Anderson Cooper hasn't been this pissed off since Hurricane Katrina.

On Friday, Cooper interviewed newly-sprung Rod Blagojevich, the former governor of Illinois who had a 14-year prison sentence commuted by Celebrity Apprentice host Donald Trump. In 2011, Blago was found guilty of federal corruption charges related to then-President Obama's vacant senate seat.

During his time in prison, Blago got woke. Comparing himself to fellow "political prisoner" Nelson Mandela, he railed against criminal injustice and the thousands of Americans waiting for clemency.

Cooper was NOT having it.

In which @AndersonCooper calls actual "bullshit" on Blagojevich in fiery interview pic.twitter.com/8oorGogs7s

— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) February 22, 2020

Oh, and here's proof that we're living in the worst timeline. One of these people is now the leader of the free world and the other is the new Mandela.

Thinking about the time Donald Trump scolded Rod Blagojevich on the Celebrity Apprentice over inaccurate Harry Potter facts and inadequate Harry Potter research pic.twitter.com/rx7PH7qP4I

— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) August 8, 2019

Image by United States Marshals Service - http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/celebrity/politics/rod-blagojevich, Public Domain, Link Read the rest

For 60 years, the itty-bitty town of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire has cast some of the very first ballots of the presidential primary election at The Balsams resort. The town's five registered voters cast their ballots at midnight and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was the surprise winner with 3 write-in ballots; 2 from Democrats and 1 from a Republican. Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigeig each received 1 vote.

Two other teeny towns, Hart's Location and Millsfield, also voted at midnight. In Hart's Location, Sen. Amy Klobuchar came in first with 6 votes, followed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren with 4, Andrew Yang with 3, Sanders with 2, and former VP Joe Biden, Tom Steyer, and Tulsi Gabbard with 1 each. Impeached President Donald Trump received 15 votes on the Republican side, and former MA governor Bill Weld and Concord resident Mary Maxwell each received 1.

Klobuchar won again in Millsfield, capturing 2 votes and Buttigieg, Biden, and Sanders each receiving 1 vote. Trump also won Millsfield with 15 votes.

That put Amy Klobuchar in first place in New Hampshire, followed by a tie for second place between Warren and Sanders. The rest of the state will vote today and most polls will close at 7:00 PM.

If you're looking to kill some time before results start coming in, I highly recommend the podcast "Stranglehold" from New Hampshire Public Radio. It's a deep dive into how New Hampshire became the first state in the nation to vote and if it deserves to keep that distinction. Read the rest

The Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl LIV Sunday night and impeached President Donald Trump jumped on Twitter to congratulate the team.

Former Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill responded on behalf of the American people.

It's going to be a long week.

Trump shares then deletes tweet praising Chiefs for representing 'Great State of Kansas' (The Hill) Read the rest

I can only imagine what the hospice nurse must have been thinking.



It was an early October evening in 2017, and I was camped in the gigantic, overstuffed leather recliner that I had delivered the previous week.

One of the problems with buying furniture online is you don't truly get a sense of the dimensions in relation to your space. I don't know what made me think ordering a piece of furniture this way was a good idea. Read the rest

Walgreens and CVS have pulled the very popular heartburn medicine Zantac, along with their generic versions, from store shelves after the FDA warned they had found a cancer-causing drug among its ingredients.

The drug in question is nitrosodimethylamine, also known as NDMA (not to be confused with MDMA or MDNA). It's often used in laboratory research to induce tumors in mice.

From CNN:

The nitrosamine impurity known as N-nitrosodimethylamine, or NDMA, has been classified as a probable human carcinogen based on lab tests, and this isn't the first time that it has been detected in a common medication.

Since last year, the FDA has been investigating NDMA and other impurities in blood pressure and heart failure medicines known as angiotensin receptor blockers or ARBs. Numerous recalls have been launched as the FDA found "unacceptable levels" of nitrosamines in several of those common drugs containing valsartan.

A study published last year in the medical journal BMJ found no "markedly increased short term overall risk of cancer" among users of the valsartan drugs contaminated with NDMA. Yet that study also noted that research into long-term cancer risk is needed.

Customers can return their Zantac purchases to either store for a refund.

As a person living in Massachusetts who vapes for pain relief and has taken Zantac for years, I'm 0-2 this month. Thank God Advil is still okay. Oh, wait...

Drugstores are pulling Zantac-like heartburn drugs off the shelves over potential cancer risk (Washington Post) (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) Read the rest

A driver plowed through the Sears entrance of the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois this afternoon. The driver then continued on through the mall, destroying several kiosks and damaging storefronts before stopping. Read the rest

Sandy Hook Promise, an organization dedicated to protecting children from gun violence released a truly chilling Back to School PSA earlier today. Titled "Back to School Essentials," it's a graphic look at the ways children are expected to defend themselves at school because their government refuses to do anything to protect them.

WATCH:

Latest Sandy Hook Promise PSA gives nightmarish look at school shootings (USA Today) (Photo: YouTube screenshot) Read the rest

In 1962, a 19-year old Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., in an effort to get to know more about the minorities who occupied the mean streets of Wilmington, Delaware took a job as a lifeguard at a local public pool. It was at that very pool when Joe ran afoul of a member of the Romans gang by the name of Corn Pop. Soon, straight razors, chain, and Esther Williams became involved.

Here's Joe, back at the scene of the crime in 2017 when the pool was renamed in his honor. I'll let him tell you the story.

Joe and Corn Pop's misadventures are getting renewed attention after The Root's Michael Harriot called bullshit on Twitter.

You can read the rest of the 19-tweet thread here.

So, because it's silly season, I'm sure someone will be offering a reward for information on Corn Pop's whereabouts. Only 141 more days until the Iowa caucuses. Stay strong.

(Photo: Gene J. Puskar/AP) Read the rest

On Saturday, September 14th, the grand and ultimately fatally flawed experiment known as MoviePass will finally come to an end. And this time, it looks permanent. Read the rest

Some of the biggest names in business, including the CEOs of Twitter, Uber, Reddit, Conde Nast, Bad Robot and a host of others sent a letter to Congress this morning urging immediate action on gun violence. The letter follows similar pleas from Walmart after shootings at the country's largest retailer left nearly 30 people dead in less than a month.

A copy of the letter was shared with the New York Times:

Many of the requested actions in the letter have already passed the House, but have been brought to a crawl in the Senate by NRA-pawn "Massacre Mitch" McConnell. Yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed frustration with a reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle who asked about her decision to not bring the House back in August to keep the pressure up on McConnell and the Senate.

No reaction to the letter as of yet from Senate Republicans. Shocking, I know.

Business Leaders Call on Congress to Act on Gun Violence (NYT) Photo: Michael Spocko/Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0) Read the rest

One America News Network (OAN), a conservative news network for people who think Fox News is too liberal, has filed a $10 million dollar defamation lawsuit against Rachel Maddow, MSNBC and its parent companies Comcast and NBC Universal. Read the rest

LEGO announced the latest addition to its Ultimate Collectors Series today - a massive replica of the Imperial Star Destroyer from Star Wars: A New Hope. Coming in at almost 5000 pieces, the Destroyer is one of the largest sets in the Collectors Series with a large price tag ($700) to match.

Here are the official stats from LEGO:

Build and display an icon of the Galactic Empire – the Devastator. With over 4,700 LEGO® pieces, this Ultimate Collector Series 75252 Imperial Star Destroyer model captures all the authentic details of the starship as it appeared in the opening scene of Star Wars: A New Hope, including swiveling guns, a tilting radar dish, huge engine exhausts, intricate surface detailing and of course a buildable scale version of the Rebels' Tantive IV starship to chase down. This galactic civil war UCS set also includes a display stand with informational fact plaque and 2 Imperial minifigures, making it the perfect LEGO Star Wars collectible for discerning fans.

-Includes Imperial Officer and Imperial Crewmember minifigures. -The Devastator Imperial Star Destroyer model features swiveling guns, a tilting radar dish, huge engine exhausts and intricate surface detailing. -Also includes an attachable, buildable scale version Tantive IV starship for added Star Wars: A New Hope authenticity. -With a display stand with informational fact plaque for the ultimate display piece. -Also comes with 2 blaster pistol weapons. -This Ultimate Collector Series set has 4,784 pieces. -Inspire unforgettable Star Wars: A New Hope moments. -The perfect LEGO® Star Wars™ collectible for fans of the Star Wars saga.

After two shootings in their El Paso, Texas and Southaven, Mississippi stores, the CEO of Walmart has announced major changes to the chain's gun sale policies, including no longer selling ammunition for assault-style weapons and discontinuing the sale of handgun ammunition. Read the rest

When the Hendrickson brothers started selling bibles out of their parents' home in Massachusetts almost 40 years ago, they likely had no idea their business would go on to become the world's largest retailer of Christian products with its own 300,000 square foot warehouse. Read the rest

During a press conference at the G-20 Summit in Japan, President Trump was asked about federally mandated busing, a topic that Senator Kamala Harris and former Vice President Joe Biden sparred over during Thursday night's Democratic presidential debate. Read the rest

Last December, 23-year old Ebony Johnson shot 27-year old Marshae Jones during an argument outside of a Dollar General store in Birmingham, Alabama. The gunshot wound to the stomach caused Jones to miscarry a 5-month pregnancy. Ebony Johnson was initially charged with manslaughter, but a grand jury failed to indict her and the charges were dismissed.

Yesterday, a grand jury indicted Marshae Jones, the victim of the shooting, with manslaughter.

Welcome to Gilead.

From AL.com:

“The investigation showed that the only true victim in this was the unborn baby,’’ Pleasant Grove police Lt. Danny Reid said at the time of the shooting. “It was the mother of the child who initiated and continued the fight which resulted in the death of her own unborn baby.”

Reid said the fight stemmed over the unborn baby’s father. The investigation showed, he said, that it was Jones who initiated and pressed the fight, which ultimately caused Jemison to defend herself and unfortunately caused the death of the baby.

"Let’s not lose sight that the unborn baby is the victim here,’’ Reid said. “She had no choice in being brought unnecessarily into a fight where she was relying on her mother for protection."

The 5-month fetus was "dependent on its mother to try to keep it from harm, and she shouldn’t seek out unnecessary physical altercations,” Reid added.

Jones is being held at the Jefferson County Jail on a $50,000 bond.

(Photo: Charles Miller/Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 2.0) Read the rest

The Netflix doc Knock Down the House debuted at Sundance earlier this year, winning the Audience Award for U.S. Documentaries. Directed by Rachel Lears, it follows the midterm Congressional campaigns of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Amy Vilela, Cori Bush, and Paula Jean Swearengin.

Knock Down the House comes to Netflix May 1st.

(Photo: YouTube Screenshot) Read the rest