Latest

News Clint Chan Tack Just Now Former police commissioner Gary Griffith – FORMER commissioner of police (CoP) Gary Griffith has expressed concern that the decision to relocate inmates from prisons to military facilities at Teteron Barracks and Staubles Bay in Chaguaramas during the state of emergency (SoE), represents a surrender to the criminals. Griffith is

News Jada Loutoo Just Now FLASHBACK: In this April 26, 2024 photo Faris Al-Rawi, Rural Development and Local Government minister, Cepep chairman Joel Edwards and CEO Keith Eddy chat at the company’s Health Safety Security and Environment Exhibition at its Ste Madeleine headquarters. – FILE PHOTO CEPEP Company Ltd CEO Keith Eddy has sworn that

Posted at 8:00 AM, July 20, 2025 LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department is recommending that an ex-Kentucky police officer convicted of using excessive force during the deadly Breonna Taylor raid serve no prison time, an abrupt about-face after spending years prosecuting the former detective. Brett Hankison is the only officer who fired his weapon the night of the March 2020 botched drug raid who has faced criminal charges. His shots didn’t hit or injure anyone, though they flew through Taylor’s walls into a neighboring apartment. FILE – Former Louisville Police officer Brett Hankison examines a document as he answers questions from the prosecution, March 2, 2022, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, Pool, File) A federal judge will decide Hankison’s sentence, which could amount to several years, on Monday at a hearing. But if the judge heeds the Justice Department’s request, it would mean that none of the Louisville police officers involved in the botched raid would face any prison time. Court TV’s Trial Archives | KY v. Brett Hankison: Breonna Taylor Botched Raid Trial The Justice Department, which has changed leadership under President Donald Trump since Hankison’s conviction, said in a sentencing memo this week that “there is no need for a prison sentence to protect the public” from Hankison. Federal prosecutors asked the judge to sentence him to time already served, which amounts to one day, and three years of supervised probation. Prosecutors at his previous federal trials aggressively pursued a conviction against Hankison, 49, arguing that he blindly fired 10 shots into Taylor’s windows without identifying a target. Taylor was shot in her hallway by two other officers after her boyfriend fired from inside the apartment, striking an officer in the leg. But in the sentencing memo, federal prosecutors wrote that though Hankison’s “response in these fraught circumstances was unreasonable given the benefit of hindsight, that unreasonable response did not kill or wound Breonna Taylor, her boyfriend, her neighbors, defendant’s fellow officers, or anyone else.” Activists who protested in the streets after Taylor’s death in 2020 seized on the narrative that, under the Department of Justice recommendation, Hankison would serve just one day in jail for the conviction. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who helped Taylor’s family secure a $12 million wrongful death settlement against the city of Louisville, said the Justice Department’s recommendation “is an insult to the life of Breonna Taylor and a blatant betrayal of the jury’s decision.” “Recommending just one day in prison sends the unmistakable message that white officers can violate the civil rights of Black Americans with near-total impunity,” Crump said in a statement on social media. Shameka Parrish-Wright, who marched in numerous protests and ran for mayor after Taylor’s death, called the Justice Department’s memo “a devastating slap in the face.” “To those directly impacted and to everyone who understands the broader systemic failures this case revealed, one day behind bars does not suffice,” Parrish-Wright, now a Louisville city council member, said in a media release. “This is not justice.” FILE – Tamika Palmer, center, the mother of Breonna Taylor, leads a march through the streets of downtown Louisville on the one year anniversary of Taylor’s death on March 13, 2021, in Louisville, Ky.  (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File) Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said Hankison’s conviction “warrants a serious prison sentence.” A presentence report from the U.S. Probation Office said Hankison should face a range of 135 to 168 months imprisonment on the excessive force conviction, according to the memo. But federal prosecutors said a number of factors — including that Hankison’s two other trials ended with no convictions — should greatly reduce the potential punishment. The memorandum was submitted by Harmeet Dhillon, the chief of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and a political appointee of Trump, who in May moved to cancel settlements with Louisville and Minneapolis that had called for an overhaul of their police departments. In the Taylor case, three other ex-Louisville police officers have been charged with crafting a falsified warrant, but they have not yet gone to trial. None of them were at the scene when Taylor was shot. The death of the 26-year-old Black woman, along with the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, sparked racial injustice protests nationwide that year. A separate jury deadlocked on federal charges against Hankison in 2023, and he was acquitted on state charges of wanton endangerment in 2022. Read More

Former right-wing commentator Lauren Southern says she’s not a white nationalist. Self-described misogynist Andrew Tate says he’s not a rapist. Despite this, white nationalists sure were fans of Southern’s work, and people with questionable views about coercive sex feel the same way about Tate’s. In her memoir, Southern shows the sort of self-awareness that modern conservatives only exhibit when something bad happens to them personally. This past week, Southern accused Tate of raping her. Tate denies this. The accusations came via excerpts from Southern’s forthcoming self-published memoir, which she released for free on her Substack, she says, to avoid accusations that she is trying to profit off the story. Southern says that she and some business associates met the Tate brothers in Romania in 2018, under the impression that the Tates were potential investors in a media venture. Southern later joined the Tates at a nightclub, she writes, where she says she felt extremely drowsy after accepting drinks from the group. Southern says Tate carried her back to a hotel room, and then, she writes: “He kissed me. I wasn’t expecting it, and I wasn’t looking for it, but I kissed him back briefly and then told him I wanted to sleep. I was extraordinarily tired. He wanted to go further. I said no, very clearly, multiple times, and tried to pull his hands off me. He put his arm around my neck and began strangling me unconscious. I tried to fight back. He repeatedly strangled me every time I regained enough consciousness to pull at his arms. I’d prefer not to share the rest. It’s pretty obvious.” Although The New York Times made attempts to corroborate some of the details — it interviewed friends and associates whom she’d told what had happened shortly thereafter, and she provided the paper with a form indicating that she sought some follow-up medical care and considered pursuing charges — the truth of what actually happened between Tate and Southern will likely never be known for sure. A lawyer for Tate told the Times Southern’s account is “textbook extortion. She is lying through her teeth,” and also posted a statement on X denying Southern’s account. Tate is currently under a number of investigations in different countries, including for allegations of human trafficking, rape and assault in the U.K., and human trafficking and money laundering in Romania. He was kicked off the U.K. edition of “Big Brother” in 2016 by production companies after it came to light that he was the subject of an investigation of rape and sexual assault by U.K. authorities at the time (he has denied the allegations). He has publicly advocated for sexual coercion and calls himself an avowed misogynist. The BBC reported that he once texted a woman who had accused him of raping and strangling her, “I love raping u.” He denies all wrongdoing. He declined to comment when asked about the text. In addition to Southern’s racist and xenophobic oeuvre — her most well-known work includes perpetuating the myth of South African “white genocide” and writing “F— Islam” on her face with lipstick during a “makeup tutorial video” — Southern has long made hay mocking the idea of rape culture. One of her early viral videos from around 2015 featured her telegenically declaring that she was not a feminist, because feminism ignored how often men are raped (she leaves out the fact that men are still the ones doing just about all of the rape). She’s claimed that the real victims of rape culture are men who are falsely accused. She pulled up to an anti-rape demonstration for survivors in Vancouver in 2015 with a sign that read “There is no rape culture in the West,” and encouraged marchers who wanted to encounter “real rape culture” to check out Africa. In her memoir, Southern shows the sort of self-awareness that modern conservatives only exhibit when something bad happens to them personally. She reflects on how the encounter with Tate messed with her head, how she tried to remain on good terms with him even after he’d allegedly brutalized her. She still doesn’t hate him, she claims, writing: “I have forgiven him, truly. But that doesn’t mean he should be free to keep hurting, tormenting, and scamming others.” An Atlantic profile from 2020 portrayed Southern as a canny young woman who would good-naturedly laugh at sexist jokes, and would gamely wave off Gavin McInnes’ repeated attempts to drunkenly proposition her. McInnes was married at the time. In a rebuke to the Atlantic piece published on website, Southern said that her profiler had repeatedly tried to get her to accuse McInnes of more extensive sexual misconduct, to contribute to a #MeToo hit piece on the Proud Boys founder. In the years since she formally stepped back from political commentary, Southern has been candid about some moments of growth. In that same response, Southern depicts her own actions as valiant: Despite bullying and pressure from mainstream news media, her virtue — let men do whatever and just, like, be cool with it — remained intact. In the years since she formally stepped back from political commentary, Southern has been candid about some moments of growth, especially after her husband left her with a small child after less than two years of “tradlife” marriage. But despite all of the ways that far-right men have belittled her, objectified her or used her youth, beauty and femininity as cover for their misogyny, Southern continues to cape for them in her writing. She Doesn’t Hate Andrew Tate. She’s Not Hurt by Gavin McInnes. Hell, she still had a few nice things to say of Atlantic writer Daniel Lombroso, even though she says he wanted her to “manufacture sexual trauma for clicks.” Since Southern’s accusation against Tate, it seems that not a single one of the men she has worked with, or for, has publicly defended her. Back in 2024, when screenshots of text messages alluding to the Tate-Southern encounter began circulating, one outlet referred

‘Reclaim the Flag’: Jim Parsons discusses new film on LGBTQ+ identity & the American flag 10:28 DOJ’s demand for voter data is raising alarms 09:28 Trump’s libel lawsuit pits him against media mogul Rupert Murdoch: ‘This is his M.O.’ 08:36 ‘They used to be a lot more subtle’ with gerrymandering: Fmr Rep. Allred slams Texas redistricting 06:54 NEW: Deported makeup artist FREED in prisoner swap with Venezuela 02:33 Now Playing UP NEXT Fmr. Federal Prosecutor: It is ‘extremely unlikely’ court will release Epstein grand jury records 11:14 ‘Devastating’ for rural America: Former NPR President condemns slashing of radio funding 07:10 ‘Republicans want it released too’: Dem lawmaker on bipartisan resolution demanding release of Epstein files 10:53 Immigration expert: ICE’s Medicaid move is about ‘stripping U.S. citizenship’ for deportation 06:19 Experts weigh in on ‘political theater’ of Trump’s war with MAGA over the Epstein files 12:07 Dozens injured after vehicle drives into crowd outside of L.A. club 00:39 ‘Even Steve Bannon’ is worried: Trump disapproval soars amid Epstein controversy 08:05 ‘They have the best defense you can buy’: WSJ readies for Trump-Epstein libel lawsuit 13:02 ‘He’s slipping’: Trump immigration approval plummets amid mass deportation efforts 09:40 ‘The consequences have been extraordinary’: Ex-FBI agent speaks out on Trump DOJ purge 14:17 ‘We have animals in better conditions’: Florida Dem decries Trump’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ center 08:10 ‘Least experienced cabinet’ U.S. has ever seen: Rep. Vindman slams the brightest of Trump’s Admin 10:24 ‘How is this even legal?’: Experts react to shocking new ICE memo 09:24 Political Analyst: handling of Epstein case could be ‘a threat to Trumpism’ 13:32 The Weekend ‘Reclaim the Flag’: Jim Parsons discusses new film on LGBTQ+ identity & the American flag 10:28 DOJ’s demand for voter data is raising alarms 09:28 Trump’s libel lawsuit pits him against media mogul Rupert Murdoch: ‘This is his M.O.’ 08:36 ‘They used to be a lot more subtle’ with gerrymandering: Fmr Rep. Allred slams Texas redistricting 06:54 NEW: Deported makeup artist FREED in prisoner swap with Venezuela 02:33 Now Playing ‘The audacity’: Rep. Jones on Kristi Noem telling reporter ‘don’t you dare’ say ICE targets Latinos 08:30 Read More

America has long had daddy issues with the presidency, but now they’re threatening to undermine democracy. It started with George Washington: “the father of our country,” as we’re all taught, though he had no children of his own. In recent years, it’s included Bill Clinton, whose biological father died before he was born and who fought with his stepfather; George W. Bush, one of two presidents whose fathers were also presidents; and Barack Obama, who wrote a whole book about a father he barely knew. He’s convinced his supporters that he’s something of a surrogate father to them — and the country. For his part, Donald Trump took over his father Fred’s real estate business and adopted Fred Trump’s strict “winners and losers” mentality. He’s a father of five kids by three mothers. And he’s convinced his supporters that he’s something of a surrogate father to them — and to the country — in a troubling use of rhetoric. At first, the framing was just about Trump returning to the White House, which was unsettling but made a bit of sense. At a pre-inauguration event, musician Kid Rock added the words “daddy’s home” to the song he was performing. Around the same time, die-hard MAGA Republican Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida said on a Fox News panel “Daddy’s back,” Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado tweeted “Daddy’s home,” and conservative influencer Charlie Kirk posted, “Dad is home.” Things heated up in June. When discussing Trump’s expletive-laden comment on Israel and Iran, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte used a metaphor: “Daddy has to sometimes use strong language.” Trump ate it up with a spoon, imitating it for the cameras later. “He did it very affectionately, ‘Daddy, you’re my daddy,’” he said. The White House then posted video of Trump set to Usher’s song “Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home),” while the campaign sold red T-shirts with the word “DADDY” beneath his mug shot. But for some of Trump’s fans, there’s a darker undercurrent to the rhetoric. After the California wildfires burned down his home in Malibu, conservative actor Mel Gibson described Trump visiting the state as “like Daddy’s arrived, and he’s taking his belt off.” At a 2024 campaign rally, conservative commentator Tucker Carlson compared the U.S. to a defiant 15-year-old girl whose angry father has come home go give her a “vigorous spanking” for being a “bad little girl.” That lines up neatly with an argument cognitive linguist George Lakoff made in his 1996 book “Moral Politics” that American politics is built around an overwrought parenting metaphor, with conservatives serving as the “strict father” and liberals as the “nurturant parent.” This frame explains a lot about Trump’s political agenda. Just as the strict father defends the family against outside threats, Trump pledges to protect the country from immigrants that he casts as violent criminals. His cuts to everything from foreign aid to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to Medicaid are framed as “tough love” that will teach self-reliance. And, of course, strict fathers expect total obedience from their children — which has unsettling implications for the future of American democracy. There are several ways to respond. For people seeking favors from Trump, it makes sense to play it up. Rutte, who is surely hoping to keep the United States from leaving or otherwise disregarding NATO, earned a lot of goodwill from the president with that one remark. The downside is that this only encourages Trump to see himself this way and it validates his self-image among his supporters. Critics also use the language to mock Trump, as when a Democratic state lawmaker in Texas criticized his colleagues for considering a proposal pushed by the president as doing “whatever Daddy Donald Trump asks of them.” This works as a way of criticizing other politicians by making them seem weak by comparison and highlights the weirdness of the whole “daddy” thing to the president’s critics. But it doesn’t do much to undermine his support. Another tactic would be to argue that the frame is wrong, like literally every person who has tapped out “Trump is NOT my daddy” on social media after someone called him that. But like most of what’s posted on social media, this doesn’t do much to persuade anyone and only ends up giving the metaphor more exposure. Instead of refuting a metaphor this way, Lakoff recommends instead “shifting the frame” to a new one, but this particular one is so ingrained in American politics that may not be so easy. You could argue that Trump is more like a dad who doesn’t live up to his obligations. Another possibility would be to go after the metaphor directly. You could argue that Trump is not like a beneficent father, but more like a dad who doesn’t live up to his obligations to keep the family safe, manage its finances and provide basic support. You can tell his supporters that it’s not their fault that he let them down and affirm their disappointment. And you can point the way toward an alternative model of presidents who keeps up their end of the bargain. In the real world, strict parenting works in the short term, as children learn to be compliant, like the von Trapps responding to a whistle. But in the long run it usually fails, as they come to resent their parents for stifling them. We may find a similar thing happens in politics. Trump is demanding obedience now, and all too often getting it. But there will likely be a cost to that down the road, for both Trump and the country. Ryan Teague Beckwith Ryan Teague Beckwith is a newsletter editor for MSNBC. He has previously worked for such outlets as Time magazine and Bloomberg News. He teaches journalism at Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies and is the creator of Your First Byline. Read More

Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears hoped winning the Republican nomination for governor of Virginia last month would help her party move past a primary season defined by lurid sex scandals and a boiling MAGA turf war. Instead, Earle-Sears is wrapping up her first month as nominee with a major campaign shake-up — and the GOP brand is facing an unprecedented losing streak. On Thursday, Earle-Sears asked her campaign manager, Will Archer, to step aside. A pastor by trade, Archer had never managed a campaign or participated in politics before. When campaign finance filings published this week showed Democrat Abigail Spanberger outraising Earle-Sears by 2-to-1, Republican leaders finally convinced their candidate it was time to part with her inexperienced staffer. Campaign finance filings published this week showed Democrat Abigail Spanberger outraising Earle-Sears by 2-to-1. Earle-Sears’ campaign reshuffle comes at a moment when Virginia’s Republicans are trying, and failing, to convince voters they’re still a functional party. That’s proving a lot harder than Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Earle-Sears planned, because the state GOP just can’t seem to stop embarrassing itself in public. Some fumbles have been especially striking. After nearly a decade topping the ranks of CNBC’s Top States for Business, Virginia just lost its coveted first place spot to neighboring North Carolina. It’s a ranking Youngkin takes seriously, to the point that he made attracting new businesses and defending the state’s ranking a key element of his 2021 campaign strategy. Safeguarding Virginia’s economic miracle was supposed to be Youngkin’s defining legacy. Good luck selling Virginians on the GOP’s know-how today, when local magazines publish discount sections for laid-off federal workers and rural communities across the state brace for sweeping hospital and clinic closures. Far from being the governor who brightened Virginia’s economic flame, Youngkin is now permanently tarred in voters’ minds by his defense of President Donald Trump’s unpopular federal job cuts. It’s a reputation toxic enough to drag down his entire party. Republicans are starting to see voters’ skepticism in their dwindling pool of political contributions. Spanberger’s $10.7 million in donations this quarter is nearly double Earle-Sears’ own $5.9 million haul. Those fundraising shortfalls cost Archer his job this week, but swapping out campaign staff won’t suddenly make Republican policies popular. And the numbers get even worse the deeper you go. The campaign for lieutenant governor is also proving to be an absolute disaster for the GOP. In that race, scandal-plagued Republican nominee John Reid has seemingly given up fundraising at all. Reid raised only about $440,000 last quarter and only has $163,082 on hand, compared to Democratic nominee state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi’s $3.4 million. Hashmi also has nearly 10 times as much cash on hand as Reid. At a time in the campaign when Republicans should be putting Democrats on the defensive, the GOP’s top two candidates are scrambling to keep the lights on. Virginians are getting a free preview of the mismanagement, disorder and chaos that would dominate an Earle-Sears administration. Virginia’s Democrats would like to make sure every voter gets a good, long look at Republicans’ political circus, and they’ve just got a huge assist from the Democratic National Committee. On July 15, DNC Chairman Ken Martin announced a $1.5 million contribution to Democratic Party of Virginia, a notable sum for the national party to invest in an off-year state race and a sign of confidence in the party’s chances in November. That money will build campaign infrastructure and hire staff in key legislative districts, ultimately allowing Democrats to reach more voters more effectively. Republicans’ problems are multiplied by the fact that Democrats are competing in every House of Delegates district this year, forcing cash-strapped Republicans to spend more money on more races for longer than anyone budgeted. At their current fundraising levels, GOP officials will soon need to make tough choices about where to cut back — just as the DNC’s $1.5 million cash infusion hits Democratic campaign accounts. While Democrats prepare to embark on a summer spending spree, Earle-Sears’ campaign is busy fending off accusations from a top MAGA official that her campaign is a “clown car” skidding towards disaster. Spanberger and Democrats have leapt into the lead by making this year’s election a referendum on competence. Virginia’s dysfunctional Republicans don’t stand a chance. Max Burns Max Burns is a Democratic strategist and founder of Third Degree Strategies. Find him on X, @themaxburns. Read More

July 18, 2025, 5:11 PM EDT / Updated July 18, 2025, 7:28 PM EDT By Steve Benen As the public first learned of The Wall Street Journal’s report on Donald Trump’s alleged 2003 birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein, the president responded with unsubtle threats. “President Trump will be suing The Wall Street Journal, NewsCorp, and Mr. Murdoch, shortly,” he wrote online, referring to himself in the third person for reasons unknown. The Republican added soon after, “The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein. These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures. I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn’t print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I’m going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper.” It seems he wasn’t kidding. CNBC reported: President Donald Trump on Friday followed through on his threat to sue media mogul Rupert Murdoch after his Wall Street Journal published an article saying that Trump sent Jeffrey Epstein a ‘bawdy’ letter for Epstein’s 50th birthday. Court records show that Trump filed a lawsuit alleging libel against Murdoch, the Journal’s publisher, Dow Jones, and the reporters who wrote the article in federal court for the Southern District of Florida. The civil lawsuit, which was filed in the Southern District of Florida, comes a day after Trump referred to the Journal as a “disgusting and filthy rag.” The suit seeks a jury trial and a judgment of at least $10 billion. The listed defendants are the Journal’s parent company, News Corp.; its publisher, Dow Jones; the two Journal reporters who wrote Wednesday’s story; and News Corp. owner Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. CEO Robert Thomson. NBC News said Dow Jones, News Corp. and the two reporters did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In a post on Truth Social on Friday evening, Trump wrote in part: “We have just filed a POWERHOUSE Lawsuit against everyone involved in publishing the false, malicious, defamatory, FAKE NEWS ‘article’ in the useless ‘rag’ that is, The Wall Street Journal. … I hope Rupert and his “friends” are looking forward to the many hours of depositions and testimonies they will have to provide in this case.” The move has become a familiar one for the incumbent president, who has, in recent years, also filed civil lawsuits against CBS News, ABC News, The Des Moines Register and CNN. It also comes two months after Trump told a reporter with the Journal that he considers the newspaper to be “rotten,” to have “truly gone to hell” and to be “really bad for this country.” Thursday’s report, however, appears to have taken the president’s contempt for the WSJ to a new level. The Journal advanced the controversy with a new report on a 2003 birthday album, collected by former Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, which reportedly included a highly provocative letter bearing Trump’s name and signature. This is a developing story. Check back for updates. Steve Benen Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.” Read More

Europe Is Extinguishing Itself | National Review Read More

Ed Feulner, 1941-2025 | National Review Read More