Remember last year, when NASCAR (as a series) reacted to some of Trump’s more offensive remarks by cutting ties with the man? Today, NASCAR CEO Brian France personally endorsed the Oompa-Loompa-like GOP frontrunner during a campaign rally at Valdosta State University in Georgia.
It’s not particularly unusual to see a driver publicly endorse a political candidate. One driver dedicated his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series livery to the Trump campaign last year.
However, it’s an odd choice for the NASCAR CEO, given the series’ own reaction to some of Trump’s remarks about Mexican immigrants. NASCAR pulled their postseason banquets from the Trump Doral National Miami in July following Trump’s controversial speech announcing his run for president. Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis’ adamant refusal to patronize a Trump establishment certainly had some influence on the series’ change in postseason banquet locations, as Camping World sponsors NASCAR’s truck series.
But today, France told the audience that he’d known Trump for more than 20 years, and described Trump as a family man. “You know about his winning, and business and success,” France said. “He wins with his family.”
If that’s the case, I’m not sure I’d want the leader of one of the most powerful nations in the world to have to have his spokesperson clarify that he was joking about dating his own daughter, but that’s just me.
France was joined by NASCAR drivers Chase Elliott, Ryan Newman and David Ragan plus retired driver Bill Elliott, who were paraded out in a bizarre “look, I have friends” lineup on stage. France, Bill Elliott and Chase Elliott said a few words of support, but kept it short for Trump to return to the microphone with his own words of thanks for the endorsements.
Of his own driving abilities, Trump noted, “I could not press it, I’m telling you. I wanna go about 60, that’s enough, right? For most of us.”
So, congratulations, Jalopnik readers: most of us are officially faster than The Donald.
In Georgia on Monday, about 30 black Valdosta State University students were removed from a Donald Trump campaign event, hosted at the school’s PE complex. The students were removed at the candidate’s request, the Des Moines Register reports, before the event even began.
“We didn’t plan to do anything,” one of the students, Tahjila Davis, 19, said. “They said, ‘This is Trump’s property; it’s a private event.’ But I paid my tuition to be here.” Secret Service agents escorted the students out of the event; Valdosta police ushered them farther away from the rally.
“I don’t understand why they would do something like that,” she said. “I have not experienced any racism on this campus until now.” Valdosta State was a whites-only campus until 1963.
Inside, the Tallahassee Democrat reports, Trump urged his fans to get to the polls on Tuesday. “Tomorrow’s going to be a big day,” he said. “We’re going to have a lot of success. I love Georgia. And I want you to lead the pack if you can.”
“We are going to win at every single level,” he continued. “We are going to win at health care. We are going to win with education. We are going to win at the borders. We are going to win with our military. We are going to win, win, win, win.”
Fox broadcaster Erin Andrews took the stand today in the trial over her civil suit against the Nashville hotel where she was videotaped undressing through her hotel room peephole. In one of the most frightening bits of testimony in a case full of them, Andrews explained how ESPN—her employer at the time—forced her to discuss the issue on national television, against her will, before she was allowed to return to her broadcasting duties.
On July 16, 2009, video of the naked Andrews was posted to the website NSFW POA. Nearly three months later, on October 2, 2009, Michael David Barrett was arrested for creating the video. Barrett eventually pleaded guilty to interstate stalking, and was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Fighting unsuccessfully to hold back tears as she answered questions from her lawyer today, Andrews testified that “everybody” thought she orchestrated the video as a publicity stunt: “Probably for like three months, everybody thought it was a publicity stunt. The front page of the New York Post said ‘ESPN Scandal.’ To Fox News and CBS, everybody put up that I was doing it for publicity and attention, and that ripped me apart.”
Before Barrett was arrested, that “everybody” apparently included her employer ESPN, who didn’t stand fully behind her and forced her to re-live the trauma in front of millions, according to her testimony. (An ESPN spokesperson “respectfully” declined comment.)
Q: So did ESPN require that you give an interview?
Yes. Because there wasn’t an arrest, because we didn’t know where this happened, my bosses at ESPN told me, “before you go back on air for college football we need you to give a sit-down interview.” And that was the only way I was going to be allowed back.
Q: Now, you did have the right to select who that interview would be done by, right?
I did. They were highly recommending it be GMA [Good Morning America], because ESPN and ABC are the same, and they wanted it on GMA. But like my dad had said the other day, I didn’t want it to be a two second thing where it’s like, “Was this a scandal, or, was it not?” No, this is my life, and I feel terrible about myself, and we want to figure out how this happened. So, I didn’t want to do it, I didn’t want to be a part of it, and I just said, you know what, “I know because she’s very public about it, Oprah is a crime victim.” I talked to her producers, I told her I didn’t want to do it. But this was the only way I was going to be put back on air, so we went to the Oprah show.
In an interview that was taped in mid-August 2009 and aired on September 11, Andrews sat down with Oprah for an extensive interview. She testified that the Oprah interview was so stressful that she broke out into a rash while taping it, but also that Oprah managed to make her feel at least a little bit at ease:
We went, I wanted nothing to do with it. I was in the office, or her green room, and I was sitting there and I was just bawling at my parents. “It’s Oprah Winfrey, how do you not want to see her?” And I was just freaking out, and I just said “I don’t want to do this, I don’t want to do this. I just want to go back to college football. I don’t want to talk about what happened to me, why can’t I just be normal? Like, why can’t I go back?”
I think her producer had heard me crying, and all of a sudden in walked Oprah, in her slippers, and her butterfly eyelashes. I didn’t have time to get up out of the chair, and she walked over to me, and I was hysterical. And she said, “I’ve got you, you’re safe here. I’ll take care of you.” And I did the interview.
Having, by her account, successfully strong-armed a crime victim into doing something she didn’t want to do in the service of reassuring people that she actually was a victim, ESPN eventually allowed her to go back to work.
On Monday, the Guardian reports, French police and migrants clashed as authorities continued to demolish sections of the refugee camp in the port town of Calais known as “the Jungle.” Buildings housing about 200 people were dismantled, and some makeshift shelters caught fire.
Police fired teargas at a crowd of about 150 people and activists throwing stones, and at least three shelters were set alight. A spokeswoman for the British volunteer group Help Refugees said that some of the fires appeared to have been started by the heat of the canisters, while others may have been set by residents in protest.
According to the Guardian, volunteer groups said residents were given only a half-hour’s warning before work crews, guarded by police, came to dismantle the temporary housing. The Jungle is about six miles from the Eurotunnel train station, through which some refugees attempt to walk to England, where they hope to apply for asylum. Most of the housing consists of vinyl camping tents, The Intercept’s Alleen Brown reported last year, though there are some wooden huts.
French authorities have struggled to accommodate the migrants in the “garbage-dump-turned-refugee-camp.” From Brown’s second dispatch, earlier this month:
Although officials carefully timed the eviction in mid-January with the opening of a new fenced-in section of the Jungle, where immaculate rows of heated shipping containers would hold about 1,500 new beds for refugees, there would not be enough space for all of the newly displaced. Families and people forced to move in an earlier eviction had already claimed many of the beds.
The shortage seemed to be according to plan. The local government intended to reduce the camp’s population from approximately 5,000 to 2,000 by convincing some refugees to apply for asylum in France and others to go back to where they came from, and by making life in the Jungle as uncomfortable as politics would allow.
The plan’s next step is already in motion. Last Friday, the local prefect announced that another 1,000 or so asylum seekers would be evicted imminently. This time, they will have approximately a week to clear a southern section of the camp.
The approach is symptomatic of the refugee fatigue that has been spreading throughout Europe. Nearly a year after the influx of migrants to the European Union rapidly accelerated, patience has thinned for a still-growing population of foreigners. The November terrorist attacks in Paris and a wave of sexual assaults linked to refugees on New Year’s Eve in Cologne, Germany, have helped fuel a growing intolerance for new asylum seekers. The situation in Calais displays the tipsy politics European countries play as they attempt to avoid blame for the suffering of refugees, even as they work to repel and expel them.
Advocacy groups say that French officials have been encouraging migrants to leave, without also offering anywhere else for them to go. A spokesman for the Calais prefecture denied Monday that a wholesale eviction was underway, however: “There is a reinforced police presence today to allow those officials to enter and talk to people. But this is a gradual process which will take place over several days and weeks. There will be no bulldozers.”
Officials estimate between 800 and 1,000 people living in the main camp at the Jungle, the Guardian reports. An unofficial census carried out by two charities identified 3,455 people, including 445 children. Of those, 305 were unaccompanied. This week a judge who will rule on whether authorities can legally bulldoze part of the camp said she has “a real problem” reconciling the difference between these two numbers.
Rumors about Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom’s romantic relationship have been filling the darker corners of the internet since they were photographed whispering simple sentences to each other at the Golden Globes, but until today, no clear photos of Ploom engaging in public displays of affection have been published.
Because we do not have rights to the clear new images of Ploom (they’re Entertainment Tonight exclusives), you’ll have to settle for the terrible sketch above, as well as a few descriptions from a source who claims to have seen Ploom gettin’ up close and personal in Hawaii.
The details of Ploom’s vacation are nothing short of fascinating.
“They looked very loved up and really into each other.”
“They were comfortable letting everyone see them as a couple — lots of PDA and hand-holding.”
“It seemed very romantic and they both smiled a lot.”
“[They] looked to really enjoy each other’s company.”
Wow, can you feel the heat? It must be like at least 72 in here.
After Kesha tweeted at Lady Gaga and Joe Biden for “bringing attention to sexual assault at the Oscars,” Dr. Luke’s lawyers sent a statement to TMZ saying, basically, that Kesha needs to stop calling herself a victim.
Wrote Christine Lepera, Luke’s lawyer:
“Ms. Sebert [Kesha], who in sworn videotaped testimony from 2011 stated that she had never been sexually abused or drugged by Dr. Luke is neither a victim nor the appropriate person to be held up as an example for this important issue.”
In September, Thorburn made two donations to the Trump campaign, totaling $534.58. He has also trademarked the phrase “Make Christianity Great Again,” and is associated with a website that sells hats bearing the slogan—an allusion to Trump’s “Make America Great Again.”
The hats, the Times reports, and not the campaign contributions, is likely what got him into trouble:
Goldman employees are allowed to pursue outside business opportunities, but they first must get clearance from the company. Mr. Thorburn, a financial adviser in the bank’s wealth management division, had not received approval before pursuing the hat endeavor.
Goldman, according to people briefed on the situation but not authorized to speak on the record, put Mr. Thorburn on paid administrative leave last week after he was interviewed by company officials about details that appeared in The Times’s article.
These people say that Mr. Thorburn sought to distance himself from the website. Ultimately, the bank became concerned about apparent inconsistencies in Mr. Thorburn’s story, and placed him on leave, they said.
Since 2013, FEC records show, Goldman employees have given more than $94,000 to Hillary Clinton and more than $199,000 to Marco Rubio.
The cast of “Spotlight” accepting the award for Best Picture
There are two broad reasons why you might attend the Oscars. The first would be to enjoy the grand pageantry of the insanely rich and famous congratulating each other for completing the difficult but necessary act of making motion pictures. The second would be to do your job. Prior to this past Sunday’s ceremony, Los Angeles’ newspaper of record found itself being torn apart by these two distinct functions.
According to Capital New York, the Los Angeles Times was allotted six tickets to this year’s Oscars ceremony. Normally, the paper’s reporters use these tickets to report from the awards, which is, after all, what they’re paid to do. But this year was to be different!
The Times had been allocated six passes for entry to the Dolby Theater – essential access to tell the story of the night by the big broadsheet located in America’s entertainment capital – but until the last minute not one of them was allocated to a reporter.
According to several sources in and around the Times, the passes went to the Tribune Publishing’s new brass. Tribune Publishing Chairman Michael Ferro and CEO Justin Dearborn reportedly used the passes, each along with a guest.
The last two were earmarked for publisher Tim Ryan, who was persuaded to do the right thing and gave up his seats after receiving a flabbergasted email from the Times’ film desk.
The tension drips off the page. Why would you move your family across the country/pour $44 million more into the newspaper industry/leave a field as cushy as medicine if you couldn’t enjoy the fruits of your sacrifices, i.e. attending a glitzy awards show that in no way requires your presence? In order to get into the ceremony, reporters and editors had to send a pleading email to Ryan and editor Davan Maharaj explaining why it was necessary that the Academy Awards host town’s newspaper be able to adequately cover it:
Tim and Davan,
We on the film team were shocked to learn this week that the paper has not allocated a single one of its Oscar tickets to a reporter.
All of our competitors will have reporters both in the Dolby and at the Governors Ball. Here’s how they’re using their Oscar tickets:
Entertainment Weekly: 2 reporters, 2 editors
AP: 2 reporters
The New York Times: reporter plus 1
The Wall Street Journal: reporter plus 1
The Hollywood Reporter: 1 reporter, 1 editor
Variety: 1 reporter, 1 editor
Our reporters do not sit through the show, but rather use this access to gather exclusive quotes on the controversies of the evening in the lobbies and bars, deliver feeds on how the audience is receiving the host and solicit comments from the losers, who are not made available in the press room.
Entertainment coverage is a bedrock of this paper’s identity. To fail to send a single reporter on a year when the Oscars are at the center of a cultural debate over diversity is not only embarrassing, it’s bad journalism. Would the LA Times ever cover a political convention or a sporting event this way?
Please tell us that you will reconsider, and distribute at least one of the Times’ Oscar tickets to a reporter.
So Ryan, the lowest executive on the totem pole, along with his plus-one, got fucked. But fucked for the good of journalism, at least, which is really what it’s all about, as the rich businessman and his medical paperwork deputy surely would attest.
While testifying in Rome as part of Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse, Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell revealed that a case resulting in the conviction a priest for 138 offenses against more than 50 children “wasn’t much interest to me.”
“I had no reason to turn my mind to the extent of evils that Ridsdale had perpetrated,” explained Pell, regarding the pedophile priest in question, a former roommate of his. NBC News reports:
The Australian cardinal — the highest-ranking Vatican official to testify on systemic sexual abuse of children by clergy — said senior clergy lied to him to cover up abuse in the 1970s.
He insisted there was no reason for him to know the extent of the abuse carried out by his one-time roommate — pedophile priest Father Gerald Ridsdale — who was later convicted of 138 offences against more than 50 children.
Pell denied there was any discussion of Ridsdale being a pedophile at a meeting he attended in 1982 where it was discussed that Ridsdale should be moved to another parish.
Pell testified on the case from Rome via videolink because he reportedly said he was unable to travel to Sydney, where the hearing is taking place, due to heart problems.
NBC also reports that:
Pell is not charged with any crimes, but his testimony has taken on wider implications about the accountability of church leaders given his high rank within the church. He is considered the third most powerful clergyman in the Vatican, after Pope Francis and the secretary of state.
Given the history of systematic coverups of child abuse within the Catholic Church, the fact that its No. 3 is rather blasé about this particular case should surprise no one and dismay everyone. (He drew gasps upon saying his “wasn’t much interest to me” comment.) He didn’t care! He just put into words a key factor in the perpetuation of and covering up of the sexual abuse of minors.
News Corp Australia claims detectives from taskforce Sano have compiled a dossier containing allegations that Pell committed “multiple offenses” when he was a priest in Ballarat, a town in the state’s west, and also when he was working as the archbishop of Melbourne.
Police also refused to answer general questions about whether they were investigating claims related to historical child sexual abuse related to the diocese of Ballarat or the archdiocese of Melbourne.
However, according to the report, the investigation by Sano detectives has been taking place for the past year. A dossier compiled by the detectives says Pell allegedly sexually abused minors “by both grooming and opportunity.”
Pell has denied these allegations. NBC also reports:
That number comes from the Civilian Complaint Review Board, an independent agency which reviews citizen allegations of NYPD misconduct. The CCRB recently conducted a review of 1,762 complaints about home searches and substantiated 180 of them. A report from the agency cited “recurring practices and misapplication of the law” for the alleged misconduct.
Entertainment Tonight’s tweet truly says it all. Here is the Instagram in question, of Bristol Palin’s daughter Sailor, (allegedly) born December 23, 2015:
So who is the daddy? According to court records obtained last week by the Daily Mail, Bristol Palin’s ex-fiancé Sgt. Dakota Meyer recently established paternity of Sailor “via DNA testing at 99.9957 percent certainty.” Bristol has repeatedly refused to name him as the father in the press, however, for reasons unknown.
This leaves conspiracy theorists a window to question the circumstances surrounding Sailor’s birth, as they have for several months. The engrossing, insane theory, in brief: Palin actually gave birth in early November 2015, but she waited to announce the birth until late December to make it seem like she conceived Sailor after she became engaged to Meyer in March. (The couple broke off the engagement in May.) Conspiracy theorists have claimed that Meyer is simply a pawn in a complex Palin family plot to convince the public that abstinence activist Bristol waited until she was engaged to have sex. (Bristol has advocated that young people abstain from sex until marriage, but you know, close enough.)
Though she has yet to name Sailor’s “daddy”, Bristol did respond to questions about the timing of Sailor’s birth in January by posting a dated photo of her at the hospital and then deleting it.
It’s been nine long days since Jeb decided to stop punishing himself and finally end what was left of his campaign. So how’s our sweet, sad boy holding up? According to his most recent Snapchat, Jeb is either doing better than ever or has finally lost it. It’s impossible to say for sure.
But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. Let’s take a look at the evidence.
Exhibit #1:
Jeb is watching a video on the popular comedy website “Funny or Die.” More specifically, Jeb is watching this video:
It’s the theme song from the site’s recent Donald Trump parody starring Johnny Depp. Having watched somewhere between three and 10 minutes of the movie itself, I can tell you with a vague sort of confidence that it was fine, mostly. Jeb, however, does not seem even remotely impressed—almost as though he’s forgotten what it’s like to feel any joy at all.
Exhibit #2:
An unbuttoned polo with nary an undershirt in sight.
While this is more Jeb than perhaps any of us would want to see, a lackadaisical attitude to buttoning is a definite sign of living your best life. Jeb is no longer required to fulfill the high expectations set by his voter/mother, and he’s letting loose both metaphorically and literally. Good for Jeb.
Exhibit #3:
Three (3) packets of crackers totaling six (6) crackers in all.
If you’ll recall, Jeb Bush had previously ascribed himself to a strict paleo diet in preparation for his run. But now, no presidency means no paleo and all the crackers he can eat (which is to say, six crackers). While Jeb is clearly indulging, six crackers is by no means a binge. He’s having a little fun but still clearly cares enough to keep his cracker habit in check. Another point for happy Jeb.
Verdict:
This is Jeb’s version of spring break Cancun. No sweaters, no highly accomplished big brothers—just a big, open road paved with internet humor videos and crackers.
In losing the presidency, Jeb Bush has finally found his dreams. Go on, Jeb—you’re free.
Ben Carson’s campaign admits he doesn’t have a shot in hell at winning the GOP primary but won’t rule out a literal miracle making it happen.
“Well, we clearly don’t know. We don’t have a well defined path to victory,” Carson campaign chairman Bob Dees told the Washington ExaminerTuesday. “But we think the opportunity still exists for people to wake up and that’s what we’re hoping.”
More interesting than Carson’s abject refusal to quit a race he knows he won’t win are the alleged bribes donors have been throwing his way in an effort to get him out of the race before Super Tuesday.
“That’s been very tangible. It’s been several... two groups of billionaire types of folks that have pressured him,” Dees said. “People that drive super PAC activity and other endeavors and, in fact, there was even discussion of a, well, we can help with the Florida [U.S.] Senate seat if he’ll just agree to do what we’d like you to do or support our guy, drop out, etc.”
Earlier today, Max Linsky, a co-founder of Longform, saw a supposed 20-minute delay at La Guardia turn into something closer to a 45-minute delay. And as he looked out the window, who does he see zipping by but Donald Trump himself. If you’re going to insist on being a fascist, the least you can do is be an efficient fascist.
In speaking with Gawker, Linsky was quick to make clear that the captain didn’t actually offer a reason for the delay, so Trump’s big, potentially line-cutting jet might have had nothing to do with the hold up. On the other hand, it probably did. And regardless of the cause, this holdup doesn’t bode well for our future Dear Leader Trump’s imminent transportation overhaul.
Kristin Cavallari, whose debut book Balancing in Heels hits shelves this actual month of our lives, has a jewelry company. That jewelry company is called—for reasons I never dreamed of knowing 403 days ago—Emerald Duv. What does that mean?
We have already determined, with no help from Kristin or her business partner Chelsea Bulte, the pronunciation of Duv: duhv. But what Duv means, both alone and together with Emerald, has remained a mystery—until today.
Gawker has discovered an interview Chelsea gave two years ago to Malibu Surfside News about the jewelry line. It is titled, “Malibuite launches jewelry line with best friend,” and in it, Chelsea talks about launching Emerald Duv with Kristin, her “best friend.”
Most importantly, Chelsea reveals what Kristin has never dared to explain: the true meaning of Emerald Duv. She put it this way:
We both have babies born in May and wanted to come up with a name that resembled both of us. We used their birthstone—emerald—and doves come in a pair, or twos.
Ahh. So it really is Emerald Dove, but spelled in a fun way, like the names of Kristin’s children.
Did you know that there is actually a bird called the Emerald Dove?
After tonight, unless the Super Tuesday polling is very, very wrong, Donald Trump will have largely finished crushing the rest of the Republican presidential field, and with it the plans of the various organizations and people who are described as making up the Republican party establishment. The Republican establishment will then begin making new plans, plans which involve supporting Donald Trump and trying to help him win the presidency in November.
But for now, the establishment is still trying to figure out how it failed to stop Trump. The party, the New York Timesreported over the weekend, “has been gripped by a nearly incapacitating leadership vacuum and a paralytic sense of indecision and despair” in its efforts to find a way to nominate someone else.
Part of that indecision is that the Republican party is incapable of articulating an anti-Trump line. The parts of the case against Trump that are popular are the parts the party leaders don’t believe in, and the parts that the party leaders believe in are unpopular.
The Times coverage illustrated the latter point quite clearly:
At a recent presentation hosted by the billionaires Charles G. and David H. Koch, the country’s most prolific conservative donors, their political advisers characterized Mr. Trump’s record as utterly unacceptable, and highlighted his support for government-funded business subsidies and government-backed health care, according to people who attended.
For decades now, Republicans leaders have pretended that elite policy goals—cutting and privatizing people’s health and retirement programs—are populist ones, based on the principle that rich people should never have to underwrite anything poor people might need. So Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, the surviving avatars of the party leadership’s interests, ended up arguing in the last debate against Trump’s proposition that people should not die in the street.
Meanwhile, Trump’s appeal to white racial solidarity, which would seem to be the most obviously disgusting and disqualifying fact about him, is simply the basic Republican political strategy made explicit. Mitt Romney can demand that Trump make a show of repudiating the Ku Klux Klan, but Mitt Romney ran a presidential campaign that was almost exclusively supported by white people. To denounce a mobilized white bloc vote is to denounce the party’s only electoral hope.
The other reason that the party couldn’t beat Trump is even deeper between the lines in the Times account. Here’s how the paper described the establishment’s first missed opportunity:
Rivals who attacked him early, like Rick Perry and Bobby Jindal, the former governors of Texas and Louisiana, received little backup and quickly faded.
Did people fail to rally behind Rick Perry and Bobby Jindal because Donald Trump was so fearsome? Or was it maybe because Rick Perry and Bobby Jindal are ridiculous ninnies, who could never come close to convincing anyone to make them president?
Here’s the part that’s missing from all the counterfactual narratives about how someone could have or should have defeated Trump: who?
Who inside the overstuffed elephant piñata was ever going to command real popular support? Jeb Bush couldn’t even win the presidential contest inside his own family. Ben Carson was just trying to scam money out of people. Rubio has never been anything but a moderately talented sixth-grader’s drawing of what an imaginary politician might look like. Ted Cruz is objectively repulsive.
Now, in a panic, the surviving candidates are belatedly trying to attack Trump for being a con artist and a predatory businessman. Trump certainly is those things, but predatory business is a key constituency of the establishment. Cruz tried to abolish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Rubio, before denouncing Trump University, collected thousands of dollars from the now-defunct profiteering Corinthian Colleges.
The party establishment can’t put forward a leader to stop Trump because it doesn’t produce leaders. The guiding Republican message is that the whole concept of government is futile, and it has, by and large, lived up to that. Legislators exist to obstruct basic government functions for a while, then to score real jobs as lobbyists. Governors exist to rubber-stamp bills written for them by the American Legislative Exchange Council.
The only people who know what to do in America are businesspeople—who would have to abandon their businesses and take a huge pay cut to apply their expertise to the public sector. To run for office, that is, you must first have washed out of business.
Meanwhile, the party fought for unlimited campaign spending, so that the first requirement for any establishment-minded candidate is to win over the megadonor class, shuffling past actual piles of dog shit to beg for support. The result was a debate stage full of weaklings, failures, painfully small-time apparatchiks, and the occasional outright nihilist. Haters and losers.
This was the necessary backdrop for the transformation of Donald Trump from a shambling pop-culture punchline to an emergent political Great Man. If Trump was farsighted enough to spot his opportunity, it is not because he is some sort of giant. It’s because he’s standing on a whole pile of tiny, tiny people.
The editorial staff of Gawker Media, which voted to unionize with the Writers Guild of America East last summer, has approved its first union contract. The vote was 88-2.
Ninety of the 99 current members of the bargaining unit cast a vote. The full contract, which will be in effect for three years, can be found here. A number of other digital media organizations are currently negotiating their first union contracts as well.
The editorial employees and management of Gawker Media and the staff of the WGAE all spent very many hours getting here, and we are very thankful it is done.
If your wiper blades are starting to streak, Amazon’s offering a pair of Bosch Insight Blades for just $22 today. All you have to do is pick the two you want and add them to your cart, then you should see the discount at checkout. This deal even allows you to mix and match sizes, so you can almost certainly find a combination that will work for your car. [Two Bosch Insight Wiper Blades, $22]
Note: The discount will only work on blades shipped and sold by Amazon directly. No third party sellers.
We’ve all had to throw away leftovers or cuts of meat and cheese that spent a little too much time in the fridge or freezer, but vacuum sealing your foods can keep them safe from freezer burn pretty much indefinitely, and dramatically extend their shelf life everywhere else.
It sounds like an expensive proposition, but today only, Amazon’s selling this well-reviewed FoodSaver Starter Kit for just $50 (find reviews on the Amazon listing for the black model), complete with everything you need to get started. Of course you can use this to store meats in the freezer for a long time, but it can also keep cheese from molding, lettuce from wilting, or cookies from going stale, just for starters. Think about how much food you throw away, and you’ll get a sense of just how quickly this purchase could pay for itself.
Just note that this is a Gold Box deal, meaning this price will thaw out by the end of the day. [FoodSaver Vacuum Sealing System, $50]
You can’t control these power outlets with your smartphone, or tie them to IFTTT recipes like the Belkin WeMo line, but they sell for a tiny fraction of the cost of their smarter brethren, and can be controlled from across the room via the included remote. It’s only a half-measure towards creating a smart home, to be sure, but they might be worth a look at the price. [3-Pack Etekcity Wireless Remote Control Electrical Outlet Light Switch, $14 with code F9W6X8C7]
You’ve got to admire a product that puts the phrase: “The Ugly Duckling in your cleaning cabinet” right on the top of its packaging. All you have to do is sweep this odd looking blob across your car seats, couches, rugs, or other pieces of fabric, and all of that accumulated pet hair will come right off. Reviewers say it really works, and today’s price is one of the lowest Amazon’s listed in the past year. [Fur-Zoff Pet Hair Remover, $10]
A lot of laptops these days trade extra USB ports and ethernet jacks for thin, minimal designs, and for the most part, that’s a good thing. However, for those times where you need some extra connectivity, these hubs could sure come in handy.
Life’s too short to vacuum every other day, but luckily, you can pawn that tedious chore off to your very own robot, and one of the best are on sale today.
The iRobot Roomba 770 is designed for pet owners and allergy sufferers, and can even detect the dirtiest areas of your floor to give them extra attention. Just schedule your cleanings, and let it work; it can even dock itself to charge once it’s finished. Today’s $100 discount is within $25 of an all-time low price, making this a great tax refund splurge. [iRobot Roomba 770 Vacuum Cleaning Robot for Pets and Allergies, $400]
Yesterday, Amazon posted a solid Gold Box deal on a NordicTrack treadmill, but if you’re more of an elliptical person, today’s your lucky day. This price is $130 less than its previous all-time low, but it’s only available until the end of the day. [NordicTrack E 7.0 Z Elliptical Trainer, $570]
Our readers love these survival paracord bracelets, and we’ve got deals on two different options today, including one that includes a compass, flint, and fishing gear. Yes, fishing gear...built into a bracelet.
Nick Hall can’t remember who he is, but a number of people seem desperate to kill him. Soon Hall learns that advanced electronics have been implanted in his brain, allowing him to surf the web with his thoughts and read minds. But who inserted the implants? And why? And why has he been marked for death?
As Hall races to find answers, he comes to learn that far more is at stake than just his life. Because his actions can either catapult civilization to new heights—or bring about its total collapse.
You know what they say: Once you go vacuum insulated stainless steel, you never go back. This 24 ounce Thermos can keep beverages cold for up to 18 hours, and having used similar bottles in the past, I can tell you that’s not an outrageous claim. At $20, this model has never been cheaper. [24 Ounce Thermos Vacuum Insulated Stainless Steel Bottle, $20]
Note: Just be sure you see the gift card in your cart before checking out.
In the race to make bigger, thinner, more metallic phones, manufacturers have left ergonomics in the dust. Luckily, this $6 rotating Spigen ring makes them easier to grip, and even doubles as a kick stand and car mount.
Admittedly, I thought this looked dumb when I first saw it, but it actually does seem like a unique solution to a real problem. Plus, the ring attaches with a removable adhesive pad that doesn’t leave any residue, so even if you try it and hate it, the only thing you have to lose is $6. [Spigen Phone Grip Ring, $6 with code 3VUMW6RR]
Sometimes, a deal comes along that’s so silly, you just have to post it. Designed for hardcore FPS players, this light-up suction cup sticks to the center of your TV or monitor, and creates an always-on red dot sight so you can aim more accurately from the hip. Like I said, it’s ridiculous, but it actually has pretty great reviews. [Airdrop Gaming HipShotDot, $10]
Mpow’s Swift Bluetooth headphones dominated 2015, and the company’s ergonomic Cheetah line looks like a great sequel. Note that this is actually the second generation of Cheetah earbuds; Mpow claims to have improved their water resistance this time around, making them perfect for exercise. [Mpow Cheetah 2.0 Bluetooth Headphones, $25 with code CLKIPUQK]
If you still haven’t picked up a 2DS or 3DS, you can join Nintendo’s surprisingly robust ecosystem for just $80 today, complete with a game. And yes, this will work out of the box with the newly released Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow eShop downloads.
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Bipartisanship, baby! Congress finally found something to agree on this Super Tuesday—how slippery the FBI’s stance on encryption is.
At a House Judiciary hearing on Capitol Hill, representatives grilled FBI Director James Comey and Apple’s lawyers over their ongoing battle. The key to the dispute is whether the FBI can compel Apple to create software that would unlock a terrorism suspect’s iPhone.
Most Democrats and Republicans asked Comey pointed questions. (A few complimented the FBI director on his candor, a sad reflection of how conditioned House members are to getting stonewalled by intelligence officials.)
Comey’s prepared testimony rehashed an argument he has trotted out before: Encryption is a cloak for evildoers that lets criminals “go dark” and escape law enforcement. As we’ve said before, this argument simplifies a complex issue into an inaccurate Bad Guys vs. Good Guys situation. The stale prepared statement was nothing compared to how Comey responded to the barrage of questions. Here are some of the lowlights from the three-hour session:
Remember that important court ruling in favor of Apple yesterday, where a judge denied that the government can use All Writs to force Apple to unlock an iPhone? According to Comey, he didn’t bother to read it before testifying about this case...where the government is attempting to use All Writs to force Apple to assist in unlocking an iPhone. His avoidance of such an obviously important court ruling is willful blindness.
Comey said the iCloud’s security has never bothered him, and that the iCloud isn’t encrypted. This is curious because the iCloud isencrypted. It was also the location of a notorious Apple security breach, which a member of Congress pointed this out. A member of Congress said “Fappening” and it was upsetting. But let’s move on, because...
Comey posed a hypothetical to illustrate that the custom software probably did already exist, at least in the brains of Apple employees: What if Apple engineers got kidnapped and forced to write the backdoor?
When asked how many other agencies the FBI had asked for help, Comey said that people who “watch too much TV” exaggerate the technical capabilities of government agencies. He did directly respond to a question about whether the NSA helped. His answer: No, the NSA couldn’t do it.
As The Intercept’s Jenna Maclaughin pointed out, that means Comey is either lying on record or the NSA really couldn’t do it. Maybe I watch too much TV, but I’m guessing it’s the first one.
Comey said that the FBI could not mirror the phone in question. Why? “For reasons I don’t completely understand,” he said.
When asked repeatedly if he believes that Congress should make privacy decisions rather than the courts, Comey wouldn’t give a straight answer.
Later, Comey said, “Some people have said, when you’re in a terrorism investigation, why didn’t you come to Congress? I said, ‘Well, we’re in the middle of a terrorism investigation.’”
Once again, Comey insisted the main problem was that smart people weren’t thinking hard enough about solving this problem. “I don’t believe the most creative people in this country has been given the incentive to solve this problem,” he said.
Comey said that there was no safe, basement, or other locked-up place in America that was inaccessible to law enforcement before the advent of the iPhone. For that claim to be true, it would mean that law enforcement can crack any code created before 2007, even hand-written code.
When asked if he’d considered the implications of Chinese encryption policy before pursuing the court order, Comey said “no.” Which means, again, he’s either lying in front of Congress, or he’s willfully ignorant.
Members of Congress thanked Comey for furthering dialog at the end of the session, but the only thing the FBI Director cleared up is how flexible his relationship with truth is. The only time he spoke an unambiguous truth was when he said that Apple is a company with a responsibility to its investors, and that it is motivated to maximize profit.
Comey compared Apple’s security measures to a “vicious guard dog.” It’s a bizarre metaphor, but here’s a match: The FBI sent a clown to Congress today, spewing silliness to distract from the agency’s objective to expand its surveillance powers.
Marco Rubio is almost certainly not going to come out of Super Tuesday a winner. This isn’t really in dispute, even by the people who work for him, who today explained to their most important funders that the Rubio campaign isn’t planning on winning any Super Tuesday states, or maybe even any states at all, ever.
Politco’s Anna Palmer has the story about meetings held by “top campaign advisor” Terry Sullivan in Washington today for “roughly 40 bundlers and K Streeters.” In those meetings, per Palmer, Sullivan showed a Powerpoint presentation to the GOP moneymen describing in exact detail how and why Marco Rubio is unlikely to rack up a significant number of delegates for a good long while. Palmer reports that Sullivan claimed Rubio may win roughly 100 of the 595 delegates available tonight, an estimation that the campaign is revealing on purpose:
Several sources familiar with the meeting described it as an exercise in lowering expectations for how well Rubio needs to do in order to stay in the race for the White House.
“The pressure is going to be so great in April and May, and they feel like they are committed to working in the trenches,” said one Rubio bundler who attended the meeting.
The math isn’t going to be on Marco Rubio’s side tonight, so the best his campaign can do is set the bar so low that the campaign can’t help but step over it in their inexorable march forward. This was a strategy most recently employed by John Kasich in South Carolina, who joked that his campaign was expecting “maybe two or three votes” there. Haha!
Rubio has been making this spin happen publicly. On Good Morning America after the Nevada caucus he said that candidates don’t even “have to start winning states” until March 15, which coincidentally, is when his home state of Florida will go to the polls.
A skeptic may point out that Donald Trump is currently up something like 15 or 20 points in Florida. According to Palmer, Sullivan told his audiences this morning that Rubio will win Florida after he secures the endorsement of Jeb Bush, who is a person nobody likes. But even so, it still may not matter, as the Rubio campaign seems to be betting on the Republican party splintering away from Trump during a chaotic brokered convention in which Rubio, a zero-time winner, somehow emerges from the rubble with the American flag in hand.
An anonymous source who spoke to Palmer all but confirmed that strategy, even if he or she didn’t sound all that convinced.
“It was a presentation that defied reality,” said one Rubio backer. “They said their convention strategy was not contingent on winning any states... Even if you go to the [second ballot] why would anyone say Marco Rubio is the guy to give it to?”
