U.S.Associated PressSenator in 2010 deposition: 13-year-olds can consent to sex
Before he became a leading voice for conservative causes on Capitol Hill, U.S. Senator James Lankford spent more than a decade as the director of youth programming at the Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center, a sprawling campground about 80 miles south of Oklahoma City that attracts more than 50,000 campers in grades six through 12 each year. In 2009, while Lankford worked at the camp, the family of a 13-year-old girl sued a 15-year-old boy who was alleged to have had sex with her at the camp. Lankford, who was not in Congress at the time, is not alleged to have had any direct knowledge of the alleged assault, has not been accused of any wrongdoing and was not a defendant in the lawsuit, which was settled for an undisclosed amount before it was scheduled to go to trial.
U.S.The WrapFormer Marine Resigns as July 4 Parade Grand Marshal After Right-Wing Texas Radio Host Targeted Her Family
A former Marine and pro soccer player has pulled out of grand marshal duties for a July 4 parade in Friendswood, Texas, after a conservative Houston radio-show host targeted her online with a Twitter post featuring a photo of her son. Haley Carter and her family received physical threats of violence as the apparent result of Jesse Kelly's tweet, according to a statement by the suburban Houston city. The tweet falsely suggested Carter was a Communist, criticized her advocacy against gun violence and referred to Friendswood as a conservative “blood red city.”
PoliticsINSIDERGeorgia Democratic nominee for Governor Stacey Abrams explains the change in her position on abortion: There is 'no place in that medical decision for ideology or for politicians'
Stacey Abrams said in a CNN interview that she had changed her perspective on abortion rights. The Georgia gubernatorial candidate was raised in a religious household and grew up being anti-abortion. Georgia Democratic nominee for Governor Stacey Abrams explained in a Friday interview with CNN how her perspective on abortion rights has evolved over the years and how she came to support the right to abortion services after being raised in a religious household.
PoliticsYahoo TVTrump supporters faced with facts from Jan. 6 hearings struggle to accept the truth
When former President Donald Trump's American Freedom Tour pulled into Mississippi last week, The Daily Show's Jordan Klepper tagged along. On Thursday's show, Klepper shared some of the conversations he had with attendees regarding the ongoing January 6 House select committee hearings. Attendees were shown video testimonies from the former president's closest allies and family, but many refused to accept the information being presented to them.
U.S.HuffPostSamuel Jackson Rips 'Uncle Clarence' Thomas For Risking Interracial Marriage In Roe Reversal
Actor Samuel Jackson slammed Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as “Uncle Clarence” for jeopardizing the legal right to interracial marriage with the court's decision Friday to overturn of Roe v. Wade. The same rationale the conservative court employed to reverse the 1973 decision on abortion rights could now be used to eliminate the right to same-sex marriage, contraception and interracial marriage, which was protected in the 1967 Loving v. Virginia ruling, lawmakers and scholars fear. Jackson bashed Thomas as “Uncle Clarence” in a Friday night tweet, referring to the excessively servile Black character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's pre-Civil War novel “Uncle Tom's Cabin.”
BusinessMotley FoolSocial Security Checks Could Soar in 2023: Here's How Much Extra Seniors Might Receive
For better or worse, Social Security is our nation's most vital social program. A recent survey from national pollster Gallup found that 84% of nonretirees plan to lean on Social Security as a "major" or "minor" source of income when retired. Considering how important the program is to the financial well-being of tens of millions of currently retired Americans, there's perhaps no announcement more universally awaited than Social Security's annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).
- PoliticsYahoo Entertainment
Trump supporters befuddled when confronted by facts from Jan. 6 hearings
Attendees were shown testimonies from witnesses, but many were unable to accept the information being presented to them. For example, one gentleman was shown a video of Ivanka Trump testifying that she believed Attorney General William Barr's assertion that no voter fraud was committed in the 2000 election. I respect Attorney General Barr,” Trump had said, “So I accepted what he was saying.
U.S.Miami Herald‘I felt something sharp.’ Woman takes off pants to uncover unwanted visitor in Florida
The “Oh No” song was the perfect soundtrack for a recent TikTok video. A Florida woman with the handle @uss_andrea went viral after showing her followers a common, albeit disturbing, occurrence in her home state. In the quick clip, she says in a voiceover: “I just took off my pants because I felt something sharp.
U.S.Shreveport Times | The TimesLouisiana woman posts viral TikTok video after citation for wearing shorts and crop top
A Winnfield, LA woman's TikTok video has gone viral after she took to the app to complain about an indecent exposure citation she received at a festival on Saturday, June 11. LaCaze-Lachney captioned the video "make it make sense" before showing viewers the outfit in question. LaCaze-Lachney is shown wearing a black t-shirt that covered her shoulders and was cropped just above the belly button, paired with cutoff denim shorts and a studded belt.
PoliticsYahoo TVFilmmaker who documented Trump family says Jan. 6 committee is focusing on Ivanka Trump's inconsistent statements
British filmmaker Alex Holder sat down with Don Lemon Tonight on Thursday, where he spoke about testifying before the January 6 House select committee earlier in the day. Unbeknownst to apparently quite a few White House staffers, Holder and his crew spent months with the Trump family, including interviews, from before the 2020 election, through the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. In it, Ivanka Trump is seen telling Holder that former President Trump should continue to fight the election results.
U.S.INSIDERPages from Brian Laundrie's notebook show he wrote 'I ended her life, I thought it was merciful'
Brian Laundrie's notebook appears to include a confession that he killed Gabby Petito. Laundrie also said he chose to kill himself because he couldn't "live another day without her." Brian Laundrie's notebook, recovered from a Florida swamp by the FBI, appears to include a confession that he was the one who killed Gabby Petito.
U.S.Lexington Herald-LeaderIt’s a terrible day in America, and you can thank Kentucky’s own Mitch McConnell for it.
This morning, I set out to write a column that would give some credit to Sen. Mitch McConnell for FINALLY allowing some action to curb our insane gun violence. It was he who basically ushered the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, opening the floodgates to the tsunamis of money in politics that have corrupted our legislative process so completely. People who promised that Roe v. Wade was settled law, by the way.
WorldReutersPro-life is not just opposing abortion, Vatican says after U.S. ruling
Anti-abortion activists should be concerned with other issues that can threaten life, such as easy access to guns, poverty and rising maternity mortality rates, the Vatican's editorial director said on Saturday. In a media editorial on the United States Supreme Court's ruling to end the constitutional right to abortion, Andrea Tornielli said those who oppose abortion could not pick and choose pro-life issues. "Being for life, always, for example, means being concerned if the mortality rates of women due to motherhood increase," he wrote.
U.S.The Daily BeastLauren Boebert Baffled by ‘Bricks’ Belonging to a Construction Site
Right-wing media has long been convinced any pallets of bricks are solely the property of anti-fascist activists. “Permit's name: CAPITOL PAVING OF D.C., INC,” read one sign noting that parking near the construction site would be prohibited till the end of the month. As of Saturday afternoon, a crew of construction workers had covered the bricks with tarps and began pouring concrete in the back ally.
U.S.Miami HeraldOdd balls appearing in Connecticut trees are actually alive. Here’s what will emerge
Something akin to Christmas balls are showing up in trees throughout Connecticut, and state officials are warning admirers the festive decorations are actually communities of wasps. The tan-colored globes are often referred to as “oak apple galls” and can easily be mistaken for fruit, according to Connecticut Fish and Wildlife. These little galls are some of the most amazing natural occurrences in our forests that are still not fully understood by scientists,” the department wrote in a June 23 Facebook post.
HealthYahoo LifeOne woman shares why abortion at 21 weeks was the best choice for her family: 'No one can ever imagine until they live through it'
Back in 2013, Salazar and her husband made the decision to have an abortion when she was far along in her pregnancy — 21 weeks gestation — after doctors discovered their in-utero son had a lethal birth defect. It was very surprising to find myself, in my mid-30s and happily married and wanting so badly to be a mom, and to find myself needing an abortion,” Salazar tells Yahoo Life. No one can ever imagine until they live through it, and unfortunately the people making choices for us are the people who will never live through it.
- U.S.Oxygen
Footage Shows Dad Of Murdered Toddler Pummeling Alleged Killer In Court
The Ohio father of a murdered toddler punched the boy's alleged killer, who also stands accused of killing the child's mother, in a dramatic courtroom attack. Footage captured Tonio Hughes ambushing Desean Brown, 22, in court on Thursday morning during a pretrial hearing for the alleged killer, Fox 19 reports. Brown will face trial for the 2020 stabbing death of his girlfriend Nyteisha Lattimore, 29, and the murder of her 3-year-old son Nylo Lattimore.
U.S.Business InsiderGinni Thomas left a voicemail for Anita Hill asking her to apologize for accusing Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment
Ginni Thomas left a voicemail for Anita Hill asking her to apologize for accusing her husband of sexual harassment. The voicemail came in 2010, nearly 20 years after Thomas' Supreme Court confirmation hearing. Thomas described the call to The New York Times as a "peacekeeping" attempt; Hill called it "inappropriate."
PoliticsAssociated Press'Mitt Romney Republican' is now a potent GOP primary attack
But Trump-aligned Republicans hostile toward the Utah senator have made his name a recurring theme in this year's primaries, using him as a foil and derisively branding their rivals “Mitt Romney Republicans." Republicans have used the concept to frame their primary opponents as enemies of the Trump-era GOP in southeast Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The anti-tax group Club For Growth, among the most active super PACs in this year's primaries, used “Mitt Romney Republican” as the central premise of an attack ad in North Carolina's Senate primary.
PoliticsHuffPostJoe Manchin Says He ‘Trusted’ Neil Gorsuch And Brett Kavanaugh, Is Now Disappointed
I trusted Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh when they testified under oath that they also believed Roe v. Wade was settled legal precedent and I am alarmed they chose to reject the stability the ruling has provided for two generations of Americans,” Manchin said in a statement. At his confirmation hearing, Gorsuch described Roe as “a precedent of the U.S. Supreme Court” and said “a good judge will consider it as precedent of the U.S. Supreme Court worthy as treatment of precedent like any other.
BusinessFortuneUltrawealthy Americans are flocking to get ‘golden visas’ in Europe amid political turmoil. Here are the top 2 places they’re going.
The pandemic has given Americans the Great Resignation, a housing market that won't stop appreciating and a used-car and gas price crisis amid 40-year-high inflation. Maybe the villas of Portugal or beaches of Greece would be more appealing—or at least warmer. As life in America becomes more stressful and expensive, U.S. citizens have been investing in a “Golden Visa,” a program in which purchasing a second home in a different country entitles buyers to a second passport or a pathway to citizenship.
WorldReutersAnalysis-Russia's grinding battlefield gains seen driven by new tactics
It took Russia weeks of fierce fighting, an untold number of casualties, and relentless shelling before the exhausted Ukrainian defenders of Sievierodonetsk received orders to quit its smouldering wreckage. But its capture, if and when officially confirmed, is likely to be hailed by Russia as evidence that its switch from its early and unsuccessful attempts at "lightning warfare" to a much slower grinding offensive which relies more on long-range shelling rather than close-quarters combat, is paying off. Sievierodonetsk would be the biggest Ukrainian city Russia has captured since it took the port of Mariupol last month.
U.S.AccuWeatherRecord-breaking python discovered in Florida Everglades
Deep in the Florida Everglades, a team from the Conservancy of Southwest Florida made a shocking discovery when they came upon a sight they will likely never forget. The biggest Burmese python the team of three had ever laid their eyes on was just mere feet from them. According to the conservancy, this Burmese python broke the invasive species record for the largest ever caught in Florida.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderBiden accidentally flashed a cue card telling him exactly where to go and what to do at a White House event
Joe Biden accidentally revealed his cue card for a White House meeting, with very simple instructions. Cue cards are common, but right-wing commentators treated this one as a serious gaffe. President Joe Biden accidentally revealed a cue card at a White House meeting on Thursday, offering a glimpse of very simple instructions for the process of the meeting.
BusinessAutoblogFord eliminates end-of-lease purchase option for EVs
Over on the leasing side, Cars Direct discovered a letter Ford sent to dealers eliminating the end-of-lease purchase option for the F-150 Lightning, Mustang Mach-E, and E-Transit van. In the plainest language possible, Ford's new prohibition tells lessees, "you do not have the option to purchase the Vehicle at the end of the lease term." The change took effect on June 15 in 37 states and will be enacted in the remaining 14 states plus the District of Columbia by the last quarter of this year.
“More than half of mass shooters exhibited clear warning signs before committing their crimes, which makes such laws worthwhile.”
“It’s very difficult to determine if a person with no obvious criminal or mental illness history poses such a threat.”
“We will not end mass shootings, but smart public policy can reduce them.”
"A wider net is bound to ensnare many people who do not actually pose a threat.”
“They may also further dissuade gun owners from seeking mental health treatment if they fear their guns could be seized.”