aubiefifty

si.com Way-too-early bowl projections have Auburn football back in Birmingham Bowl Lance Dawe 2–3 minutes 247Sports believes the Tigers will find themselves once again in the Birmingham Bowl this upcoming season. Auburn fans seem bored with the idea of returning to Birmingham anytime soon to play a bowl game. Unfortunately, it could be in the cards for 2023. Brad Crawford of 247Sports recently released his way-too-early college football bowl projections, with Auburn landing back in the Birmingham Bowl to face off against Memphis. Here's what Crawford had to say about the matchup: "Bowl eligibility in Year 1 for Hugh Freeze on the Plains would appease the fanbase as long as there aren't many lopsided losses mixed into a .500 or 7-5 season. Auburn's not far away from being a tough out in the SEC West and the Tigers believe they've signed a few instant-impact portal players — including Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne — that bring instant competition to vital position groups." The Tigers appeared in the Birmingham Bowl back in 2021, losing to a ranked Houston squad 17-13. They've also played the Memphis Tigers in this exact same spot, defeating a Paxton Lynch-led Memphis squad 31-10 in 2015. Fans have high expectations than finishing 6-6 and going to the Birmingham Bowl Auburn in Hugh Freeze's first season. A look at Auburn's schedule, as daunting as it may be, gets easier with the addition of transfer portal quarterback Payton Thorne: Sept. 2nd vs UMass Sept. 9th at California Sept. 16th vs Samford Sept. 23rd at Texas A&M Sept. 30th vs Georgia Oct. 14th at LSU Oct. 21st vs Ole Miss Oct. 28th vs Mississippi State Nov. 4th at Vanderbilt Nov. 11th at Arkansas Nov. 18th vs New Mexico State Nov. 25th vs Alabama

auburnwire.usatoday.com What is Auburn getting in transfer quarterback Payton Thorne? Taylor Jones 4–5 minutes It is no secret that Auburn football has had plenty of success with finding new talent within the transfer portal. From offensive linemen to skill players, Auburn has revamped its’ roster ahead of the 2023 season. One of the biggest names to sign with the Tigers is former Michigan State quarterback, Payton Thorne. Buy Tigers Tickets Thorne had three successful seasons in East Lansing by throwing for 6,494 yards and 49 touchdowns while completing 60% of his passes. He is also known for being a runner despite just rushing for 270 yards and six scores in that frame. RELATED: The best games of Payton Thorne’s career at Michigan State Outside of numbers, what else is Auburn getting in Thorne? To help us dig deep into the topic, we called upon Spartans Wire editor Andrew Brewster to help. Brewster covered all three seasons of Thorne’s stay at Michigan State and provides important analysis that helps us truly understand what Thorne brings to the quarterback battle. Nick King-USA TODAY NETWORK What was the initial reaction of State fans to Thorne’s plan to enter the transfer portal? I think there were a few different simultaneous reactions. First, it never feels good when a player goes to the portal, no matter what it always stings. But I think for MSU, there was some relief, because there were murmurs that MSU’s backup QBs were playing better in practice and Thorne was losing the locker room a little. Michigan State probably won’t be competing for a playoff berth this year, so having a veteran like Thorne helming the ship doesn’t make as much sense for this team, where the future should be much brighter than the present, I think MSU fans are happy that Thorne found a premier landing spot like Auburn where he can shine, and the Spartans can look to the future with Noah Kim or Katin Houser. Dale Young-USA TODAY Sports What skill set does Thorne bring to Auburn? He is more mobile than you’d think. Last year, he got injured in the season opener and didn’t get to use his legs, but that might be his greatest strength. He has a nice arm too and can hit the deep ball. He’s a very solid college quarterback who might even find a nice career as an NFL backup. Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports What were some of his weaknesses as QB of Michigan State? Last year just didn’t go as planned. He started making more mistakes, and couldn’t keep the defense on their toes with his legs like he did the year before, and I think he missed a lot of open guys without being able to extend plays on the ground and keep the pressure off. Lansing State Journal There’s conflicting speculation surrounding the relationship between Thorne and former State WR Keon Coleman. What was their relationship like from your perspective? People have said that Coleman partially wanted to leave because other schools negatively recruited him based on Thorne not being good enough to get him drafted in the first two rounds. Jayden Reed just disproved that theory, but I do think Thorne could have targeted Coleman more last year. You could see Keon get frustrated a few times when Thorne didn’t get him the chance in single coverage to make a play, something Keon can do as well as anyone. Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports What were some of his most memorable moments as a Spartan? The 2021 season was extremely special for Thorne. Beating Michigan that year has to be the big one, it was a very special day for the Spartans.

i agree with that. what i am saying is there was some russian crap going on like but they did try to help trump so they did interfere. calling people stupid when it happened is a bad look bro. it does not matter if they helped trump or screwed hillary it still happened.

yahoo.com Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani plotted to sell presidential pardons for $2 million a piece, former staffer says in lawsuit Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert 3–4 minutes Rudy Giuliani, left, and former President Donald Trump, right, in a composite image.AP Photo On Monday, Rudy Giuliani was hit with a bombshell rape civil lawsuit filed by a former staffer. The staffer alleged in the suit that Giuliani asked if she knew anyone who wanted to buy a presidential pardon. The suit says Giuliani said he was selling them for $2 million, splitting the profit with Trump. A new rape civil lawsuit filed against Donald Trump's former lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, says the pair devised a scheme to make presidential pardons available for purchase for $2 million each. In addition to claims that Giuliani raped her repeatedly while she worked for him, Noelle Dunphy, who served as his law firm's director of business operations, alleged in a lawsuit filed Monday that Giuliani asked: "if she knew anyone in need of a pardon, telling her that he was selling pardons for $2 million, which he and President Trump would split." The lawsuit continued: "He told Ms. Dunphy that she could refer individuals seeking pardons to him, so long as they did not go through 'the normal channels' of the Office of the Pardon Attorney, because correspondence going to that office would be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act." Requests for clemency for federal crimes such as piracy, treason, and counterfeiting are made through the Office of the Pardon Attorney, and, as they are subjected to federal oversight, often take years to be granted. As of 2022, the office has a backlog of more than 17,000 pending applications for pardons, Bloomberg reported. Representatives for Trump and lawyers for Dunphy did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment. Giuliani, through his spokesman Ted Goodman, "unequivocally" denied the allegations: "Mayor Giuliani's lifetime of public service speaks for itself and he will pursue all available remedies and counterclaims." Compared to other presidents, Trump flexed his power to pardon people of their crimes very little while he was in office, most often offering clemency and full pardons to his political allies — including Roger Stone, his former strategist Steve Bannon, and his son-in-law's father, Charles Kushner — while hinting that he could pardon himself if he were convicted of a crime while in office. Compared to former President Barack Obama's more than 1,300 clemency grants, Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of 240 people while in office. While it remains unknown whether recipients of the high-profile pardons paid the $2 million alleged in the lawsuit, The New York Times reported only 25 of the 240 pardons and commutations Trump granted during his term came through the regular Justice Department process, instead being routed through a private process developed by the Trump White House. The Office of the Pardon Attorney did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider

Bombshell lawsuit accuses Rudy Giuliani of demanding employee perform oral sex while he talked to Trump on the phone Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News 5–6 minutes A former employee of Rudy Giuliani accused him of sexual assault in a mammoth Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit Monday, including allegations he demanded she perform oral sex while he was on the phone with Donald Trump and to lie to the FBI. Noelle Dunphy, a business consultant who worked for Giuliani from January 2019 through 2021 when he was then-President Trump’s lawyer, announced her intention to sue him in January. In response, Giuliani filed a demand to see a complaint. Her 70-page suit cites audio recordings and accuses Giuliani, 78, in graphic detail of subjecting her to sexual assault and harassment throughout her employment, forcing her to engage in “violent sex” and attend work video conferences naked and work in short shorts he bought printed with an American flag. “He often demanded oral sex while he took phone calls on speaker phone from high-profile friends and clients, including then-President Trump. Giuliani told Ms. Dunphy that he enjoyed engaging in this conduct while on the telephone because it made him ‘feel like Bill Clinton,’” reads Dunphy’s suit. “[Some] of the individuals who Giuliani spoke with on these calls were law clients of Giuliani (such as Mr. Trump), who were unaware that Ms. Dunphy was in the room and could overhear their conversations,” the suit details, describing some of the conversations as highly sensitive. “These discussions included, for example, strategies as to how to deal with the investigation being conducted by Robert Mueller, and whether it might be possible to distract, intimidate, or otherwise dissuade Mueller from proceeding against Trump.” A representative for Giuliani said he “vehemently and completely denies the allegations in the complaint and plans to thoroughly defend against these allegations. “This is pure harassment and an attempt at extortion.” Among other bombshell accusations in the lawsuit include Giuliani trying to force Dunphy to lie to FBI agents seeking to question her about what she had witnessed while working for him. Giuliani “worked aggressively to hire Ms. Dunphy,” first in 2016 and successfully in 2019, the lawsuit describes, quoting a recording of him saying he “wanted [Ms. Dunphy] from the day [he] interviewed [her].” Trump’s lawyer offered Dunphy a $1 million starting salary to be his director of business development — monitoring emails, helping him craft responses, and keeping track of his meetings, appearances, and files — and agreed to represent her pro bono in domestic violence litigation with her former partner, according to the lawsuit. Among the 23,000 “highly confidential” emails Dunphy had access to were from Trump’s children Ivanka, and Don Jr, Eric, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, and former FBI director Louis Freeh. She also cites correspondence from secretaries of state, attorneys general, and Ukrainian officials in the lawsuit, which accuses Giuliani of being reckless in his use of technology. The suit accuses Giuliani of requesting to defer Dunphy’s payment until his bitter divorce with Judith Giuliani was finalized, and then failing to follow through. Dunphy’s suit says Giuliani is recorded telling her he was in love with a 20-year-old employee more than 50 years his junior, who he fantasized about kissing, and that with Dunphy, he “just could not control” himself around her. The former mayor is quoted making outrageously sexist, racist, and antisemitic comments in multiple recorded conversations, including comments like, “I’m gonna make it a little painful,” “Be a slut! Be Rudy’s slut,” “I think of you as my daughter. Is that weird?” and declaring he would “get in trouble with underage girls” who were 16 but looked 20. It describes Giuliani acting obsessed with Dunphy, calling her up to 53 times a day. The suit references him making inappropriate sexual comments about her and much younger female colleagues, including one recorded incident on March 4, 2019, when he openly fantasized about sleeping with her while drinking Bloody Mary’s on the job. “Giuliani became drunk, and fantasized about visiting a hotel with Ms. Dunphy, bizarrely saying during a recorded conversation that he would tell the doorman to wait outside with the luggage so that ‘we do it on the floor in the living room … we don’t even make it to the bedroom. All the clothes come off,’ and telling the doorman, ‘I need time alone with my girlfriend, with my daughter. With my little girl,’” the lawsuit quotes Giuliani. “This became part of a pattern in which Giuliani referenced Ms. Dunphy as his ‘daughter’ in the context of sexual activity and made her extremely uncomfortable.” Dunphy’s suit lists multiple causes of action, including battery, and demands $10 million in damages. why am i not surprised? trump knows only the best people right? lol family values my ass...........

i just want to see the place. i always thought it was on the outskirts of the city and was shocked that it is right downtown?

you would help me out more meeting me and giving me a tour of the new stuff at auburn. i know how to get to east glenn and i want to see the if my old bridge at the park is there. i have seen none of the statues not been to the foootball museum since it first opened. i assure you i am non violent. but if you make i quick move i might crack you with my purse. lets go to the skybar and throw down...............grins. um drinking and smoking. i want you to toodle me around on the golf cart. i might spring for a meal.

i thought Aden was upgraded to five star?i could swear i saw that looking through sports articles.

you do you and let me do me salty. what is the big deal?

The Mueller investigation resulted in roughly three dozen criminal charges, including convictions of a half-dozen Trump associates, and concluded that Russia intervened on the Trump campaign’s behalf and that the campaign welcomed the help. the above is proof the russians DID get involved. so lets remember this the next time someone hollers about the russian hoax. they did in fact meddle in the election.

yahoo.com Prosecutor ends probe of FBI's Trump-Russia investigation with harsh criticism, but no new charges ERIC TUCKER and LINDSDAY WHITEHURST 6–8 minutes WASHINGTON (AP) — A special prosecutor has ended his four-year investigation into possible FBI misconduct in its probe of ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign with withering criticism of the bureau but a meager court record that fell far short of the former president’s prediction he would uncover the “crime of the century.” The report Monday from special counsel John Durham represents the long-awaited culmination of an investigation that Trump and allies had claimed would expose massive wrongdoing by law enforcement and intelligence officials. Instead, Durham's investigation delivered underwhelming results, with prosecutors securing a guilty plea from a little-known FBI employee but losing the only two criminal cases they took to trial. The roughly 300-page report catalogs what Durham says were a series of missteps by the FBI and Justice Department as investigators undertook a politically explosive probe in the heat of the 2016 election into whether the Trump campaign was colluding with Russia to tip the outcome. It criticized the FBI for opening a full-fledged investigation based on "raw, unanalyzed and uncorroborated intelligence," saying the speed at which it did so was a departure from the norm. And it said investigators repeatedly relied on “confirmation bias,” ignoring or rationalizing away evidence that undercut their premise of a Trump-Russia conspiracy as they pushed the probe forward. “Again, the FBI’s failure to critically analyze information that ran counter to the narrative of a Trump/Russia collusive relationship exhibited throughout Crossfire Hurricane is extremely troublesome,” the report said. “Crossfire Hurricane” was the FBI code name for its investigation. The impact of Durham’s report, though harshly critical of the FBI, is likely blunted by Durham’s spotty prosecution record and by the fact that many of the seven-year-old episodes it cites were already examined in depth by the Justice Department’s inspector general. The FBI has also long since announced dozens of corrective actions. Still, Durham’s findings are likely to amplify scrutiny of the FBI at a time when Trump is again seeking the White House as well as offer fresh fodder for congressional Republicans who have launched their own investigation into the purported “weaponization” of the FBI and Justice Department. The FBI released a letter to Durham outlining changes it has made, including steps to ensure the accuracy of secretive surveillance applications to eavesdrop on suspected terrorists and spies. It also stressed that the report focused on prior leadership. “Had those reforms been in place in 2016, the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented. This report reinforces the importance of ensuring the FBI continues to do its work with the rigor, objectivity, and professionalism the American people deserve and rightly expect,” the FBI said in a statement. Durham, the former U.S. Attorney in Connecticut, was appointed in 2019 by Trump’s attorney general, William Barr, soon after special counsel Robert Mueller had completed his investigation into whether the 2016 Trump campaign had colluded with Russia to move the outcome of the election in his favor. The Mueller investigation resulted in roughly three dozen criminal charges, including convictions of a half-dozen Trump associates, and concluded that Russia intervened on the Trump campaign’s behalf and that the campaign welcomed the help. But Mueller’s team did not find that they actually conspired to sway the election, creating an opening for critics of the probe — including Barr himself — to complain that it had been launched without a proper basis. The original Russia investigation was opened in July 2016 after the FBI learned from an Australian diplomat that a Trump campaign associate named George Papadopoulos had claimed to know of “dirt” that the Russians had on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the form of hacked emails. But revelations over the following months laid bare flaws with the investigation, including errors and omissions in Justice Department applications to eavesdrop on a former Trump campaign aide, Carter Page, as well as the reliance by the FBI on a dossier of uncorroborated or discredited information compiled by an British ex-spy, Christopher Steele. Durham’s team delved deep into those mistakes, finding that investigators did not corroborate a “single substantive allegation” in the so-called Steele dossier and ignored or rationalized what it asserts was exculpatory information that Trump associates had provided to FBI confidential informants. Durham’s mandate was to scrutinize government decisions, and identify possible misconduct, in the early days of the Trump-Russia probe. His appointment was cheered by Trump, who in a 2019 interview with Fox News said Durham was “supposed to be the smartest and the best.” He and his supporters hoped it would expose a “deep state” conspiracy within the top echelons of the FBI and other agencies to derail Trump’s presidency and candidacy. Durham and his team cast a broad net, interviewing top officials at the FBI, Justice Department and CIA. In his first year on the job, he traveled with Barr to Italy to meet with government officials as Trump himself asked the Australian prime minister and other leaders to help with the probe. Weeks before his December 2020 resignation as attorney general, Barr appointed Durham as a Justice Department special counsel to ensure that he would continue his work in a Democratic administration. The slow pace of the probe irked Trump, who berated Barr before he left office about the whereabouts of a report that would not be released for several more years. By the end of the Trump administration, only one criminal case had been brought, while the abrupt departure of Durham’s top deputy in the final months of Trump’s tenure raised questions about whether the team was in sync. Despite expectations that Durham might charge senior government officials, his team produced only three prosecutions. A former FBI lawyer pleaded guilty to altering an email the FBI relied on in applying to eavesdrop on an ex-Trump campaign aide. Two other defendants — a lawyer for the Clinton campaign and a Russian-American think tank analyst — were both acquitted on charges of lying to the FBI. _____

you are on a roll today ichy. you are making some on here uncomfortable so i am surprised no insults for the most part. but you are dead on. people are failing jesus every single day.

that was fun. there were a couple of rough choices............

ok click on the link and it will allow you to vote and your vote to really count. sorry for the troubles................

guys the empty spaces are where you are supposed to vote. i copied and pasted fromal.com and i do not see a link to click on. but folks are supposed to be able to vote on it. help this ol geezer out as i am sure it will be fun for a lot of you. i am still going to see what i can about getting it straight but i am not hopeful.

https://www.al.com/auburn/2023/05/vote-now-for-the-best-auburn-football-team-of-all-time.html

but we are haters right? the truth of the matter is jesus is all about love. hell he loved the man that betrayed and sent him to his doom. and many on here will argue but i was told to pay attention to the teachings of jesus. other stuff in the bible are histories and not always the word of god. plus i look at what so many have turned religion into and i do not trust what a lot of the bible says. maybe the pack of bears sent to murder kids because they kept throwing rocks at an old man? i am pretty sure that is a fable.

i have come to the conclusion ol abbott is pretty out there.

it is a very bad look and it ended up badly. is the choke hold not outlawed by police and i assume illegal for anyone? at the same time marines are trained to kill. they grind that training into you until it becomes second nature. but here is what i do not understand is all i see was the man hollering? i read nothing said he was attacking anyone. if this is true then what happened was wrong in holding him in that choke hold too long was wrong. i do not know a single person who has his breath cut off that would not struggle. i imagine the homeless guy was nasty and stunk and that probably prejudiced some folks. but some talking heads are celebrating this death and that is wrong. all you have to do is scan the headlines. i will offer taking a life is wrong if you can help it but if the guy was threatening folks i can see why it happened.

did the rat snake look like trump?

yahoo.com Stark warning over Republicans’ ‘dehumanizing’ rhetoric on crime Adam Gabbatt 7–9 minutes Photograph: Brandon Bell/Getty Images Republican and rightwing rhetoric over the state of crime in the US could spark a rise in violent incidents and worsen the country’s mass incarceration problem, experts say, as “tough-on-crime” political ads and messaging seem set to play a large role in the 2024 election. Violent crime was a huge focus for Republican candidates during the 2022 midterm elections. Republicans spent about $50m on crime ads in the two months leading up to those elections, the ads pushing a dystopian vision of cities ridden by murder, robbery and assault, and of Democratic politicians unwilling to act. Related: George Santos, liar and fantasist, fits the Republican party just fine | Moira Donegan As the 2024 contest heaves into view, it is clear that Republicans plan to follow the same playbook. “Joe Biden and the defund-the-police Democrats have turned our once-great cities into cesspools of bloodshed and crime,” Trump said in a recent campaign video. Trump said if elected president he would order police forces to reinstate “stop and frisk” – a police tactic which has been shown to disproportionately target young Black men – and said he wanted to introduce the death penalty for drug dealers. Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor who is expected to be Trump’s closest rival for the Republican presidential nomination, has also leaned into tough-on-crime rhetoric and policy. Last month, DeSantis signed a law lowering the death penalty threshold in Florida, allowing people convicted of certain crimes to be sentenced to death if eight or more jury members recommend it. “They think that’s the way to score political victories,” said Udi Ofer, a professor at Princeton University and the former deputy national political director of the American Civil Liberties Union. “I think there’s a bit of a kneejerk, and, quite frankly, lazy attitude that tough-on-crime is the only way to win an election, despite the fact that we have so much evidence today that shows there are other ways.” There is also an element of Republicans, and, Ofer said, some Democrats, pouncing on an increase in violent crime during the Covid pandemic. The Brennan Center for Justice found that the number of murders per 100,000 people rose by nearly 30% nationwide in 2020, while aggravated assault rose by 11.4%. The rate of murder rose in big cities, which tend to vote Democratic and which are repeatedly demonized by Republicans and the rightwing media. But it also rose across the rest of the country. “So-called red states actually saw some of the highest murder rates of all,” the Brennan Center said. Since that peak, most types of violent crime have now dropped. Crime declined in 35 large cities in 2022, according to the Council on Criminal Justice, although rates remain higher than pre-pandemic levels. Still, the rate of homicide in major cities was about half that of historic peaks in the 1980s and early 1990s. The 1980s was when tough-on-crime rhetoric “exploded”, Ofer said. It culminated in the election of prosecutors who promised more convictions and longer sentences. The impact, Ofer said, was “an exponential growth in incarceration” in the US. About 300,000 people were in prisons and jails in 1973, but by 2009 that number had grown to 2.2m – making the US the largest incarcerator in the world. “This was a result of hundreds of new laws and practices at the local level, at the state level, at the federal level, including new mandatory minimum laws, more cash bail and pre-trial detention, and more aggressive prosecutorial and policing practices,” Ofer said. In this crime crackdown, not everyone was treated equally. Black people have been historically more likely to be arrested than white people, which led to higher rates of incarceration. A 2003 report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that in 2001 “an estimated 16.6% of adult black males were current or former State or Federal prisoners”. Just 2.6% of adult white males had been incarcerated. Some progress has been made in the last two decades. By 2020 the number of people in jail or prison was down to 1.2 million – meaning the US still has the fifth highest incarceration rate in the world – but the obsession with tackling crime, through measures including more arrests, more prosecutions and more imprisonments, could see a reversal. “We are on the verge again of seeing the types of policies that devastated particularly low-income communities of color grow again as it did in the 1980s and 1990s.” Republicans have led the charge on crime rhetoric, Ofer said. But now Democrats are getting in on the act – “we are seeing a growing movement within the Democratic party pushing for more tough-on-crime policies”, Ofer said. The rhetoric and fearmongering over crime has led, in part, to an expansion of “stand-your-ground” laws in the US. In the past 10 years, 14 states in the US have added some form of the law, which can rule that people determined to have acted in self-defense can escape prosecution for actions up to and including murder. A 2022 investigation by Reveal found that 38 states now have some version of “stand your ground” – and the laws have proved devastating: a study published in 2022 found that the legislation was linked with an 8-11% increase in homicides. There are direct consequences on the ground for people of color, immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community Stephen Piggott Ironically, given the accusation from the right that Democrats are too soft on crime, it appears to be traditionally “red states” that have the more serious crime problem. “The murder rate in the 25 states that voted for Donald Trump has exceeded the murder rate in the 25 states that voted for Joe Biden in every year from 2000 to 2020,” Third Way, a US thinktank, reported in January. Third Way also found that in 2020 murder rates “were 40% higher in Trump-voting states than Biden-voting states”. Although Republicans harangued Democrats over crime in the 2020 midterms, the strategy seems to have had mixed success. Republicans largely underperformed in those elections, and Ofer pointed to the success of progressive prosecutors across the country as evidence that a tough-on-crime message is not always a successful route to take. As well as the impact on incarceration and violent offenses, the tough-on-crime approach can also lead to the demonization of certain communities, said Stephen Piggott, a researcher at Western States Center, a non-profit organization which works to strengthen democracy. Republican talking points about the danger of immigrants and people who live in inner cities could be behind an increase in attacks on minority groups. “In recent years, there’s been a real mainstreaming of both violent and dehumanizing rhetoric, and it’s espoused by elected officials and media personalities,” Piggott said. “And it’s really served to kind of normalize this political violence. When you have individuals with large platforms, like elected officials and media personalities, and they’re talking about things like an impending civil war, it could lead to folks kind of taking that to heart and then acting on it.” The number of hate crimes in the US increased by 12% in 2021, according to the FBI, although the true number is likely to be much higher, given data from some of America’s largest cities was not included in the FBI’s report. About 65% of the hate-crime victims were targeted because of their race, according to the report, while 16% were targeted over their sexual orientation and 14% of cases involved religious bias. “So there are direct consequences on the ground for people of color, immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community,” Piggott said. “There’s a lot of impact going on right now.”

Opinion: Chuck Edwards and his Republican Party seem to be the 'Party of Blatant Lies' Pat Brothwell 5–6 minutes Guest opinion columnist Pat Brothwell A popular right-wing rhetorical choice is to call anyone slightly liberal-leaning “a lemming,” intimating they blindly follow whatever lies “the media” or “radical leftists” serve. I am of the belief that people often criticize things they don’t like about themselves in others. How else can you explain Republican voters buying the flagrant lies and hypocrisies the party feeds them? How else can you explain today’s Republican party continuing to gain support despite their mission and messaging being based on lies and hypocrisies so flimsy they’re embarrassing? More: Opinion: When will gun violence stop? Trying to understand Edwards' gun violence stance More: Opinion: Chuck Edwards is out of touch with today's North Carolinians and religion I could have started this piece by telling you that I’m an award-winning, multimillionaire novelist who just bought my third investment property, drives a vintage BMW, and keeps my thousands of Instagram followers titillated through pictures of my six-pack abs. It’s a ludicrous claim even the lightest of Googling would debunk — I’m a marketing writer who lives in a one-bedroom apartment, drives a 2019 Chevy Equinox (arguably, vintage), and haven’t seen an ab since getting mono in 2013. However, I bet I could get people to believe it, seeing how easily blatant lies — not misinformation, bold lies — are consumed without a second thought. We have the freedom to say whatever we’d like. That doesn’t mean it’s true, and so many people seem to be willfully ignorant of that. The most egregious lie perpetuated by today’s Republican party is that it’s the party of freedom. According to PEN America reporting, during the 2022-2023 school year, there have been 1,477 school book bans across the country. Thirteen book ban bills have been introduced. How is banning books congruent with “freedom”? Last year the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Remember, it was mostly Republicans rallying against vaccine and mask mandates, claiming they were free to do what was best for their bodies. A record number of anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced this year, targeting everything from drag performances to education. Most of these bills rely on Judeo-Christian “beliefs,” meaning that for most Republicans, imposing one’s own religious beliefs on others trumps freedom of religion. N.C. State Rep. Jeff Zenger recently introduced House Bill 673 that would enable criminal charges to be filed against anyone participating in “public,” “live adult entertainment,” which it defines as “a performance featuring topless dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, or male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest.” Zenger’s website states that he “believes in the God-given rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” that he “knows that the rights of the individual must come first,” and that he believes the, “role of government should be small,” and yet … he’s the one using his government position to enact legislation that would directly affect North Carolinians' rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (not to mention that morality policing directly contradicts “small government”). More: Editor: Open call for women to share their voices, during Women's History Month and always All this legislation is the antithesis of independence. I recently wrote to our congressional Rep. Chuck Edwards, asking why, in the wake of the recent spate of mass shootings, he wouldn’t consider helping enact an assault weapons ban. Edwards wrote back, predictably saying that his heart goes out to all the victims of the recent school shooting in Nashville, but we must not legislate with emotions. He then proceeded to make weak, party-approved excuses for doing nothing. Republicans are so used to having so many people unquestioningly believe their nonsense they no longer check themselves for optics or hypocrisy. “Please trust,” Edwards wrote, “that I will keep your comments in mind should any legislation regarding gun violence or mental health be brought to the House floor for a vote.” This is another blatant lie. On May 3, Edwards retweeted a missive from the official @HouseGOP account. “House Republicans are committed to a nation that's safe, and that means focusing on securing our Southern Border. House Republicans’ Secure the Border Act would end the #BidenBorderCrisis and restore sanity, safety, and security for all,” the tweet reads. On May 6, another American with tactical gear and a gun fetish shot up a Texas mall. Eight people died, including a pair of elementary-aged sisters and a young couple and their 3-year-old son — their 6-year-old is the only surviving member of that family. @HouseGop didn’t acknowledge the shooting but tweeted or retweeted 16 more times between May 6-8 that focusing on the border will keep Americans safe. Pat Brothwell is a former high school teacher, and current writer and marketing professional living and working in Asheville. This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Rep. Chuck Edwards and Republican Party is the Party of Blatant Lies

but but but you love them anyway right JJ? i mean god made us all so pardon me if i believe god does not care who you love.

Jen Psaki Tears Apart Trump-Defending Republicans Over Rape Verdict Ben Blanchet 2–3 minutes MSNBC’s Jen Psaki slammed GOP lawmakers who defended former President Donald Trump after a Manhattan jury found him liable for sexual abuse. (Watch below.) Psaki, a White House press secretary in the Biden administration, named the party’s “one big problem” ahead of 2024: Trump, whose comments about lawsuit plaintiff E. Jean Carroll brought laughter and applause to a CNN town hall on Wednesday. “It was definitely disturbing, but unfortunately not necessarily surprising,” Psaki said. “Because why should Republican voters take Trump’s wrongdoing seriously when the party leaders never call him out?” “If someone asks you: ‘Do you stand by somebody who is found liable for sexual abuse?’ the answer should be some version of no. But outside of a handful of Republican lawmakers, they have — by and large — pretty much avoided criticizing the former president.” Psaki proceeded to knock Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), who said the verdict makes him “want to vote for Trump twice,” and Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.). “You heard that right. Trump’s sexual abuse makes the senator want to vote for him twice,” Psaki said. The host went on to bash former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for their commentary. She also noted that 2024 Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haleysidestepped a question about the verdict. “What I didn’t hear was any kind of condemnation of someone who was just found liable for sexual abuse,” Psaki said of Haley’s roundabout commentary about the legal process.

al.com Scarbinsky: Here’s a hot college baseball story that isn’t a scandal Published: May. 14, 2023, 5:45 a.m. 2–3 minutes By Kevin Scarbinsky | Special to AL.com This is an opinion column. Now that college baseball has our attention in Alabama for all the wrong reasons, thanks to recently dismissed Crimson Tide head coach Brad Bohannon, perhaps we should focus on the field for a moment on the other side of the state. While the Alabama players keep battling despite the suspicious wager tied to Bohannon that got him fired, the Auburn program keeps winning. And winning. And winning. And winning some more. Is it hot in here or is it the Tigers? Yes. Both. Ask reigning national champion Ole Miss. This Rebel team is not that team, but it might not matter if it were. Auburn, which lost to Ole Miss in their College World Series opener last season, got a little payback with a sweep in Oxford, punctuated by a 13-5 beatdown Saturday. If you’re keeping score at home, that’s four straight weekend series victories for the Tigers in the most dog-eat-dog conference in the country. No one else in the league is on that kind of heater as we approach the final week of the regular season. How good is SEC baseball top to bottom? Better than SEC football or SEC basketball on the regular. SEC football has become Georgia and Alabama and everyone else. Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl likes to say every conference game in his sport is a rock fight. More like rock, paper, scissors compared to SEC hardball, even though Auburn and Alabama roundball have reached No. 1 in the polls during the last two seasons. Put this in your advanced metrics and smoke it like brisket. Starting in 2008, every College World Series but one has had at least one SEC team - in the finals. The outlier was 2016. The league has won eight of the last 13 titles with two separate three-peats: LSU, South Carolina and the Gamecocks again from 2009-11, Vanderbilt in 2019, Mississippi State in 2021 and Ole Miss in 2022. Only COVID stopped the SEC in 2020 when it shut down the season. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation.