Almost one month ago exactly, Olivia Nuzzi’s affair with Robert Kennedy Jr. was outed. Nuzzi, a New York Magazine reporter, had been carrying on a very bizarre affair with Kennedy ever since she profiled him last fall. She was covering the election while she was carrying on with Kennedy, an independent presidential candidate. She was having phone sex with that whackjob while she was writing about Joe Biden being too old and decrepit for the presidency. The kicker is that Nuzzi not only failed to disclose her affair with Kennedy for nine months, she also lied to her editors when asked about the affair directly. She also blew up her engagement to Politico’s Ryan Lizza, although Kennedy’s marriage to Cheryl Hines still seems to be going strong. In any case, New York Mag is now done with Nuzzi. Here’s NY Mag’s announcement:

Last month, the magazine enlisted the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine to review Olivia Nuzzi’s work during the 2024 campaign. They reached the same conclusion as the magazine’s initial internal review of her published work, finding no inaccuracies nor evidence of bias. Nevertheless, the magazine and Nuzzi agreed that the best course forward is to part ways. Nuzzi is a uniquely talented writer and we have been proud to publish her work over her nearly eight years as our Washington Correspondent. We wish her the best.

[From NY Mag]

It’s worth noting that NY Mag basically has to say that they found no bias in Nuzzi’s writing, otherwise they’re opening up a huge can of worms about Nuzzi’s unethical behavior. Meanwhile, Nuzzi’s lawyer released a statement on her behalf:

In a statement, Ari Wilkenfeld, an attorney for Nuzzi, said the journalist was “gratified though not surprised that two different investigations have determined that her reporting on the 2024 campaign was sound and that she did nothing wrong.”

“For nearly eight years, she consistently produced critically celebrated and hugely popular journalism in her capacity as the Washington Correspondent for New York Magazine,” Wilkenfeld said. “She is grateful for the editors, fact checkers, and artists with whom she worked and to the readers who have supported her with their time, subscriptions, and engagement. She looks forward to the next chapter of her career.”

[From CNN]

“…And that she did nothing wrong.” No one said that. No one said: Olivia Nuzzi did nothing wrong. There was a whole lot of “wrong” all up and down this scandal. It’s wrong for a reporter to sleep with a subject or a source (or both). It’s wrong to carry on an affair with a married man. It’s wrong to keep your inappropriate sexual relationship with a source/subject a secret from your editors and then LIE to your editors when they find out about the affair. It’s wrong to pull the FBI and the court system into your psychodrama because you’re a white woman who can’t own her mistakes.

Photos courtesy of Instagram, NY Magazine’s YouTube video, screenshot from Bill Maher’s HBO show.

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Jenna Fischer recently shared that late last year she had been diagnosed with Stage 1 triple positive breast cancer. After a lumpectomy and months of chemotherapy and radiation, she was finally declared cancer free. She’ll still be treated with infusions of two other medications. Jenna said that she was sharing her story because she wanted to urge other women to stay on top of their mammograms and because she has lost all of her hair during chemo and was tired of wearing wigs. Now, Jenna is sharing more info with us about her diagnosis and treatment plan, in the hopes of giving hope and comfort to other women who are fighting breast cancer. She sat down with Hoda Kotb for an interview on the Today Show, which aired on Monday.

“The appointment that won’t end”: The actor told Hoda that in October 2023, she went in for her routine mammogram appointment that she had been putting off. “Three weeks later, they said, ‘Oh, your mammogram was fine. There were a few spots that were difficult to see. You have very dense tissue. We would recommend that you do another mammogram and maybe follow up with a breast ultrasound,’” she said of the conversation with her doctor. “I was like, ‘This is the appointment that won’t end.”

She didn’t think there was anything to worry about: She explained that she felt “no level of concern” when she went back for her breast ultrasound. However, they then asked her to do a biopsy, saying it likely was a “10% chance it’s cancerous.”

She found out through the patient portal: Fischer said she was on a hike by herself when she received the results via her patient portal. “I checked the portal on the hike, and that’s when I saw words like ‘invasive,’ ‘ductal,’ ‘carcinoma,’ ‘malignant,’” she said. “And I was like, ‘Those words sound like cancer words.’” She then called her husband, Lee Kirk, to tell him the results, though she wasn’t sure it was cancer until her doctor confirmed it later that same day.

Hearing about chemo made it real: When her doctor told her of her diagnosis, Fischer said she just felt “disbelief. I think the word that really got me was when we found out that I was triple-positive and my oncologist said chemotherapy. That was when I really lost it,” she said.

On losing her hair: “I started by having just a big bald patch down this side of my head. And I would kind of do a real elaborate comb-over,” she said, laughing. “I was like, ‘Oh, I understand why the gentlemen do this now. Yes, I can sort of pretend like that isn’t there for a while.’” Although Fischer said she considered it, she never had a “big shave-your-head moment.” Aside from styling her new part, she said she also opted to wear more hats and wigs during treatment.

Christina Applegate was really supportive: “I called [Christina Applegate], and she answered the phone, and she said, ‘Which one is it?’ And I said, ‘It’s breast cancer.’ And she said, ‘I effing knew it.’” Fischer recalled of their conversation. “She’s salty. Salty language that one. I love her for it.” Fischer said Applegate put her in touch with fellow survivors and that they took on her journey “together.”

Humor helped get her through treatments: “Humor helped through all of this. And working helped. And staying in the world helped,” she said. “My oncology nurse, Ron, was an amazing man. … When I started chemotherapy, he said to me, ‘Listen, I want you to get up every day, and I want you to walk. Every day. I want you to drink a ton of water. Walking and water. That’s what I want you to do. And I want you to take care of those kids. The women who get up and at it are the women who do better in my experience.’”

The best advice she got: Fischer said some of the best advice she received was to “live your life during this process,” while also listening to her body. “I did that,” she said. “And some days I just walked circles in my own living room. Some days I walked all around the block. But I did every day get up and do those things. And I think it made a really big difference.”

With a little help from her friends: “So many people took care of me, and my family, and my children, and I am so grateful for it — in so many small ways,” she said. “And the thing is, is that everybody had the right way or the perfect way to do it.” Fischer explained that some friends put her chemotherapy schedule on their calendars, while others sent thoughtful texts and picked her kids up from school. She said her mother-in-law recorded prayers that she would send before treatments.

The importance of normalcy and those “charming” annoyances: “I liked that people were annoyed if I was late with an email,” she said. “I liked being regarded as my old self, so to speak. All of the most important things became so clear so quickly. And the cool thing is that that focus never leaves. So I will get to carry that with me now. … I’ll say I find the world to be such a beautiful place in all of its quirkiness.” Fischer added that everyday annoyances have suddenly become “charming” to her. “Like, you know, just traffic. ‘Oh, look at you, cute traffic. Look at all the people just goin’ places,’” she said. “How great that I get to sit in traffic. How cool.”

Get the girls checked out: “Please don’t skip your mammogram appointment. Please get all the extra screenings that the doctor wants you to get. If I had waited six more months, it could have been much worse. It could have spread. It was a very aggressive form of cancer. I’m really lucky that my cancer had not spread into my lymph nodes. It hadn’t spread anywhere else in my body. My tumor was still very small, too small to feel That’s the thing. A self-exam would not have (caught the cancer). It really was that routine mammogram that started all of this. And I’m so grateful that I went to that appointment.”

[From Today]

I’m really glad that Jenna is sharing her story. It’s so important to talk about these things. If she can inspire someone to stop putting off getting a mammogram or encourage even just one woman who feels like something is “off” to make an appointment to get checked out, then she could save a life. I got my first mammogram last weekend and also was told I have dense breast tissue and need to go back for an ultrasound. The technician warned me that it may not be covered, but Jenna’s story was at the top of my mind, so I told them that was fine and went ahead and scheduled it for later this week. (I did call my insurance and it’s covered under my plan but it is insane that some plans do not cover this!)

I love what Jenna had to say about how it was important for her to live her life while going through all of this, and how the mundane and the annoyance were welcomed to maintain some semblance of sanity, normalcy, and perspective. She’s also really lucky to have such a great support system. Christina Applegate was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, when she was 36 years old. Since then, she’s been a big advocate, setting up a foundation to help women pay for MRIs and paying it forward by doing what she can to call and support breast cancer patients. That’s so admirable. I have no doubt that Jenna will pay it forward as well.

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Personally, I’m still angry about what was done to President Biden and the implicit and explicit ageism with the attacks on Biden over the summer. In retrospect, the media and the party’s disgust with Biden’s age is so even more hypocritical given the fact that Donald Trump is absolutely losing his mind on the campaign trail. He waddles from event to event, lying and rambling and talking about the late, great Hannibal Lector. He keeps canceling interviews and events, with his staffers privately confirming that he’s exhausted. He’s clearly in terrible health and his cognitive decline has been evident for years. And yet, there’s barely any media appetite to cover any of that or do anything but sanewash this very ill man. That’s why Kamala Harris has begun really pressing the issue as she campaigns, and she’s basically challenged the media to give Trump the “full Biden treatment.” Few media outlets have done so, but at least the Associated Press is trying:

Still, Trump’s public appearances are often marked by rambling. He regularly confuses timelines, events and people.

At a town hall-style forum in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Trump seemed to have no recollection of meeting with a severely injured veteran and his family. The veteran’s wife noted that “you visited with him many times” and “you just saw him this summer.”

Trump has also confused Republican rival Nikki Haley with former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He confused the location of a major military base. He mistakenly said that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán led Turkey.

During a meandering news conference riddled with false and misleading statements in August, Trump recalled riding as a passenger in the chopper with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown when it was forced to make an emergency landing. Brown later said he had never shared a helicopter with Trump. Instead, it was likely a Los Angeles city councilman, who is also Black, who shared a rocky helicopter ride with Trump decades earlier.

And more recently, at a rally in Wisconsin, he seemed to squint at teleprompters as he lurched from subject to subject. He described the country as a “third-world hellhole.” He then told his audience, “Remember, there’s a hat that’s made that sells like crazy,” before interrupting himself to comment on a fly. “Oh there’s a fly, I wonder where the fly came from. See, two years ago, I wouldn’t have had a fly up here. You’re changing rapidly,” Trump said.

He has begun boasting about his “beautiful body” and describes his often long-winded speeches as “flawless.”

Trump regularly acknowledges questions about his age and health during public appearances. On Sunday in Arizona, Trump mocked critics who declare him “cognitively impaired” because he “mispronounced a word.”

“They say, He’s cognitively impaired!” Trump teased. “No, I’ll let you know when I will be. I will be someday — we all will be someday. I’ll be the first to let you know.”

[From The AP]

The AP also consulted various doctors who were like: yeah, I don’t treat Trump, but I can tell you that he’s cognitively impaired. It’s that obvious to everyone, especially from his public behavior and his speech patterns. I also have a theory that not only is Trump exhausted, he’s bored. He’s tired of campaigning. He finds it boring nowadays. He’s not getting the same rush he used to get, possibly because his rallies are poorly attended and he can see his “supporters” leaving early. He doesn’t want to make those speeches anymore.

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Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

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Kaley Cuoco and her fiance Tom Pelphrey are mega animal lovers. So much so, that they said yes to adopting a toothless senior chihuahua named Red last December when their daughter was eight months old, and a cane corso mix named Dolly just this June. They have a handful of dogs now, it’s hard to confirm how many, but it’s a full pack! Now daughter Matilda is 18 months old, and Kaley is admitting that she and Tom completely and utterly spoil their fur babies equally as much as their human baby. Kaley even carves out time to have one-on-one play dates between pup and parent (something I’m sure the dogs in Demi Moore’s pack not named Pilaf would be interested to learn). Kaley talked about parenthood, including watching her daughter interact with the big brood, to People Mag while supporting her partnership with Subaru for National Make A Dog’s Day today, on Tuesday:

“Our dogs are so spoiled, it’s a total problem,” Cuoco — who has partnered with Subaru to celebrate National Make a Dog’s Day on Oct. 22 — jokes. “Whenever anyone comes over, they say they want to come back in their next life as one of my dogs. It’s basically their house, we just live here.”

“A couple of days a week, what I’ve been doing recently to make them feel special is I bring them out to my ranch, it’s 40 acres enclosed, … and I let [them] completely run wild,” she continues.

“And because we have so many, I treat them like kids,” adds the Based on a True Story star. “I try and take each of them out by themselves with me so that they feel like they have special one-on-one time, especially my seniors.”

According to Cuoco, pinpointing her favorite part of being a dog mom is impossible. “I love everything about it. I love coming home to my dogs. I like waking up to them,” she says.

“And I have a daughter, by the way, who I love more than life, but waking up with that dog in my face, it never gets old,” continues the star of her 18-month-old Matilda.

“Also, it’s endless laughter, endless joy, and now being a parent of my daughter and seeing the dogs interact with her, that [brings it to] a whole new level,” continues Cuoco.

She adds, “I’ve been a dog parent and an animal parent my entire life, but now, being able to integrate that with my kid and show her how to treat animals and live with them and treat them right, it is such a cool thing.”

Next week, Cuoco is planning to celebrate National Make a dogs Day — as she does every day — through her partnership with Subaru.

Calling their team up a “no-brainer,” The Big Bang Theory alum says, “It was just a perfect collaboration. It totally made sense, and anyone who knows me knows I am a big animal lover.”

“It’s obviously very authentic to me and makes total sense for me to partner with a company that shows support for rescue dogs and animals,” adds Cuoco.

“There are so few very large companies out there that acknowledge animal rescue, and it’s really cool that Subaru is doing this,” continues the mother of one, citing how the company also actively invests in their Subaru Loves Pets program.

“I think animals, they get overlooked, and it takes a big company like this to step up,” Cuoco also says. “It sets them apart for me from other brands.”

[From People]

I’m so tickled by the fact that Kaley takes her many dogs, separately, to a ranch to run free. I don’t know how she’s able to do it — with a career and almost-toddler and other dogs at home! — but I love that she somehow finds a way. (Please, nobody tell my new rescue My Guy that he wound up with a mama who doesn’t have a 40 acre ranch.) So yeah, it’s obvious why Kaley is a natural fit to partner with Subaru, a company that really does do right by all pets. As previously discussed, October is “Adopt a Shelter Dog Month,” and Subaru has long helped the ASPCA hold events to find pets their forever homes. If you’re not teary already, you might want to have the tissue box handy for this next part. This will be the sixth year that Subaru has celebrated National Make A Dog’s Day, an initiative designed to shine a light on “Underdogs,” the older and/or disabled dogs who often get overlooked at shelters. They hope people will consider adopting, fostering, or supporting an Underdog to honor the day. We’re all crying now, right? #MakeADogsDay

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Alright, let me get a show of hands for all of my fellow Supernatural fans out there! This one goes out to y’all. After what felt like an eternal off-season, Tracker finally came back for its second season on Sunday. Jensen Ackles has a recurring role on the series as Colter Shaw’s brother, Russell. If you haven’t watched it, Tracker follows a format where Colton solves a new case a week while also trying to figure out the mystery behind his father’s death. His brother is central to this storyline and was introduced towards the end of season one.

Jensen appeared on the season two premiere and during the episode, the Powers That Be threw Supernatural fans a little Easter egg. His character, Dean Winchester, drove a 1967 Chevy Impala all 15 seasons. It was his true love and there’s a series-long running gag that Dean would never let his brother, Sam, drive his “Baby.” The car was basically a lead character on the show. So, on Tracker, not only does Russell drive a ‘67 Impala, but there’s also a scene in which Russell won’t let Colton drive it.

Jensen Ackles’ first Tracker episode of the season is sure to get Supernatural fans pretty revved up. When Ackles first appeared as Russell, the brother of Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) in season 1 of the hit CBS series, he was spotted patting a 1967 Chevrolet Impala before getting into Colton’s truck. And in the new season, Ackles, 46, drives a similar car throughout the second episode.

As Supernatural fans well know, that handsome muscle car wasn’t used by accident. Ackles’ character, Dean Winchester, drove the Impala, nicknamed Baby, throughout all 15 seasons of the fantasy series.

In the Sunday, Oct. 20 episode, Russell helps to get Colter, who was looking for a man who went missing while seeking answers about aliens, out of a strange government black site. Towards the end of the episode, Colter asks about driving the car one day, and Russell responds, “That’s never going to happen.”

Moments later, when Russell drops Colter off to go find his own vehicle, Colter seems miffed that Russell won’t keep driving off the paved road.

“This baby doesn’t drive on gravel,” Russell quips — an obvious nod to the Supernatural car’s nickname. When Supernatural ended in 2020, Ackles famously kept the iconic car. In fact, he has said it was written into his contract for season 15 of the show.

“As far as taking something on the final day, I will definitely be taking something that I’ve had my eye on since day one of Supernatural,” he told Digital Spy of the car in 2020. “But it’s okay, I’m not stealing it. I got permission. I begged and begged and pleaded for years, but I finally got it this year. They’re going to let me drive home the Impala.”

Hartley has always been excited about working with Ackles on the show.

“We got him, he’s coming back,” Hartley, 47, said San Diego Comic-Con this summer. “We’re having fun with that. It’s a great story.”

Earlier this month, Hartley told PEOPLE, “Jensen and I have known each other for a long time, we just never had a chance to work together. Jensen is the perfect guy to play Russell. It’s such a well fleshed-out character in the book and even more so with what we’ve done on the show. And then Jensen just brings it to the next level.”

[From People]

I had completely forgotten that Jensen was able to take the Impala with him. That’s so awesome. I can’t ever hear the song “Carry On My Wayward Son” without thinking of that show. I rewatch the first five seasons every couple of years because I think the culmination of that storyline is perfect. Anyway, I love love love this callout! At this point, it’s going to feel weird to see Jensen drive any other type of car on screen, ha. I’m really excited for this season of Tracker, too. It was my (and a whole lot of other people’s) favorite new network show last year, and I looked forward to watching new episodes each week. I can’t wait to see where this season goes and hope we get to see more of Russell and his Impala.

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Saoirse Ronan wore Louis Vuitton to the Academy Museum gala over the weekend. Lots of people wore LV, but Ronan is the new LV ambassador. [RCFA]
More fashion pics from the Academy Museum gala – I wish we had good photos from this event, but they limit most photo agency access to the carpet. [Just Jared]
Cooper Koch wants to play Patrick Bateman. [Socialite Life]
What is Rumours, the absurdist film about the G7? [LaineyGossip]
A rave review of Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut. [Pajiba]
Lashana Lynch is pregnant! [Go Fug Yourself]
New music from FKA Twigs! [OMG Blog]
Vanna White remains low-key. [Seriously OMG]
A 90 Day Fiance feud? [Starcasm]
I loved all of the birthday messages for Kamala Harris yesterday! [Hollywood Life]
Suki Waterhouse prank-called Robert Pattinson. [Buzzfeed]

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It’s perfectly possible that the “Prince Harry & Meghan bought a home in Portugal” report is some British-media fiction designed to produce a Sussex soap-opera storyline. But what’s strange about the story is that it’s not playing out like the usual Salt Island fictions. Usually, when they’re making something up, it’s a story designed to make Harry and Meghan look bad or broke or on the verge of divorce. Saying that Harry and Meghan bought a $4 million villa in Portugal (close to Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank) makes the Sussexes sound rich, successful and uninterested in the UK. Which makes me wonder if the story is actually true. Anyway, the Mail has yet another column about the Sussexes’ possible Portuguese real estate and what it all means. This piece is overwrought, so here’s the section I wanted to discuss:

So the fact that Harry and Meghan are also looking to set up a home in the region is a fascinating development. Why? Because it reveals much about the significance of Eugenie and Jack – and their two children – to their lives. Professionally, socially and emotionally, the two couples and their young broods have become entwined. It would be no exaggeration to say that, in the chilliness of their life since leaving the Royal Family, Harry and Meghan have found a rare familial solace in the company of Eugenie and her family.

One could easily see how Harry’s sense of loss could be partly assuaged if he and Meghan could live, at least part-time, near Eugenie and Jack. Perhaps the biggest attraction will be the knowledge that his own children – Archie, five, and Lilibet, three – will be able to spend time with Eugenie’s children. A royal source says: ‘Harry must know his children are not going to grow up as friends of William’s children, George, Charlotte and Louis. A bond for Lilibet and Archie with Eugenie’s kids will be the only royal friendship they will have. Most likely, August and Ernest are the only cousins they are going to ever spend time with. So time in Portugal, even just for holidays, means that Harry is keeping the only door to the Royal Family just a little bit open for himself and for the next generation, and raising them as royal children, at least in some way.’

The royal source continues: ‘The cousin bond is strong between Harry and Eugenie and they have grown up together to some extent. Both have suffered with an at-times difficult relationship with their parents.’

A local estate agent who has been working in the area for decades told The Mail on Sunday that the couple were likely to have spent in excess of four million euros for a property on one of the exclusive resorts. ‘In recent years we have seen A-listers from the States buying homes or plots which are essentially closed environments. It’s very high-end and homes range from four to 20 million euros. There have been rumours in recent months that Harry and Meghan are among the latest buyers. But it’s unclear if they have bought a home that is already built or if it is yet to be built.’

Locals, though, are unlikely to be laying out red carpet for the Duke and Duchess, the agent said. He added: ‘We have much richer and much more famous people buying here for sure. I think they will have zero impact, to be honest. If someone like Jeff Bezos [the Amazon boss] bought here then, yes, there could be some impact – but not Harry and Meghan.’

[From The Daily Mail]

“So time in Portugal, even just for holidays, means that Harry is keeping the only door to the Royal Family just a little bit open for himself and for the next generation, and raising them as royal children…” Ah, yes, everyone knows that royal children are typically raised in America and Portugal, with next to no contact with the Windsors except for Harry’s favorite cousin. I get the feeling that we’re about to witness yet another anti-Eugenie press cycle, where we’re suddenly getting quotes about how Prince William is ordering Eugenie to “choose” and that obviously, she’ll want to stay close to the future king. It never fails to amuse me that the Mail and other outlets manage to get their “royal sources” to chat freely about the Sussexes’ activities, real estate, tours and businesses. It’s almost as if the entire institution is still solely focused on whatever Harry & Meghan are doing.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think Prince William or Kate have very adventurous palates. Kate has said that she likes really spicy food, while William avoids spice because he gets sweaty. I’ve never really thought that either of them have much of a sweet tooth either, and you rarely hear about them picking out a good dessert for themselves or anything like that. To be fair, they both tend to avoid any story which would humanize them, citing their privacy concerns. So I imagine William was quite upset that a student in Cornwall figured out Kate’s favorite dessert and William’s favorite cake.

It appears that many members of the royal family have a sweet tooth, and during a trip to the Duchy College in Cornwall, Prince William revealed what dessert his wife, the Princess of Wales really enjoys.

After visiting the college’s criminology department, William toured the establishment’s student and staff hub, Sam’s Café, where he was presented with one of his favourite cakes, the refrigerated breakfast cake, which formed one of the layers of William’s wedding cake. The dessert was also a favourite of the late Queen’s and it consists of chocolate, butter, sugar, cream and biscuits.

The cake was presented to William by chef Darren Watson, who had been undertaking a lot of research in order to uncover the desserts loved by the royals.

When Darren told William that he had discovered that Kate’s favourite pudding was a sticky toffee pudding, William confirmed this, saying: “Very good.”

Speaking of his love of desserts to Darren after being presented with the biscuit cake, the heir to the throne said: “Thank you very much, that’s very sweet of you, any kind of sweet thing I will take, I’m a sucker for anything chocolate and anything sweet.”

[From Hello]

As an American, whenever I hear “sticky toffee pudding,” I think of an actual pudding, not a cake. But in Britain, it is a cake – a sponge cake or “pudding cake,” with a toffee syrup and maybe some ice cream too. I wouldn’t choose it as my favorite, but whatever, it’s Kate’s favorite, and I’m surprised that William even confirmed that. Now, I think we knew that William likes chocolate? So yeah, obviously, he enjoys any cake with chocolate. I hope he didn’t insult this guy like William did with that poor woman who made cupcakes.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Here are some photos of King Charles and Queen Camilla on Monday in Canberra. They flew from Sydney to Canberra (Australia’s capital) as part of their Australia tour. One of the biggest events of the day was King Charles’s address to Australian Parliament. It was right after his speech when Senator Lidia Thorpe staged a one-woman protest of his visit and his address:

The King’s speech in the Australian Parliament was disrupted by shouts of “genocide” and “f— the colonies” as a senator used the Royal visit to protest. Senator Lidia Thorpe also shouted “f— the colonies” before she was escorted from the Great Hall of Parliament House, Canberra.

Speaking moments before, the King had delivered a speech in which he particularly addressed the First Nations people and their “traditional wisdom”, thanking them for their welcome ceremony and paying his respects to the “traditional owners of the lands on which we meet”. After the speech, which also touched on the King and Elizabeth II’s memories of visits to Australia and topics including climate change, Senator Thrope, who is well known for her protests, shouted: “You committed genocide against our people. Give us our land back. Give us what you stole from us: our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people. You destroyed our land, give us a treaty – we want a treaty, we want a treaty with this country. This is not your land. This is not your land. You are not my King, you are not our King. F— the colonies.”

She was escorted from the hall by security as she continued to berate the King. He was said afterwards to have been “unruffled” by the interruption and determined not let it overshadow an otherwise “wonderful day”.

Ms Thorpe, 51, is an independent senator. In 2022, she was compelled to repeat the oath of allegiance for Australian parliamentarians after initially describing the late Queen as a “coloniser”.

[From The Telegraph]

Thorpe’s 2022 protest of the oath got international coverage – she’s long been on the radar of republicans and monarchists, and I felt sorry for her that they basically forced her to pledge her allegiance to QEII to undertake her role in the Australian Senate. It was asinine, and it underlined the need for Australia to dump the monarchy. I’m glad she got the chance to protest King Charles in person. There’s lots of footage of Thorpe’s protest and I find it very moving. I’m actually a little bit emotional about it – she’s an extremely brave woman.

King Charles protester Lidia Thorpe, a Victoria Senator interrupts the great hall after speech pic.twitter.com/d02hoKW1rh

— Kate Mansey (@KateMansey) October 21, 2024

Australian senator Ms Thorpe, who has aboriginal heritage, heckled King Charles.

“You are not our King, you are not Sovereign… you have committed genocide against our people.” pic.twitter.com/Z3LyAOUg2I

— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) October 21, 2024

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Two weekends ago, Elon Musk joined Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Musk acted like a servile dumbass and proclaimed himself “Dark MAGA.” It was pitiful. It also marked the total end of Musk’s pretense that he wasn’t trying to f–k around and manipulate the election. Keep in mind, Musk is not American – he’s South African – and so this constitutes a foreign actor interfering in the election. He’s basically moved to Pennsylvania, where he’s overseeing a super PAC, to which he has donated tens of millions of dollars. He’s also paying people to “sign a pro-Trump petition,” literally trying to buy votes for $100 a vote. But that’s not all, because of course not. He’s just announced this:

Billionaire Elon Musk promised on Saturday to give away $1 million each day until November’s election to someone who signs his online petition supporting the U.S. Constitution. And he wasted no time, awarding a $1 million check to an attendee of his event in Pennsylvania aimed at rallying supporters behind Republican Donald Trump. The winner was a man named John Dreher, according to event staff.

“By the way, John had no idea. So anyway, you’re welcome,” the Tesla founder said as he handed Dreher the check.

[From Reuters]

The thing that’s keeping me sane about this foreign election interference is that Musk is a moron and he’s throwing money at a “problem” he doesn’t understand. Another thing keeping me sane is that Musk is going to end up talking himself into several lawsuits. He decided to peddle some lies about Dominion voting machines – the same Dominion which sued Fox News and won a settlement of $787.5 million.

Billionaire Elon Musk promoted debunked conspiracy theories about election fraud Thursday at the first of a series of planned campaign events across Pennsylvania meant to rally support for former President Donald Trump’s campaign. At a town hall hosted at a high school outside Philadelphia, Musk referred to the false conspiracy theory that Dominion Voting Systems was part of a plot to rig U.S. elections in recent years.

“When you have mail-in ballots and no proof of citizenship, it’s almost impossible to prove cheating,” he said, responding to an audience member’s question about election fraud. “Statistically there are some very strange things that happen that are statistically incredibly unlikely. There’s always this question of, say, the Dominion voting machines. It is weird that, I think, they were used in Philadelphia and in Maricopa County [in Arizona] but not in a lot of other places. Doesn’t that seem like a heck of a coincidence?”

“The last thing I would do is trust a computer program,” he said, promoting the idea that U.S. elections should use only paper ballots. The Brennan Center for Justice, a progressive nonprofit law and public policy institute, has found that 98% of votes in the general election are expected to be cast on paper ballots.

In a statement, a Dominion spokesperson disputed numerous aspects of Musk’s comments. “Fact: Dominion does not serve Philadelphia County. Fact: Dominion’s voting systems are already based on voter verified paper ballots. Fact: Hand counts and audits of such paper ballots have repeatedly proven that Dominion machines produce accurate results. These are not matters of opinion. They are verifiable facts,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.

[From NBC News]

Psst, Dominion: SUE HIM. Sue him into oblivion. As for why Elon is doing all of this… I really think it’s a combination of things: he’s a loser and like attracts like, the Trump cult is the mothership for losers. I also think Musk has such a f–ked up philosophy when it comes to women, breeding, and the white supremacist “great replacement theory,” and Musk believes that Trump’s general sleazy misogyny mimics his world view.

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