I don’t mean “Donald Trump” crazy, or “Rand Paul” crazy. Between his tweets, public statements, and website, he is “I’m wearing pants made out of snakes, I am Son of God” crazy. According to the Texas Tribune, the state GOP is “apoplectic” over Morrow’s ascent to chairman, in spite of his long record of completely batshittedness. He seems to spend most of his time being angry about the existence of the Clinton family (indeed, he co-authored a book titled “The Clintons’ War on Women” with another recent crazy person in the news, Roger Stone).
He is InfoWars meets Weird Twitter:
He is obsessed with outlandish, fringe theories about gay politicians:
His Twitter bio reads: “Google Jeb Bush Murder of CIA Drug Smuggler Barry Seal 1986 and you will learn a lot about Jeb Bush & Oliver North.” That’s the entire bio. I did google it, and the results are just his tweets. He runs a blog on the subject, however, which I also checked out. It’s described thusly:
This blog is about how the Bushes and Oliver North murdered CIA drug smuggler Barry Seal in 1986 in order to keep a lid on Iran-Contra and government’s and Bush family participation in CIA drug smuggling to support the Nicaraguan contras (and no doubt to skim some off the top for themselves). Read two books “Barry and the Boys” by Daniel Hopsicker and “Compromised: Clinton, Bush and the CIA” by Terry Reed and you will never look at modern American politics in the same way again.
Here’s Morrow explaining a theory about Rick Perry being bisexual, or something:
Robert Morrow is an avid Facebook user:
Robert Morrow enjoys sharing content with his Facebook followers from groups such as “I Really Love Boobs”:
Ted Cruz and Ben Carson over Donald Trump. Donald Trump has actually said that a lone nut Oswald killed JFK, which tells me he is too stupid to be president.
Robert Morrow’s second in command in Travis County told the Tribune that “he is a total disaster” and that “I will not rest until we remove him as chairman.” Morrow’s response: “Tell them they can go fuck themselves.”
Over 25,000 Texans voted for Robert Morrow. He could not be reached for the purposes of this post.
Contact the author at biddle@gawker.com. Public PGP key PGP fingerprint: PGP fingerprint: E93A 40D1 FA38 4B2B 1477 C855 3DEA F030 F340 E2C7
DA Cyrus Vance announced in a press release yesterday that cops in Manhattan will no longer make arrests for low-level infractions including public drinking and urination, and that his office will no longer prosecute anyone who is arrested for those offenses. The release was billed as a joint effort between Vance, Mayor Bill de Blasio, and NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton, and each of the latter men gave prepared statements. As the Observer notes, no press conference was given, and none of the men have spoken publicly about the initiative besides in the press release.
The borough-specific nature of the change is unusual, and the timing is conspicuous. The mayor, commissioner, and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito all support legislation that would accomplish many of the same changes city-wide, which was announced in January. But it’s not the first time this sort of thing has happened: Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson vowed to stop prosecuting small pot arrests back in 2014.
Ultimately, Vance’s changes are good—it’s completely silly to give someone a criminal record for taking up too many subway seats, another one of the infractions that will be downgraded, for instance. Anything that keeps ordinary, non-dangerous people out of jail is good.
But it’s not quite time to start pissing your heart out. For one thing, you’ll still get a court summons for it if a cop catches you. Also, if you have an open warrant, you’ll be taken to court immediately to deal with your open warrant under the new rules. Finally, if an officer decides that you pose a risk to public safety while committing a low-level infraction like wizzing, he can still arrest you. The DA may throw out the charges, but the arrest could still happen. Really, can’t you just wait until you get home? Your neighbors will thank you.
Thunder part-owner and former Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon died in a car crash this morning in Oklahoma City, a day after being indicted on charges that could have put him in prison for decades.
News9 reported that a crew was attending to a one-vehicle crash on Midwest Blvd at around 9 a.m. local time. Oklahoma City police confirmed the 56-year-old McClendon as the victim.
On Tuesday, the Justice Department announced that McClendon had been charged by a federal grand jury with rigging bids between two oil and gas companies and violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. Each charge had a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison or a fine of $1 million.
Donald Trump, a tremendously classy and successful scrotum given the power of human speech by a high-energy successful warlock, is, of course, running for CEO of America. Last night he edged a little closer to that office. To get to all the places he needs to be a winner in, he needs to travel fast, through the skies. The best way to do that is with this gold-slathered Boeing 757.
Thrill to this virtual walk-through of Trump Force I, a 1991 Boeing 757 that started life with Sterling Airlines, a defunct Danish cut-rate airline.
Trump bought it in 2011, and spent considerable money gutting it and then classing the everliving shit out of the inside. And, yeah, this video is about five years old, but this is still Trump’s plane, so we may as well check it out now in order to prepare for his inevitable takeover of the country.
Just watch that video. It’s like he gave a huge pile of gold a roofie and then let it vomit all over the plane. Almost everything metallic has been covered in 24K gold, even the seat belt buckles – the part that goes inside the slot, too, because you want to know that thing is gold, even if you can’t see it. What are you, an animal?
There’s a dining room, where the remaining warehouses of Trump Steaks™ are thawed and fed by the stackful to Trump and his lucky guests, forced elegantly into supple, tanned mouths fistful by bloody, moist fistful.
There’s a full screening room, of course, which the lovely Amanda Miller, who looks kind of like whatshisname’s daughter from Girls, likes to eat tiny pretzel grids and watch, gleefully, movies about gunfire and explosions:
Also fascinating is that the plane’s infotainment system includes a “special T button” that gives “God access” to Trump’s own home and his own collection of movies:
It’s good to know that the future King President can relax and watch Air Bud and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad whenever absolutely necessary.
There’s so much to learn here! Mr.Trumps bedroom has “yards and yards” of elegant silks and a gold-plated sink and is packed full of all of the riches and spices of Araby, or something. There’s probably mirrh and frankincense insulation behind those wooden walls, and real Kraken’s beak inlays on every flat surface.
Why is Donald Trump trying to be president? Doesn’t he realize what a miserable downgrade Air Force One will be? Or that hardly anything is gold-slathered on there? No wonder America has basically vanished from the Earth; we need to gold-plate everything until things start making sense again.
Anyway, now you know where Donald Trump lounges, in the finest Nova Scotia salmon-lined silken underpants, as he tries to remember who klansmen are.
When I was a senior in high school, I was too young to vote, but definitely old enough to be one of those unbearable people who insist they’re totally moving to Canada if [X politician] wins. I routinely threatened my parents that I’d move to Canada if George W. Bush was reelected.
Reader, I moved to Canada.
Now, a decade later, many Americans apparently seek to imitate my flight. Online searches for “How to move to Canada” spiked after Trump’s Super Tuesday victory, probably because a sizable portion of the US population is averse to living in a nightmare dystopia ruled by a capricious winter squash.
If you’re one of those people searching, here’s a lil sliver of hope: It can be done. But it’s a pricy pain in the ass, and their Netflix sucks.
Have Canadian Family Already
There are a number of different ways you can move to the Drake country. If you have Canadian family members, you can ask them to sponsor your visa. This is the best way, partly because you don’t have to do much, partly because Canadian family members always know the ~authentic~ poutine joints, and they love to drink full-bodied ales while hollering “gimme your toque.”
“Toque” is Canadian for “hat.” You need to know these things.
Do A Job Canada Likes (Oil?)
You could be eligible for a work visa—but that’s entirely dependent on what skill set you have, and how far along you are in your career. I lived in three different provinces in Canada for a total of seven years and I never met anyone who got in this way. I think it helps if you’re an expert in oil? Just like in the US, most jobs in Canada can only go to skilled foreign workers if they are more qualified than domestic candidates, so this can be a very challenging route, especially if you want to live in a city and not the Yukon.
Be a Refugee (You Are Not a Refugee)
You could try to claim political refugee status but don’t fucking do that. Dealing with an orange reality star with baby thumbs as president is not the same as living in Syria. The nice people of Immigration Canada (hi, thanks guys) don’t deserve to shred your stupid protest gesture.
Go Back to School
The easiest way to move to Canada for many young people is to enroll in one of its universities. This requires getting accepted to a Canadian school, so bad news: You’re probably too late to apply for fall 2016. Sorry. (“Sorry”—live it, learn it, love it.)
If you move to Québec, you also have to get a separate Québec visa, because the unofficial motto of Québec is “fuck all English speakers.”
Getting a student visa is not the same as becoming a Canadian permanent resident. You can extend the visa upon graduation, but you’ll need to find a job in order to keep it. I, personally, did not find a job in Canada after graduating with a degree in English Literature, and so I was kindly asked to leave.
Trick a Canadian Into Falling in Love With You
BUT! I wriggled my way back in, through another route you can explore: Convincing a Canadian to fall in love with you, marry you, and sponsor your visa. It helps to want to fuck people wearing flannel. People with spousal visas get to be permanent residents, which means you can work (but not vote).
I wish I had helpful advice for wooing Canadians but I don’t. My method was getting really drunk and making out with lots of them until I found one I liked, but the risks of alcohol poisoning and prolonged exposure to really boring conversations about the Habs are too great to recommend that to others.
Once you have ensnared a Canadian, you can’t just casually flash your marriage license and expect to be welcomed as a full-time Canadian. It took 15 months of filling out forms and convincing Immigration Canada I was in a real relationship after we got married for them to give me the status card that let me work in Canada. I was only able to afford to live during that hellish interlude because I had a job working remotely for a US company. This process is not cheap. The fees alone are usually around a thousand dollars. Hiring an immigration lawyer speeds up the process slightly, but it adds thousands more.
This route doesn’t make sense unless you have money saved up, or your US-based job will let you work remotely until you can legally work in Canada. The good news is that the Canadian dollar is trash right now, so your money will last.
Be Really Rich (Obviously)
If you have $10 million CDN (around 7.4 million USD), you can apply for an Immigrant Investor visa. But if you have that much money, here’s a thought: Move someplace warm!
Canada is a good country. The people are wry and kind. They like ice sports too much, but they’re fun. Their Prime Minister is sexy in a Justin Long kinda way. But even though Canada has a reputation for politeness and inclusiveness, it’s still a nation with fairly strict immigration policies, and moving there to protest a presidential election is a serious undertaking.
Proof that miracles can touch just about anyone: Chris Christie, already a deeply unlikeable politician, managed to noticeably drop in popularity this week, and do you have any idea why?
Former Laguna Beach star Kristin Cavallari will soon be a published author, but today, she officially became a blogger. Momtastic.com—a blog about fantastic moms—published a listicle by Kristin titled, “8 Lessons I Want My Kids to Learn Before They’re Teens.”
If you’re attending the very trendy youth-oriented music conference South by Southwest this month, you might consider stopping by to watch an up-and-coming alt-country musician named Joe Scarborough sling a few songs at the Moody Theater. Joe has written over 400 songs, composed a musical, and loves “Graham Parsons & The His Idols,” according to his own biography.
Joe Scarborough has been a teacher, football coach, congressman, lawyer, news host, best-selling author and just about everything else he’s dreamed of doing. But the Morning Joe host’s first love has always been music. The composer of over 400 songs and a musical, Joe has spent the past year recording his latest songs with styles that echo Beck, Graham Parsons & The His Idols, The Beatles. But 30 years and hundreds of songs later, the sound is distinctly “Joe.”
I’m having a little bit of trouble parsing the part I’ve bolded. First of all, “Graham Parsons” is not a musician, but rather an assistant professor in the philosophy department at West Point. Scarborough may have meant Gram Parsons. Second of all, we have “Graham Parsons & The His Idols, The Beatles,” which I can only assume happened because this thing was dictated into Siri. (Joe Scarborough & His Idols would make a pretty cool Link Wray-style band name, though.)
Finally, “Joe Scarborough has been a teacher, football coach, congressman, lawyer, news host, best-selling author and just about everything else he’s dreamed of doing.” Dreamed of doing, not dreamed of being. One way to interpret that sentence is that Joe Scarborough has done just about everything he has ever dreamed of doing, a list which includes but is not limited to being a teacher, a football coach, a congressman, etc. Another way to interpret it is that sure, Joe Scarborough has been a best-selling author, but what he’s really dreamed about is doing a best-selling author.
If you’re wondering whether perhaps the errors are on SXSW’s end, not Scarborough’s, notice that they also appear in the above image macro, which was taken directly from his personal website. If you’re going to write a ridiculous, self-fellating bio, at least get your ridiculous, self-fellating bio right.
If you have any information about Joe Scarborough’s musical, please email me.
The 20% coupon is valid on dozens of different Vega items, and will stack with any existing discounts you see on the product pages. Just add your selections to your cart, and you’ll see the final price at checkout. [20% off Vega Protein Products]
Vega has a great calorie-to-protein ratio, but the best thing about their shakes is that they aren’t just about protein. Vega’s shakes typically contain six grams of fiber, 3 servings of vegetables, and good amounts of Omega-3, probiotics, vitamins, and illusive potassium. It’s like a protein shake, a multivitamin, and a bunch of bonuses all in one convenient package.
If you want to stop paying your cable company $100/month for channels you don’t watch, it might be time to cut the cord. Between services like Netflix, Hulu+, Sling TV, and HBO Now, it’s easier than ever to declare cable independence, but a good antenna is still a critical piece of equipment for picking up your local broadcast stations.
For a limited time, Amazon will give you a $25 account credit when you spend $50 on eligible “luxury” beauty and grooming supplies. Included items run the spectrum from shaving gear to lotions to makeup, and that’s just for starters, so chances are, you won’t have any trouble filling your cart. Just be sure to use promo code LUX25BACK at checkout to get the account credit. [$25 Amazon account credit with $50 luxury grooming purchase]
Great espresso requires significant investments of time, money, and effort, as well as the willingness to buy fresh beans and the scheduling to use them quickly. We’ll have a guide on that soon, but if you know it’s not gonna happen for you, keep reading.
The Nespresso Pixie has the smallest footprint of the Nespresso line, and is arguably the most attractive. It uses 19 bars of pressure to push water through the coffee (15 is the standard minimum for great espresso), it all happens with the press of one button, and requires essentially no cleanup. Nespresso has a growing selection of coffee varieties to choose from, and third-party coffee roasters have gotten into the mix as well. Today’s $140 deal is one of the best prices we’ve seen, and a great excuse to join the Nespresso ecosystem. [Nespresso Pixie, $140]
Today only, if you buy a Best Buy gift card from eBay for face value, you can get a 10% bonus back in the form of an eBay gift card. It’s tough to argue with that.
There are plenty of airtight food storage containers out there, but even once you seal them, there’s still air trapped inside that can cause the food to go bad over time. Not so with this FoodSaver system, discounted to $16 today.
The major caveat here is that you’ll need to own a FoodSaver vacuum sealer for the canisters to do any good. Once you have one though, just connect the accessory hose to the canister lids, and suck out all the air from within, leaving behind a truly vacuum-sealed environment for your food. [FoodSaver 3-Piece Container Set, $16]
You only really reap the benefits of Qi wireless charging if you scatter the pads all around your home and office for quick charging sessions throughout the day. Luckily, at $10 each, you can now afford to do just that. [Qi Wireless Charging Pad, $10 with code F53C8RAU]
Update: It looks like this code can only be used once per account. If you really want to stock up, you could create new Amazon accounts and sign up for free Prime trials, though that might not be worth the trouble. Sorry!
Electric lawnmowers are quieter and greener than gas-powered alternatives, and if you’re sick of pulling on that starter rope in vain, this corded 21" GreenWorks alternative might be just what you need.
The fact that you’ll need an extension cord is a bit of a bummer, but $140 is an all-time low, and you’d be looking at around $200 more for a similarly sized, battery-operated alternative. [GreenWorks 21" Cordless Lawnmower With Battery, $140]
Winter might be winding down, but you can get ready for the next big snowfall, whenever that might be, with great deals on Snow Joe snow throwers. Prices start at just $120, but note that this is a Gold Box deal, so be sure to grab yours before the deal melts away. [Snow Joe Gold Box]
We’ve seen a handful of sub-$20 Bluetooth speakers, but not many of them can join you in the shower. The Omaker M4 can do just that thanks to its IP54-rated splash resistance, and still deliver up to 12 hours of playtime on a single charge. That’s perfect if you like to sing in the shower, or just need to catch up on your podcast queue. [Omaker M4 Water Resistant Bluetooth 4.0 Speaker, $19 with code GIF8OLWT]
Sewing is one of those things everyone should at least try to learn, and this highly rated Brother sewing machine is marked down to just $75 today as part of a Gold Box deal.
The Brother XM2701 includes 27 built in stitches, a fully automatic buttonhole mode, and typically sells for around $100. Unfortunately, there’s nothing that can be done about the paisley faceplate. Today’s price is the lowest Amazon’s ever posted, so be sure to grab yours before this deal bursts at the seams. [Brother XM2701 Sewing Machine, $75]
So what’s $11 get you? More than you might expect:
Customized Gaming: Program up to 3 customized user settings and easily shift between 800/1600/2400 DPI with quick reach ‘+’ and ‘-’ buttons. Includes red, blue, and green backlight to indicate current DPI setting. Sift between games and styles seamlessly
Ergonomic Design: Designed to fit comfortably for gamers with both fingertip and claw style grip. 2 x 30g built-in weights included for improved resistance. Includes rubberized grip to avoid slip
Responsive Click: Omron micro switches ensuring responsive feedback and speed with firm and crisp clicks. Ideal for jitter clicking gamers. Includes customizable forward and back buttons
Smooth Movement: Adjustable 125 - 1000Hz polling rate, FPS 4500, guarantees smoother movements with accuracy. Includes additional anti-skid pads to enhance glide for user needs
If you own an old 3DS, 3DS XL, or 2DS without built-in NFC, but still want to use your amiibo collection to unlock in-game secrets, this $15 wireless pad is all you need. [Nintendo NFC Reader/Writer, $15]
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.
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]
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On Sunday, an off-duty rookie NYPD officer named Vincent Harrison was killed by a hit-and-run driver on the New Jersey Turnpike. According to a local news report, Harrison told another driver “I can kill you right now” in a bizarre scene moments before his death.
Before the fatal crash, Harrison got into a minor accident with another driver, which prompted him to exit his car and speak with her. Initial reports noted that he had drawn his gun drawn as he approached the other driver’s car, but the nature of the conversation was not immediately clear. At some point as Harrison stood on or near the roadway, a third driver named William Espinal-Mejia allegedly struck him with his Infiniti and kept driving. Harrison died on the scene.
Citing “authorities” and other unnamed sources, ABC 7 is now reporting that Harrison threatened the second driver before he was hit.
Authorities say Harrison had rear ended a vehicle driven by a 26-year-old Rahway woman who was traveling southbound in the Turnpike’s right center lane. Harrison got out of his vehicle and walked up to the other car, occupied by the woman in the driver’s seat and her 2-year-old son in the back.
The two reportedly got into a verbal dispute, and sources say Harrison pulled his service weapon and pointed it at the woman, who was remained seated in her car. He allegedly yelled words to the effect of, “You don’t know who I am” and “I can kill you right now” numerous times.
As Harrison backed away from the woman, he stepped into the Turnpike traffic lanes and was struck by a passing vehicle.
William Espinal-Mejia, the alleged hit-and-run driver, is being charged with second-degree leaving the scene of a fatal accident, the New York Daily News reports. His bail is $100,000.
If Donald Trump Jr. had known that the radio host he was speaking to was pro-slavery, Bloomberg Politics reports, he would not have consented to the interview: “This is clearly the mainstream media trying to turn a story into nothing,” he said. Pardon?
The interview, recorded at a campaign event in Tennessee and to be aired this weekend, was conducted with the white supremacist James Edwards, who has said that “slavery is the greatest thing that ever happened to” black Americans and that “interracial sex is white genocide.” Edwards has received media credentials from the Trump campaign.
The media, the younger Trump said, has unfairly scrutinized his error, “much like they did with my father, who I witnessed denouncing David Duke and any KKK endorsement on multiple occasions.”
According to Bloomberg, Donald Jr. said the interview “was not vetted.” He called 35 different stations to speak about his father’s campaign, one host asked him to call another, and that person was Edwards. “Had I known? I would have obviously never done an interview with him.”
(Strangely, however, Hicks went on to deny that Trump Jr. spoke to Edwards at all: “Donald Trump Jr. was not in attendance and although he served as a surrogate for his father on several radio programs over the past week, to his knowledge and that of the campaign, did not participate in an interview with this individual.”)
For his part, Edwards wrote in a blog post Wednesday that his show, The Political Cesspool, “promotes a proud, paleoconservative Christian worldview, and we reject media descriptions of our work as ‘white supremacist,’ ‘pro-slavery’ and other such scare words.”
“The grotesque way in which the media is purposefully misrepresenting my work by taking certain cherry-picked statements wildly out of context is both shameful and reprehensible. That said, I apologize for nothing and I retract nothing.”
On MSNBC this morning, feminist ally and New York City mayor Bill de Blasio said that he doesn’t think Hillary Clinton needs to release the transcripts of her speeches to Goldman Sachs. “I don’t care about those speeches. I care about what’s in her platform,” he said.
In 2010, as public advocate, de Blasio convinced Goldman Sachs to change its political contribution policy to prohibit itself from taking advantage of the Citizens United ruling. The next year, de Blasio spoke at Zuccotti Park, urging then-mayor Michael Bloomberg not to interfere with the Occupy Wall Street protestors living there. He heralded the “heartfelt movement that’s speaking to what people are feeling all over this country.”
In a separate press conference that same month, however, he was more reserved. “I think it’s too amorphous now,” he told reporters. “I hope it will take more of a meaningful shape.” He continued, “My concern is that it’s not particularly organized, there’s not a particularly clear set of demands, and I hope for the benefit of the public debate that that will happen.”
Two years later, an unanticipated surge of populist, progressive sentiment, adroitly manipulated by liberal PR firm Berlin Rosen, bore de Blasio past Mayor Bloomberg’s heir apparent, Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and into City Hill. (In the course of his campaign, according to contribution records, de Blasio received nearly $12,500 from employees of Goldman Sachs.)
De Blasio, who managed Hillary Clinton’s successful 2000 senate campaign, has been wandering in the wilderness of late, after taking too long to endorse his old boss’s presidential bid. However, he seems now to be working his way back into her good graces.
“Her platform would reign in Wall Street excesses, more even than Bernie Sanders would,” de Blasio said Wednesday. “A lot of progressives have said that.”
ABC 7 NY obtained video of the escaped horse being taken back into custody
On Wednesday, a Facebook user posted a photograph of three police horses (with their riders) with the caption, “Excitement in Times Square, just called 911, as a beautiful police horse galloped past us on W. 48th St. and headed in wrong direction South on 6th Avenue!”
“Down block found policeman jockey hit by taxi....he was standing w bloody nose but OMG where is that horse now?!”
The fact that there don’t seem to be any photographs yet of this purported incident is suspicious, and intermittent glances at a variety of live video feeds from Times Square do not show an escaped horse, much less the attendant panic that it would induce in a crowd.
Called for comment, the NYPD requested that Gawker resubmit questions about the purported escape via email. We’ll update if they reply.
Update – 10:03 pm
ABC 7 NY has confirmed that a police horse named “Gunny” got loose in Times Square around 7:25pm on Wednesday:
Police rushed in to Times Square Wednesday night to search for Gunny after he bucked his mounted unit officer, maybe after being hit by a car.
The officer was dragged a bit, but was eventually able to get free from horse.
Gunny did do some minor damage to three cars, but he wasn’t out of control. He knew exactly where he was going.
He galloped straight over to the parking garage on W. 47th street, where the mounted unit hangs out when they’re on break, and sauntered right up to his best friend.
The officer was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries, and a police investigation is ongoing.
A representative for the ownership group of the Marriott Nashville at Vanderbilt admitted that the Erin Andrews peephole video at the center of her lawsuit was played at his dinner table Tuesday night, but denied being the one who played it.
When asked about it today, Peskind said that the claim of him showing the video was “incorrect”:
Later, Peskind said in a statement that his friends played the video, and he asked them to stop. Via WSMV:
I was at a private dinner meeting with friends. They brought up the allegations and they started viewing the video. I asked them to stop, and while they did so, it was not as quickly as I had hoped. This incident has been blown into something it was not. I would never disrespect Ms. Andrews and what she has been through. This is a very unfortunate situation that should not be a reflection on West End Hotel Partners or to our commitment to the issues in this case surrounding what happened to her. I sincerely apologize for my participation in what happened.
On Monday, Peskind testified that his ownership group should not be liable for the Marriott giving out Andrews’s room number and putting her stalker in an adjacent room because the hotel employees were hired by an independent contractor.
White police Chief David King, 58, and Officer Blake Scheff, 26. Credit: Bartow County Sheriff’s Office/AJC
A police chief and an officer in White, Georgia, were arrested and charged Wednesday with false imprisonment, extortion, and violating oaths of public office. Police Chief David King and Officer Blake Scheff were accused of arresting people on fabricated charges and then reducing those charges to collect fines.
The allegations stem from an investigation into the policemen’s activities between December 2011 and April 2015, Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman Greg Ramsey said. From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Brittny Brown was arrested March 31, 2012, in Bartow County on a charge of felony deposit account fraud, a crime that she did not commit, Ramey said. She was told about three months earlier to accept a disorderly conduct citation and pay a $1,000 fine for the crime. If she complied, authorities wouldn’t pursue felony state charges, according to a list of charges for King and Scheff.
About three years later, the family of Lois Kitchens was allegedly told the same thing. Though she was arrested in Bartow County on a charge of committing cruelty to children in the first degree, Kitchens did not commit, Ramey said.
According to the Associated Press, the FBI and GBI executed search warrants at the White Police Department and White City Hall in January. King and Scheff are being held at county jail.
“We have no plans to get involved in the primary,” James Davis, a spokesman for Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, the central financial node in the Koch brother’s dark money network, said, responding to speculation that the Kochs would embark upon a “Trump Intervention.” From Reuters:
He would not elaborate on what the brothers’ strategy would be for the Nov. 8 election to succeed Democratic President Barack Obama.
Three sources close to the Kochs said the brothers made the decision because they were concerned that spending millions of dollars attacking Trump would be money wasted, since they had not yet seen any attack on Trump stick.
The Koch brothers are also smarting from the millions of dollars they pumped into the failed 2012 Republican presidential bids of Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, the sources said.
In 2013 and 2014, according to tax filings, Freedom Partners cumulatively raised $162 million and dispersed $106 million, largely in the form of grants to fund things like the development of an intelligence operation tasked with monitoring the Left. (Freedom Partners and the majority of its grantees are not required to disclose their donors’ names.)
Pundits have speculated with increasing fervor whether the Kochs would deploy their network’s ample resources against the Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump, who they consider threatening to their agenda. They even seemed to have begun to do so: One Koch-affiliated group, the American Future Fund, announced in late February that it would begin running critical ads on the alleged Trump University scam.
However, after Trump nearly swept Super Tuesday (and Rubio got nearly blown out), it seems that the Kochs are just going to cut their losses. Spending big against the real estate developer from Queens would only alienate him further and play into his message of being an outsider against whom the establishment has arrayed itself. More to the point though, the Kochs choosing not to actively oppose Trump likely sounds the Rubio campaign’s death knell.
Joe says he takes the drug daily and doesn’t “disco dose,” which means he doesn’t to take the drug only intermittently, timing with potential sex. (The method has shown a high rate of efficacy, though not as high a rate as daily use.) “I don’t believe in disco dosing because I think it’s better to maintain the same level of medication in the bloodstream,” says Joe.
Joe, who identifies as “mostly a bottom,” also reports that he went from using condoms “off and on” before starting PrEP in early 2013, and then abandoned condoms entirely while on PrEP. “I was such as big proponent of PrEP that if I was chatting with someone on a hookup site who wanted to use condoms, it was a deal-breaker for me,” says Joe. “I was having sex to enjoy it. And if I was wearing a condom or the other person was wearing a condom, I wouldn’t enjoy it.”
Regarding how PrEP changed his outlook on sex, Joe says:
I became more sexually liberated. It took away the fear. I mean, that’s really one of the reasons why people behave themselves [sexually]. It’s not because of morals or religion or society; it’s just the fear of getting sick—especially the fear of HIV. But once you’re on PrEP you’re more comfortable. You feel safer.
Thanks to the blood tests he was given that were able to point to the relative time of HIV transmission, Joe says that he knows the guy he contracted it from:
He’s in a relationship and “discreet.” We met on bbrt [a bareback community], and he says he’s negative. I prefer to be with people who are positive and know it and are on meds—I’m on PrEP, you’re undetectable, the chances of transmission are like negative 10 percent—but I broke my rule with this guy. So it was with him, I think—it was a bit of a busy period. I reached out to him and he says, “Well, I’m not worried, I’m OK. But I’ll go see a doctor.” And I checked in with him again: “Have you gone? What are the results?” “Oh I’m really busy and haven’t had a chance.” I checked in again. “Oh, I’m out of town on work.” Checked again, and he stopped replying to me. To be honest, I gave up. I don’t need to be vindicated or have him say I’m sorry or whatever. I just wanted to let him know. It’s being socially responsible.
As to why he thinks it’s important to share his story, Joe says:
Because knowledge is power; the more we know, the better we’re prepared. PrEP’s a calculated risk. It’s important for people to know that there is the possibility as opposed to the fantasy that there have been no recorded infections on PrEP. At least now there is one, so it makes it more real. And I tell people, “It didn’t work for me, but I still think it’s great.” If I had to do it all over again, I would still go on PrEP. I just wouldn’t have sex with that specific person.
Joe initially posted his story of HIV contraction while on PrEP on the PrEP Facts Facebook group last year, which is how Straube got in touch with him. Joe also reported to Straube that he had just gotten a “great blowjob” when one of the interviews for Poz’s piece was conducted. “I’m open and upfront with all sexual partners, from my status to my dislike of condoms,” says Joe.
Jerry DeLemus is a fixture of the New Hampshire Tea Party scene and co-chairman of the state’s Veterans for Donald Trump group. He’s also, the New Hampshire Union Leader reports, under arrest over federal charges stemming from the Bundy Ranch standoff:
DeLemus is facing nine federal charges based on an indictment brought in Nevada, including conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, threatening a federal law enforcement officer, assault on a federal officer, obstruction of justice, attempting to impede or injure a federal law enforcement officer, interference with interstate commerce by extortion, and several firearms charges, according to court records.
The report is confirmed by multiple Facebook posts by friends and famly of DeLemus:
Jerry’s wife Susan is a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives.
Contact the author at biddle@gawker.com. Public PGP key PGP fingerprint: PGP fingerprint: E93A 40D1 FA38 4B2B 1477 C855 3DEA F030 F340 E2C7
The video above is about five minutes worth of a glorified roast that lasted something like a half-hour and featured digression after digression—like, for example, an informal poll on who will be a better host of the The Apprentice, Trump or his handpicked successor Arnold Schwarzenegger, whom Trump also decided to indirectly humiliate in front of his audience, despite his being, you know, Trump’s handpicked successor.
But now I digress. In this clip, Trump goes on and on about how Mitt Romney was a bad, failed candidate (true!), who would have dropped to his knees to get money from Trump. (There was a whole tangent later about Trump hosting a fundraiser for Mitt and then having his carpet ruined because it was raining that night. The crowd cheered.) He says that towards the end of his campaign, Mitt was scoping nine-car garages and says that Mitt still harbors fantasies of winning this year’s nomination at the Republican convention.
Trump also pulled off this neat trick where he called Jeb Bush a “high-energy salesman” whom Mitt was afraid of, which is funny because Donald Trump effectively killed Jeb’s campaign by ruthlessly and not incorrectly painting Jeb as “low-energy.”
Indeed, Donald Trump has now flip-flopped on Jeb Bush’s energy level solely to roast Mitt Romney.
Anyway this video is nothing if not memorable spectacle, which is the only way to think of Donald Trump’s candidacy if you want to sleep well at night.
UPDATE (6:50 p.m.) Here is the full supercut of burns if indeed you crave more Trump.
