A black protester who tried to interrupt a speech by Donald Trump at a rally in Birmingham, Alabama was set upon by the candidate’s supporters.

The protester appeared to be shouting “black lives matter,” and wearing a shirt that read the same, according to CNN. Some six Trump supporters attacked him, with at least one man punching him, and a woman kicking him while he was lying on the ground.

The scuffle was captured from all angles, with Trump’s voice blaring over a loudspeaker in the background.

Trump reportedly told security to “get him the hell out of here.”

Campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks told CNN “the campaign does not condone this behavior.”

[Image via Twitter]

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

A relatively unknown Democrat won a runoff election for governor of Louisiana on Saturday night, taking over in a red state that’s been inundated with scandal and financial problems in recent years.

State Representative John Bel Edwards defeated U.S. Senator David Vitter with 56 percent of the vote on Saturday night. Edwards will take over from Gov. Bobby Jindal in January, according to The New York Times.

Edwards’ campaign was made easier by a series of blunders made by his main opponent, Republican David Vitter, who was once heavily favored to win. Vitter, who billed himself as a moral, upstanding candidate and opponent of abortion and gay marriage, was involved in a scandal in 2007 when his phone number was found among those on the list of a madam who was running a prostitution ring in D.C.

Edwards, who holds a degree from West Point and a military background, was a likable candidate in comparison.

The state hasn’t had a Democratic governor since Jindal’s election in 2008. After his election, Jindal proceeded to drive the state into near financial ruin, grinning goofily the whole way down.

Democrat or Republican, at least this guy’s on his way out.

[Image via AP]

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

Donald Trump’s waterfall of regurgitated chatter continued on Sunday, with quips about Muslim databases, 9/11, and bringing back water-boarding. And over all of it, he also suggested that he would run for president as independent if he doesn’t get the Republican nod.

When pressed by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “This Week”, the Republican presidential candidate and former reality TV star said he plans to “see what happens,” and couldn’t rule out running as an independent.

“I will see what happens. I have to be treated fairly. If I’m treated fairly, I’m fine.”

In an infamous moment during a debate in August, Trump signaled that he’d be willing to go against Republicans if not nominated.

If he did run as an independent candidate, Trump would be going back on a pledge he signed in September vowing not to do exactly that.

Trump’s interview on Sunday quickly spiraled into a mess of xenophobia and false accusations. He doubled down on his plans to create a database of Muslim citizens in the U.S., said he’d bring back water-boarding, and also cited a false statistic that most Syrian refugees are young men. He also took the opportunity to dredge up a widely-debunked rumor that people in New Jersey cheered as the Twin Towers fell on Sept. 11, 2001. He said:

“Hey, I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down. And I watched in Jersey City, N.J., where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down. Thousands of people were cheering. So something’s going on. We’ve got to find out what it is.”

Even when Stephanopoulos countered that police say that the incident never happened, Trump denied it.

Remember, after reading all this, that Trump is still leading in the Republican polls. What a world we live in.

[Image via Getty]

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

Gun- and flag-toting protesters gathered at a mosque in Irving, Texas, on Saturday to protests Islam and helping Syrian refugees, reports The Dallas Morning News.

One hand-drawn sign read, “Stop the Islamization of America,” and some protesters wore bandanas to cover their faces. One protester was wearing a button with the phrase “Big Daddy Infidel” emblazoned on it. The guns, said protester David Wright, who was holding a 12-gauge shotgun, were necessary to get the message across.

“They’re mostly for self-defense or protection,” Wright said. “But I’m not going to lie. We do want to show force. … It would be ridiculous to protest Islam without defending ourselves.”

Protesters said that they feared that a Sharia court had been established at the Islamic Center of Irving — though there is no evidence to support that.

The most interesting part of the Morning News account, however, is the reaction of the Muslim worshippers at the mosque, who mostly ignored the protest:

The Muslims in the tiny audience declined to share their opinion — instead offering praise for freedom of speech and variations on “no comment.”

[Image via Twitter]

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

“I obviously am not happy about the events that happened last week in Paris…. BUT” is never a sentence that will end well.

Sen. Marco Rubio, currently third in the Republican presidential campaign polls, threw caution to the wind on Fox News Sunday, however, and tried the line out, just to see how it would end.

“I obviously am not happy about the events that happened last week in Paris, but I think it’s a positive development that it suddenly has forced Americans to confront more carefully the issue of national security, because it is the most important thing a president will do, and it’s the most important function of the federal government.”

It did not end well, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

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

You’ve reached our hub for all the best Black Friday deals! As you’ve probably already figured out, “Black Friday” is a bit of a misnomer; many of the best deals are available up to a week in advance. Luckily for you, we’ll be adding them all here as they go live, so you can focus on stuffing your face and trying not to kill your family. If you want all of the latest updates, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Top Deals

Get your hands on some dirt cheap Logitech peripherals on Amazon today. Some favorites below. [Logitech Peripheral Gold Box]

The G500s is a very competitively priced gaming mouse with customizable weight. You purchased a 1337 number of these already. [G500s, $30]

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Gamin...

The Marathon Mouse’s battery has eternal life, and at $20 it makes a killer stocking stuffer. [Marathon Mouse, $20]

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wirel...

The G402 brings many of the features of the G502 (the best mouse) for just $30 today. [G402 Hyperion Fury, $30]

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Hyper...

http://co-op.kinja.com/most-popular-g...

The Wireless Performance MX continues to be an incredible mouse years and years later. [Performance MX, $40]

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wirel...

http://lifehacker.com/logitech-mouse...

See everything else on Amazon.

10% isn’t a huge discount, but that’s about as good as you can expect from a weeks-old Apple product. If you want to learn more, be sure to check out Gizmodo’s review.

• Apple TV 32GB ($135) | Target | Promo code LIST
• Apple TV 64GB ($180) | Target | Promo code LIST

http://reviews.gizmodo.com/new-apple-tv-r...

Bonus: Refurb Apple TV 3rd Gen ($40) | Best Buy

The a6000 is my personal camera of choice, with ludicrously fast autofocus, a good lens ecosystem, a small footprint, and a digital viewfinder that’s not terrible to use. It’s under $700 today with two lenses that together will more than cover the range you care about. [a6000 with 55-210mm and 16-50mm Power Zoom Lenses, $696] - Shane (here are some a6000 photos from Iceland)

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Mirrorles...

If you’re looking to spend a bit less, or get into the Canon ecosystem, or want a standard-sized DLSR, this Canon SL1 bundle is also a great deal. [Canon EOS Rebel SL1 Digital SLR with 18-55mm STM + 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Lens Bundle, $499]

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Digital-...

While tablets and big phones may have stolen their thunder, there’s still no better digital reading experience than an e-ink Kindle, and you can save $20-$30 on yours for Black Friday.

Personally, I think it’s worth spending the extra $50 for the Paperwhite’s 300dpi screen and built-in reading light, but they both have access to Amazon’s vast ebook ecosystem, so you can’t go wrong either way.

Kindle Paperwhite ($100) | Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OQVZDJM/...

Kindle ($50) | Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I15SB16/...

http://reviews.gizmodo.com/kindle-paperwh...

Need to store a whole lot of files without spending a whole lot of money? You won’t do much better than this. [Seagate Backup Plus 5TB Desktop External Hard Drive, $120]

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Deskto...

There’s no need to wait for next week if you’re in the market for a new TV, because a whole bunch of confirmed Black Friday deals are already live. We’ve highlighted a few of our favorites below, but check out the “Televisions” section of the post for more options.

• VIZIO M70-C3 70-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV ($1648) | Amazon | Prime members only. $250 discount shown at checkout.
• LG Electronics 65UF6450 65-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV ($998) | Amazon
• LG - 60” Class 4K Smart TV ($900) | Best Buy
  
• Samsung UN55JU6400 55-inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV ($800) | Amazon
• Insignia - 55” Class 1080p TV ($400) | Best Buy
• Westinghouse - 50” Class 1080p TV ($300) | Best Buy
  
• Samsung UN48JU6400 48-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV ($598) | Amazon
• Samsung UN40JU6400 40-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV ($448) | Amazon
• Samsung - 40” Class 1080p Smart TV ($318) | Best Buy | Plus $20 gift card
• Insignia - 32” Class - LED - 720p - HDTV ($130) | eBay
  

It sure seems like retailers are betting big on sound bars this holiday season, so if you have any TVs in your house without one, be sure to take advantage of one of these deals.

• Sony HTCT380 300W 2.1 Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer ($198) | Amazon
• Samsung HW-J450 2.1 Channel 300 Watt Wireless Audio Soundbar ($148) | Amazon
• VIZIO - 3.0-Channel Soundbar with Bluetooth and Deep Bass Technology ($100) | Best Buy
• Samsung HW-J355 2.1 Channel 120 Watt Wireless Audio Soundbar ($88) | Amazon

http://co-op.kinja.com/five-best-soun...

If your home networking needs are more advanced than most, this absurdly-powerful TP-LINK Archer C3200 is down to an all-time low price for Black Friday. Its little brother, the Archer C7, won a coveted Wirecutter recommendation for best router, but the C3200 offers greater range and throughput speed. [TP-LINK AC3200 Tri-Band Wireless Gigabit Wi-Fi Router (Archer C3200), $230]

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

http://lifehacker.com/5920709/five-b...

Are curved monitors a gimmick? Who cares, they look really cool! If you’ve been holding out for a deal to pick one up yourself, Amazon’s taken $100 off the usual price of both of these Samsung 1080p models for Black Friday.

Samsung 27-Inch Curved Screen LED-Lit Monitor ($250) | Amazon

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

Samsung 23.6-Inch Curved Screen LED-lit Monitor ($150) | Amazon

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

Unlike the HERO 4 line, GoPro’s consumer-grade HERO cameras rarely get deals, but Black Friday is a happy exception. Today, you can choose between a $30 gift card from Best Buy, or a $20 discount from Amazon on the GoPro Hero+. [GoPro Hero+ Action Cam + $30 Best Buy Gift Card, $200 at Best Buy. Also $180 with no gift card at Amazon.]

http://www.amazon.com/GoPro-CHDHC-10...

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/gopro-her...

If you want a full rundown on specs and options, Gizmodo has a great rundown.

http://gizmodo.com/the-hero-is-go...

The #1 bestseller in pedometers, the Fitbit Charge, is just $90 today. Nothing like a constant reminder of your lethargy on your wrist to keep you moving. [Fitbit Charge, $90]

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

http://gizmodo.com/the-best-fitne...

Dorco makes some of the best razors on the market, including the ones you get every month in your Dollar Shave Club box. If you don’t mind buying in bulk though, you can save even more in their early Black Friday sale. Plus, if you spend $10, your order ships for free. [$20 off Any $50 Dorco Order, Promo code GiftDorcoNov]

http://lifehacker.com/5903771/forget...

If you think you need faster (more expensive) SSDs than Samsung’s EVO series, you’re probably wrong, especially at these prices.

• Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD ($80) | Amazon
• Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD ($148) | Amazon

http://co-op.kinja.com/the-best-solid...

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

In some ways, the Pebble Time is actually the best smartwatch you can buy, and Amazon (Prime only) and Best Buy just dropped the wearable to its Black Friday pricing. [Pebble - Time Smartwatch, $130. Also at Best Buy.]

http://gizmodo.com/pebble-time-pr...

Anker makes some of the best and most popular charging gear in the world, and a huge assortment of it is on sale today on Amazon. These battery packs, USB chargers, and kevlar-wrapped Lightning cables would all make great gifts for the holidays, so stock up while they’re cheap.

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

Anker PowerCore+ 13400 Premium Aluminum Portable Charger (Black) ($28) | Amazon | Promo code QSONC9X7

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...

Anker PowerCore+ 13400 Premium Aluminum Portable Charger (Silver) ($28) | Amazon | Promo code 4PUHJLQY

http://www.amazon.com/Anker-PowerCor...

Anker PowerCore 10400 Portable Charger (White) ($16) | Amazon | Promo code 9CF24K3Z

http://www.amazon.com/Anker-PowerCor...

Anker PowerCore 15600 Portable Charger (White) ($23) | Amazon | Promo code QXLGHFGY

http://www.amazon.com/Anker-High-Cap...

Anker PowerPort 6 (60W 6-Port USB Charging Hub) + Anker [6-Pack] PowerLine Micro USB ($30) | Amazon | Add both to cart and use code SBTQY3UM

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

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...

Anker PowerLine Kevlar Lightning Cable ($7) | Amazon | Promo code NYGHCGQZ

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...

Most gaming mice look like futuristic EMP grenades or robotic pets, but Razer’s DeathAdder became one of your favorite gaming mice by keeping things clean and simple. Want to try one out, or buy it for the gamer in your life this holiday season? Amazon’s marked it down to $40 today, the best price we’ve ever seen. [Razer DeathAdder, $40]

http://co-op.kinja.com/five-best-gami...

http://www.amazon.com/Razer-DeathAdd...

The Philips Norelco Multigroom 5100 is actually seven different grooming tools rolled up into one device, and you can own one for an all-time low $25 today on Amazon. [Philips Norelco Multigroom 5100 Grooming Kit, $25 after $5 Off Coupon]

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

http://gizmodo.com/our-favorite-s...

Tech

Storage

• PNY High Performance 128GB High Speed MicroSDXC ($40) | Amazon
• Samsung 64GB EVO Class 10 Micro SDXC up to 48MB/s with Adapter ($18) | Amazon
• SanDisk Ultra 32GB microSDHC UHS-I Card with Adapter ($10) |
• Seagate Backup Plus 5TB Desktop External Hard Drive ($120) | Amazon

Power

• Anker PowerCore+ 13400 Premium Aluminum Portable Charger (Black) ($28) | Amazon | Promo code QSONC9X7
• Anker PowerCore+ 13400 Premium Aluminum Portable Charger (Silver) ($28) | Amazon | Promo code 4PUHJLQY
• Anker PowerCore 10400 Portable Charger (White) ($16) | Amazon | Promo code 9CF24K3Z
• Anker PowerCore 15600 Portable Charger (White) ($23) | Amazon | Promo code QXLGHFGY
• Anker PowerPort 6 (60W 6-Port USB Charging Hub) + Anker [6-Pack] PowerLine Micro USB ($30) | Amazon | Add both to cart and use code SBTQY3UM
• Anker PowerLine Kevlar Lightning Cable ($7) | Amazon | Promo code NYGHCGQZ
• AmazonBasics Apple Certified Lightning to USB Cable ($6) | Amazon

Audio

• Beats by Dr. Dre - Beats Studio Over-the-Ear Headphones ($160) | Best Buy

Televisions

• VIZIO M70-C3 70-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV ($1648) | Amazon | Prime members only. $250 discount shown at checkout.
• LG Electronics 65UF6450 65-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV ($998) | Amazon
• Samsung UN60J6200 60-Inch 1080p Smart LED TV ($698) | Amazon
• LG - 60” Class 4K Smart TV ($900) | Best Buy
  
• Samsung UN55JU6400 55-inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV ($800) | Amazon
• Sharp - 50” Class (49.7” Diag.) - LED - 1080p - Smart - HDTV Roku TV ($400) | Best Buy
• Westinghouse - 50” Class 1080p TV ($300) | Best Buy
• Insignia - 55” Class 1080p TV ($400) | Best Buy
• Samsung UN48JU6400 48-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV ($598) | Amazon
  
• LG Electronics 43LF5900 43-Inch Smart LED TV with LAS454B Soundbar ($400) | Amazon
• Samsung UN40JU6400 40-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV ($448) | Amazon
• Samsung - 40” Class 1080p Smart TV ($318) | Best Buy | Plus $20 gift card
• Samsung UN32J4000 32-Inch 720p LED TV ($178) | Amazon
• Insignia - 32” Class - LED - 720p - HDTV ($130) | eBay

Home Theater Gear

• Apple TV 32GB ($135) | Target | Promo code LIST
• Apple TV 64GB ($180) | Target | Promo code LIST
• Refurb Apple TV 3rd Gen ($40) | Best Buy
• Logitech - Harmony Touch 15-Device Universal Remote ($100) | Best Buy

Sound Bars and Speakers

• Sony HTCT380 300W 2.1 Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer ($198) | Amazon
• Samsung HW-J450 2.1 Channel 300 Watt Wireless Audio Soundbar ($148) | Amazon
• VIZIO - 3.0-Channel Soundbar with Bluetooth and Deep Bass Technology ($100) | Best Buy
• Samsung HW-J355 2.1 Channel 120 Watt Wireless Audio Soundbar ($88) | Amazon

Computers & Accessories

• Samsung 27-Inch Curved Screen LED-Lit Monitor ($250) | Amazon
• Samsung 23.6-Inch Curved Screen LED-lit Monitor ($150) | Amazon
• Up to 55% off Select Logitech Accessories | Amazon | Today only
• HP Wireless Mouse X3000 ($8) | Amazon
• TP-LINK AC3200 Tri-Band Wireless Gigabit Wi-Fi Router (Archer C3200) ($230) | Amazon
• APC - Back-UPS 450VA Network 40 UPS ($28) | Best Buy

PC Parts

• SanDisk Extreme PRO 240GB SSD ($95) | Amazon
• Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD ($80) | Amazon
• Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD ($148) | Amazon
• Toshiba 2TB Internal 7200RPM Drive ($60) | Newegg | Promo code ESCKKNN23
• WD Red 3TB NAS Hard Drive ($100) | Newegg | Promo code ESCKKNN24

Mobile Devices

• Kindle Paperwhite ($100) | Amazon
• Kindle ($50) | Amazon
• Fire Kids Edition, 7” Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB, Blue Kid-Proof Case ($85) | Amazon
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 (7-Inch, Black) ($120) | Amazon
• Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7-Inch Tablet (16 GB, SMOKY Titanium) ($230) | Amazon
• Pebble - Time Smartwatch ($130) | Amazon | Prime members only. Also at Best Buy.
• $250 gift card with any Samsung Galaxy S6 or Note 5 phone with two year contract | Best Buy

Photography

• Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless Digital Camera with 55-210mm and 16-50mm Power Zoom Lenses ($696) | Amazon
• GoPro Hero+ Action Cam + $30 Best Buy Gift Card ($200) | Best Buy | Also $180 with no gift card at Amazon
• Canon EOS Rebel SL1 Digital SLR with 18-55mm STM + 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Lens Bundle ($499) | Amazon
• Sony a7 Full-Frame Mirrorless Digital Camera with 28-70mm Lens ($1298) | Amazon

Home

• Philips HUE HomeKit Upgrade Bridge (for Current HUE Bridge Users) ($40) | Apple
• Insta-Bed Raised Air Mattress with Never Flat Pump ($88) | Amazon
• Save up to 35% on Graco Car Seats | Amazon
• Bowflex SelectTech 552 Adjustable Dumbbells (Pair) ($260) | Amazon

Kitchen

• Cuisinart Prep 9 9-Cup Food Processor ($100) | Amazon
  
• Select 44-48 K-Cup Packs ($20) | Best Buy
• Free $50 Gift Card with the Purchase of Select Vitamix Blenders | Best Buy

Beauty & Grooming

• $20 off Any $50 Purchase | Dorco | Promo code GiftDorcoNov

Fitness

• Fitbit Charge Wireless Activity Wristband ($90) | Amazon
• AmazonBasics Resistance Band Set ($17) | Amazon

Tools & Auto

• THINKWARE - H100 High-Definition Dash Camera ($70) | Best Buy

Media

Movies & TV

• Star Wars Trilogy Episodes IV-VI ($35) | Amazon
• Star Wars Trilogy Episodes I-III ($35) | Amazon
• Breaking Bad: The Complete Series 2014 Barrel ($100) | Amazon
• Band of Brothers ($20) | Amazon
• Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey ($15) | Amazon

Gaming

Peripherals

• Razer DeathAdder Ergonomic PC Gaming Mouse ($40) | Amazon

PlayStation 4

• PlayStation® 4 Star Wars™ Battlefront™ 500GB Bundle ($315) | Target
• Guitar Hero Live ($70) | Amazon
• Guitar Hero Live 2-Pack ($120) | Amazon
• Star Wars Battlefront ($50) | eBay
• Lords of the Fallen - Complete Edition ($20) | Best Buy

Xbox One

• Guitar Hero Live ($70) | Amazon
• Guitar Hero Live 2-Pack ($120) | Amazon
• Star Wars Battlefront ($50) | eBay
• Lords of the Fallen - Complete Edition ($20) | Best Buy

3DS

• Nintendo 2DS Bundle with Mario Kart 7 ($72) | Target | Promo code LIST
• Nintendo New 3DS Handheld Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer Bundle ($179) | Walmart

Vita

• PlayStation TV ($20) | Best Buy

Board Games

• Buy Two Board Games, Get One Free | Target

Toys

• LEGO Movie Benny’s Spaceship, Spaceship, Spaceship! Building Set ($55) | Amazon
• 20% off all orders $40+ | ThinkGeek | Promo code LIGHTSIDE
• Up to 60% off Disney Clothing, Toys, and More | Amazon
• Disney Frozen Elsa’s Ice Palace Playset ($78) | Amazon

More Deals Week Coverage

The Best Black Friday Gaming Deals

The Best Black Friday Apparel Deals

The Best Black Friday App Deals

The Best Cyber Monday Deals

The Best Cyber Monday Gaming Deals

The Best Cyber Monday Apparel Deals

The Best Cyber Monday App Deals

Save even more over the holidays with a rewards credit card. Chase Freedom is offering a massive 10% back on Amazon Nov. 23-Dec. 31. Read more and see your other best reward credit card options here.

http://deals.kinja.com/easy-preparati...

Also, don’t forget to start a free Amazon Prime trial if you’re not already a member.

http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Prime-O...

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Commerce Content is independent of Editorial and Advertising, and if you buy something through our posts, we may get a small share of the sale. Click here to learn more. We want your feedback.

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

Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian was sentenced to prison by an Iranian court, Iran’s state news agency said on Sunday. The 39-year-old was accused of espionage by prosecutors, Reuters reports.

Serving a jail term is in Jason Rezaian’s sentence but I cannot give details,” judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei told a press conference in Tehran, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.

Rezaian’s lawyer, Leila Ahsan, told the Associated Press that she was told nothing of the verdict beforehand.

“I have no information about details of the verdict,” she said. “We were expecting the verdict some three months ago.”

Rezaian was Tehran bureau chief for The Washington Post, and holds both U.S. and Iranian citizenship. In July 2014, Iranian authorities raided the house he shared with his wife, and brought Rezaian into custody at Evin Prison, a detention center that houses political prisoners. Rezaian’s arrest, along with a several other Americans, is believed to be part of a power play between Iran and the U.S.

Rezaian’s attorney said last April that he was accused of “collaborating with hostile governments” and spreading “propaganda against the establishment.”

The Post has denied the allegations since Rezaian was first put into custody. Foreign editor Douglas Jehl said in a statement:

“We’re aware of the reports in the Iranian media but have no further information at this time. Every day that Jason is in prison is an injustice. He has done nothing wrong. Even after keeping Jason in prison 487 days so far, Iran has produced no evidence of wrongdoing. His trial and sentence are a sham, and he should be released immediately.”

[Image via AP]

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

Two new laws in California and Oregon will allow women to forgo with a visit to the gynecologist in order to obtain a prescription for birth control. The New York Times reports that in the next few months, women will be able to get a prescription for contraception directly from a pharmacist.

According to the Times, pharmacists in those states will able to prescribe the full range of birth control options after a screening process during which women will fill out a standard questionnaire that includes their medical history. Most importantly, contraception prescribed by pharmacists will also be covered by health insurance.

The Times reports:

The laws are the latest effort to make birth control more accessible, a longstanding goal of medical professionals and policy makers. But unlike other recent debates over contraception — including the firestorm over the Obama administration’s requirement under the Affordable Care Act that all health plans pay for contraceptives — these legislative efforts have been largely free of political rancor.

“I feel strongly that this is what’s best for women’s health in the 21st century, and I also feel it will have repercussions for decreasing poverty because one of the key things for women in poverty is unintended pregnancy,” said State Representative Knute Buehler, a Republican who sponsored Oregon’s law.

Though the reforms were overwhelming supported by local lawmakers, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has expressed concerns over the bills. They argue that birth control should be entirely over-the-counter and easily available without a prescription. The group worries that allowing pharmacists to fill a prescription is just another roadblock to OTC access.

While those concerns are certainly valid (and it would be wonderful if contraception was OTC), most reproductive health experts are lauding the bills as a step in the right direction. They anticipate that easier access will reduce unintended pregnancies. It’s currently estimated that 6.6 million pregnancies in the United States are unintended, a number that’s significantly higher than European counterparts.

Image via Shutterstock.

Sad news out of San Diego today. Nola, the adorable old rhino living at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, has died, reports the Los Angeles Times. There are now three Northern White Rhinos left in the whole world.

Nola, you will recall, was the oldest of the four Northern White Rhinos, at the ripe old age of 41. She was also the only Northern White Rhino living outside of a sanctuary in Kenya. All Northern White Rhinos are lonely—cosmically, existentially lonely—but Nola was the only one of her kind within 9,649 miles.

Conservation officials recently announced a plan to bring this species back from the brink, using in vitro fertilization and surrogate Southern White Rhinos. The issue was collecting eggs from a female Northern White Rhino—there are two at the park in Kenya, and then there was Nola. With no known technique for harvesting eggs from living rhinos, the plan necessarily involved the death of a female, followed by quick action from whatever you call a person who harvests eggs from a dead rhino. Doctors? Scientists? Surgeons? Coroners? Scavengers?

At any rate, poor old Nola’s health was failing:

At 41, Nola was considered geriatric and had been battling a series of ailments, including a persistent abscess and bacterial infection. Last week she took a turn for the worse, becoming listless.

“In the past 24 hours Nola’s condition had worsened significantly,” according to a statement issued Sunday morning by the Safari Park. “Early this morning, the team made the difficult decision to euthanize her.”

Nola’s death, while undeniably a huge, huge bummer, has presumably given conservationists a narrow but real shot at keeping her species on earth. There’s no word on whether her eggs were harvested, but if that was the plan, this was the first good shot, and a way to give the death of this magnificent animal a little meaning in an otherwise shitty-as-hell situation.

[Los Angeles Times]

Image via AP

Twice this weekend, Donald Trump claimed to have watched as, immediately following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, thousands of Arabs and Arab-Americans across the Hudson River, in Jersey City, New Jersey, cheered as the Twin Towers collapsed.

“Hey, I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down. And I watched in Jersey City, New Jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down. Thousands of people were cheering,” he said on Saturday, at a rally in Birmingham, Alabama.

“So something’s going on,” he continued, by way of defending his plan to institute a national registry for Muslims. “We’ve got to find out what it is.”

http://gawker.com/trump-doubles-...

On Sunday, in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Trump reiterated his claim. “There were people that were cheering on the other side of New Jersey where you have large Arab populations, he said. “There were people over in New Jersey that were watching it, a heavy Arab population that were cheering as the buildings came down. Not good.”

“I know it might be not politically correct for you to talk about it, but there were people cheering as that building came down,” Trump said Sunday. “That tells you something.”

“It was well covered at the time, George. Now, I know they don’t like to talk about it, but it was well covered at the time.”

Actually, it wasn’t: according to both the Associated Press and the New York Times, there are no accounts of such demonstrations taking place in contemporary news reports.

Trump is “either mistaken or he’s lying,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ national communications director, Ibrahim Hooper, told BuzzFeed News.

ABC News reports that police discounted rumors at the time of Muslims in Paterson, New Jersey celebrating the attacks.

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

In a series of tweets on Saturday, Al Roker shared an experience he had just had with an apparently racist cab driver, against whom the broadcast weatherman filed a complaint for declining to pick him up because of the color of his skin.

“Filed a complaint today after getting passed up again by a NYC Yellow cab. Cabbie picked up a white guy a block away,” Roker tweeted. “Wonder why Uber wins?”

“This happens to folks of color every day. And while most cabbies do their job, there are those ignorant, racist ones who hurt the others,” he wrote.

He continued: “What really hurts, my 13 yr. old boy was with me and asked why the cabbie passed us. I said, ‘Nick, ignorant people make dumb choices.’”

In a statement to the New York Daily News, Taxi and Limousine Commission chair Meera Joshi said: “Service refusal goes to the core of the taxi industry’s social contract with the riding public and it will not be tolerated.”

“We’re grateful that Mr. Roker took the time to file a complaint, and I can assure him that we will investigate this thoroughly and take every appropriate action.”

Anyway, congratulations to the sharing economy for solving racism. (Maybe.)

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

At the intersection of runaway corporate greed, the cold-blooded profiteering of pharmaceutical companies, and the generations-old, self-inflicted, crippling regulatory impotence of the U.S. government, the pending inversion of Phizer is dancing a little jig in a leprechaun costume and taking a steaming dump on the American flag.

So, inversions. Say a big U.S. corporation has already used up all the other tricks for avoiding paying taxes to our government. Here’s another neato trick they can pull: they can “merge” with a foreign-owned company—even a much smaller company—and, because they have been absorbed into this other company, they can now be headquartered wherever that other company calls home. Now, because they are no longer an American company, they pay corporate taxes to their new home country, where the corporate tax rate is substantially lower.

Voila! Just like that, an American company gets out of paying corporate taxes in America, because rinky-dink Sven’s Totally Not Fake Company LLC came on board. Sorry, Americans! It can’t be helped!

This is a thing the U.S. Treasury Department would like to stop. On Thursday, they unveiled a new set of rules designed to make tax inversions harder to pull off. Current laws, for example, say that such a merger cannot take place if shareholders of the U.S. company own more than 80% of the combined company, according to the Wall Street Journal—the counter-strategy is apparently known as “stuffing,” “in which the non-U. S. company is artificially made bigger before a merger to comply with that 80% threshold.” These inversions are not done with even a token veneer of legitimacy—everyone knows what’s coming and watches it in realtime.

The proposed new rules, though, are bullshit, according to a report from Fortune. The rules say the merger’s no good if the two companies relocate their headquarters anywhere but one of their home nations. So, flimsy tax havens are out, but businesses in nations, like, say, Ireland, that have low corporate tax rates, can make like internet startups and come into existence with the expectation of later merging with a larger U.S. company. Treasury’s rules make “stuffing” harder, but not impossible:

The Treasury’s inversion rules relate to deals in which U.S. companies end up owning between 60%-to-80% of the newly formed company, and the foreign entity owns somewhere between 40% and 20%. The idea was to stop U.S. companies from cheaply picking up small companies just for tax purposes.

[...]

“Every tax saving stunt that’s known to man is going to be available to them as long as they stay below 60%,” says Robert Willens, an independent tax expert.

Pfizer, recently the “largest pharmaceutical company in the world in terms of revenue,” tried to execute an inversion with a British pharmaceutical company in 2014. The deal fell through, but not before rousing Congress into action to hammer out a way to deter inversions. This action took the form of a bill—the not-very-subtly named Stop Corporate Inversions Act of 2014—which died in committee by January of this year.

Pfizer, undeterred, is back at it. They’re working on a deal with an Irish company called Allergan that would make Pfizer an Irish company, reports The Guardian.

The pending merger, reported on Friday by Reuters and confirmed on Sunday by the Wall Street Journal, could be announced as early as Monday. Forming a company worth more than $150bn, the deal would allow Pfizer to re-domicile from its headquarters in New York to Ireland, where Allergan is based in Dublin. With the move, the new company would cut its corporate tax range from 15% to 39% in the US to 12.5% in Ireland.

[...]

The inverse nature of the pending deal is illustrated by the fact that although on paper Allergan will be buying Pfizer, the current CEO of Pfizer, Ian Read, will head up the new merged entity, with the CEO of Allergan, Brent Saunders, acting as his deputy. Allergan is much the smaller of the two companies.

Treasury’s new rules will not prevent this from going down. They go as far as they can go without an act of Congress, according to a report from U.S. News & World Report:

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said, however, there is only so much the administration can do to prevent U.S. companies from pursuing the maneuver, known as a tax inversion. He again urged Congress to pass legislation.

“Our actions can only slow the pace of these transactions. Only legislation can decisively stop them,” Lew told reporters on a conference call.

Congress, of course, is a disaster. The Stop Corporate Inversions Act of 2014 never even made it to a vote. The Stop Corporate Inversions Act of 2015 was sent to committee in January and hasn’t been heard from since. Republican lawmakers, as per usual, say the answer to all this is to is pay off these corporate tycoons—in the form of slashing the corporate tax rate—in exchange for them not fleeing the country and taking their ball with them.

While they wait out that strategy, they’re preemptively shifting blame for their inaction to, who else, President Obama:

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said that approval of legislation in Congress will require “stronger leadership from the White House to force a bipartisan compromise” between Republicans and Democrats.

The Pfizer merger would bring together the makers of Botox and Viagra, and would be the largest inversion yet completed.

[Guardian] [Wall Street Journal] [Fortune] [Forbes] [U.S. News & World Report]

Image via AP

Early on Saturday morning, Reuters reports, in northern Myanmar, where some of the world’s most desirable jade is produced, a mountain of mining debris gave way, triggering a landslide. More than 100 people were missing on Sunday, and 97 bodies had been pulled from the wreckage.

Authorities expect the number of dead to continue to rise. “We just don’t know how many people exactly were buried since we don’t have any data on people living there,” a local official, Tin Swe Myint, told Reuters.

“It was just a slum with these...workers living in makeshift tents. Nobody knows for sure how many and where they had come from.”

The cause of the landslide, which, according to a miner at a nearby camp, occurred around three in the morning, is unclear.

From the BBC:

In a report in October, advocacy group Global Witness said that the value of jade produced in 2014 alone was $31bn (£20.4bn) - the equivalent of nearly half the country’s GDP - yet hardly any of the money is reaching ordinary people or state coffers.

Local people in mining areas accuse the mining industry of a series of abuses, including poor on-site health and safety and frequent land confiscations.

Many jade mining areas have been turned into a moon-like areas of environmental destruction as huge diggers churn the earth in search of the translucent green stones.

“Large companies, many of them owned by families of former generals, army companies, cronies and drug lords are making tens or hundreds of millions of dollars a year through their plunder of Hpakant,” Global Witness’ Mike Davis told the Associated Press. “Scores of people at a time are buried alive in landslides.”

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

In March, a federal lawsuit alleges, a Rikers Island correction officer raped a female prisoner on a bus, while another guard watched.

In the suit, the New York Daily News reports, the guards are identified by their last names: Figueroa and Pearson. The woman is identified as Jane Doe.

From the News:

Figueroa and Pearson had driven the woman and five male inmates from Brooklyn to Rikers that day.

Figueroa pushed her down on a seat in the back of the bus. She protested and begged Figueroa to wear a condom, but he refused, the lawsuit alleges.

Figueroa told the woman he “wanted to give Pearson a show.”

According to the New York Post, the suit states: “Doe considered screaming out but chose not to scream because she realized that any officers who might respond from the [prison] were apt to be male and Doe was frightened that they might assault her as well.”

Earlier this year, a class-action lawsuit alleged the existence of “a pervasive culture of rape” at Rikers Island.

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After the Department of Correction deferred comment, a spokesman for the Law Department said, “We’ll review the specific claims when we receive the suit.”

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

“Marty Adams, a senior assistant general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said enforcing regulations in wealthy areas was more difficult than in poorer ones. ‘For a lot of people, accountants or landscapers pay the water bill, and they don’t even see it.’” You don’t say.

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Bad news, person who is seriously delinquent on payment of many tens of thousands of dollars in debt to the IRS: the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015 says you might not be able to take that epic vacation to faraway lands for a while, reports the Washington Post.

Tucked away in Section 32101 of House Resolution 22, expected to become law next month, is an amendment to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that says, well:

If the Secretary receives certification by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue that any individual has a seriously delinquent tax debt in an amount in excess of $50,000, the Secretary shall transmit such certification to the Secretary of State for action with respect to denial, revocation, or limitation of a passport pursuant to section 52102(d) of the Transportation Funding Act of 2015.

By “seriously delinquent,” they mean, well:

For purposes of this section, the term ‘seriously delinquent tax debt’ means an outstanding debt under this title for which a notice of lien has been filed in public records pursuant to section 6323 or a notice of levy has been filed pursuant to section 6331

I can sense your eyes glazing over. Here’s the idea: the House Ways and Means committee and the Senate Finance committee figure people who are massively in debt to the federal government will find a way to come up with the money if suddenly their ability to take a trip to Cancún is withheld. This sudden, prompted search through the couch cushions will make the government richer than hell, guys:

Estimates from the Joint Committee on taxation project the move could raise $398 million over 10 years.

I’ve gotta tell you, I had no idea delinquent American taxpayers were willing to have liens imposed upon their property just to avoid paying money they actually have lying around. Maybe it’s all earmarked for a trip to Tuscany? Huh.

[Washington Post]

Image via Shutterstock

More than a dozen people have been hospitalized after gunfire erupted at Bunny Friend Park in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward on Sunday night, The Guardian reports. Police officers had just arrived to break up a large crowd.

Police spokesman Tyler Gamble said that 10 people were taken to local hospitals in ambulances and at least six others in private vehicles.

NOLA.com reports that some 300 people were gathered in the park for an after party, following the Nine Times Social Aide & Pleasure Club’s annual second line:

Three witnesses said they saw a man with a silver-colored machine gun head toward Louisa Avenue. They also heard more gunshots coming from within the crowd as he ran away.

New Orleans police officers had been monitoring the second line, but witnesses say they were beginning to disperse as the after party kept going. As soon as gunshots were heard, however, officers were on the scene immediately, witnesses said.

Gamble told the Associated Press that there was another group of people in the park, in addition to the revelers, filming a video there without a permit.

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

Were you just saying to yourself how the world could really use more insane rhetoric on the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis? Weh-heh-hell, here comes Alabama Republican Representative Mo Brooks, courtesy of The Hill, with all the heat you can handle!

Are you ready for the heat?

That’s a trick question. No one is ready for all this heat:

“You know, just go down the litany of wealth-transfer programs that these people are entitled to, and that answers very quickly why so many of them want to come to the United States of America, we’re paying them to come here,” Brooks continued. “Paid vacation!”

But don’t you think for one second it stops with refugees. No way. Here comes even more heat, if you can handle it (you can’t):

He clarified that he was talking about “not just refugees, but all the illegal aliens, all the things that [President] Barack Obama is doing that is wrong and perhaps in violation of law with respect to illegal aliens, or irresponsible with respect to taking in refugees from countries that are infested with Muslim terrorist organizations.”

While you’re researching whether perhaps President Obama is in violation of law—and someone should really look into that—consider this:

“I think you can make a very compelling argument that these terrorists are doing exactly what the Koran tells them to do,” he said.

Brooks isn’t saying, he’s just saying. And how!

[The Hill]

Photo via AP

Here is a video of someone passed out, on a subway platform, in Crown Heights, into whose lap a rat appears to have crawled, only to take a “selfie.” I hate this video and it makes me want to die.

Why was this guy filming some stranger? Why didn’t he instead go chase the rat off his fellow human, like a normal person would? How did the rat take a selfie? The guy who took the video said that the guy who the rat was crawling on said that the flash from his phone-camera woke him up. But that doesn’t make any sense, because (a) there’s no visible flash in the video and (b) most front-facing cameras on phones aren’t accompanied by flash. Also, in the unlikely even that a rat were to have crawled up onto a sleeping person, it would surely bolt when the guy jolted awake. That is to say: I don’t buy it.

Is it possible that this video is authentic? Yes. It’s possible. All sorts of absurd and bizarre and sometimes nightmarish and sometimes wonderful things happen all over the world, all the time—especially in New York—and when everyone’s carrying a camera more and more people get to experience, second-hand, at least, more and more of those absurd and bizarre, nightmarish and wonderful things. This would be a good thing, but for the fact that once people experience the ecstatic shared discovery of something like Pizza Rat, no lesser content will ever be as satisfying again, and so we go looking for Pizza Rat. But Pizza Rat cannot be sought out and found. Pizza Rat just happens. Pizza Rat is there for those with eyes to see. On some level, probably, we all know this, which is why when we do not find him, we start making other kinds of Rats—except none of us are capable of channeling the kind of fortuitous absurdity that the universe renders on a daily basis. We think we can, but we can’t. Whatsoever is Cool and Good on the ‘net is only waiting to be ruined. We are like a child who loves his kitten—or rat, I guess—so much that he squeezes it to death.

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

A gentle “roast” of Vice boss Shane Smith last week by friends such as the head of HBO and Johnny Knoxville reportedly turned out to be one big “lovefest.” (Gawker was initially invited to cover this event, and then disinvited, for some reason.)

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