Bullet fired at man suspected of assault went through dressing room wall and struck teenager, officers sayThe Los Angeles county coroner has identified the 14-year-old girl who was shot and killed by police on Thursday while in the dressing rooms of a department store in North Hollywood.Valentina Orellana-Peralta died after being hit by a bullet which went through the wall of the dressing room at the Burlington Coat Factory store, as police officers responded to a call about an assault. Continue reading...
Arrest of Erika Wulff Jones on domestic violence charge stemmed from ‘medication imbalance’, Infowars host saysThe wife of the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was arrested on Christmas Eve on a domestic violence charge the rightwing provocateur said stemmed from a “medication imbalance”.Sheriff’s deputies booked Erika Wulff Jones into an Austin jail around 8.45pm on Friday. Jail records showed the 43-year-old faced misdemeanor charges of assault causing bodily injury to a family member and resisting arrest, search or transport. By the afternoon of Christmas Day, she had not received a bond. Continue reading...
Jared Schmeck, 35, tells Oregonian he has ‘nothing against’ president to whom he repeated ‘Fuck Joe Biden’ rightwing memeThe caller who ended a conversation with Joe Biden with the rightwing meme “Let’s go Brandon” – which means “fuck Joe Biden” – has insisted he was joking and meant no disrespect to the president.“At the end of the day I have nothing against Mr Biden,” Jared Schmeck, 35, told the Oregonian newspaper. “But I am frustrated because I think he can be doing a better job. I mean no disrespect to him.” Continue reading...
The real story this year is the explosion of digital transactions that will spawn a new economy of entrepreneurs and create trillions in wealthWhen you read about all the stories around small businesses in 2021 a few general themes quickly appear. Inflation. Supply chain. Labor shortages. Covid. All true. All relevant. All important. But all these stories are relatively short term. Inflation will, someday, be under control again. Shipping will catch up. Labor will come and go. Covid will always be around but we’ll just live with it.The reality is that there was just one story about small businesses in 2021 that’s really going to have a long-term impact. It has received much less attention and yet it will be transformational. The small business story this year is about blockchain. Because in 2021, blockchain emerged as the next big thing for entrepreneurs. It’s real and it’s happening. And smart entrepreneurs know this. Continue reading...
Like countless other adoptees in the US, outdated laws mean I still don’t know my parent’s names, ethnicities and medical historiesAt the age of 69, I am not allowed to see my original birth certificate or know the basic facts of my origin.In some private and all closed adoptions the original birth certificate is sealed by the state of California. The only way to see it is to hire a lawyer and petition the court with a “very good reason” to unseal. When I asked a clerk in Marin County, California, he couldn’t give an example of what a good reason might be, but he did say that wanting to know my origins wasn’t one of them.Anne Rudig has contributed to the New York Times and other publications. She is at work on a memoir Continue reading...
Patrick Gaspard discusses his Haitian dissident parents, meeting Mandela and protecting democracyBarack Obama could be forgiven for considering himself a big shot. But Patrick Gaspard used to keep his ego in check.“You’re of course an extraordinary historic figure but I’m sorry, this doesn’t compare,” Gaspard would joke, “meeting Nelson Mandela will always be the top of Mount Kilimanjaro for me.” Continue reading...
Harris is navigating a position that comes with great influence but few formal responsibilities – and the stakes are even higher for her compared to past vice-presidentsEarlier this month, Kamala Harris convened the inaugural meeting of the National Space Council, an important summit that brought together cabinet secretaries and top space and military officials in the sun-drenched atrium of the US Institute of Peace. Over the course of nearly two hours, the vice-president engaged the panel in discussion with real, earthly implications for national security, the climate crisis and workforce development.But attention in Washington was diverted elsewhere. At the supreme court, the justices were weighing the future of abortion rights. Republicans in Congress were threatening a government shutdown over their opposition to Covid-19 mask mandates. And as Harris spoke, public health experts confirmed the first case of the Omicron coronavirus variant in the US. Continue reading...
by Edward Helmore in Mayfield, Kentucky on (#5TCEH)
As the efforts continue to clean up debris, find victims and restore power, the storm’s scale of destruction is astoundingIn Mayfield, Kentucky, storm warnings had been coming for days, then came radar observations of a rotating storm of debris to the south, and finally urgent alerts to the imminent strike of a severe tornado.In the seconds it took for the “quad-state” storm to pass over the higher elevations of the city soon after midnight on 10 December, the notional separation between the man-made and natural world was effectively obliterated – as were large sections of Mayfield Continue reading...
The never-ending pandemic forces people to do their best to balance living a decent life and making responsible choicesWhen Sean Williams, 50, caught a breakthrough case of Covid-19 in November, he felt guilty and embarrassed. His 14-year-old tested positive, too; both were “double-vaxxed” and probably caught it from his 11-year-old daughter, who got it in school two days before her scheduled first vaccination.“It’s impossible to talk about without going through this whole tortured thing about how careful you were before you got it,” says Williams, who lives with his family in New York City. “Also, this horrible feeling that you have to stutter your way through a clarification that you do believe in science, you did get vaccinated, you’re, like, not a fascist, even. It’s landmines all the way down.” Continue reading...
Droughts, wildfires, bomb cyclones: it was a year of extremes – and scientists say it’s a likely taste of what’s to comeEven before summer heatwaves sent temperatures soaring across the west, lakebeds had already begun ceding ground to the cracked, dried earth.Rings showed around reservoirs where water levels fell to historic lows, verdant hillsides took on brown hues, and trees became tinder in forests primed to burn. The conditions fueled unstoppable fires that grew large and ferocious enough to create their own weather patterns.
This year’s political pantomime served up a rich cast of characters, with The Donald providing the laughs and Xi Jinping as the baddest baddie of them all (oh yes he is!)Would Donald Trump make a good pantomime dame? His orange face, crazy talk, weird hair and baggy, saggy outfits are a natural fit for Mother Goose or Widow Twankey. Choleric, chaotic, always changeable, Trump might find cross-dressing a challenge. Then again, maybe not.The future role of America’s “very stable genius” is but one of many dramatic questions marking the end of a grim year when politics frequently descended into dark farce. World leaders too often served up political pantomime, not serious, sensible statecraft. You had to laugh, or else you’d cry. Continue reading...
The California native also helped create the popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise in a lifetime working for MattelT Mark Taylor, artist and toy designer for the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe franchise as well as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, has died of heart failure at his home in southern California. He was 80.He-Man was the muscled frontman for toy manufacturer Mattel’s Masters of the Universe franchise, which would later spawn an animated series that became a staple for children. Continue reading...
Warm weather could make this the hottest December on record for many cities in the region, including Dallas and New OrleansAbout 200 temperature records in the US may be broken over the next several days as warm air across Texas and the south-east is predicted to bring spring or even summer-like conditions, making Christmas Day likely to be the warmest in 50 to 100 years in some areas.The temperatures could make this the warmest December on record for many cities in the region including Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, St Louis, Kansas City and Chicago. Continue reading...
Cheap street pizza is one of New York’s charms, but could supply chain problems and inflation this spell the end?“Well, you can never go wrong with bread, cheese and tomato,” Lou Reed, poet of the New York streets, would sometimes remark as he passed by one of the city’s multitude of pizzerias.The late musician was a fan of Coney Island’s legendary Totonno’s, close to the site of of one of the first recorded pizza parlors established by Italian immigrants in the 1880s. Continue reading...
Sara Trost, from Southend, Essex, fatally wounded as she waited to show property in Coral SpringsA British woman who worked as an estate agent in Florida has been shot dead while preparing to show a property, allegedly by an evicted tenant.Sara Trost, 40, from Southend, Essex, was shot on Thursday while sitting in her Jeep outside a house in Coral Springs, 40 miles north of Miami, at about 12.33pm. Continue reading...
by Gabrielle Canon in Los Angeles; Graphics by Rashid on (#5TC0M)
A historic drought and record-breaking heatwaves combined to spark blazed that burned nearly 7.7m acres this year2021 proved another disastrous fire year for the American west.Amid a historic drought and record-breaking heatwaves, wildfires that erupted across the US burned close to 7.7m acres. Some broke records that had only recently been set. And while the amount of land burned this year didn’t reach 2020 levels, a troubling new trend emerged: fires are getting harder to fight.Wildfires used to be largely confined to a four-month period but the threats are now felt through the year. By 21 June, close to 29,000 wildfires had already ignited across the US – roughly 4,000 more than average years according to the National Interagency Fire Center.The threats didn’t subside after the summer and autumn. Blazes burned through Montana and Colorado into December this year and fire weather warnings prompted power safety shutoffs in southern California over the Thanksgiving holiday in late November. Continue reading...
Whether it’s a sixpence in your pud or a buck’s fizz on Christmas morning, rituals old and new have special meaningIn uncertain times, there’s a lot to be said for Christmas traditions. Tastes and smells, like familiar tunes, can instantly transport you back to childhood. Food matters, especially at Christmas – and tradition is part of the reason why it packs such a punch.Let’s start with the stocking. Gone are white sugar mice and candy cigarettes, replaced by gummy bears and chocolate reindeer poo. But it’s good to know the traditional tangerine – usually left to rot under the bed – continues to have its place for my own kids. The chocolate coins remain. The story goes that three sisters unable to afford a dowry were doomed to be sold into loveless marriages. Wishing to keep his donation anonymous, and inspired to act, the 4th-century Saint Nicholas secretly dropped coins down the chimney into stockings they’d left drying by the fire. I’m not sure anyone knows how it turned out for the girls, but clearly a colossal fail for St Nick’s wish to remain anonymous.Sam Wydymus is a British chef, restaurateur and writer based in France Continue reading...
If someone asks me why, I reach for the word velleity – desiring things you cannot hope to getI keep a list of words that are strange to me. Any time I find one I half-know or do not recognise, it goes in the list. I find its existence reassuring, as if having more words at my disposal will make it easier to decode whatever confusing things happen to me each day.The best word on my list is velleity. I found it in Don DeLillo’s Underworld (1997), in a section where a Jesuit priest is explaining to the main character, Nick Shay, the value of knowing the names for those things in danger of being lost to eternity. The priest teaches the word “velleity” to Nick. “Volition at its lowest ebb,” he calls it. “A small thing, a wish, a tendency.” He uses it in relation to his own life, to express regret at how it has passed. He has prayed a lot, sure, but what tangible things has he done in this world?Lamorna Ash is the author of Dark, Salt, Clear: Life in a Cornish Fishing Town Continue reading...
US president and first lady’s visit was a surprise for patients and staff and was first visit to the hospital by a sitting presidentDespite surging Omicron cases of the coronavirus in the US, Joe and Jill Biden made an unannounced joint visit to a children’s hospital in Washington DC on Christmas Eve.The US president’s visit to Children’s National Hospital was a surprise for patients and staff, the White House reported, and was believed to be the first visit to the institution by a sitting president. Continue reading...
Everyday hauntings suggest that ordinary life is no less sacred than within the walls of a churchWhen you’re a kid, Christmas is about the presents. Now middle age has made me maudlin, it still is about the presents – but in a different way. It’s about people’s presence as much as the gifts they give.Cue the eye roll, sure. But I’m serious. Even if Christmas is stripped of religious significance for many Australians, our relationship with treasured gifts gives us away. If we get sentimental about our things, it’s because we treat them sacramentally – as bearers of the presence of another. So even the biggest agnostic may be kind of religious without realising it. Continue reading...
The Pacific Northwest faces a prolonged cold snap with heavy snow predicted for the mountains and even coastal citiesTwo people have died in a submerged car, evacuations have been ordered for wildfire-scarred California, and Seattle and Portland face the rare chance of snowy streets as a wave of storms rolled through the western United States.The new storms, which could drop rain and snow over much of the region into next week and plunge the Pacific Northwest into a lengthy cold snap, follow a now-departed atmospheric river that delivered copious amounts of precipitation this week. Continue reading...
The saying has became an internet sensation as a coded vulgarity among Trump supportersA vulgar anti-Biden slogan made for an awkward moment on Friday during Joe Biden’s phone calls with children tracking Santa’s flight when a father said, “Let’s Go Brandon.”The refrain, a sanitized version of “Fuck Joe Biden,” has been an internet sensation since a television journalist told race car driver Brandon Brown that a Nascar crowd shouting the vulgarity was actually saying, “Let’s go Brandon.” Continue reading...
Ruby Freeman and daughter claim they became center of unfounded conspiracy theories and were singled out by TrumpTwo former Georgia election workers have filed a defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump’s ex-lawyer Rudy Giuliani, the rightwing One America News Network and several of its senior executives, claiming the workers became the target of vote-rigging conspiracy theories that put them in physical danger and threatened their livelihoods.During the 2020 election, Ruby Freeman and daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss worked as poll workers counting ballots at State Farm Arena in Fulton county, Georgia. They claim they became the center of a series of unfounded conspiracy theories promoted by former New York mayor Giuliani, who was then serving as an advisor to Trump, and several top employees at the California-based OAN news network. Continue reading...
A group of students in Washington DC watch as their teacher, Kathleen Fitzpatrick, cooly makes a basketball shot from across the court. Fitzpatrick, known as 'Ms Fitz' to her students, had promised hot chocolates for all if she made the shot
Female trooper said she felt ‘completely violated’ by former New York governor’s unwanted touching at event in September 2019Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo won’t face criminal charges after a female state trooper said she felt “completely violated” by his unwanted touching at an event in September 2019, a Long Island prosecutor announced.Acting Nassau county district attorney Joyce Smith said in a statement that an investigation found the allegations against Cuomo “credible, deeply troubling, but not criminal under New York law”.Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html Continue reading...
Biden had barred nearly all non-US citizens who had recently been in the countries, over concerns about the Covid variantThe Biden administration will lift travel restrictions on eight southern African countries imposed last month over concerns about the fast-spreading Covid-19 Omicron variant, the White House said Friday.Foreign nationals who are barred from the US because they have been in one of the eight countries within the prior 14 days will again be allowed on US-bound flights leaving after 12.01am US east coast time on 31 December, a senior official said, confirming an earlier Reuters report. Continue reading...
Experts call for public health measures beyond vaccines as health workers describe a ‘war zone’As the highly transmissible Omicron variant began to surge across Colorado this month, Governor Jared Polis adopted a laissez-faire tone. Asked in a radio interview about the possibility of reinstating a statewide mask mandate, he replied that, with Covid vaccines now widely available, getting sick was the “own darn fault” of the unvaccinated.But health workers at hospitals in parts of Colorado that have been overwhelmed by coronavirus patients in recent weeks say they’re bracing for even worse. Continue reading...
Black Americans had 6.7% unemployment rate in November as economists unsurprised by disparityEven as economists celebrated a job market recovery seen from the beginning of the pandemic, when unemployment peaked at 14.8%, to November when unemployment was 4.2%, Black Americans have continued to see a much higher jobless rate.In November, Black Americans had an unemployment rate of 6.7%, while the unemployment rate for white Americans was 3.5%. The gap is even more pronounced between men: Black men had an unemployment rate of 7.3% in November while white men saw an unemployment rate of 3.4%. Continue reading...
With the festive season upon us, we reflect on reasons for football fans to be thankful as the year draws to an endPicking results on a Sunday has been impossible at times with the 2021 season giving every fan at one stage or another a left-field result to revel in. Schadenfreude is very much included in your stocking this year. Detroit’s 30-12 upset thrashing of the Arizona Cardinals last week, the league’s worst team at kickoff beating the joint-best, last may be the finest, freakish morsel to be dissected ad infinitum with us forever shouting: ‘But how Jared Goff?’ into the void. But ‘tis the season so treat yourself to the one-win Jaguars beating the Super Bowl-chasing Bills 9-6 in week nine, or seek out Tennessee’s quintuple turnover tire fire from 21 November as they lost 22-13 to the ... Texans. You would prefer something a little more exquisite? Stay put in week 11 for the anti-vax bowl featuring Minnesota’s upfront pseudo-scientist Kirk Cousins going toe-to-toe with Joe Rogan’s Igor, Aaron Rodgers, in a deliciously painful shootout for the Packers. The greatest joy is the strangest results may still be waiting for us in the lead up to the expanded playoffs. The bubble still shockingly includes Seattle, Atlanta and Washington in the NFC. Stay indoors this Christmas and stare into the abyss, it looks like Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement tour added an extra date in February. Continue reading...
Research identifies at least 262 bills were introduced in 41 states this year with the intent to hijack the election processThe Republican assault on free and fair elections instigated by Donald Trump is gathering pace, with efforts to sabotage the normal workings of American democracy sweeping state legislatures across the US.A year that began with the violent insurrection at the US Capitol is ending with an unprecedented push to politicize, criminalize or in other ways subvert the nonpartisan administration of elections. A year-end report from pro-democracy groups identifies no fewer than 262 bills introduced in 41 states that hijack the election process. Continue reading...
Analysis: charges could be well founded given Trump’s incendiary remarks to a rally before the Capitol attack and aggressive pressuring of officialsExpectation is growing that Donald Trump might face charges for trying to obstruct Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election this year as a House panel collects more evidence into the 6 January attack on the Capitol, former prosecutors and other experts say.Speculation about possible charges against the former US president has been heightened by a recent rhetorical bombshell from Republican representative and 6 January panel vice-chair Liz Cheney suggesting the House panel is looking at whether Trump broke a law that bars obstruction of “official proceedings”. Continue reading...
As Mariah Carey and Wham continue to rule the yuletide charts with decades-old songs, it seems many contenders have abandoned the festive fightTo me, the Christmas season doesn’t start when offices close. It’s not when the first person on the street turns on the Christmas lights, or even once the Christmas pageant has been held.It’s the first day I hear a carol. Continue reading...
A teacher who promised her students hot chocolate if she landed a half-court shot has been lauded a ‘superhero’A group of third-grade students were treated to an early Christmas surprise when their teacher made an impressive basketball shot from across the court and celebrated the win with hot chocolates.Kathleen Fitzpatrick, known as Ms Fitz to her students, promised hot chocolates for all if she made the improbable shot in Washington DC earlier this week. Continue reading...
Joan Didion, the eminent journalist, author and documenter of contemporary America, has died from Parkinson’s at the age of 87. Known for her pioneering blend of the personal and the political in her journalism and essays, Didion became a household name with her writing on US society that was collected in books including Slouching Towards Bethlehem and The White Album
Ex-officer maintained during trial that she made a mistake when she grabbed her gun instead of her TaserThe jury in the manslaughter trial of former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter, who shot dead 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in April 2021, has found her guilty.The former police officer, who is white, had maintained that she made a tragic mistake when she grabbed her gun, instead of her Taser, and shot Wright, who was Black, when he was pulled over while driving in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center. Continue reading...
An appeals court ruled against the former US president two weeks ago but prohibited documents from being turned overDonald Trump turned to the supreme court Thursday in a last-ditch effort to keep documents away from the House committee investigating the 6 January insurrection at the Capitol.A federal appeals court ruled against the former US president two weeks ago, but prohibited documents held by the National Archives from being turned over before the supreme court had a chance to weigh in. Trump appointed three of the nine justices. Continue reading...
A letter organized by Martin Luther King III and his wife comes after Republicans successfully filibustered bills four times this yearMore than 800 faith leaders have called on the Biden administration and Senate Democrats to pass voting rights legislation next year.“We cannot be clearer, you must act now to protect every American’s freedom to vote without interference and with confidence that their ballot will be counted and honored. Passing comprehensive voting rights legislation must be the number-one priority of the administration and Congress,” faith leaders said in a letter addressed to the president and Senate members on Wednesday. Continue reading...
Wyomia Tyus made Olympic history and paved the way for athlete activists, but never became a household nameOnly six people in the world have won the 100m dash in back-to-back Olympic Games. The first was Wyomia Tyus in 1964 and 1968. Next was Carl Lewis, then Gail Devers, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Usain Bolt (who won three times in a row), and Elaine Thompson-Herah. To many people, the name Wyomia Tyus is less familiar than the others.Tyus was not only the first Olympian to win back-to-back gold in its prestige event – she also made history in other ways. At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, when Tyus crossed the line first in the 100 meters, she set a world record of 11.08 seconds. And when she ran, she was wearing dark shorts instead of the team-issued white shorts, a gesture to show her support for human rights. Continue reading...
James Franco has acknowledged sleeping with students of an acting school he previously ran, saying he struggled with a sex addiction and has been working to improve his behaviour in recent years.In excerpts from The Jess Cagle Podcast on Sirius XM made public on Wednesday, Franco, 43, said that while teaching he 'did sleep with students, and that was wrong'. He said he had not started the school to lure women for sexual purposes
Tennis player with a remarkable 21 grand slam titles to her name who was a tenacious force on court in the 1950s and 60sFor a tennis player of such high achievement, Darlene Hard, who has died aged 85, was never really given her due. In an era that started with the domination of Louise Brough and Doris Hart and continued through such outstanding champions as Althea Gibson, Margaret Smith Court and Maria Bueno, Hard’s remarkable record of winning 21 grand slam titles – three in singles, 13 in doubles and five in mixed doubles – tended to get lost amid the blazing headlines that her rivals attracted.A happy, fun-loving personality off court, Hard was a tenacious force on it. In the days when top male players automatically played doubles and mixed, she had her pick of partners – a sure sign of the respect with which she was held. “Yes, I think she just came and asked me if I wanted to play with her at Wimbledon,” Rod Laver said. “I had seen her play and saw how well she served and volleyed which we all did in those days, so I thought I’d give it a go although I never really rated myself as a doubles player.” Continue reading...
In light of the more transmissible coronavirus variant, should people alter their plans? Our experts give their adviceNearly two years into the pandemic, Angela Rasmussen was looking forward to a more typical Christmas with her family. She was planning to fly from Canada back to the US, hoping that preventative measures would be enough to keep everyone safe.And then Omicron hit. Continue reading...
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