Current Events
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It’s no secret that crime in New York City began to skyrocket during the COVID pandemic a few years ago. While it has since been declining, things might get a bit safer as authorities have rounded up 30 alleged gang members who turned Washington Heights and Inwood into a war zone.
According to the Gothamist, the NYPD have announced that they have indicted 30 alleged gang members who they say are responsible for roughly half of the shootings in Inwood and Washington Heights and have hit them with a range of charges, including conspiracy to commit violence, weapons possession, attempted murder, and murder. While one might think these are just wild kids looking to gain street credibility, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg says it stems from a yearslong rivalry between two street gangs that turned deadly back in 2018.
Per the Gothamist:
“The violence did not impact just these defendants and their associates,” Bragg said at a news conference detailing the indictment. “It impacted the entire neighborhood, [creating] a climate of fear among ordinary residents who had no part in this violence.”
Bragg said all of the shootings addressed in the charges were sparked by an alleged gang killing in 2018. The incident sparked 18 retaliatory shootings that claimed seven lives, including innocent bystanders, Bragg said.
Bragg blamed the gang war for approximately 50% of all this year’s shootings in the 33rd and 34th precincts, which include much of Washington Heights and Inwood in Uptown Manhattan.
Well, at least the residents of Inwood and Washington Heights can rest a bit easier now knowing that the gang bangers in their neighborhood have been taken into custody, but that PTSD may stay with them for a long time.
Stay safe out on those streets, y’all.
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Living in the Big Apple is about to get even more expensive. Governor Hochul is about to bring back congestion pricing to New York City.
As reported by the New York Times, the politician has announced she is reviving her plan for congestion pricing. Originally announced in April, state officials were aiming to impose an additional $15 dollar toll on vehicles that enter Manhattan below 61st Street. Commercial trucks, however, would face a higher fee of anywhere from $24 to $36 depending the axle count, dimensions, weight and other factors. The original idea was met with harsh criticism from citizens and business owners alike. Ultimately, the plan was put on hold in June.
This version of the plan has a reduced rate, which starts at $9 for regular cars. She detailed the reasoning during a formal press conference. “I’m proud to announce we have found a path to fund the MTA, reduce congestion and keep millions of dollars in the pockets of our commuters,” the governor said. She went on to add that citizens who make than less than $50,000 a year will receive a 50% discount after their 10th entry. Additionally, the toll overall will be cut after 9 p.m.
According to the New York Post, President-elect Donald Trump is not in favor of the move. “I have great respect for the Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, and look forward to working with her to make New York and America Great Again. But I strongly disagree with the decision on the congestion tax,” he said in an exclusive statement to the newspaper.
The congestion pricing is currently being finalized but could start as early as January. You can see Governor Kathy Hochul’s press conference below.
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Source: David Berding / Getty / Rudy Gobert
Minnesota Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert has once again stepped into it. This time, he threw his support behind one of Donald Trump’s heada** picks for his presidential cabinet and is getting roasted for it.
Felon 47, aka Donald Trump, is putting together what is easily one of the worst cabinets in the history of the presidency. His latest pick is Robert Kennedy Jr., a constant promoter of conspiracy theories related to health and vaccine hater, to run the Health and Human Services Department.
While the rest of the country knows just how BAD that is, Gobert took to Elon Musk’s dying platform, X, formerly Twitter, to express his excitement for the failed presidential candidate, landing a job he has no business having, writing in the post, “Let’s go @RobertKennedyJr (praying hands emoji).”
Now, why is this bad, you ask? Well, let’s quickly break it down. The former environmental lawyer turned his attention to public health and wrote numerous books that promoted baseless conspiracy theories, many of them about the use of vaccines, which ironically gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, a subject he also had conspiracy theories about.
Then there are reports about Kennedy Jr’s nonprofit group, the Children’s Health Defense, causing a measles outbreak in American Samoa in 2019 because they believed his nonsense about vaccines, leading to vaccine skepticism, which is on the rise globally and led to the death of 70 people.
You Know It’s Bad When People Actively Root For Draymond Green Against You
Combine the worst Kennedy’s track record and Gobert’s presser incident, which many believe was the catalyst to the NBA shutting down after the pro hooper caught COVID-19; it’s no wonder people are now saying on social media Draymond Green was right for putting him in a chokehold and constantly being a thorn in Gobert’s side.
The backlash to Gobert’s post on X has been epic, and honestly, we wouldn’t be shocked if it made him cry like when he got “snubbed” for participating in the 2019 NBA All-Star Game.
On top of that, Minnesota Timberwolves fans and superstar Anthony Edwards might want their overpaid big man to put down his phone and focus on basketball because he’s struggling right now, and the Timberwolves are not looking like the team they were last year.
Granted, the Timberwolves are not the same team from last year, but there were big moves made, with Karl-Anthony Towns being traded to the New York Knicks for Julius Randle, who is off to a great start, while Donte DiVincenzo struggles to fit in on his new team.
Welp.
You can see more reactions to Rudy Gobert celebrating our health going down the drain in the gallery below.
1. We understand Draymond, we understand
4. The timing is immaculate
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It looks like NBC’s signature morning show Today will be having a new, yet familiar face co-hosting after Hoda Kotb steps down in early 2025.
According to Variety, Craig Melvin will be stepping up to co-host the popular AM show after years of being a part of the show. Now that he’s been tapped to co-anchor the show from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., it shouldn’t be too hard of a transition as he’s been preparing for this role for quite some time. Still, some viewers might miss Kotb in the very beginning of Melvin’s stint, but the man is quite charismatic so we’re sure he’ll do just fine in his new and deserving role.
Per Variety:
Transitions of talent in morning TV can be fraught. Audiences come to think of the anchors as part of their daily routine, and don’t take kindly to such things being upset. At the same time, no one can anchor forever, and Kotb has cited a desire to spend more time with two young children.
“We are beyond thrilled to have Craig step into the co-anchor chair,” said Libby Leist, senior vice president of “Today,” in a statement to staff.“He’s been an integral and beloved part of our family. From breaking news coverage in the field, to presidential interviews, to multiple Olympics and Super Bowls, Craig’s shown he has the talent and the range to cover all that we do here at ‘Today.’ And he does it without ever losing that Southern charm.”
“Today” has enjoyed some recent momentum, owed in some part to NBC’s recent broadcasts of the Paris Olympics. In the past two weeks, however, “Today” captured bigger overall audiences than its main competitor, ABC’s “Good Morning America,” which typically leads in that category. “Today” has kept its lead among viewers between 25 and 54, the demographic most favored by advertisers in news programming.
We’ll be rooting for Craig Melvin.
What do y’all think of Craig Melvin getting promoted to co-anchor of NBC’s Today? Let us know in the comments section below.
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It’s no secret to anyone who is regularly on social media and is not from the land of MAGA Delulu that Elon Musk has not only eroded the value of X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, but he has turned it into a utopia of racial slurs, right-wing propaganda and shameless Trump-humping. Well, one media outlet is not about to pretend Musk hasn’t turned X into a MAGA fan page and it will no longer post on the platform because of it.
The Guardian is having none of Musk and his X-Klan (see what I did there?) shenanigans.
From Variety:
The Guardian made the announcement on Wednesday in a post on its website, writing that “the benefits of being on the platform formerly called Twitter” have now been “outweighed by the negatives.” The publication cited the “often disturbing content” found on the platform and said the way it handled last week’s U.S. presidential election — which saw Donald Trump win a second term — “crystallized” its decision.
“This is something we have been considering for a while given the often disturbing content promoted or found on the platform, including far-right conspiracy theories and racism,” the publication said. “The U.S. presidential election campaign served only to underline what we have considered for a long time: that X is a toxic media platform and that its owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use its influence to shape political discourse.”
Musk, of course, responded to the news on X by basically describing Trump but applying the definition to The Guardian, tweeting, “They are a laboriously vile propaganda machine.”
That’s rich coming from the guy who supports the guy who has been fact-checked and found to be lying more than any modern president — the same president who spent four years spreading factless and thoroughly debunked election fraud propaganda until he kicked and screamed his way back into the White House.
Shout out to The Guardian for refusing to normalize Musk, Trump and the rest of the white nationalist propagandists who are, indeed, relying on lies and bigotry to “shape political discourse.” That’s what integrity actually looks like, not that any of the aforementioned would know anything about that.
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The Onion, the long-running satirical news website that began as a print publication, has caught on in the digital media world and its parent company made a brazen move seemingly pulled from its headlines. The Onion‘s parent company purchased conspiracy theorist Alex Jones‘ InfoWars, and the “CEO” of the parent company has issued a statement.
The news was announced via The Onion and features words from Global Tetrahedron CEO Bryce P. Tetraeder, a fictitious CEO according to The Onion’s CEO, Ben Collins. That aside, Mr. Tetraeder’s statement to the world regarding the purchase of InfoWars is done in true Onion fashion.
From Bryce P. Tetraeder:
Through it all, InfoWars has shown an unswerving commitment to manufacturing anger and radicalizing the most vulnerable members of society—values that resonate deeply with all of us at Global Tetrahedron.
No price would be too high for such a cornucopia of malleable assets and minds. And yet, in a stroke of good fortune, a formidable special interest group has outwitted the hapless owner of InfoWars (a forgettable man with an already-forgotten name) and forced him to sell it at a steep bargain: less than one trillion dollars.
Make no mistake: This is a coup for our company and a well-deserved victory for multinational elites the world over.
What’s next for InfoWars remains a live issue. The excess funds initially allocated for the purchase will be reinvested into our philanthropic efforts that include business school scholarships for promising cult leaders, a charity that donates elections to at-risk third world dictators, and a new pro bono program pairing orphans with stable factory jobs at no cost to the factories.
Global Tetrahedron, which is the real name of the parent company, purchased InfoWars through a bankruptcy auction to help offset Jones’ $1 billion in defamation judgments for spreading information that the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary shooting was a hoax. Parents and backers of the shooting victims were in support of the auction and the ending of InfoWars, according to replies made by Collins on X and Bluesky
The larger play for InfoWars appears to be a shift to turn all of its hateful and unfounded content into a hub for gun violence prevention. Alex Jones also shared a video on Thursday (November 14) confirming the news.
On X, the reaction to the news is moving along and we’ve got reactions below.
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Photo: Getty
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Source: Jason Mendez / Getty / Bernice Burgos
Bernice Burgos shared some information on her hustle, which took her from being a “startender” to a successful entrepreneur, but some people are not too sure about math regarding the amount of money she made slinging drinks.
The 44-year-old social media influencer/ entrepreneur stopped by the Joe Budden Podcast to break bread with the former rapper and his crew of talkers.
During the conversation, Burgos revealed she was making outstanding money as a bartender/bottle girl at the Starlets Gentlemen’s Club in New York City.
Burgos said on a good night, she was bringing in $30,000, and on special nights, like her own birthday, she would make $70,000, which is very impressive because that is definitely not the case for all the ladies in her former line of work.
The grandmother (yes, she has a granddaughter) revealed she was able to be successful by building “real relationships” with regulars.
“I make sure I give you the bottles for $250 when they cost $350. So I’m gonna hustle,” Burgos said. “You don’t gotta tip me now. You tip me later, like throwing money. I was smart.”
Burgos also revealed that she had a plan and stuck to it during her three years of making drinks, which Budden revealed during the conversation were “trash.” She stacked her money to start her clothing line and buy a home, and that’s exactly what she accomplished.
She also shot down the notion that she made all that money without having to rely solely on her sex appeal, telling Joe Budden and co. that “I don’t do too much,” adding, “I used to be covered with a whole body suit on.”
Social Media Thinks Bernice Burgos Is Full of C A P
Of course, while some were impressed, a good number of people on social media called C A P, referring back to an old interview on The Breakfast Club in which she said she made $8,000, which is far short of the $30-$70K she claimed to be making.
Welp.
We have no clue if Bernice Burgos is lying; we’re not big on pocket-watching.
You can see more reactions to the interview below.
2. Hmmmmmm
5. Podcast math, LOL
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The happiest place on Earth for one family in distress happened to be a Disney cruise after the ship saved them from their sinking catamaran.
As reported by TMZ, a family of four was sailing more than 200 miles off the coast of Bermuda. Soon into the voyage their catamaran malfunctioned and started taking in water to which the married couple instantly released a distress signal. Luckily for them, their daughter and a cousin, The Disney Treasure, a new cruise liner, happened to be only 80 miles away. The ship deployed a lifeboat and the coast guard was able to rescue the four individuals without them suffering any injuries.
According to officials, the oldest person on the catamaran was 74 and the youngest was 24. A Disney Line representative gave further details on the incident to CBS News. “We are pleased that the Disney Treasure was able to provide aid to the boat passengers in peril. Our crew members worked together on the rescue, skillfully demonstrating their training and commitment to safety,” Disney Treasure Captain Marco Nogara said in an exclusive statement. The ship offers 1,256 staterooms and is scheduled to go on its maiden voyage to the Caribbean on Dec. 21.
You can watch footage of the rescue below.
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Oprah Winfrey is denying allegations that she took $1 million from the presidential campaign of Kamala Harris, allegations that have been repeatedly shared by social media observers.
In the wake of the presidential election loss by Vice President Kamala Harris, higher scrutiny on the Democratic Party’s spending has increased and many are looking at allegations that Oprah Winfrey personally received money from the campaign to the tune of $1 million. The allegation came as part of a report by the Washington Examiner, a conservative media outlet, which took a look at the financial output of the Harris campaign which had collected $1 billion in three months of fundraising. The Examiner reported that the campaign “paid more than $15 million, according to federal filings,” on “event production.” That included the million dollars paid to Harpo Productions, Winfrey’s company.
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Harpo Productions was responsible for putting on the “Unite For America” livestream event for Harris that aired in September and was held in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. The town hall featured celebrities such as actresses Tracee Ellis Ross and Meryl Streep among others appearing virtually. Winfrey interviewed the vice president about her stances on reproductive rights, including abortion, as well as gun control. The reports led to some online expressing their dislike of the situation, and decrying how much monetary donations and high-profile figures have gotten a say in the nation’s politics.
Other outlets picked up on the Examiner’s article and began to write that Winfrey herself had been paid that sum of one million. A reporter from TMZ confronted Oprah Winfrey on the street in a video released on Monday (November 10). “Is it true that they paid you a million dollars for the endorsement for Kamala?”, the reporter asked. “Not true,” Winfrey replied. “I did not get paid a penny. Ever.” She responded to a commenter who was defending her on Instagram, reiterating that she wasn’t personally paid and explaining how her company was paid for producing the virtual town hall.
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Source: The Washington Post / Getty
Aides to Donald Trump aren’t pleased with Elon Musk being a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago, with some declaring how “odd” it is.
According to reports, tech billionaire Elon Musk has been a constant fixture at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, for the past week unnerving those close to him. Sources have revealed that the Tesla CEO dined with the president-elect and his wife Sunday (Nov. 10), and roamed the estate with his son almost every day beginning on Election Day.
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“While Musk himself is still not expected to take any kind of formal position inside Trump’s administration, given how complicated it would be with his companies, what’s becoming clearer tonight is that he doesn’t really need to,” CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins said in a news segment. “One source told me, Elon Musk is having just as much influence from the outside.” She went on to add that Musk has been present for calls to Trump from various world leaders and that “he’s also weighing in on staffing decisions, making clear his preference for certain roles even.”
CNN tech journalist Kara Swisher confirmed the tech billionaire’s influence and aides’ reaction. “He definitely inserts himself all the time, that’s his style,” Swisher said in a report on Monday (Nov. 11). “I’ve heard from Trump people, calling me saying, ‘Oh, wow. This is odd’. And it is.” Elon Musk lent his services to aid Trump in the election’s final days, creating a political action committee (and spending over $100 million in the process) and even moving to Pennsylvania. With that support came controversy, as it was revealed that Musk has been talking with Russian President Vladimir Putin for over two years, facing pressure to comply with the authoritarian’s demands.
Trump previously promised Musk would have a significant say in his administration, but observers feel there would be an eventual ego clash leaving Musk out in the cold. “There’s room for only one star, one genius in the Trump White House,” historian David Nasaw wrote in an opinion-editorial for the New York Times. “As the president-elect has told us time and again, he is one smart fellow and a ‘very stable genius.’ He is not going to share his victory and center stage with anyone. And why should he?”