Twice in recent weeks, we’ve gotten to watch hotly anticipated Congressional hearings, in which mostly male Republican members got the chance to grill powerful women who had upset them. In both cases, those members of Congress ended up looking like damn fools. How’d that happen?

There are lots of good reasons why neither the #Benghazi squad yelling at Hillary Clinton nor the House Oversight Committee yelling at Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards worked out particularly well for Congress. Some of it stems from the fact that both hearings were show trials, a purely partisan effort to show the folks back home how erectly principled their conservative principles are. But there’s also a visual, theatrical reason: watching a body composed predominantly of white men shout at, interrupt, and harangue a dignified, composed woman has always been a bad look, and in 2015, it’s one the public will no longer accept.

We’ll spare you the mind-numbing indignity of watching the entire 11-hour ordeal, but as a case in point for how yesterday’s hearing was a particular flaming dumpster, let’s watch this long but instructive exchange between Rep. Jim Jordan and Clinton. Jordan has long accused Clinton of pushing a “false narrative” on the Benghazi attacks, saying she knew that day they were terrorist actions, but falsely tried to attribute them to spontaneous protests in response to an anti-Muslim video.

For someone who just wants to get to the truth, Jordan spent much of his time interrupting Clinton, spinning out a lengthy conspiracy theory that Clinton deliberately hid what she knew about the attack.

In one of the most-Vined moments of the hearing, Clinton tried a few times to respond, then eventually just sat back and just looked at him with a weary smile while he sputtered:

Then, when he finally piped down, she went in, calmly and deliberately, while Jordan looked at his notes, at the audience, at his lap, anywhere but at Clinton. She started by icily offering to send him a copy of her memoir so he could familiarize himself what she’d actually done in the days and weeks following the attack. Then, and not for the last time that day, she accused him of impugning the reputations of military and intelligence personnel who responded and investigated.

“I think the insinuations that you are making do a great disservice to the hard work that people in the State Department, the intelligence community, the Defense Department, the White House did during the course of some very confusing and difficult days,” she informed him. And then, after laying out again a timeline of what she’d done and when: “I’m sorry that it doesn’t fit your narrative, Congressman. I can only tell you what the facts were.”

The New York Times editorial board called the Republican members of Congress “spiteful” and their grilling “pointless.” The Washington Post called it “unfortunate,” saying it “elicited little new information” while giving Clinton the chance to mount a “stout” defense of her conduct following the attacks. Even Fox News had to call her “visibly measured.”

Basically, Clinton’s enemies gave her a chance to display a gravitas befitting the leader of the free world for eleven hours straight. She didn’t slip, she didn’t stutter, she didn’t lose her composure. Even people (like some on staff) who aren’t Clinton fans could see plain as day that she looked presidential as hell.

When Clinton got mad, she did it in just the right way, always a tricky thing for a woman in the public eye. Here’s her response, very late in the evening, to Congressman Trey Gowdy (whose sweaty upper lip and weird insistence on yelling about Sidney Blumenthal’s emails help send the hearing fully off the cliff and into Clinton’s win column).

Clinton grew visibly annoyed when she felt that Gowdy was disparaging Admiral Mike Mullen, vice chair of the Accountability Review Board who investigated the response to the Benghazi attacks. Gowdy suggested that Mullen maybe leaned on a witness not to testify, and Clinton shut that shit down.

It was all reminiscent of Cecile Richards’s September appearance before the House Judiciary Committee. Particularly, Clinton’s calm but stern response harkened back to the moment where Richards humiliated Rep. Jason Chaffetz by pointing out that he was using a bogus graph to try to insinuate that Planned Parenthood is little more than an abortion factory.

Or when Rep. John Duncan asked her “Surely you don’t expect us to be easier on you just because you’re a woman?”

Richards didn’t blink. Instead, she smiled serenely and conjured up her late mother, the beloved Governor Ann Richards. “Absolutely not,” she said evenly. “That’s not how my momma raised me.”

Congress, as a whole, operates in these instances with an almost comically poor sense of self-awareness. It’s the same inattention to optics and common sense that allowed them to hold a hearing on birth control featuring zero female witnesses. It’s the same reason why they hardly ever call women as witnesses at all, for that matter.

In 1991, Anita Hill testified about future Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ aggressive and disgusting sexual harassment. Her inquisitors were an all-white, all-male Senate Judiciary Panel. Thomas was appointed without much delay, and a nationwide survey found 2-1 that Americans found him more credible than her.

Congress operates as though Anita Hill happened yesterday, as though the same social attitudes still hold true. When they fall all over themselves in humiliating attempts to attack people like Hillary Clinton and Cecile Richards — people who are smarter, tougher, and more media savvy than they’ll ever be — you might say they’re asking for everything they get in return.

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

Public PGP key
PGP fingerprint: 67B5 5767 9D6F 652E 8EFD 76F5 3CF0 DAF2 79E5 1FB6

A reporter for Buzzfeed France was attacked by a group of baton-wielding, far-right Jewish extremists in Paris on Thursday, according to the Guardian and Buzzfeed.

The incident happened at a rally organized by the Jewish Defense League, or the Ligue de Défense Juive, outside of the headquarters for the Agence France Presse, which the JDL accuses of covering the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian crisis with an anti-Israel bias.

“We are here to show our support for Israel in our war against the Arabs,” one protestor said, according to the Guardian. “Journalists working for organisations like AFP support the Islamic terrorists and that’s why we have to fight back.”

Others reportedly shouted, “We’re coming to get you!” and called AFP reporters,“Islamic terrorists.”

BuzzFeed News reporter David Perrotin was covering the event when one of the hundred or JDL protestors apparently recognized him. “I know who you are, I have information about you,” the protestor said, according to Buzzfeed. “You are David Perrotin. Wait, I’ll tell the JDL that you’re here.”

Perrotin, who has published several critical articles about the JDL, took the protestor’s warning seriously and attempted to leave the rally. From Buzzfeed:

Police directed him to run toward the police line in front of the AFP building, but as he ran, a group of about a dozen young protesters wearing masks and helmets intercepted him.

The men struck his back. He received a blow to his head, and police later said the blow came from a helmet. As the melee reached police lines, he was also struck by police before they recognized him as a reporter. They then allowed him to enter the AFP building, where AFP staff sheltered him until police escorted him out of the building about 45 minutes later.

The Guardian reports that the dozen or so masked men were armed with batons. Perrotin, however, escaped with only minor injuries. He reportedly plans to file a complaint with police sometime today.

Currently, making a 15-minute phone call from jail might cost you or the person you’re calling as much as $17. Those dollars add up: make three calls per week and you’re paying over $2600 per year just to talk to your loved ones. This week, the FCC ruled to put a stop to the price gouging.

Under the new rules, calls from state and federal prisons will be capped at a much more reasonable $1.65 for 15 minutes. Service charges that further boost the price of using the phone will also be banned.

This is great news for a population that is often impoverished to begin with: that $2600 yearly bill will cost just about $250 after the regulations take effect sometime next year. It’s bad news, of course, for the phone companies. Richard Smith, CEO of Securus Technologies, one of the leading prison phone providers, called the order to stop financially crippling families “a colossal error in judgement...patently wrong...beyond belief,” and vowed to take legal action to protect his cashflow.

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

Amid all of the loud political arguments about taxes, inequality, and the size of government, it is important to keep in mind this overarching fact: having our government push wealth from the rich to the poor is a very good idea.

Capitalism brings a lot of benefits—feel free to listen to any starry-eyed tech guru drone on about entrepreneurship and innovation to acquaint yourself with them—but capitalism as it currently functions in America also comes with a political system thoroughly corrupted by money and great concentrations of wealth in the hands of a tinier and tinier elite, while the majority of people struggle to lay claim to the fruits of economic growth.

The mainstream left and right wings of America’s political system have differing views about how to address this inequality. The right tends to claim that cutting taxes will stimulate economic growth which will, in turn, mean more money for everyone. Thirty years of deregulation and thorough testing of this hypothesis has created our current inequality crisis, so it is not too partisan to say that this view is bullshit. Still, this view is accepted by much of the country. The alternate view, that of the mainstream left, is that the government should take more from high earners and create a social safety net for the poor. Many Democrats are shy about embracing this philosophy with fervor. But the fact is, it works.

Elizabeth Warren, who is right about everything, often says as part of her stump speech that since the Reagan era, the top 10% of earners have captured 100% of the wage growth, and the bottom 90% have not seen their wages grow at all. Today, the Washington Post runs a nuanced fact check of her claim—read it all. In short, her claim is based on a set of data that includes wages and taxable income, but not government benefits like Social Security and welfare payments. So it is true that the rich have captured the gains in wages, but if you include government transfer payments to the poor and middle class, their picture improves. The question of whether or not you call Warren’s claim “true” is actually much less interesting than the implications of what the data says about the effects of these government programs that serve the non-rich: they are very effective at remedying inequality! The story cites multiple studies showing that if you include an array of government benefits, the poor and middle class have actually seen their incomes increase substantially over the past four decades—not as much as the rich have seen their incomes increase, but much more than nothing. The difference between “no income gains” and incomes climbing by close to 50% among the lowest earners? Government transfer payments. Which means that government programs transferring money down the economic ladder are high quality and proven mechanisms for counteracting the huge levels of inequality that seem to be inherent to our system. Says one economist:

In a more recent paper, Burkhauser and his colleagues concluded that during the Great Recession, government tax and transfer programs dramatically cushioned the decline in market income of the middle and bottom part of the income distribution. “When you measure properly the role of government, you get the fullest measure of income distribution,” he said. “Government is doing its job. That’s the story. I don’t understand why the liberals don’t celebrate this.”

Government works. Government welfare programs work. Until you can fix capitalism to make it perfectly fair and equitable (and good luck with that), tax the upper classes and create a social safety net. It works.

Embrace that shit, Democrats.

[Photo: Flickr]

According to a recent poll from the Des Moines Register and Bloomberg, Iowa’s Republican caucusgoers love Ben Carson. And what they specifically love about Ben Carson is that he is a Muslim-hating, Holocaust-revising lunatic with no political experience whatsoever. In other words, Iowa Republicans love him because he is them.

As you can see from the questions above, Iowa’s GOP base is not at all bothered by the insane, wildly inaccurate things that have fallen out of Carson’s mouth in recent weeks (and months, and years). In fact, a 57 percent majority of “likely Republican caucusgoers” find the fact that Carson said the Affordable Care Act is the worst thing since slavery to be “very attractive.” What’s more, a whopping 81 percent of respondents found that belief attractive in any capacity at all.

Now consider this: 42 percent of respondents find a lack of any sort of foreign policy experience an attractive presidential quality. Dangerous misunderstanding of what happened during the Holocaust? Sounds good to me, say 77 percent of respondents. Hates Muslims? Great! Seventy-three percent approve. Of course, that last one is unsurprising considering the following response:

Carson isn’t the only one whose worst qualities seem to be what Iowa Republicans admire most. Carly Fiorina practically destroyed HP single-handedly. Does that bother her potential voters?

You bet it doesn’t.

As you can clearly tell from these poll results, 96 percent of likely Republican caucusgoers value “common sense.” The full poll results are below.

Contact the author at ashley@gawker.com.

Michael Jackson’s longtime doctor, friend, and alleged drug supplier, Arnie Klein, died late Thursday night at the age of 70, TMZ reports. In the course of his career as a dermatologist to the stars, he became known as the “Father of Botox” and the “King of Lips,” but was always most famous for his association with Jackson.

Klein, who often claimed to be the “closest person in the world to Michael Jackson,” became one of the King of Pop’s chief doctors after diagnosing him with lupus in the ‘80s, according to Mark Seal’s excellent 2012 Klein profile in Vanity Fair.

Throughout their long friendship, Klein allegedly supplied Jackson with the painkiller Demerol, and prescribed drugs for him under several different aliases. An L.A. coroner from the office that received Jackson’s corpse told Vanity Fair that “there were over 30 vials and packages of meds” found at Jackson’s home after his death, some allegedly from Klein and some from Conrad Murray, the doctor convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson’s death.

Klein was never charged, but Murray’s defense team unsuccessfully attempted to shift the blame for Jackson’s death from Murray’s propofol prescriptions to Klein’s Demerol.

“The defense planned to blame Klein for Jackson’s Demerol addiction ... The prosecution, however, complained that Murray was trying to misdirect the jury’s attention onto Klein, who was not on trial,” the L.A. Times reported in 2011.

The judge agreed with the prosecution, and struck Klein from the witness list.

Klein also introduced Jackson to his longtime medical assistant, Debbie Rowe, who was married to Jackson from 1996 to 1999, and carried two of his children—Prince and Paris.

For years, Klein entertained rumors that he was the kids’ biological father. In 2012, Klein’s friend Carrie Fisher told the New York Times that she had to tell Klein, “Please don’t say you’re the father anymore.”

“Arnie’s desire and enjoyment of publicity has caused some discomfort,” Fisher said.

In 2009, Klein admitted the kids weren’t his “to the best of my knowledge,” but as recently as 2013, he posted a side-by-side photo of his younger self and Prince Jackson on Facebook, with the caption “hmmmmmm.”

Debbie Rowe eventually admitted that “of course it was artificial insemination,” but she has never definitively said who the Jackson’s children’s biological father is— just that “it wasn’t Michael’s sperm.”

On Twitter Thursday, the same day Klein died, TMZ reported that Prince Jackson had responded to a Twitter instigator who told him, “everyone knows you are a Rowe-Klein NOT A Jackson!!” by tweeting, “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb ... I was raised by my dad with my brother and sister.”

According to TMZ, neither Klein nor Jackson was the kids’ biological father.

Klein leaves behind a very interesting Facebook page, mostly dedicated to his famous patients and to the former office manager and former accountant he accused in bankruptcy filings of stealing $22 million from him by tricking him into signing over his power of attorney. Both denied the accusations and filed counterclaims against Klein.

[TMZ, Photo: AP Images]

Jennifer Lawrence’s essay about Hollywood’s gender pay gap is quickly becoming a very popular way for idiot shit people to say regrettable things out loud, right out of their stupid mouths. David O. Russell, director of several mediocre Oscar winners, is the most recent shit person to do so.

http://defamer.gawker.com/jeremy-renner-...

Speaking with the Hollywood Reporter at a fundraiser Wednesday night, David O. Russell expressed support for the “spirit” of what Lawrence said in her essay, which he believes is “truthful to her heart.” Generous, and so kind:

“I always support all my actors and all their opinions, and I want them all to get what they need. I don’t really talk about the minutia of what goes on in my movies, but I believe the spirit of what Jennifer is saying is truthful to her heart. I support her and all women in that.”

Russell, who made headlines in the past for hostile behavior toward Amy Adams on the set of American Hustle and for delivering a tirade against Lily Tomlin on the set of I Heart Huckabees, calling her, repeatedly, “bitch” and “fucking cunt,” would benefit, it’s true, from not really talking about the minutia of what goes on in his movies.

Russel continued talking to the Hollywood Reporter about the essay even though he could have easily stopped, noting that he “understand[s] what she’s saying” but adding, “It’s hard to make a movie come together with a lot of big stars. American Hustle had a lot of big stars in it. We all contributed to help make it happen.” Some unwittingly financially. (The women.)

He continued, sticking the landing with a plug for his upcoming film:

“But I also respect that Jennifer is finding her voice, and I think it’s in service of something very important. Jennifer’s character in Joy is about the same thing: maturity, learning what it is to have your own space and express your own voice and to have power. And that’s what she’s learning.”

Fingers crossed she is also learning to stop working with condescending shit-grin directors looking to fuck her over and pat her on the head.

While we’re here, we may as well check in with the dreaded Jeremy Renner.

Jeremy Renner’s unnamed PR (Susan Patricola, my friend—is that you?) gave a comment to Just Jared about Renner’s response to Lawrence’s essay, even though I also asked for a comment and Susan Patricola did not offer me one even though we have a history and I consider her a friend:

“The context was that he is all for women or anyone having salary equality but that’s someone else’s job to handle and not his. He is most supportive but doesn’t involve himself in those conversations so when asked he was basically saying that.”

Jeremy Renner’s PR basically straight up sick of Jeremy Renner at this point.

Image via Getty. Contact the author at kelly.conaboy@gawker.com.

Here are the best of today’s deals. Get every great deal every day on Kinja Deals, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to never miss a deal, join us on Kinja Gear to read about great products, and on Kinja Co-Op to help us find the best.

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Cordless stick vacuums might not be ideal for a huge house, but if you live in a relatively small home or apartment, they can offer a great bang for your buck without taking up much space. So if you’re ready to cut the cord and keep your floors clean, this 4.2 star rated Rowenta vacuum is marked down to $80 on Amazon, today only.

The Rowenta Delta Force features a rechargeable 18V battery that can power the vacuum for up to 40 minutes, which is a great deal longer than most sub-$100 cordless options. But to be fair, this isn’t really a sub-$100 vacuum; it almost always sells for $150, but today’s $80 promotion is an Amazon Gold Box deal, meaning it’s only available today, or until sold out. [Rowenta Delta Force Lightweight Cordless Bagless Cyclonic Energy Star Rated Stick Vacuum Cleaner , $80]

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

Uniqlo is celebrating the launch of their new Chicago storefront with with solid discounts on many of their most popular items, plus free shipping on all orders, no minimum purchase required. If you don’t live Chicago, or any of the handful of US cities lucky enough to have a Uniqlo, this is the next best thing. [Uniqlo Free Shipping Weekend]

We see a lot of deals on refurbished KitchenAid mixers, but if you’d prefer that your investment be brand new, Amazon’s discounting the 5-quart tilt-head model to an all-time low $225 today, in all three colors. Just note that this is a Gold Box deal, meaning these prices are only available today, or until sold out. [KitchenAid 5-Qt. Tilt-Head Stand Mixer with Glass Bowl and Flex Edge Beater, $225]

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Lifehacker readers’ favorite mouse is down to $45 today, which is a match for the lowest price we’ve ever seen. The Logitech Performance Mouse MX will work on practically any surface (even glass!), can recharge over microUSB, and includes dedicated forward and back buttons for web surfing. [Logitech Performance Mouse MX, $45]

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If your phone supports Qi wireless charging, today’s your lucky day. Anker’s basic charging pad is down to just $12, which is a fantastic deal for most phones. [Anker Wireless Charger PowerPort Qi Wireless Charging Pad, $12]

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If you happen to own a Galaxy Note 5 or Galaxy 6 Edge+, you can take advantage of 10W wireless fast charging for the very first time, as long as you have a compatible charging pad like this one. [CHOE Fast Wireless Charger Charging Pad with Smart Lightning Sensor, $28 with code Y2QSALGB]

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To get the added speed though, you’ll need to plug the pad into a Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 adapter. If you need a spare, here’s one for $8. [Anker PowerPort+ Quick Charge 2.0 Wall Charger, $8 with code KCIUY5V8]

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This isn’t the first $12 aluminum Apple Watch stand we’ve seen, but it’s the first that includes a built-in iPhone holder as well. If you have trouble keeping your nightstand organized and clutter-free, this could be a big help. [Aluminum Apple Watch Dock, iPhone 6s Stand, $12 with code F3WH8FWI]

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This HooToo gadget is actually three devices in one:

• Travel Router: Turn any ethernet jack you find into a Wi-Fi hotspot, which can still come in handy at certain hotels and conventions.
• 10,400mAh USB Battery Pack: Keep your phone and tablet charged during a long day away from any power outlets.
• File Hub: Transfer files and wirelessly stream content from an USB hard drive, or flash drive to all of your devices. Imagine loading a cheap flash drive up with movies for a long trip, instead of, say, buying an expensive iPad with more local storage.

All of those are ideal use cases for travelers, and since it’s an all-in-one solution, it’ll save space in your bag. [HooToo Wireless Travel Router / 10400mAh External Battery Pack, $40 with code D4EG538B]

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Ebay just kicked off a nice little promotion promotion, with discounts of up to 20% on gift cards for several popular stores and restaurants, including IHOP, GameStop, Steak ‘n Shake, and Jiffy Lube. If you see any places where you would have spent your money anyway, then this is a no-brainer. [Up to 20% off Select Gift Cards]

If you own an older vehicle without a rear view camera, everything you need to add your own is just $25 right now on Amazon, including a screen.

This 4.1 star-rated Esky rear view camera System features a wide 170° field of view, and if you buy it today, you can get a dash-mountable screen for free. [Esky Rear View Camera, 100 Waterproof Night Vision with 170 Degree Viewing and Esky 4.3 inch Portable Color LCD Car Backup Monitor Screen, $25. Add both to cart and use code LPGKPG7X]

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If you’ve been waiting for an excuse to buy your own 3D printer, today’s Amazon Gold Box deal might be just what you were waiting for. For the rest of the day (or until it sells out), you can get a FlashForge 3D Printer Pro for $959, or nearly $250 less than usual.

The FlashForge Pro boasts an impressive 4.6 star review average, and is compatible with both ABS and PLA filament. It’s not the cheapest 3D printer out there, even on sale, but it’s one of the cheapest with consistently good reviews. [FlashForge 3d Printer Creator Pro, $959]

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On the fence? Check out Lifehacker’s getting started guide to see if 3D printing is right for you.

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A few days ago, we posted a deal on a top-of-the-line 15” Apple MacBook Pro, but if you don’t need a discrete GPU or a 512GB SSD, you can save nearly $400 on the base model today, courtesy of Rakuten. [Apple MacBook Pro MJLQ2LL/A 15.4” Laptop with Retina Display 2.2 GHz 16GB Memory 256GB Hard Drive, $1635]

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Working late at your desk? You don’t need to burn the candle at both ends; you just need this LED desk lamp. The Aukey Aglaia includes four unique lighting modes, a 360 degree rotating base and arm, and even a USB charging port for your phone. [Aukey LT-T1 Dimmable Eye-care LED Desk Lamp, $27 with code DOIPRMBW]

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It never hurts to have extra USB chargers lying around, and today on Amazon, you can get a two-port travel charger for $5, and add a Lightning cable for just $3 more.

Lumsing 17W 2-Port 5V 3.4A USB wall charger ($5) | Amazon | Use code OKCQOL9H

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Lumsing 17W 2-Port 5V 3.4A USB wall charger and Lumsing Lightning Cable ($8) | Amazon | Add both to cart and use code DOQL2XA8

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If you’re still jolting yourself awake with the harsh tones of an alarm clock, it’s time to give a Philips Wake-Up Light a try. It sounds hyperbolic, but these things really can improve your life immeasurably, and you can get your own for $55 today, the lowest price listed since October of last year.

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

Update: The $55 model is sold out, but the high-end Philips HF3520 Wake-Up Light is down to $115, within $5 of its all-time low. The HF3520 adds a sunset simulator to help you get to sleep, natural wake-up sounds, customizable light colors, and even an FM radio.

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

Unlike an unsympathetic traditional alarm clock, the Philips Wake-Up Light eases you awake with a gradually-brightening light that simulates a natural sunrise, which is how humans are designed to wake up anyway. And of course, it will still nudge you awake with a gentle beep when it’s really time to get out of bed. It also doubles as a very warm and pleasant reading light as you’re getting ready to go to sleep. I’ve owned this thing for nearly a year, and I can definitely tell the difference when I sleep away from home and have to rely on my iPhone alarm.

Again, this is the best deal we’ve seen on this thing in over a year, but we aren’t sure how long it will last, so shake yourself awake and place an order quickly. [Philips Wake-Up Light, $55]

I dare say, even a footman could afford to buy the first five seasons of Downton Abbey on Blu-ray for $55. [Preorder Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey: Seasons 1-5, $55]

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The novel that inspired a hit Matthew McConaughey film is only $3 on Kindle today. I bought a copy. [The Lincoln Lawyer [Kindle], $3]

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Mickey Haller is a Lincoln Lawyer, a criminal defense attorney who operates out of the backseat of his Lincoln Town Car, traveling between the far-flung courthouses of Los Angeles to defend clients of every kind. Bikers, con artists, drunk drivers, drug dealers - they’re all on Mickey Haller’s client list. For him, the law is rarely about guilt or innocence, it’s about negotiation and manipulation. Sometimes it’s even about justice.

A Beverly Hills playboy arrested for attacking a woman he picked up in a bar chooses Haller to defend him, and Mickey has his first high-paying client in years. It is a defense attorney’s dream, what they call a franchise case. And as the evidence stacks up, Haller comes to believe this may be the easiest case of his career. Then someone close to him is murdered and Haller discovers that his search for innocence has brought him face-to-face with evil as pure as a flame. To escape without being burned, he must deploy every tactic, feint, and instinct in his arsenal - this time to save his own life.

The Fallout 4 hype train has long since left the station, and you can prepare yourself to venture into the Boston wasteland with the Fallout 4 Ultimate Vault Dweller’s Survival Guide bundle for $96.

The bundle includes a hardcover game guide, a Nuka Cola metal bottle opener, five magnetic bottle caps, seven lithographs, and more goodies. Amazon’s been selling this for $123 until today, and since it’s a preorder, you’ll be guaranteed to get the best price if it drops any lower prior to release. [Preorder Fallout 4 Ultimate Vault Dweller’s Survival Guide Bundle, $96]

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The international bestseller that inspired Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light is free on Kindle today. Even if you haven’t played the games, there’s no reason not to download it. [FREE Metro 2033 (Kindle)]

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While I have your attention, Metro Redux—which includes remastered versions of both games—is down to $15 on Xbox One right now, or $20 on PS4.

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You might not have an immediate need for a pressure washer, but if you own a home, it’s a useful thing to stash in the back or your garage. This 1600PSI model from Karcher is down to $100 today for Prime members, which is an all-time low price. Even if you don’t need it yourself, this could be a great gift idea.

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If you’re the DIY type, you could even turn this thing into a snow machine this winter.

http://lifehacker.com/5862713/make-a...

When it comes time to clean the dirt and fast food detritus from the floor of your car, you can either use your own car vacuum and do it in your driveway, or search in the couch cushions for quarters and drive to the nearest carwash to use theirs. At $30, I choose the former. [Black & Decker PAV1200W 12-Volt Handheld Vacuum Cleaner, $30]

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

A few weeks ago, we pointed out a 2-for-$23 deal on Rain-X wiper blades from Amazon. But if you missed out, or if you couldn’t find the right sizes for your car, here’s a similar promotion on Bosch Evolution blades.

This time around, you can pick any two blades for $22, including different sizes. If you aren’t sure what your car needs, Amazon built a tool into the top of the page to help you find out, but just be sure you’re buying them from Amazon directly, and not a third party seller, or else the deal won’t work properly. [2-for-$22 Bosch Evolution Wiper Blades]

Earlier this week, we shared a deal on a 15,000mAh Aukey Quick Charge 2.0 battery pack for $22. But if you missed out, or just wanted something a little more portable, this 10,400mAh model is on sale for $17 today.

That’s a little more expensive than a typical deal on a 10,000mAh charger, but if your phone supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0, this battery will be able to power it up to 75% faster than a standard charger. [Aukey 10,400mAh Quick Charge 2.0 Battery Pack, $17 with code 6PHZZRAF]

http://www.amazon.com/Qualcomm-Certi...

This unique kitchen measuring cup doubles as a kitchen scale, so you can work seamlessly with both volume and weight-based recipes. [Etekcity Handy 11lb/5kg Digital Multifunction Kitchen Cup Scale, $14 with code EG4E6WJ6]

http://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Digit...

ICYMI: Today’s Best Apparel Deals: Topshop, Uniqlo, and Kiehl’s

Tech

Storage

• Samsung 32GB EVO Class 10 microSD Card with Adapter ($11) | Walmart
• PNY Attaché 4 64GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive ($18) | Best Buy
• PNY Attaché 4 32GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive ($9) | Best Buy

Power

• Aukey 30W / 6A 3-Port USB Travel Wall Charger ($8) | Amazon
• Anker PowerPort+ Quick Charge 2.0 Wall Charger ($8) | Amazon | Promo code KCIUY5V8
• Lumsing 17W 2-Port 5V 3.4A USB wall charger ($5) | Amazon | Use code OKCQOL9H
• Lumsing 17W 2-Port 5V 3.4A USB wall charger and Lumsing Lightning Cable ($8) | Amazon | Use code DOQL2XA8
• CHOE Fast Wireless Charger Charging Pad (with Fast Adapter) with Smart Lightning Sensor ($38) | Amazon | Use code GWLKG54L
• CHOE Fast Wireless Charger Charging Pad (w/o Fast Adapter) with Smart Lightning Sensor (white) ($28) | Amazon | Use code Y2QSALGB
• CHOE Circle Qi Wireless Charger for All Qi-Enabled Devices ($14) | Amazon | Use code X3ZFIXG5
• KMASHI 11200mAh Outdoor Flashlight Extended External Travel Battery Pack Mobile Power Charger ($10) | amazon | Use code 69VHVX34
• DBPOWER Micro USB/USB/USB Type-C 3-in-1 Power Cable ($7) | Amazon
• AmazonBasics Apple Certified Lightning to USB Cable - 3 Feet ($6) | Amazon
• Anker Wireless Charger PowerPort Qi Wireless Charging Pad ($12) | Amazon
• Abdtech 6 Outlet Power Strip Smart Surge Protector AC Plugs and 6 USB Charger Ports ($18) | Amazon | Promo code F3WH8FWI

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Y839YMU/...

Audio

• Monster DNA Pro White Over-Ear Hardwired Headphones ($59) | eBay

Home Theater

• Sony KDL40R510C 40-Inch 1080p 60Hz LED Smart HDTV ($348) | Walmart

Computers & Accessories

• HooToo Wireless Travel Router / 10400mAh External Battery Pack ($40) | Amazon | Use coupon D4EG538B
• ASUS M32CD Desktop (Gen 6 Core i5, 8GB, 1TB, Windows 10) with Keyboard and Mouse ($430) | Amazon
• Logitech Performance Mouse MX ($45) | Best Buy
• Perfect Pixel QNIX QX2414 Real 144Hz 24” LED 1920x1080 Full HD FPS PC Monitor ($144) | eBay
• Timbuk2 Rogue Laptop Backpack ($39) | eBay
• Apple MacBook Pro MJLQ2LL/A 15.4” Laptop with Retina Display 2.2 GHz 16GB Memory 256GB Hard Drive ($1635) | Rakuten | Retail price $1,999

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RVIGY1I/...

Mobile Devices

• Aluminum Apple Watch Dock, iPhone 6s Stand ($12) | Amazon | Promo code F3WH8FWI
• Tmvel 360-Multi-Angle Portable Stand for Tablet and Smartphones ($13) | Amazon
• SelfieGo MP-B1 Quicksnap Bluetooth Selfie Stick ($4) | Amazon | Promo code B6K7HOC4

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Photography

• Tamrac 5592 SpeedRoller 2x Big Wheels Rolling Camera Case ($200) | B&H
• Smatree® 1290mAh Replacement battery (3-Pack) + 3-Channel charger + USB Cord for Gopro Hero 4 Camera Camcorder ($23) | Amazon | Use code 6D52FJAY
• Nikon 50mm f/1.8G AF-S NIKKOR Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras ($170) | eBay
• Opteka 6.5mm f/3.5 HD Aspherical Fisheye Lens, Canon Mount ($140) | Amazon

Home

• Philips HF3500/60 Wake-Up Light ($55) | Amazon
• Philips HF3520 Wake-Up Light ($115) | Amazon
• Therapure - Desktop Air Purifier ($28) | Best Buy
• Aukey LT-T1 Dimmable Eye-care LED Desk Lamp ($27) | Amazon | Use code DOIPRMBW
• LIFX Edison Screw WiFi Multicolor Dimmable LED Light Bulb ($50) | Best Buy
• Bayit Home Automation Wi-Fi/IP Internet HD Surveillance Camera ($67) | Staples
• Rowenta RH8548 Delta Force Lightweight Cordless Bagless Cyclonic Energy Star Rated Stick Vacuum Cleaner ($80) | Amazon
• Select Laminate Flooring is On Sale at Home Depot
• Arrow Shed 10’x14’ EG Steel Storage Building ($475) | Woot
• OXA Durable Military Vintage Bag for Men and Women ($25) | Amazon | Use code LDWSYHBJ
• U.S. Traveler New Yorker 4-Piece Luggage Set ($80) | Rakuten

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-HF3500...

Beauty & Grooming

• Panasonic EV2510K - Handheld Rolling Massager EV-2510K ($25) | Panasonic | Use code RELAX
• 1Easylife Wooden Bath Body Brush with Detachable Head ($13) | Amazon | Use code VC36NZ9R

Kitchen

• KitchenAid KSM105GBCBU 5-Qt. Tilt-Head Stand Mixer with Glass Bowl and Flex Edge Beater ($225) | Amazon
• Nuvita V Blade Mandoline Slicer ($22) | Amazon
• Rachael Ray YumO! Oven Lovin’ 5 Piece Bakeware Set ($35) | Best Buy
• 1Easylife - Pro BBQ Grill Mat - Set of 3 Mats ($13) | Amazon | Use code HQRPWX45
• Silicone Egg Mold Ring, Set of 2 ($6) | Amazon | Use code 6VRENJ9V
• Contigo SnapSeal Vacuum-Insulated Stainless Steel Travel Mug, 16-Ounce ($11) | Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0125NRR0A/...

Fitness

• Gold’s Gym Adjustable Wrist/Ankle Weights, 5-Pound Pair ($9) | Walmart
• BlenderBottle Classic Loop Top Shaker Bottle, 28 Ounce ($6) | Amazon
• Aegend Workout Bands ($6) | Amazon

Apparel

• Levi’s Lowest Prices of the Season Sale at Amazon
• Columbia Morning Charmer Rain Jacket - Women’s ($40) | REI

Camping & Outdoors

• Medium Frame Diamondback Sorrento Hard Tail Complete Mountain Bike ($233) | Amazon
• BYB Super Brightness COB LED Portable Collapsible Camping Lantern Flashlights ($10) | Amazon | Use code 2BQ2KZ4M
• Etekcity 3-in-1 Waterproof LED Emergency Lights Lantern Flashlight Torches ($6) | Amazon | Use code FLHT3OFF
• G4Free Ultra Lightweight Packable Backpack Hiking Daypack ,Handy Foldable Camping Outdoor Backpack ($11) | Amazon | Use code ACJNWD56

http://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Water...

Tools & Auto

• Mpow Grip Pro Car Mount ($6) | Amazon | Use code EUJYD4V7
• Esky Rear View Camera, 100 Waterproof Night Vision with 170 Degree Viewing and Esky 4.3 inch Portable Color LCD Car Backup Monitor Screen ($25) | Amazon | Use code LPGKPG7X
• FlashForge 3d Printer Creator Pro ($959) | Amazon
• Spoga Wall Mounted Mop, Broom, and Sports Equipment Storage Organizer ($11) | Amazon
• Craftsman 3/4 in. dr. 18 in. Flex Handle Breaker Bar ($25) | Sears
• 3” Universal Table Vise ($16) | Amazon
• HD 1080P Auto Car DVR Dash Camera ($12) | eBay
• Die Hard Booster Cable ($15) | Sears
• CompuStar Remote Start Kit with Interface and Geek Squad Installation ($190) | Best Buy

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Send deal submissions to Deals@Gawker and all other inquiries to Shane@Gawker

As a press release from Noble Communications on behalf of Hoover® revealed this week, Kristin Cavallari loves her Hoover® Cordless Vacuum. Her admiration for the cordless vac is so strong, in fact, that Kristin did an interview with a local Baltimore TV station about it.

It’s true: That disturbing basement video of Kristin talking about spinach-artichoke dip and cleaning house with Hoover®, which Noble published alongside the press release, is not the only film that features Kristin discussing Hoovers. CBS13 WJZ got to interview her via Skype from the same pretzel prison.

The satellite interview with Mother, Wife, Actress & Author Kristin Cavallari was “furnished by Hoover®,” WJZ anchors noted at the beginning of the segment.

You can watch it in its entirety here. My favorite part is when WJZ’s Marty Bass asks Kristin to spell “Hoover.” (She gets it right.) My second favorite part is when he asks, “When’s the book come out? I’ve been hearing about this book forever.”

Kristin answered that it will be out March 15, but she did not specify a year.

This has been 500 Days of Kristin.

[Photo via Getty]

Despite the financial support of all of America’s rich people, amiable Republic meerkat Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign is now being run with all the shabby frugality of a thrift store that is slowly going bankrupt.

It seems that old JEB is having some donor troubles. The trouble is donors want to give money to somebody who might win. And Jeb Bush, despite being in peak physical condition, reminds voters of their elementary school principal too much for them to ever really like him. Now, the JEB campaign is slashing expenses and payroll costs by up to 40%, Bloomberg reports. So deep are the cuts that “Some senior-level staff and consultants will continue to work with the campaign on a volunteer basis.”

A volunteer basis. Very un-Republican. This is also one of the shittiest volunteer causes that anyone could ever choose.

Why can’t JEB seem to connect with the electorate? “His main challenge: The burden of trying to convince voters hungry for change to choose a man whose father and brother both served as president.”

Hmm. That’s a toughie.

[Photo: AP]

After canceling all Medicaid contracts with Planned Parenthood affiliates this past Monday, Texas authorities have now raided Planned Parenthood locations in San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas. Investigators are apparently looking for any documents or records related to patients who have donated fetal tissue at any point in the past five years.

According to Planned Parenthood, the state’s Health and Human Services Commission is looking for everything from patient and billing records to personnel information.

In a statement to Mother Jones, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas wrote wrote that the organization will “make every effort to comply with the state’s request but see this is an excuse to take healthcare away from thousands of women and men who rely on Planned Parenthood for preventive care.”

While the Planned Parenthood Federation of America issued the following:

Representatives from the Texas Office of Inspector General showed up at Planned Parenthood health centers in Brownsville, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio demanding administrative records. Underscoring the political motivations behind these raids, officials in San Antonio showed up at Planned Parenthood’s health center at the same time as a reporter, in what appeared to be a coordinated move. Reporters received notice of the contract termination prior to Planned Parenthood affiliates. It seems that, after the fact, the state raided Planned Parenthood’s health centers looking for an excuse to justify its politically motivated actions

The move to defund and, if the state has its way, ultimately shut down Planned Parenthood clincs across Texas comes as Texas Governor Greg Abbott continues a mission spurred by the falsified Planned Parenthood videos that continue to be debunked time and time again.

http://gawker.com/missouri-finds...

This helps explain why Gov. Abbott has been referred to as “public enemy number one for women in Texas.”

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

The Pilot G2 took down around 50% off your 12,000 votes, in addition to winning Gizmodo’s 2014 vote, Lifehacker’s 2012 vote, and getting Gawker’s nod in 2014. It’s a pretty good pen.

http://co-op.kinja.com/your-five-favo...

http://gizmodo.com/what-is-your-f...

http://lifehacker.com/5947513/five-b...

http://domesticity.gawker.com/what-is-the-be...

Four different Pilot G2 tips, via BestJournalingPens

All five of your favorite pens are so cheap, that if you’re curious or not satisfied with the G2, you may as well buy them all and test for yourself.

Looking for a fountain pen? The LAMY Safari received the most support in round one.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V55F5TA

This pen makes me love writing. I can change the ink color if i wish. Refills are easy to come by and relatively cheap. I do tend to get ink on my fingertips every once in a while, but it’s a small price to pay for better penmanship. It almost makes me want to write in cursive, if i knew how. - pavethewayforthemantaray

More Gear for Work:

• Computer Glasses | Lifehacker | Lifehacker: Budget Alternative
• Desk Lamp | Co-Op
  
• Keyboard | Hive Five
  
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• Laptop Stand | Hive Five
• Mechanical Keyboard | Hive Five | Lifehacker | Gear: Switch Sampler | Co-Op: Switches
• Mobile Hotspot | Hive Five
• Monitor | Hive Five: Budget | Lifehacker: Cinema Display Alternatives
  
• Monitor (4K) | Hive Five
• Monitor Mount | Co-Op
• Mouse | Lifehacker | Hive Five: Budget | Co-Op
• Printer | Hive Five
  
• Scanner | Hive Five
• Standing Desk | Hive Five | Lifehacker
• Standing Desk Floor Mat | Hive Five
• Trackball Mouse | Co-Op
• USB Hub | Hive Five

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.

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Marie “EnjoyPhoenix” Lopez is a French YouTuber whose beauty vlogs have earned her nearly 2 million subscribers, deals with cosmetics companies, and a slot on Dance Avec Les Stars. She’s wildly successful. But also, maybe not someone you should listen to about what homemade goop to put on your face.

Earlier this month, EnjoyPhoenix posted a DIY facemask recipe using “products we all have in our cupboard, in our fridge,” including chocolate, banana, and, notably, cinnamon. Despite the beauty guru’s claims that she’d been using the recipe for years, some of her fans reported the cinnamon burned their faces.

“Certainly I have soft skin, but my cheeks are burning and dry as straw,” one commenter wrote on EnjoyPhoenix’s Facebook page, according to L’Express.

Another told her she should have taken more time to do her research, because “cinnamon is dermocaustic and causes severe burns, and given the amount you put in, I think everyone will look like brownies after 3 or 4 applications.” (Thanks for that gem, Google Translate.)

Other French news sites started reporting on the backlash this week, and 20 Minutes got a dermatologist to rebut EnjoyPhoenix’s claims that cinnamon is “regenerating and purifying.”

“It is also an allergenic plant,” dermatologist Isabelle Oliveres-Gouthi told 20 Minutes.

“The idea of saying ‘This is natural, so it is safe’ is false,” added her colleague Henri Pawin, “Nettle is a natural plant, but on the skin, it causes welts. Cinnamon is not used much in Western medicine.”

EnjoyPhoenix responded on Facebook, simultaneously admitting it’s her fault that “some girls were burned,” and listing several reasons why her fans shouldn’t blame her if they hurt their dumb faces.

Via Google Translate again:

“It’s obvious you should test a mask on your skin before applying it fully. If you feel it burning, don’t you remove it? Have a little common sense!”

“File a complaint, go ahead. These recipes are as old as the world and in books of grandma recipes.”

“Reminder: I am 20 years old.”

She also blames the French gossip press for being too focused on her every move and mistake. Sorry about your faces, though, adoring teenage girls!

This is the worst burn-related crisis for EnjoyPhoenix since last month, when she accidentally asked her viewers to bake brownies at 300ºC instead of 300ºF.

Life as a superstar youtubeuse is rough, man. Quel dommage.

[h/t Metro]

Things aren’t looking great for the 14-year-old Virginia girl who allegedly pelted one of her teachers in the forehead with a two-inch long carrot. Aliya May, who has been suspended now for almost a full month, could face assault and battery charges for the vegetable toss.

“I don’t understand this,” May’s mother, Karrie, told WTVR. “Yes, it happened, and I can see a couple of days in school detention or even a couple days out-of-school suspension. But this goes way beyond that. We have to go to court, and her charges aren’t small: assault and battery with a weapon.”

What exactly happened, you’re wondering? Well, earlier this year, May reportedly walked out of a class at Moody Middle School in Henrico County and spotted an old teacher of hers. Upon seeing the teacher, May claims several thoughts ran through her mind. Those thoughts, I imagine, were something like this: 1) There’s my old teacher, 2) My old teacher will probably appreciate a joke right now, 3) I have a baby carrot from lunch in my pocket, 4) The joke should be me throwing the carrot at her.

Underestimating her arm strength and accuracy, May apparently imagined a gentle carrot toss that might land softly on or near the teacher, not one that smacked the woman practically between her eyes.

WTVR’s resident legal expert Todd Stone told the station that because the law is the law and the carrot was hard, May may be in some trouble.

“If it’s a soft carrot, it may not be as offensive,” he said. “But if it’s a raw carrot, you don’t have to have an injury or show you were hurt to prove a battery. It just has to be an offensive, vindictive touch. That’s what the law says.”

Below, a picture of the carrot.

I can’t remember the last time I entered a description of a Venmo transaction that wasn’t a dumb joke, and if you use the service regularly, I doubt you can either. The ability to pay a friend back for pizza and call it “anthrax” is part of the financial app’s charm. But joking about certain places, people, or things could put you under investigation.

Within the Treasury Department is Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), an entity that essentially makes sure Americans aren’t sending money to terrorist organizations and enemy regimes. For example, if you try to PayPal money to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, OFAC is there to block it. And this applies to anything Treasury defines as a “Money Service Business,” which includes apps like Venmo. So: everything you do on Venmo is subject to scrutiny and federal compliance. Even the handjob and anthrax jokes.

One Venmo user was startled when he found this out firsthand, four months after he completed a Venmo transaction for “iced coffee obama nsa inside job syria.” This was no laughing matter (I’ve redacted his name at the request of an intermediary who provided me with the email):

How did something so obviously facetious trigger a federally mandated review? I talked to a Venmo spokesperson, who explained that the company searches everything you write in the app against a database of keywords, flagging anything that might run afoul of U.S. sanctions abroad.

One source of keywords is the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list (“SDN List”), which cites entities that are forbidden. This could be bad news if you plan on using Venmo with anyone who has an even vaguely Middle Eastern name, as at least one user has learned in the past. Aside from flagging anything like Omar, Mohammed, Sharif, Ahmed, and the like, Venmo will flag posts that mention any country sanctioned by the United States. If you write “Syria” in a Venmo transaction, someone is going to read it.

http://valleywag.gawker.com/venmo-racial-p...

The rest of Venmo’s red flag database is drawn from a large list of other American sanction programs, much broader than specific individuals. A Treasury spokesperson told me that they don’t provide anyone with a set of keywords to watch—rather, companies like Venmo create such a list on their own. It’s safe to say that any nouns related to drug cartels, cybercrime, Iran, Iraq, Libya, terrorist organizations, Burma, Sudan, Somalia, North Korea, or any other real and perceived enemies of the state.

But what about the fact that something like “iced coffee obama nsa inside job syria” was very obviously a joke? Don’t expect Venmo to give you the benefit of the doubt: “We know that our user base has a tendency to use of humor for payments, however when that is the case, and our compliance teammates are reviewing that, we can’t make an assumption.” So, “iced coffee obama nsa inside job syria” could be an attempt to fund a Syrian death squad for the amount of five dollars. And if you don’t respond with a detailed explanation of what “iced coffee obama nsa inside job syria” really means? Eventually, Venmo told me, after repeated attempts to contact you, they’d have to turn the case over to the federal government.

So although the odds of winding up in a CIA blacksite because you paid your roommate back for rent as “tehran dirty bomb cocaine” are relatively low, just know that there is an entire team dedicated to reading and vetting your jokes on Venmo. The company wouldn’t tell me exactly what words they’re looking for, obviously, but between this and this you should have a good idea. And for the terrorists and money-launderers out there, just label all your Venmo transactions “movie tickets” and it’ll be smooth sailing.

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

Attorneys for the U.S. Department of State have just notified Gawker Media that the agency is once again upgrading its estimate of the number of emails exchanged between news reporters and Philippe Reines, the former State Department spokesperson and multi-purpose consigliere of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. As you may recall: In 2013, in response to our Freedom of Information Act request seeking those emails, State officials asserted, bizarrely, that no such emails existed. In August of this year—five months after Gawker filed a lawsuit against State—that estimate increased to 17,855 emails.

Today, however, the State Department revealed a much larger number in a scheduled hearing before the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.: The department now has in its possession at least 90,000 documents that pertain to correspondence between Reines and other journalists, and would thus be releasable under the Freedom of Information Act. (These documents would likely include the 2012 exchange in which a thoroughly perturbed Reines told BuzzFeed reporter Michael Hastings to “Have a good day. And by good day I mean Fuck Off.”) The agency’s legal counsel notified Gawker’s lawyers about the new number shortly before the hearing took place.

It is not entirely clear where the 72,145 additional records came from. Over the summer, Reines turned over 20 boxes of “work-related emails” to State officials, but in an August 14 court filing, State attorneys said that they did not appear to contain many documents that were responsive to Gawker’s request.

The State Department’s admission comes three weeks after the agency produced the first set of emails between Reines and reporters, under an order by a federal judge. Those emails revealed, among other things, the fact that Reines had lied about using a personal email to conduct government business, as well as his habit of complaining to reporters (and those reporters’ editors) about the slightest amount of negative coverage.

In an email to Gawker, State Department spokesperson Alec Gerlach wrote: “The State Department does not comment on ongoing litigation. I’ll just refer you to today’s status conference.”

Email/chat: trotter@gawker.com · PGP key + fingerprint · Photo credit: Shutterstock

Was Anthony Mackie always this... differently minded? Or did he just hide it well?

Of late, Mackie—who consistently gets solid work in movies like The Hurt Locker and 8 Mile—has been tossing out some of the silliest two cents known to man. YBF accurately described him as “that ‘New Black’ cousin at the family reunion,” the one who confidently and loudly spews garbage opinions.

The stupidity is pouring out right now because Mackie, who normally appears to be just a simple jolly man, is promoting his role in the upcoming comedic drama Our Brand Is Crisis. First, he gave a soft endorsement of Donald Trump in a BET interview, stating:

“If you look at Trump, he’s an easy sell, because you can sell him as the guy who worked his way up from nothing. If you’re the pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps candidate, people would identify with that.” Asked if that constitutes a Trump endorsement, Mackie says “I’m on the bandwagon. I’m drinking the Kool-Aid.”

He later backtracked on this, claiming it was just a bad joke.

Then, when asked whether it matters if Marvel’s Black Panther movie has a black director attached, Mackie (who’s playing Jesse Owens in a future biopic) told The Daily Beast:

“I don’t think it’s important at all. As a director your job is to tell a story. You know, they didn’t get a horse to direct Seabiscuit! The thing is I don’t think the race of the director has to do with their ability to tell a story. I think it’s all about the director’s ability to be able to relate to that story and do it justice. I think men can direct women, and two of my greatest work experiences were with female directors. So I think it all depends. May the best man—or woman—win.”

In the same interview, Mackie said:

“...I don’t think we should go around the world and impose democracy on everybody. Some people just aren’t made for democracy. Some people just need a dictator. That’s just who they are.”

Looking over his tweets from the past year, there seems to be nothing incriminating, other than Mackie being a bit of a hashtag fanatic. He mostly tweets about his movies and nothing else interesting. And, like many people, he frequently retweets Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Mackie also once thanked Puerto Rico “for being so beautiful.” Oh, Papa Doc, you were better off being boring. Please Mackie less.

Contact the author at clover@jezebel.com.

Image via Getty

Many people are excited about the forthcoming unauthorized biography of Beyoncé, written by prolific writer of unauthorized biographies J. Randy Taraborrelli. But others are probably not excited, including Beyoncé, Jay Z and Jonathan Hay, the ex-Rihanna publicist who concocted the story that Rihanna and Jay Z slept together.

According to Taraborrelli’s book, Beyoncé and Jay Z separated for a year in 2005 in the wake of a rumor that Jay Z had cheated on her with Rihanna. The rumor, alas, was simply that: Taraborrelli writes that the two never actually boned. The speculation was instead started by Hay, who was Rihanna’s publicist at the time, in order to draw attention to her debut single “Pon Di Replay.”

Surely Jonathan Hay has no regrets about nearly breaking up music’s foremost power couple, and everything is cool now, bygones being bygones and all that. Certainly, the public revelation of his role in this rumor will not bite him in the ass in a specifically hilarious way. The Daily News checks in:

“I was blindsided by the news of ‘Becoming Beyoncé’ coming out and it couldn’t come at a worse time for me,” Hay said in a statement. “I’m currently releasing projects with my label Urban Hitchcock through Tidal, a company that is owned by Jay Z and Beyoncé ... Hopefully this news hasn’t ruined that relationship for me.”

Let’s all toast to the guaranteed future success of “Urban Hitchcock.”

[image via Getty]

Contact the author at jordan@gawker.com.

Two more women added their stories to the more than 50 separate accusations of sexual assault against legendary comedian Bill Cosby at a press conference today with attorney Gloria Allred. One woman claimed Cosby drugged and raped her at a private audition for The Cosby Show, and the other accused him of forcibly rubbing his genitals on her at a track and field event.

The first woman, an actress who’s identifying herself only as Dottye, says she missed a 1984 open audition for Cosby’s NBC sitcom, so she sent Cosby her headshot in hopes he would consider her.

He invited her to his house in NYC for a “private audition,” she said, then offered her a drink to calm her nerves and had her spin around as an “exercise.”

“Within seconds I began to vomit all over myself and his rug. I felt ashamed,” Dottye said.

“Things got foggy thereafter, but I do know he took my clothes off and put them in his washing machine. I don’t remember too much of the shower, or walking back down the steps back to the second floor,” she said.

The next thing she remembers was being dressed in a robe, with Cosby pushing against a chest in his hallway. She says he lifted the robe and raped her, eventually moving her to the dining room floor.

She said he helped her get dressed, then showed her out.

“Bill Cosby called me the next day, not to see how I was, but for phone sex!” she claimed. “He tried to get me to do it, but I was no longer under the influence of what I thought was only alcohol.”

Cosby also allegedly invited her to his show that day. She still has a Cosby Show logo jacket from that taping, and she and Allred held it up at the press conference.

The second new accuser, Donna Barrett, says she encountered Cosby while officiating a track and field event at Penn in 2004. She alleges he grabbed her butt—with a vise-like grip—and pressed his genitals into her back.

“Hey, back that thing up here, girl, back it on up!” Cosby allegedly said.

Cosby hasn’t commented on these new allegations. Martin Singer, Cosby’s lawyer in the sexual battery case brought against him by Judy Huth, no longer represents him as of 3 days ago. It’s still not clear whether client fired lawyer or vice-versa.

[Photo of Dottye at the press conference via Getty Images]

The Brown University student newspaper, the Daily Herald, is very sorry that Brown students shared photos of 17-year-old Malia Obama in the general vicinity of a pyramid of red Solo cups that may or may not have been used for beer pong (which the First Daughter may or may not have been playing).

The Herald’s editorial board concedes that Brown’s student body collectively has “no chill,” and sympathizes with Malia’s desire to “enjoy herself at a party without several news headlines coming out about it the next day.”

Although the op-ed points out that various students were criticized by their peers for snitching Malia out on Twitter, they leave out the biggest offender: whoever sent that Snapchat photo to the Daily Caller. When “no chill” is inevitably added to the Oxford English Dictionary, its entry will be printed alongside a drawing of some goofus Snapchatting perfectly good gossip to Tucker frickin’ Carlson.

“While the chances of her selecting Brown have probably decreased since the publication of those articles, if she does ever come back to Brown, hopefully next time we will ‘have more chill,’” write the dweebs who likely blew their shot at attracting Malia to their Class of ‘20.

You blew your shot, dweebs.

Malia is also said to be considering Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Stanford, Berkeley, NYU, Barnard, and Wesleyan. And Tufts. Why not?

[h/t Daily Mail, Photo: @Emillerusa/Instagram via The Root]