions struck by the series that demand answers. Making a Murderer is that engaging, and that’s really all a show —especially one packaged for binge-watching—needs to be.

And yet, it feels like more. The show has notes of trash, but Ricciardi and Demos are armed with air-freshening social justice. “The main question at the heart of the series is how do we as a society respond when injustice is exposed?” said Ricciardi in a Vulture interview. In addition to being the main question, it’s a good one. What do we do? We tweet, we maybe read the change.org petition titled “Free Steven Avery,” we possibly sign that petition, we leave scathing reviews on prosecutor Ken Kratz’s Yelp page, we do some research on Reddit, we continue to discuss the unanswered questions. We stay on our asses, depressed this time by the lengths others will go to ruin a man’s reputation, as opposed to the lengths he’ll go to be on TV (and ruin his reputation in the process).

I’m heartened that our reality programming is exposing flaws in our justice system and sowing seeds of compassion. I’m thrilled that something as ultimately open-ended as this show is still so seemingly satisfying to so many people. As we trudge toward the promise of the truth, amassing tweets and e-signatures and righteous outrage, it seems like things might be getting better insofar as we understand the extent of how bad things are. Enlightenment penetrates that bubble of the upwardly mobile, and at the very least, we feel better knowing even if little is tangibly better. Maybe it’s just pop culture that’s getting more sophisticated, representative, and compassionate. In the end, for the vast majority of its audience, Making a Murderer is only a show, but that’s better than nothing.

Josh Duggar, Allison Williams’s ass, unbridled panic, Bieber dick, Lenny Kravitz dick, horny moms, and that stupid goddamn dress. These are the posts you monsters clicked on the most this year. Why not click on them again?

What Color Is This Goddamn Dress?

Since it hit Tumblr yesterday, the image below has started an internet schism that may never be healed. Some maniacs, it seems, see the dress as gold and white, while other completely reasonable people see it as blue and black.

Ladies and Gentlemen, It’s Time to Panic

Have you noticed anything odd going on this morning? Oh yes. Let us be the first to tell you that the time to panic is upon us.

Family Values Activist Josh Duggar Had a Paid Ashley Madison Account

In 2013, conservative reality TV star Josh Duggar—of TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting fame—was named the executive director of the Family Research Council, a conservative lobbying group in D.C. which seeks “to champion marriage and family as the foundation of civilization, the seedbed of virtue, and the wellspring of society.” During that time, he also maintained a paid account on Ashley Madison, a web site created for the express purpose of cheating on your spouse.

Paparazzi Photos Finally End the Mystery of Justin Bieber’s Dick

In the case of Justin Bieber’s dick, the verdict is now in.

Lenny Kravitz Shredded So Hard His Dick Fell Out On Stage

“I want to get away, I want to fly away,” is what I assume Lenny Kravitz’s dick was singing to itself when it fell out of his pants yesterday at a concert in Stockholm.

The “Food Babe” Blogger Is Full of Shit

Vani Hari, AKA the Food Babe, has amassed a loyal following in her Food Babe Army. The recent subject of profiles and interviews in the New York Times, the New York Post and New York Magazine, Hari implores her soldiers to petition food companies to change their formulas. She’s also written a bestselling book telling you that you can change your life in 21 days by “breaking free of the hidden toxins in your life.” She and her army are out to change the world.

While You Watched the Golden Globes, Allison Williams Got Her Ass Eaten

Lots of great stuff happening on HBO tonight. Who knew?

The Web Has Known About Josh Duggar for Years. When Did TLC Find Out?

In 2006, Oprah Winfrey canceled an appearance on her show by Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, the parents whose 15 children had made them famous not just to fellow evangelical Christians but to the secular world as well.

Unretouched Photos: Calvin Klein Gave Justin Bieber a Penis Enlargement

Unretouched photos from Justin Bieber’s Calvin Klein shoot acquired by BreatheHeavy.com show that editing software blessed the lil’ skater boy with a brand new penis as well as body hair. The GIF below illustrates his miraculous transformation from boy to man.

Horny Mom Threw Teen Daughter a Naked Twister Sex Party, AA Sponsor Says

An Evans, Ga., mom faces charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor after she told her Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor that she threw a drunken, naked Twister party for her teen daughter and her friends. The sponsor responded to the randy mom’s plea for help by narcing her out to the sheriff’s department.

The World’s Most Famous Musicians Just Hosted a Bonkers Press Conference

Only a few minutes ago, the entire music industry stood on a stage in a collective display of how rich and out of touch they are. They think you are willing to pay up to double the price of other streaming music services to pay for their streaming music service, because they are crazy.

Is This Josh Duggar’s OkCupid Profile? [Updated]

After today’s earlier revelation of Josh Duggar’s paid Ashley Madison account hit, tipsters and Twitter are pointing out that if you search Josh Duggar’s highly unique Ashley Madison email handle, “joesmithsonnwa,” this OKCupid profile is the only other result you get.

Somber Jon Stewart Delivers Scathing Monologue About Charleston Shooting

Jon Stewart’s monologue tonight was an impassioned, frustrated meditation on the Charleston shooting and other recent tragedies. “I didn’t do my job today,” he said. “I’ve got nothing for you in terms of jokes and sounds, because of what happened in South Carolina.”

That’s Not OSU Sidepiece Girl’s Sidepiece; It’s Her Mainpiece

Looks like we all got it all wrong again: that Ohio State fan whose spot was blown the hell up for allegedly fondling her side-action live on ESPN? That’s her boyfriend, who she probably loves more than anything in your life.

Indiana University Frat Suspended After Video of Possible Sexual Assault Hazing Surfaces

The Alpha Tau Omega chapter at Indiana University is suspended tonight, after a video depicting what looks like a horrific hazing ceremony surfaced on Twitter. In it, a student appears to be forced to perform oral sex on a woman—it’s unclear if either is consenting.

Here’s What’s Missing From Straight Outta Compton: Me and the Other Women Dr. Dre Beat Up

On January 27, 1991, at a record-release party for the rap duo Bytches With Problems in Hollywood, producer/rapper/then-N.W.A. member Dr. Dre brutally attacked Dee Barnes, the host of a well-known Fox show about hip-hop called Pump It Up! Dre was reportedly angry about a Pump It Up! segment hosted by Barnes that aired in November 1990. The report focused on N.W.A., and concluded with a clip of Ice Cube, who had recently left the group, insulting his former colleagues. Soon after the attack, Barnes described it in interviews: She said Dre attempted to throw her down a flight of stairs, slammed her head against a wall, kicked her, and stomped on her fingers. Dre later told Rolling Stone, “It ain’t no big thing – I just threw her through a door.” He pleaded no contest to assault charges. Barnes’s civil suit against Dre was settled out of court.

50 Shades of [Sigh]: The Disastrous 50 Shades of Grey Press Tour

According to its publisher, at the spike of its popularity, two copies of E.L. James’ 50 Shades of Grey trilogy were being sold every second. In accessible terms, that works out to more than one hundred million copies sold, to date.

CNN Mistakes Dildo-Covered Flag at Pride Parade for ISIS Flag

In this clip, a CNN anchor and editor fail to recognize that what they have identified as an “ISIS flag” is actually a flag of dildos and butt plugs, rendered in the style of ISIS.

Tyga Sent a Photo of His Dick To Someone Who Isn’t Kylie Jenner

Bad news for Kylie Jenner: not only are you dating Tyga, a widely mocked rapper who had to release his recent album for free because nobody wanted to hear it, but your widely mocked rapper boyfriend is sending dick pics to people who are not you—including a transgender actress named Mia Isabella, who has gone ahead and provided the receipts.

Josh Duggar Accused of Molesting Several Sisters as a Teen: Reports

According to a sealed 2006 police report obtained by inTouch Weekly, Josh Duggar, the oldest son of TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting brood, confessed to allegedly molesting at least five underage girls when he was a teenager—including, TMZ reports, his sisters. And his parents, Jim Bob and Michelle, worked overtime to hide the scandal for several years.

Leaked Video Appears to Show Vine Star Pressuring Underage Girl Into Sex

A brief video surfaced earlier today that purports to show 19-year-old Vine “celeb” Carter Reynolds attempting to push 16-year-old ex-girlfriend (and social media starlet) Maggie Lindemann into oral sex.

Viral Christian Pregnancy YouTuber Sam Rader Had a Paid Ashley Madison Account

The popular Christian vlogger Sam Rader—best known for “surprising” his wife with her own positive pregnancy test in a viral video—had a paid account on the cheating website Ashley Madison in 2013, the Daily Mail reports. Sam is a leader in a new industry of online evangelism, posting daily videos of his upstanding, Jesus-loving family for hundreds of thousands of subscribers.

Taylor Swift Is Not Your Friend

Heidi Klum struts down a runway and for a moment the stretch appears to ominously resemble a gang plank. At the end of Klum’s long walk waits a tall, thin woman with gleaming white teeth, giddily anticipating a grabby, waist-level embrace between them. Klum, a seasoned runway model, side-steps to the music once or twice, shuffling her feet to the right—one-two—and then to the left—one-two—and with every step, she looks like she’s slowing down, delaying her arrival to the stage’s finish, where she’ll be left to fend for herself in the loose hungry limbs of twenty-five-year-old Taylor Swift: pop star, diva, immaculate bestie.

Practicing Islam in Short Shorts

The scenario I’m about to describe has happened to me more times than I can count, in more cities than I can remember, mostly in Western cities here in the U.S. and Europe.

This Is a Good Newspaper Front Page

Today’s New York Daily News cover shows yesterday’s murder of an CBS reporter in Virginia from the perspective of her killer. It’s horrific, graphic, and gruesome—and it’s important that everyone looks at it.

7 Kids Not Named Mohamed Who Brought Homemade Clocks to School And Didn’t Get Arrested

Hoping to impress the teachers at his new school, an Irving, Texas, high school freshman named Ahmed Mohamed brought a homemade clock with him to MacArthur High Monday morning, which he’d assembled before bed the night before. When he showed it to those teachers, though, they were something other than impressed, and by Monday afternoon, Mohamed was being led out of school in handcuffs. Ahmed’s English teacher believed the device was a bomb.

Texas Cop Suspended After Footage Emerges of Brutal Pool Party Arrests

On Saturday, video was uploaded to Youtube of police officers screaming at and arresting children at a community pool in Texas. One officer, confronted by two boys while grabbing a young girl by the neck and shoving her head towards the ground, pulls his gun and points it at them.

Dick By Marc Jacobs: Designer Accidentally Posts Nude Instagram DM

“It’s yours to try!” Marc Jacobs wrote on Instagram last night. He was talking about his bare ass.

Controversy Over Child Bride Courtney Stodden’s Sex Tape Culminates in Release of Bizarre Ice-Cream-and-Sprinkles Video

Vivid released child-bride-turned-adult-performer Courtney Stodden’s “unique” masturbation video—now titled “Courtney Uncovered’—today, ahead of schedule. And what’s so unique about it? Oh, just Courtney melting an ice cream cone between her immense fake breasts.

http://courtneyuncovered.vividceleb.com/

Tupac Is Alive (and Probably Living in Cuba): A Conspiracy, Explained

On Me Against the World, the 1995 album from Tupac Shakur, the prodigious rapper foretells his death. “I’m having visions of leaving here in a hearse/ God can ya feel me?/ Take me away from all the pressure/ and all the pain/ show me some happiness again,” he raps on “So Many Tears.” Eighteen months later, while riding in the passenger seat under the iridescent glow of the Las Vegas strip with Marion “Suge” Knight at the wheel, Tupac was gunned down and mortally wounded. Or was he?

Gunman Murders Two Virginia Reporters in Attack Broadcast on Live TV

A WDBJ live report appears to have ended in gunshots after a gunman apparently began firing at the news crew early Wednesday morning.

What Happened to the Runner Who Shit Himself During a Half-Marathon?

Years after Swedish distance runner Mikael Ekvall crapped his shorts in the midst of a half-marathon, his photo still shows up on Facebook. You might’ve seen it with a “fail” caption or a demotivational poster—played-out viral image formats that were de rigueur at the time—or in any number of “world’s most embarrassing photos” compilations. Clearly, people still haven’t gotten over Ekvall’s uncomfortable grimace and the liquified shit trickling down his legs.

At Least 14 Dead in San Bernardino Mass Shooting

The San Bernardino county sheriff has confirmed the presence of an active shooter near the 1300 block of S. Waterman in San Bernardino, CA. At least 12 people are dead, with another 20 reportedly injured.

Quiverfull of Shit: a Guide to the Duggars’ Scary Brand of Christianity

Before this week, when reality star and conservative political activist Joshua Duggar admitted to molesting several underage girls, including his own sisters, what most people knew about the Duggar family could be counted on two fingers: They have 19—19!—kids, and they’re extremely religious Christians.

The Duggar Homeschool Program’s Terrifying Advice on Sexual Assault

Why were evangelical reality star and conservative political activist Josh Duggar’s parents Jim Bob and Michelle so slow to act on the revelation that their eldest son had molested his younger sisters—and, ultimately, so lenient? Documents about sexual abuse from the cult-like homeschooling program the family follows—which focus on public image and lay heavy blame on the victims of assault—may help answer the question.

A Comprehensive List of Everyone Trying to Sever Ties With Donald Trump

Noted asshole Donald Trump recently made asshole history, giving a goddamn presidential campaign announcement so racist that the network responsible for Outsourced was uncomfortable remaining associated with him.

Louis C.K. Will Call You Up to Talk About His Alleged Sexual Misconduct

A few months ago we got an email from a tipster who said he was awaiting a phone call from Louis C.K., who will host the final episode of Saturday Night Live’s 40th season this weekend. The subject of their phone call was sexual misconduct allegations made by the tipster’s friend against the comedian.

Aer Lingus Passenger Flips Out, Bites Fellow Passenger, Dies

A 24-year-old man became agitated on an Aer Lingus flight from Lisbon to Dublin, bit another man, fell unconscious, and later died, reports The Guardian.

Tommy Craggs and Max Read Are Resigning from Gawker

Tommy Craggs, the executive editor of Gawker Media, and Max Read, the editor-in-chief of Gawker.com, are resigning from the company.

Former Reddit CEO: You’re All Screwed

Former Reddit CEO Yishan Wong is having a goddamn ball this week, bouncing around announcement threads and spilling site secrets to his heart’s content. His latest big reveal: Reddit’s board has been itching to purge the site of users’ precious hate-based subreddits since the beginning. And recently, the only thing stopping them had been... Ellen Pao. Whoops.

Josh Duggar’s Apology: “I Have Been the Biggest Hypocrite Ever”

The Duggar family just released a statement from Josh on their personal website in which Josh not only confirms the fact that he has been “unfaithful” to his wife, but he also confesses to having developed a “secret addiction” to pornography over the past several years.

One of Katy Perry’s Super Bowl Sharks Knew the Dance and One Didn’t Care

Katy Perry’s Super Bowl halftime performance featured a six-song medley, a dancing shark who knew all the steps, and a dancing shark who stole the show.

Here Is What Appears to Be Dylann Roof’s Racist Manifesto

Via Twitter users @HenryKrinkle and @EMQuangel, here is what appears to be Charleston shooter Dylann Roof’s racist manifesto. “The event that truly awakened me was the Trayvon Martin case,” the author of this document writes. “I can say today that I am completely racially aware.”

Foie Gras Is For Assholes

Yesterday, a federal judge overturned the state of California’s ban on foie gras. Great news, for assholes.

Alleged WDBJ Gunman Posts Video of On-Air Shooting

Bryce Williams, the alleged shooter from this morning’s on-air murders in Roanoke, VA, has posted videos of the shooting to his Twitter and Facebook accounts, both of which have since been suspended. The first video posted to Twitter shows Williams approaching reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward as they interview Vicki Gardner on live on WDBJ.

Hulk Hogan Refers to “Fucking Niggers” in Leaked Transcript

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. has cut ties with the professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, reportedly due to sealed transcripts quoted by the National Enquirer and Radar on Friday morning in which Hogan (real name: Terry Bollea) refers to black people as “fucking niggers” and admits that “I am a racist, to a point.”

Duggar Dad’s Political Platform: Incest Should Be Punishable by Death

Last week, 19 Kids and Counting’s Josh Duggar admitted that he molested his sisters when he was a teenager. Though his parents Jim Bob and Michelle successfully helped him avoid prosecution for his crimes, a couple of men have defended the way the Duggars handled the abusive situation in their home. Mike Huckabee has stood by the family in the wake of the scandal, and Jessa Duggar’s father-in-law Michael Seewald has attested that Jim Bob and Michelle “acted in a way that godly parents should.”

Stephen Colbert Gets Bernie Sanders All Riled Up on The Late Show

While tonight’s Late Show interview with Bernie Sanders was absent any of the respective tears or deep, deep discomfort that characterized Colbert’s two biggest moments so far (and at least compared to every other candidate interview we’ve seen), Sanders still manages to leave you with the impression that the man is just so goddamn human.

What’s Flakka and Is It Real? A Guide to the New Moral-Panic Death Drugs

The increasing legality of marijuana means one thing: Pot is very easy to buy and no longer cool to do. To fill this thrill-void, our country’s idiots are turning to insane substances like krokodil, bath salts, jenkum, meow meow and now flakka, transforming into psychotic murder machines in the process. Or so local news would have us believe.

Spooky Halloween Decoration Turns Out to be a Murdered Woman

Police in Ohio say a spooky Halloween decoration of a dead woman hanging from a fence was actually a dead woman hanging from a fence. Her alleged killer is currently being held on a $2 million bond and holy shit this story is awful.

Viral Miscarriage Husband’s Ashley Madison Apology: This Was Before We Went Viral

The popular Christian vlogger Sam Rader—best known for “surprising” his wife with her own positive pregnancy test in a viral video—has admitted to using an account on the cheating website Ashley Madison. In a YouTube video with his wife Nia by his side, Sam claims that God has forgiven him for seeking extramarital sexual partners online.

Is Donald Trump Running a False Flag Campaign to Help Hillary Clinton?

Donald Trump, the 69-year-old New York real estate mogul and unrepentant bigot, continues to dominate the Republican presidential primary polls. Trump’s sudden ascendance, accelerated by his willingness to insult virtually any ostensible ally within the conservative movement, has left GOP leaders dumbfounded. How did this caricature of a Republican politician, who has never held elected office, and whose personal ideology is remarkably fluid, usurp more experienced, more conservative, and better-funded candidates like Jeb Bush and Scott Walker?

Do You Live in a “Bitch” or a “Fuck” State? American Curses, Mapped

Americans love to curse, no fucking question. Fuck this, fuck that, bitchass motherfucking cuntsucker jerk titslut, etc., etc. The question is, which of these bad-boy words are favored where? Who says “fuck” the most? Who says “asshole” the least? Is there a “shit” belt? (As it turns out, yes: From New York City down to the Gulf Coast.)

Couple Flees $1.3 Million Dream Home After Threats From “Watcher”

A family has been forced to flee their new $1.3 million home in Westfield, New Jersey, after repeatedly receiving threatening packages from a person who calls themselves “the Watcher,” according to a lawsuit filed against the previous owners of the home.

Read Laura Prepon’s Insane Interview In Scientology’s Celebrity Magazine

Celebrity Magazine is the celebrity magazine of choice for Scientologists everywhere. A recent issue features a lengthy interview with longtime believer Laura Prepon, who talks unguardedly about the religion/cult in a manner that is usually shrouded from outsiders.

Call Donald Trump’s Cell Phone and Ask Him About His Important Ideas

Last month, American reality show entertainer turned American political system entertainer Donald Trump publicized presidential rival Sen. Lindsey Graham’s cell number, urging his supporters to “try it.” In the spirit of open and fair political debate, we now bring you Trump’s number.

“Just Call Them Niggers,” Exasperated CNN Guest Tells Erin Burnett

Erin Burnett really tried, bless her heart, to imagine a reason why it might be inappropriate to refer to protesting black Baltimore teenagers as thugs.

The 50 Best First Sentences in Fiction

In a 2013 interview with Joe Fassler, horror fiction maestro Stephen King reflected on the magnitude of a novel’s introductory sentence. “An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story,” he said. “It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this.” The first sentence sets the stage—however long or short the text—and hints at the “narrative vehicle” by which the writer will propel the book forward.

60 Minutes’ Steve Kroft Guzzled Champagne from Mistress’s Ass: Report

Earlier today, the National Enquirer ran a story alleging that 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft has been cheating on his wife, the journalist Jenny Conant, with a Manhattan lawyer named Lisan Goines for over 3 years. Now the 69-year-old Kroft has confirmed the Enquirer’s scoop, which drew from extensive text message conversations between the paramours, in a statement to the New York Post.

At Least 100 Dead as Explosions, Shootings and a Hostage Situation Rock Paris

A coordinated terror attack in Paris that included multiple bombings and shooting rampages, and culminated in a hostage situation at a crowded rock concert left at least 100 people dead and dozens more injured.

Graphic Execution Video Shows ISIS Drowning, Immolating Prisoners

This morning, ISIS released a gruesome new video showing the execution of 16 prisoners. Five of the prisoners were filmed as they slowly drowned inside a metal cage while four others were blown up by an RPG as they were handcuffed inside a car. Another seven were killed by explosives that an ISIS member had strapped around their necks.

These Are the Jokes That Caused Actors To Walk Off Adam Sandler’s Set

Two days ago, Native American extras on Adam Sandler’s new Netflix movie The Ridiculous Six walked off the set due to the film’s portrayal of Native Americans. In response, Netflix defended the film as a “broad satire” in which those being made fun of are “in on the joke.” So, who’s right? Well, we got our hands on the script, so everyone can judge for themselves.

Reddit In Chaos After Allegedly Firing AMA Coordinator Victoria Taylor

If you tried to visit r/IAmA (one of Reddit’s biggest subs) recently, you were probably greeted by the image above. And if you’ve been absolutely anywhere else on the site at all in the past few hours, you probably noticed that everyone is flipping their collective shit over speculation that Victoria Taylor, the high-profile coordinator that kept IAmA afloat, was suddenly and mysteriously fired. Also, something about Jesse Jackson.

Police Looking For Spring Breaker Photographed Naked, Surrounded by Men

Last week, a young woman on spring break near Panama City, Florida was photographed in the nude, covered in Mardi Gras beads, and surrounded by shirtless men. Images of the woman began circulating on social media, and now authorities have launched a campaign to make sure the unnamed spring breaker is okay, the Panama City News Herald reports.

A Comprehensive Updated List of Every Celebrity Linked to Scientology

L. Ron Hubbard began Scientology’s “Project Celebrity” in 1955, offering a list of 63 high-profile targets and a “small plaque” as a reward to anyone who successfully brought the likes of Bob Hope and Ernest Hemingway into the church. “There are many to whom America and the world listens...” Scientology’s blustery founder wrote in a newsletter announcing the plan. “It is obvious what would happen to Scientology if prime communicators benefitting from it would mention it now and then.” Sixty years later, was Project Celebrity a success?

Jesus Would Hate This Christian Blogger Just as Much as You Do

Have ever thought to yourself, “What the fuck, who actually says that?” while looking at Facebook? Then you’re probably familiar with the blogger Matt Walsh.

Woman Claims She Was Attacked by Black Men, Actually Attacked by Makeup

This weekend, in the wake of last week’s racially-motivated mass shooting in Charleston, a Texas woman claimed on Facebook that she’d been brutally beaten by three black men outside a Texarkana Walmart store. It now appears as though she made the whole thing up.

Bill O’Reilly Accused of Domestic Violence in Custody Battle

Three weeks ago, a Nassau County Supreme Court justice ended a bitter three-year custody dispute between Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly and his ex-wife, Maureen McPhilmy, by granting custody of the couple’s two minor children to McPhilmy. Though nearly all documents pertaining to New York family court cases are sealed, Gawker has learned that the justice in the case heard testimony accusing O’Reilly of physically assaulting his wife in the couple’s Manhasset home.

Alert, Alert Olivia Pope: Where Did This Malia Obama Selfie Come From?

Is this photo, which surfaced mysteriously online Monday and was immediately employed by the Pro Era rap crew to promote their official merchandise on Instagram, in fact a photo of Malia Obama, or just a very very very close doppelgänger?

Remember When Tom Hardy Had Sex With Men?

Tom Hardy is known for many things: His lead roles in Inception and Mad Max: Fury Road; his embrace of feminism; his intense love for dogs; his shape-shifting beard; his pillowy lips. But among his (many) gay fans, the 37-year-old British actor is perhaps best known for something very different: Admitting, and later denying he admitted, that he used to have sex with men.

19 Excuses and Counting: Every Excuse the Duggars Made for Their Son

On Wednesday, 19 Kids and Counting parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar confirmed many of the allegations concerning their son, Josh, who molested four of their children and a babysitter by the age of fifteen. But man does that family make a lot of excuses. They make so many excuses.

http://defamer.gawker.com/the-web-has-kn...

Teen Who Proposed Laser Cat Yearbook Photo Commits Suicide

Draven Rodriguez, a senior at Schenectady High School in New York, whose proposed yearbook photo of him, his cat, and lasers was widely celebrated across the Internet this fall, died on Thursday at the age of 17. The Times Union reports that the cause of death was suicide.

Caitlyn Jenner, Formerly Known As Bruce, Makes Her Debut in Vanity Fair

Caitlyn Jenner, the Olympic athlete and Kardashian parent formerly known as Bruce, made her debut on the cover of Vanity Fair today, shot by Annie Leibowitz. This is the first time she has appeared in public as a woman, and damn, she looks great.

Chinese Couple Films Themselves Banging in Uniqlo, Sparks National Furor

Did you recently film yourself fucking inside a fitting room in the Bejing Uniqlo store, then upload the video to the internet? Congrats: you look like you’re having a lot of fun. Also, your entire country—including the government—is watching.

Why I Left Scientology

I was a Scientologist for eight years. Although I identified as one I didn’t really understand what actually being a Scientologist fully entailed until after a couple of years of being heavily indoctrinated. The reality of Scientology is deceptively hidden and cleverly disguised. When I look at Scientology today, I have to forgive myself for not seeing through the manipulation sooner. I’ve spent the last 13 years keeping Scientology out of my life. It hasn’t been easy, but I’ve realized that the religion is built on a foundation of violence. I’m proud to add my voice to the many who, despite fear of retribution and humiliation, have come forward to tell of our experiences. This is my story.

What’s This Woman Doing on Live TV, and Why Does She Look So Guilty?

ESPN aired this strange snippet of video from Ohio State’s Sugar Bowl win over Alabama yesterday, and the internet is treating it like a new Zapruder film: This embarrassed girl was clearly caught doing something with her hands, but what?

Lost YouTube: 7 Videos From the Internet’s Weirdest, Darkest Depths

YouTube is, for the most part, the place where everything Right and Good goes to die. But move those lifeless cat and listicle corpses aside, and you’ll find a dark, fascinating world that’s all too easy to get lost in for hours. So instead of losing part of your own life to YouTube’s depths, we’ve brought the underbelly to you.

Richard Dawkins Absolutely Eviscerates the Texas Clock Kid on Twitter

Influential tweeter Richard Dawkins, whose intellectual rigor never ceases to amaze, makes the very good, necessary, and important point that, in claiming his reassembled clock as an “invention,” Ahmed Mohamed, the 14-year-old Texas teenager arrested last week on suspicion of building a bomb, committed fraud.

Josh Duggar Confirms Teen Molestation Reports

Josh Duggar of TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting has confirmed to People that in 2006, as a teenager, he molested several underage girls—including some of his sisters. Duggar also announced that he will resign as executive director of the Family Research Council.

Allison Williams Gets Her Ass Eaten to the Sounds of Peter Pan Live

Who says you need a cock to crow? Here’s a mashup we did using the instantly notorious ass-eating scene from the Season 4 premiere of Girls and audio from Allison Williams’s embarrassing turn in Peter Pan Live.

Can You Solve the Math Problem That Has Torn Singapore Apart?

A question on a quiz for teenage mathletes proved so tricky for Singapore newscaster Kenneth Kong that he posted it to Facebook to find a definitive answer. Now the problem has driven the entire country mad, and it’s spreading to the rest of the world.

Life With a “Boy Dick”: Interviews With Four Small-Penis Havers

Lost in the sea of “low-value dry dick randos” is a less-discussed dick identity and sexual practice, Small Penis Humiliation (SPH). Aficionados exercise their fetish online on Tumblrs, forums and Reddit, through webcams and chat programs, as well as in person.

Jon Stewart: Stop Making Excuses for That Racist Oklahoma Frat

On Wednesday night’s Daily Show, Jon Stewart addressed the conservative media’s treatment of an Oklahoma frat’s drunken, racist chanting as the latest in a series of isolated incidents that are totally not indicative of any larger problems of racism in America. For a brief summary of Stewart’s points, see the above photo of him flipping the bird.

Uh-Oh: Beyoncé’s Face Is Uh-Oh

Two hundred and twenty-four apparently unretouched photos of self-styled Queen Bey Beyoncé were leaked on a website called The Beyoncé World this morning, sending shockwaves across the one inhabited by all of us. They come from commercial and ad shoots for L’Oréal’s 2013 Feria and Infallible campaigns and should make you and Solange feel a little bit more secure about yourselves.

Spokane NAACP President’s Mom Says Daughter Pretending to Be Black

The city of Spokane, Washington, has opened an investigation into whether Rachel Dolezal, the president of the local chapter of the NAACP, lied about her race when she identified herself as African-American on her application to serve on the citizen police ombudsman commission, thereby violating the city’s code of ethics.

“Fuck That Alligator”: Man Killed Seconds After Mocking Gator Warning

Authorities say a 28-year-old Texas man was attacked and killed by an alligator “almost immediately” after being warned by a bystander not to swim in the water, replying “fuck that alligator” before jumping in, Buzzfeed reports.

John Travolta Introduced Himself To This Guy, Alone, At the Gym, At 3 AM

Last night, the actor John Travolta surprised one lucky fan when he introduced himself to the man, at the gym, where they were alone, together, at three in the morning. “I thought I was at the gym by myself at 3am,” the man wrote on Reddit, but he wasn’t, because John Travolta was there, too, being friendly, to a male stranger, at the gym, in the dead of night.

Fred Armisen Has a Reputation

The fifth season of Fred Armisen’s hipster sketch show Portlandia premieres tonight, and if you spend enough time reading about the comedian online, you’ll be left with two impressions: First, that he’s funny and charming. And second, that his charm and humor mask something of a reputation. For what exactly depends on whom you ask, but here are some adjectives that have been used to describe him over the years: “womanizer,” “sociopath,” “traumatizing,” and, from Armisen himself, “terrible.”

And Baby Makes Three, Two of Whom Are Fucking in the Subway

A troubling bit of phone footage showing a man interrupting a couple while they fucked against a subway escalator has gone viral after someone uploaded it to LiveLeak. It would be one thing to disturb two adults in the midst of mad, passionate rutting, but the shocking reveal comes when the woman stands up, pants around her ankles, and we see ... a baby.

Is Chevy Chase Okay?

Either something’s going on or Chevy Chase is really nailing his impersonation of a man not living his best life.

Proof That Every Country Song Still Sounded the Same in 2014

Near the end of 2013, country music critic Grady Smith came to the depressing realization that the most popular songs in the genre that year were all basically the same song.

Make Hitler Happy: The Beginning of Mein Kampf, as Told by Coca-Cola

“Make it happy!” Coca-Cola’s new marketing campaign exhorts. The campaign, introduced during a Super Bowl commercial, is accompanied by a stunt through which Twitter users reply to negative tweets with the hashtag “#MakeItHappy”; Coca-Cola then transforms those tweets into cute ASCII art. “We turned the hate you found into something happy,” @CocaCola chirps.

What Is Charlie Hebdo? The Cartoons that Made the French Paper Infamous

At 11:28 a.m. Wednesday local time, the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo tweeted a cartoon of ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. “Best wishes and good health,” the caption read. Minutes after the tweet was published, three armed and masked gunmen stormed the paper’s offices and opened fire, killing ten of its staff and two police officers.

Flight Logs Put Clinton, Dershowitz on Pedophile Billionaire’s Sex Jet

Bill Clinton took repeated trips on the “ Lolita Express”—the private passenger jet owned by billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein—with an actress in softcore porn movies whose name appears in Epstein’s address book under an entry for “massages,” according to flight logbooks obtained by Gawker and published today for the first time. The logs also show that Clinton shared more than a dozen flights with a woman who federal prosecutors believe procured underage girls to sexually service Epstein and his friends and acted as a “potential co-conspirator” in his crimes.

Alpha Tau Omega Shuts Down Indiana Chapter Over “Sex Act” Video

After last night’s leak of a bizarre, sexual, and possibly non-consensual frat spectacle incident at the Indiana University chapter of Alpha Tau Omega (and a university suspension), the fraternity’s national organization has shut them down completely.

Caitlyn Jenner’s Other Kids Refused to Do Her New Reality Show

The watershed profile that accompanies Caitlyn Jenner’s debut on the cover of Vanity Fair paints a picture of a woman who is happy, healthy, and “finally free” to live her life on her terms. But of course, the path to liberation was long, winding, and hard—and not everything in Jenner’s personal life is perfect.

Man Forced to Sell His New House Because Comcast Lied to Him

A software engineer living in Washington state may have no choice but to sell the home he bought last December because, despite repeatedly checking with Comcast before he even considered buying the property, the company just can’t (or won’t) give him internet service.

Ivy League Admissions Are a Sham: Confessions of a Harvard Gatekeeper

I graduated from Harvard in 2006, and have spent eight of the last nine years working as an admissions officer for my alma mater. A low-level volunteer, sure, but an official one all the same. I served as one of thousands of alumni volunteers around the world—a Regional Representative for my local Schools Committee, if you want to get technical. And, as a Regional Rep, my duties fell somewhere between Harvard recruiter and Harvard gatekeeper.

The United States incarcerates a sickening and outrageous number of people. Any idea that could mitigate this crisis is worth listening to. Here’s one.

In Connecticut, Democratic governor Dannel Malloy is proposing a change that would raise the minimum age to be tried in court as an adult to 21. In almost every state, that age is now 18. If Malloy is successful, Connecticut would become the first state to keep 18-20 year-olds in the juvenile system, which is less harsh and life-destroying than the adult criminal system with its long prison sentences.

This would have the effect of keeping more young people out of the most vicious part of our criminal justice death spiral. Therefore we should do it. In Connecticut and everywhere.

How many people are well-served by our current system? Few. So we need fewer people exposed to it. So this is a good idea. Peace Connecticut.

http://gawker.com/the-american-p...

[Photo: AP]

August 21: Mobile, Ala.

September 14: Dallas, Tex.

September 15: Los Angeles, Calif.

September 30: Keene, N.H.

October 8: Las Vegas, Nev.

October 10: Norcross, Ga.

October 14: Richmond, Va.

October 21: Burlington, Iowa

October 31: Norfolk, Va.

November 7: New York, N.Y.

November 12: Fort Dodge, Iowa

November 23: Columbus, Ohio

December 5: Davenport, Iowa

December 12: Aiken, S.C.

December 16: Mesa, Ariz.

December 21: Grand Rapids, Mich.

[All images via Getty except for numbers 7, 10, 25; top photo from Mobile, Ala.]

Contact the author at jordan@gawker.com.

Martin O’Malley: probably not the next American president. Politico reports that one (1.00) human individual person attended his campaign “event” in Iowa yesterday, and that person isn’t even onboard.

This shot says it all:

And Politico has the bleak, bleak details:

And one man at his last event, the only person to show up, in fact, “was glad to see me,” the former Maryland governor said. But he still would not commit to caucus for O’Malley.

“The very last event of the night, we actually had a whopping total of one person show up, but by God, he was glad to see me. So we spent the time with him,” the Democratic presidential candidate told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Tuesday, speaking from Des Moines.

Sarah Beckman of ABC News, who took the above crime scene photo, has even more bleak, bleak details:

After the hour began to wane and the conversation started to slow, Kenneth got more personal and praised O’Malley for following through with the event despite the treacherous weather.

“I give you a lot of credit for coming out here,” said Kenneth. “I’m glad you took the time.”

“Yeah, you know, once we were out here we just kept going,” said O’Malley. “Up in Waterloo, we had a good turnout for our campaign office opening, like 20 people…we even had a family of O’Malley’s.”

Come home, Martin. Come home.

Photo: Getty

Contact the author at biddle@gawker.com.
Public PGP key
PGP fingerprint: E93A 40D1 FA38 4B2B 1477 C855 3DEA F030 F340 E2C7

Here you will find dozens of predictions about what 2016 will bring for journalism, from “Local News Gets Smarter on Mobile” to “Distributed Platforms Will Be Your New Homepage.” The only journalism prediction worth a shit in any year is “I Hope I Keep My Job.”

Gods of Egypt caused such an uproar, the director was forced to apologize. But it’s just the latest in a long line of movies where characters of color are played by white actors. Movies that should have known better. Just look at how many films have fallen into this trap just since the turn of the millennium.

This list is restricted to just genre movies, and only films from the past 15 years—and still, there are far more than there should be.

1. Gods of Egypt

Starting with the most recent one: this is a movie where the ancient Egyptian sun god is played by Geoffrey Rush. And Gerard Butler is playing the god Set. And when you think of Horus, is the name that immediately springs to mind is “Nikolaj Coster-Waldau?” And the whitewashing isn’t limited to the gods. Even the main human character, Bek, is being played by a white actor: Brenton Thwaites. This is a movie based on Egyptian mythology that takes place in Egypt, and pretty much every major character is white.

2 Avatar: The Last Airbender

Here’s a movie based on a cartoon, where the characters were clearly not white and were based on Asian culture. So of course, the film-makers cast Nicola Peltz as Katara, Jackson Rathbone as Sokka, and tried to cast Jesse McCartney as Zuko. The failure on the part of the studio was so large that the phrase “racebending” no longer refers to just this movie, but has become a synonym for whitewashing in general. And director M. Night Shyamalan’s defense that “The great thing about anime is that it’s ambiguous,” was not received particularly well. Avatar: The Last Airbender became the first movie the Media Action Network for Asian Americans boycotted.

3. Dragonball Evolution

Oh man, when you’re adapting a Japanese manga into a live-action movie and the main character is named Goku, don’t go with the white Canadian kid as your star. All the source material is Japanese. All of it. So of course this adaptation chose Justin Chatwin to play Goku and Emmy Rossum as Bulma. It’s offensive on every level.

4. Lone Ranger

Unlike Last Airbender and Dragonball, this is one franchise that wasn’t particularly revered before it became a movie—and a big part of that was the way the original TV series handles Native Americans. And when you update a character that is seen by some as a degrading stereotype, you want to do it with a lot of care. OR you can put Johnny Depp in white make up and put a stuffed bird on his head. And then the debate can be about whether or not Depp really has some Native American blood, rather than whether the character was even a good idea in the first place.

5. Exodus: Gods and Kings, 6. Noah, and 7. The Passion of the Christ

Let’s just lump all the Biblical epics together, since they all have the exact same set of problems. All of the Bible stories take place in the Middle East and the people in them are Middle Eastern. Exodus: Gods and Kings had Christian Bale as Moses, Joel Edgerton as Ramses II, Sigourney Weaver as Tuya, and Aaron Paul as Joshua. And then Ridley Scott said:

I can’t mount a film of this budget, where I have to rely on tax rebates in Spain, and say that my lead actor is Mohammad so-and-so from such-and-such. I’m just not going to get it financed. So the question doesn’t even come up.

Which managed to be both truthful about the state of Hollywood and offensive at the same time.

Noah went with Russell Crowe as the titular character, after offering it to the also-whites Christian Bale and Michael Fassbender. Co-writer Ari Handel said that everything was based on Crowe’s casting and they even made sure to make everyone white so that it wouldn’t look like the nonwhites were being punished.

And finally, The Passion of the Christ also went with white actors for its leads. In every single case, The Ten Commandments, which is from 1956, looms large as an obvious influence. Both in terms of being a Biblical epic and in casting choices.

8. Star Trek Into Darkness

When the name of the villain is “Khan Noonien Singh” and you cast Benedict Cumberbatch to play him, you’ve done something very wrong. Especially when that character was etched into the public consciousness by the performance of Ricardo Montalbán. To be fair, having a Mexican actor play a Sikh character in the first place was an odd notion—but that was a long time ago, and if anything, this feels like a step backwards.

9. Prince of Persia

A movie called Prince of Persia cast Jake Gyllenhaal as its titular character. And then doubled down, by making sure none of the other main characters where played by actors of Iranian, Middle Eastern or Muslim descent.

10. Pan

The role of Tiger Lily, a Native American character, was given to the decidedly-white Rooney Mara. Director Joe Wright supposedly envisioned an “international and multi-racial world,” which would challenge the traditional view of Peter Pan. Of course, the only challenge was in turning the nonwhite character into a white person. The leads all remained white.

I’m giving an honorable mention to Cloud Atlas—which is only left off this list because putting actors in yellow face is something even worse than whitewashing.

This is only ten notable examples. And only from the last fifteen years. There is no reason for anyone to still be casting white people in nonwhite roles. And every time this happens, there are complaints. And the responses are always that they cast “the best person” for the role. But that usually just means the most famous name they can get. And since the status quo is that those are white people, the roles always end up being whitewashed. It is way past time for this practice to stop.

Contact the author at katharine@io9.com.

In the early 1950s, writer Patricia Highsmith had every reason to hide her pride, and quite a few to hate herself. Living under the tyranny of McCarthyism was devastating for those with same-sex attraction—if homosexuality was acknowledged in public at all, it was condemned. And yet, Highsmith transcended.

Her second novel, 1952’s The Price of Salt (adapted this year into Todd Haynes’s celebrated film Carol), was a fairly straightforward account of a young woman becoming herself through a romantic relationship with an older woman. It went on to sell a million copies in paperback, but unlike the other pulp of its day, it didn’t ultimately punish its characters for their transgressive desires (said punishment was a disingenuous, but commercially necessary, convention of gay-themed pulp novels that existed to titillate with and capitalize on said desires). It offered a hopeful model of love thriving against the odds, of our innate ability to overcome what we’d come to understand as “stigma.” During a tamely rendered sex scene, Highsmith describes the point of view of principal character Therese like this:

And she did not have to ask if this were right, no one had to tell her, because this could not have been more right or perfect.

When I read these words earlier this year, they knocked me on my ass. There’s a reason beyond its high style and astonishing performances that Haynes’s Carol, resonated with critics and audiences. Its source material is 63-years-old, but the affirmation the film affords is a refuge from a world that’s still full of people who will tell you that your love is lesser and unworthy. They will do this insidiously, shirking away from the “bigot” label that their ideology seems otherwise at peace with. They will do this in willful ignorance of a people and their culture (how much Fassbinder do you think Kim Davis has watched; how much Baldwin has Mike Huckabee read; how much of the Pet Shop Boys’ discography does Rick Santorum own?). They will prioritize vague, poorly reasoned principles over actual human lives, whether it’s because they’re stupid or selfish. They are entirely ignoble in their endeavor.

“Progress is not an illusion; it happens, but it is slow and invariably disappointing,” said George Orwell, famously. It’s one thing to understand this truism on an intellectual level when you’re studying for the SATs, but it’s quite a different thing to feel it in your bones. Despite some considerable social gains gay people in the U.S. experienced this year—the Supreme Court’s countrywide legalization of same-sex marriage, President Obama’s call to end conversion therapy for youth—there was a visible backlash, personified by Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis and the movement to retain “religious freedom” in the form of retaining the right to discriminate against gays.

The cultural gridlock extends beyond the struggle between those who’d like to go through their lives without being denied because of who they are, and those who are so desperate to hold onto that ability to deny. Gay marriage is a reality now, in all states, yet gay bashings persist. The cultural examination of gay sex feels more honest and unflinching (How To Get Away With Murder gets away with way more than I ever would have expected on an Emmy-winning network show), yet Rentboy.com, a facilitator of sex between men, was raided and shut down. The gray areas of male sexuality were examined more closely than ever—MTV’s True Life explored the existential burden of gay-for-pay porn performers and academic Jane Ward dove deep into the man-on-man contact of self-identified straight guys. It’s a shame that her book lacked first-hand interviews with such guys, was entirely arbitrary in terms of what it accepted from straight guys versus what it imposed upon them as their true behavioral motivation, and that it flat-out lied regarding the results of at least one study it cited, but hey, it was an interesting topic, a good idea, and it’s not like anyone actually reads books anymore. If they did, Larry Kramer would no longer have any cultural standing based on the unreadable behemoth ramble he released this year. (I made it through 100 pages of The American People: Volume 1: Search for My Heart: A Novel and cursed myself for wasting that much time.)

In pop culture, we got we got the magnificent Carol, but we also got the galling Stonewall. Freeheld was tepid Oscar bait, but at least its screenwriter got to condemn a Hollywood system that all but ensured its artistic failure (he did this, of course, after it flopped). And at least there are filmmakers like Peter Strickland and Frederick Wiseman whose refusal to compromise yielded intricate depictions of queer sexuality onscreen. Plenty of people came out, sometimes in understated ways, sometimes in enormously messy ways based on lies that trivialized rape and attempted to capitalize on the gay community at a disingenuous remove. And yet, when the dust settled, Yusaf Mack seemed fine, jubilant, even. Most (if not all) was forgiven, and he described himself as “free.” At last, the guy got his happy ending.

One of my favorite cultural phenomena is anti-gay camp—that is, homophobes whose behavior is so outrageous that it’s hilarious in a so-bad-it’s-good way. That homophobia and the traditionally gay sensibility of camp would seem to be at odds makes for a delicious irony. It tastes like Memories Pizza. It sounds like Republican Senator Lee Bright blowing a gasket on the South Carolina Legislature’s floor. It looks like Kim Davis raising her arms to Heaven, her open mouth pointed upward to catch whatever she thinks God’s regurgitating at her. It probably smells like parmesan that comes from a cylinder, Old Spice, and mothballs.

Sometimes you have to laugh. It certainly beats crying. I do not mean to trivialize the pain or hardship that any bigot has inflicted on my brothers and sisters, but I also think we need to do more than sit around and be mad. We need to be our own heroes. We need to say, “Fuck it,” and live our lives happily. We need to be less beholden to stigma and its effects. If you have to, take your cues from the little girl waving the rainbow flag in the hateful street preacher’s face, from the little boy in the Barbie commercial.

Now, stigma is powerful and at times demonstrably damaging. Around World AIDS Day, I read a lot of pieces about stigma. This is a pertinent topic when it comes to HIV, as it has a way of tying logic in knots. From a legal perspective, in many states it’s better to be ignorant of your own HIV status than to know it. If you don’t know it, you can’t be charged with a crime for “reckless” transmission and exposure. If Michael Johnson (aka Tiger Mandingo) weren’t aware of his status, he wouldn’t be serving 30 years in prison, but he also wouldn’t be receiving live-saving treatment. This, and that he never had a shot in court anyway, expose just how backward our culture is.

There’s that tangible stigma, and then there’s the softer kind that’s perhaps a product of the system but delivered personally. There’s stigma that says being a slut is bad, or that taking PrEP means your moral fiber is frayed. To the gay guys reading, I urge you to resist this, as best you can. This is not to give a free pass to assholes (who either aren’t getting laid or are fucking hypocrites); it’s to encourage you to do you own work in reducing stigma in your life by simply ignoring it. There will always be assholes; you can only change you. Someone who would dissuade you from taking a pill that could save your life is corrosive beyond his shaming. His authority is not worth investing in. Out gays already have found within themselves the tools to transcend the noise that tells them that they’re lesser; keep those tools nearby because you’ll need them. The struggle doesn’t end at self-acceptance. I know it’s hard to graduate into what you think is your culture, to at last be around your people, only to find more judgement. So, you got to the end of the rainbow, and instead of whatever you were expecting, you found a pack of bitchy queens. Find the good guys and surround yourself with them. They’re out there.

I’ve written a lot about PrEP and quite a bit about the meaning of marriage equality, but in the end, they both just add to our list of options. Truvada is one pill you take once a day to prevent one virus. That is it. (Now, if we could only get it in the hands of the people that desperately need it but don’t have the economic access to it—like many gay men of color.) Marriage is just another life path that you can either embark on or avert. When you think of redefinition, don’t think in terms of institutions; think in terms of societal expectations. Our very existence gives us a head start.

Gays still have the burden of etching out a place for themselves in a society that isn’t always welcoming. But being forced to see outside yourself as a matter of course is also a gift. It is a gift, in fact, that keeps on giving. Some of the most rewarding conversations I had this year were with gay guys whose life experiences were foreign to me—Joey Navedo, a gay little person; Rev. Derek Terry, a black pastor who came out on national television; Tab Hunter, a ‘50s teen idol who all these years later still hasn’t quite embraced gay culture; my friend who spent two straight years on meth and then six months in Rikers. I found the arc of the Dallas BBQ chair-clobbering story completely fascinating; when it was finally revealed that chair-wielder Bayna Al-Amin is gay, it completely revised so many people’s perception of what had taken place. Identity is a mind-fuck.

After all that happened in the U.S. in 2015, the highs and lows, the victories, and the backlash, it’s clear that Michelangelo Signorile was right—it’s not over. “We need to be confrontational always,” he told me earlier this year in a conversation about his book. I think that’s a reasonable goal. Instead of writing a think piece when someone angers you by calling you “cute,” explain why you feel the way you do to the source of your anger. (Or, you know, find a better thing to get mad at.) Instead of putting money in the hands of bigots for your own viral profit, confront them with their hatred, try to hire them, and dare them to discriminate. That’s a much better story, and depending on what state you’re in, it may result in them having to pay a bigot fine.

Do not neglect the plight of our trans citizens, whose moment of legal equality and protection has yet to arrive. Surely, you can relate.

In thinking about this piece, I spent quite a bit of time milling over this question: Are things better for gays in this country at the end of 2015 than they were a year ago? For many—not all of us—I think, the answer is yes. We have more options than ever, and I cannot come up with a more tangible way of measuring progress. Here’s to making even more in 2016.

Oh, and one more thing: Stop paying attention to Azealia Banks, please. She is an incoherent waste of time, a distraction.

[Collage by Sam Woolley; photos via Getty, DawgPoundUSA, and Joey Navedo]

“Think of it as The Establishment 2.0,” says the New York Times, of the “Working Team of the Itasca Project,” a group of “14 men and women who oversee some of the biggest companies, philanthropies and other institutions in Minneapolis, St. Paul and the surrounding area,” and who meet weekly “to quietly shape the region’s economic agenda.” Or think of it another way, if you want. Like... as a cabal?

Or at least think of it as an illuminating example (and an unusually open one) of the “deep state,” the loose conglomeration of the unelected industrialists, financiers, spooks, and bureaucrats who actually run things. Except these guys... are good!

“Itasca operates behind the scenes,” said Tim Welsh, a senior partner at the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, which hosts the weekly breakfasts at its offices in the IDS Center here. “We all know each other but we are clearly not recognized as the people of Itasca.”

I don’t think that’s supposed to sound ominous, but it’s basically how one might refer to, say, SMERSH.

Itasca’s impact is very real, however. And its consensus-oriented approach offers an alternative path at a time when politics nationally — and in many state capitols — seems hopelessly divided along partisan lines.

Powerful business leaders “operating behind the scenes” to influence policy does indeed “offer an alternative path” to what is traditionally called “politics,” which, as we all know, is hopelessly partisan.

It is an eternal wish of the elite political press that a group of terribly smart “non-partisan” people with solid credentials and good intentions will just step in, take charge, and fix all our problems, partisanship and politicians be damned. This is a profoundly anti-democratic impulse, but because the sorts of elites we’re talking about consider themselves beyond and above ideology, they don’t generally understand that they’re expressing an ideological preference for oligarchy. (The best recent example of this preference was the 2012 “Politico Primary,” an amazing exercise in un-self-awareness in which the top editors of Politico—a publication that is resolutely “nonpartisan”—held an imaginary third-party presidential primary, contested by deeply unelectable longtime establishmentarians like Erskine Bowles and David Petraeus.)

That wish is why this particular group is treated, by the Times, as a bunch of do-gooding problem-solvers who get results, and not like a secretive cabal of powerful unelected elites who exercise power by literally ringing up politicians and telling them what to do:

So when a proposal to raise the gasoline tax in 2008 to help rebuild roads and transit systems was vetoed by the Republican governor at the time, Tim Pawlenty, phone calls from Itasca’s business leaders helped persuade enough Republican legislators to cross the aisle and override the veto.

So it’s a well-intentioned cabal. Raising the gas tax is a good thing. (I guess leave it to Minnesota to have a secretive business cabal of polite good citizens who want to raise taxes to improve infrastructure.) And they are interested in doing something about “ income inequality,” too, which sounds nice.

But also, they are apparently “pushing for McKinsey-style benchmarks to measure the performance of local public schools.” That sounds like a campaign that ought to be waged in public, maybe, considering the highly ideological nature of that pursuit, and the stakeholders involved.

The Itasca Group is actually exactly how things aren’t supposed to work. Say what you will about Chambers of Commerce (they’re among the most destructive institutions in American civic life, is one thing to say), but at least they’re a proper lobby. They’re a recognizable and public thing you can point to, clearly identified and identifiable as advocates for business interests. This is... something else.

Though if you subscribe to the theory that the only way to make society more equitable and just within the strictures of our current economic and political system is by getting the wealthy people whose preferences actually determine what is considered politically possible to somehow take up that cause themselves, then I guess the Itasca Project is the most logical model of progress. I’m just not sure we should be celebrating that it has to exist.

Aloe vera gel. Magnesium caps. Maple syrup. Organic Chlorella. Omega-3 fish oil. Homemade coconut Kefir. Bone broth. Agave (but not any more). These are all items Kristin Cavallari has consumed to soothe what ails her. Today, she tried a new brand of snake oil: “He Shou Wu powder.”

It’s “anti-aging!” says Kristin. According to WebMD, however, there is no real evidence that He Shou Wu—an herb—does anything at all. Except this: It “has been linked to multiple cases of liver problems including hepatitis.”

#health

This has been 500 Days of Kristin.

[Photo via Getty]

You’re not going to find a more 2015 SEO-optimized story than this one: Two Belgian newspapers are reporting that during November’s ISIS manhunt in Brussels, eight soldiers and two policewomen coped with the tension by throwing an orgy.

According to La Dernière Heure, a Belgian news publication, the action went down in a police station that was temporarily used as a barracks while military forces combed the city—and at one point, between long shifts, a ten-person orgy began amid the cots (translated via Google):

On arrival in the military police, several police officers from the division Ganshoren said their female colleagues were already “all hot and all crazy” at the idea of getting these men in uniform.

Reportedly, one evening, two police, one belonging to the division of Ganshoren and the other working in the dispatch area, would be spent in the act with eight of twenty soldiers sleeping there.

It would be the senior police officer who would have discovered the scene.

I had to double-check the translation of that quote about exactly how horny everyone was—“toutes chaudes et toutes folles”—and it is correct. Belgian paper De Standaard reports that police have launched an internal investigation to find out whether a joint military/police fuck task force had indeed been established inside the station while their colleagues searched for ISIS operatives connected to the Paris massacre:

“Here, nothing was heard until we read it in the newspaper today,” said police spokesman Johan Berckmans. “We can only confirm that there has indeed been a 15 to 20 soldiers sleep in Ganshoren in that period. But if something happened there, we do not know. Internal Oversight Services launched an investigation.”

Given that everything was closed and social media was off limits, what else was there really to do? [via Politico]

Photo: Getty

Contact the author at biddle@gawker.com.
Public PGP key
PGP fingerprint: E93A 40D1 FA38 4B2B 1477 C855 3DEA F030 F340 E2C7

Life is an ongoing process of intellectual growth and discovery. Here are the things I added to my personal body of knowledge in 2015.

1. The first chew of spearmint gum after a cup of coffee tastes exactly like licorice.

2. Traffic planners are amazed by the negative reaction times of New York pedestrians at crosswalks.

3. A really good waterproof jacket means you can mostly get by without an umbrella.

4. That helmeted superhero I never paid attention to growing up was Nova, and there are different old and new Novas now, and it’s possible to get mad about the difference.

Contact the author at scocca@gawker.com.

Popular books, cheap coats, and an ingenious beanie highlight today’s best deals. Bookmark Kinja Deals and follow us on Twitter to never miss a deal. Commerce Content is independent of Editorial and Advertising, and if you buy something through our posts, we may get a small share of the sale. Click here to learn more.

http://www.amazon.com/HomeBeck%C2%AE...

Today only, some of Amazon’s editors’ favorite books of 2015 are on sale for just $2-$5 on Kindle. The star of the show here is undoubtedly Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter, but be sure to check out the full list. [Amazon’s Editors’ Best Books of 2015 [Kindle], $2-$5]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

It may have been over 70 in most of the country on Christmas, but you’ll probably need a coat eventually. [60-75% off Coats for Men, Women, and Children]

From the makers of everyone’s favorite keychain charging cables, the NomadPlus is a clever little gadget that integrates with Apple’s standard iPhone charging brick, and turns it into a portable battery pack. Its regular $40 asking price is kind of insane, but I might bite for $15. [NomadPlus Smartphone Battery Pack and Wall Charger, $15]

http://gear.kinja.com/these-keychain...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

External hard drive enclosures are a great way to repurpose old hard drives and SSDs into external storage, and we’ve found great deals on two today. One even includes a built-in USB hub, so you can plug in even more storage devices. [Inateck 3 Ports USB 3.0 Hub with 2.5 Inch USB 3.0 Hard Drive Disk Enclosure Case, $22 with code XNOJRLNE]

http://www.amazon.com/Inateck-Ports-...

🇺🇸 [HomeBeck Led Beanie, $13 with code 7TGH4G8V]

http://www.amazon.com/HomeBeck%C2%AE...

Anker’s ubiquitous Astro series of USB battery packs are some of the most popular items we’ve ever posted, but today we have a great deal on the smallest member of their newer, more powerful PowerCore line. [Anker PowerCore 10400 Portable Charger, $15 with code G5B9OMSC]

http://deals.kinja.com/bestsellers-an...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Z9QVE4Q/...

For just $6 today, you can sip your drinks in style with a four pack stainless steel drinking straws. Use them for everything from Coke Zero to Moscow Mules. [X-Chef Stainless Steel Bend Replacement Metal Straws with Cleaner Brush, Set of 4, $6]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0146HSJ5A

For $1, why not? Just don’t end up like Leo. [Bear Claw Telescopic Back Scratcher, $1]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...

This was cheaper on Black Friday, but if you missed out, it’s tough to beat a year of unlimited cloud storage for $10. [Amazon Cloud Drive - 1 Year, $10]

Start the new year with a hefty iTunes balance. [$100 iTunes Gift Card, $80]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-iTunes...

If you didn’t get a life-changing wake-up light for Christmas, the high-end model is down to $115 today, which is within $5 of its all-time low price. [Philips HF3520 Wake-Up Light, $115]

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-HF3520...

http://gizmodo.com/a-light-up-ala...

More Deals

Tech

• $100 iTunes Gift Card ($80) | eBay
• NomadPlus Smartphone Battery Pack and Wall Charger ($15) | Amazon
• Logitech K380 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard ($30) | Amazon
• Anker PowerCore 10400 Portable Charger ($15) | Amazon | Promo code G5B9OMSC
• Samsung Level U Bluetooth Wireless Around the Neck Design Headphones ($30) | Newegg
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10 Digital Camera ($69) | B&H
• Anker Wireless Charger PowerPort Qi Wireless Charging Pad ($12) | Amazon
• Eye-Fi Mobi Wifi 8GB SDHC Memory Card for Mobile Devices ($21) | Adorama | After $8 rebate
• Vansky Universal Gooseneck Car Mount Holder with Dual USB 2.1A Car Charger ($11) | Amazon | Use code HB78VOMH
• Inateck 3 Ports USB 3.0 Hub with 2.5 Inch USB 3.0 Hard Drive Disk Enclosure Case ($22) | Amazon | Use code XNOJRLNE
• Inateck Marsbox Bluetooth 4.0 Wireless Speaker with 15 Hour Playtime, 2x 5 Watts Drivers ($30) | Amazon | Use code A2RTOG9N
• MPOW Cannon Portable Bluetooth 4.0 Mini Speaker ($18) | Amazon | Use code YJ58NYG2

Home

• 60-75% off Coats for Men, Women, and Children | Amazon
• Sunbeam Heating Pad Sale ($28-$44) | Amazon
• Dyson - Ball Multi Floor Bagless Upright Vacuum ($300) | Best Buy
• Midea - 6-Quart Electric Pressure Cooker ($55) | Best Buy
• Under Armour Tech Pack Sackpack ($24) | Amazon
• Ibera Bicycle Strap-On Reflective SeatPak ($13) | Amazon
• X-Chef Corkscrew and Wine Stopper Set ($7) | Amazon
• Set of 12 X-Chef 12-inch Stainless Steel Barbecue Skewers ($8) | Amazon
• Set of 4 X-Chef Stainless Steel Bend Replacement Metal Straws with Cleaner ($6) | Amazon
• Bear Claw Telescopic Back Scratcher ($1) | Amazon
• ClosetMaid 421 Cubeicals 9-Cube Organizer ($39) | Amazon
• Brita Hard Sided Water Filter Bottle ($11) | Amazon
• Etekcity Digital Body Weight Bathroom Scale ($16) | Amazon
• HomeBeck Led Beanie,50 Lumens & 4 Ultra Bright LED Lights LED Hat for Hunting ($13) | Amazon | Use code 7TGH4G8V
• Anybest Premium Air Pump Wedge Lifts Up To 220lbs ($10) | Amaozn | Use code ANYBEST4
• Vansky® UV Blacklight Flashlight ($5) | Amazon | Use code OELJHDBX
• Magicfly Fast Drying Travel Towel Set ($5) | Amazon | Use code RZTBD4M3
• Kohree LED Starry Novelty String Lights: 33Ft 100 LEDs ($11) | Amazon | Use code QS33BIMW
• Etekcity Wireless Doorbell Kit with 1000ft Operating Range ($13) | Amazon | Use code 4BQVO79W

Gaming

• Power A - Fus1on Wired Controller for Xbox One ($60) | Best Buy
• Nvidia Shield 16GB with Free Nvidia Shield Remote ($175) | GameStop
• New Nintendo 3DS XL ($175) | Amazon
• Fallout 4 [Xbox One] ($46) | Amazon
• NXT Base Set ($160) | LEGO
• OxyLED LED Solar Powered Outdoor Wall Light ($16) | Amazon | Use code WO32WWTT

Media

• Amazon’s Editors’ Best Books of 2015 [Kindle] ($2-$5) | Amazon
• Save up to 72% on Classic TV Collections | Amazon

Commerce Content is independent of Editorial and Advertising, and if you buy something through our posts, we may get a small share of the sale. Click here to learn more. We want your feedback.Send deal submissions to Deals@Gawker and all other inquiries to Shane@Gawker