In Edison, thousands of immigrant workers toil in hundreds of warehouses, sorting millions of boxes arriving from nearby ports.

A panel of food security experts have determined that part of Gaza is suffering from famine, and that it could spread to the rest of the enclave within weeks.

The Fed chief is expected to address inflation, interest rates and the economy in his speech on Friday. Will he also confront President Trumps attacks on central bank independence?

His role in the dramatic HBO comedy Somebody Somewhere earned him his first Emmy nomination. It was also, more or less, his first major role.

The company famous for car radio and Howard Stern has recently climbed the podcast charts by betting hundreds of millions of dollars on shows like Call Her Daddy and SmartLess.

Gov. Gavin Newsom displays legislation he signed calling for a special election on a redrawn congressional map on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)2025-08-22T13:19:11Z AUSTIN, Texas (AP) California has landed its counterpunch. The national tug-of-war over redistricting and voters in the 2026 midterm elections shifts once again back to Texas, where it all started.California lawmakers voted mostly along party lines Thursday to approve legislation calling for a special election in November to approve a redrawn congressional map designed to help Democrats win five more U.S. House seats next year.That move came a day after Texas Republicans advanced their own redrawn map to pad their House majority by the same number of seats at the urging of President Donald Trump.Texas lawmakers meet again Friday, when the Republican majority in the Senate could give final approval to their map, sending it to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had rallied Democrats in his state to counter Texas initial moves, quickly signed the special election bill in a tit-for-tat gerrymandering battle that is rippling through several states. This is not something six weeks ago that I ever imagined that Id be doing, Newsom said at a press conference, pledging a campaign for the measure that would reach out to Democrats, Republicans and independent voters. This is a reaction to an assault on our democracy in Texas. California Republicans have filed a lawsuit and called for a federal investigation into the plan. They promise to fight the measure at the ballot box as well. Stay up to date with the latest U.S. news by signing up to our WhatsApp channel. California Assemblyman James Gallagher, the Republican minority leader, said Trump was wrong to push for new Republican seats elsewhere, contending the president was just responding to Democratic gerrymandering in other states. But he warned that Newsoms approach, which the governor has dubbed fight fire with fire, was dangerous.You move forward fighting fire with fire and what happens? Gallagher asked. You burn it all down. A battle for the US House control waged via redistrictingOn a national level, the partisan makeup of existing districts puts Democrats within three seats of a majority. The incumbent presidents party usually loses congressional seats in the midterms. The president has pushed other Republican-controlled states including Indiana and Missouri to also revise their maps to add more winnable GOP seats. Ohio Republicans were also already scheduled to revise their maps to make them more partisan.Redistricting typically occurs once a decade, immediately after a census. While some states have their own limitations, there is no national impediment to a state trying to redraw districts in the middle of the decade.The U.S. Supreme Court has also said the Constitution does not outlaw partisan gerrymandering, only using race to redraw district lines. Democrats have sought a national commission for redistrictingRepublicans and some Democrats championed the 2008 ballot measure that established Californias nonpartisan redistricting commission, along with the 2010 one that extended its role to drawing congressional maps. Newsom backed the initial redistricting commission ballot measures. On Thursday, he contended his state was still setting a model. Well be the first state in U.S. history, in the most democratic way, to submit to the people of our state the ability to determine their own maps, Newsom said before signing the legislation.Former President Barack Obama, who has also backed a nationwide nonpartisan approach, has also backed Newsoms bid to redraw the California map, saying it was a necessary step to stave off the GOPs Texas move.Californias plan is temporaryThe measure would have the California map last only through 2030, after which the states commission would draw the next decades map. Democrats are also mulling reopening Marylands and New Yorks maps for mid-decade redraws.However, more Democratic-run states have commission systems like Californias or other redistricting limits than Republican ones do, leaving the GOP with a freer hand to swiftly redraw maps. New York, for example, cant draw new maps until 2028, and even then, only with voter approval.In Texas, outnumbered Democrats left the state for 15 days to block a vote. Once they returned, they were assigned round-the-clock police monitoring. California Republicans didnt take such dramatic steps but complained bitterly about Democrats muscling the package through the statehouse. What youre striving for is predetermined elections, Strickland said. Youre taking the voice away from Californians.Riccardi reported from Denver. Austin and Nguyen reported from Sacramento, California. JIM VERTUNO Vertuno has been covering news, sports and politics from Texas for The AP since 1998. He won a National Headliner Award for sports writing in 2013. twitter mailto SOPHIE AUSTIN Austin covers California state government and politics for the Associated Press. She reports on environmental, education and reparations policies. twitter mailto TRN NGUYN Nguyn is an Associated Press reporter covering California government and politics. mailto

Then National security adviser John Bolton speaks to media at the White HouseJuly 31, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster File)2025-08-22T11:38:38Z Follow live updates on President Donald Trump and his administration WASHINGTON (AP) The FBI is searching the Maryland home and Washington office of John Bolton, who served in President Donald Trumps first administration as national security adviser but later became critical of the president, as part of an investigation into the handling of classified information, a person familiar with the matter said Friday.Bolton was not detained and has not been charged with any crimes, said the person, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation by name and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. After the search at Boltons home started, he was spotted Friday morning standing in the lobby of the Washington building where he keeps an office and talking to two people with FBI visible on their vests. He left a few minutes later and appeared to have gone upstairs in the building. Messages left with a spokesperson for Bolton and the White House were not immediately returned. A lawyer who has represented Bolton had no immediate comment.The Justice Department also had no comment, but leaders appeared to cryptically refer to the search of Boltons home in a series of social media posts Friday morning. FBI Director Kash Patel, who in a 2023 book he wrote included Bolton in a list of members of the Executive Branch Deep State, posted on X: NO ONE is above the law @FBI agents on mission. Attorney General Pam Bondi shared his post, adding: Americas safety isnt negotiable. Justice will be pursued. Always. The searches of Boltons home and office comes as the Trump administration has taken steps to examine the activities of other perceived adversaries of the Republican president, including by authorizing a grand jury investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe. Officials are also conducting mortgage fraud investigations into Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought a civil fraud lawsuit against Trump and his company, and ex-Trump prosecutor Jack Smith faces an investigation from an independent watchdog office. Schiff and James have vigorously denied any wrongdoing through their lawyers. In an ABC interview earlier this month, Bolton was asked about whether he was worried about the Trump administration taking action against him. Bolton said Trump had already come after him by taking away his security detail, and he added: I think it is a retribution presidency.Bolton served as Trumps third national security adviser for 17 months and clashed with him over Iran, Afghanistan and North Korea. He faced scrutiny during the first Trump administration over a book he wrote about his time in government that officials argued disclosed classified information, but the Justice Department in 2021 abandoned its lawsuit and dropped a separate grand jury investigation.Boltons lawyers have said he moved forward with the book after a White House National Security Council official, with whom Bolton had worked for months, said the manuscript no longer contained classified information. On his first day back in office this year, Trump revoked the security clearances of more than four dozen former intelligence officials, including Bolton. Bolton was also among a group of former Trump officials whose security details were canceled by Trump earlier this year.Boltons scathing book, The Room Where It Happened, portrayed Trump as grossly ill-informed about foreign policy and said he saw conspiracies behind rocks, and remained stunningly uninformed on how to run the White House, let alone the huge federal government.Trump responded by slamming Bolton as a crazy war-monger who would have led the country into World War Six.Bolton served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush and also held positions in President Ronald Reagans administration. He had considered running for president in 2012 and 2016.In 2022, an Iranian operative was charged in a plot to kill Bolton in presumed retaliation for a January 2020 U.S. airstrike that killed the countrys most powerful general. Bolton had by then left the Trump administration but tweeted, Hope this is the first step to regime change in Tehran.____Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price, Jill Colvin, Nathan Ellgren and Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report. ERIC TUCKER Tucker covers national security in Washington for The Associated Press, with a focus on the FBI and Justice Department. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, July 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, File)2025-08-22T09:03:29Z The Gaza Strips largest city is gripped by famine, according to the worlds leading authority on food crises.The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, said Friday that famine was occurring in Gaza City, and is likely to spread to the southern cities of Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah without a ceasefire and an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid.Aid groups and food security experts have warned for months that Gaza was on the brink of famine, but this is the first official confirmation.The Israeli military agency in charge of transferring aid to the territory rejected the report Friday, calling it false and biased. The agency, known as COGAT, rejected the claim that there was famine in Gaza and said that significant steps had been taken to expand the amount of aid entering the strip in recent weeks. Famine now grips Gazas largest cityIt threatens to spread across the territory without a ceasefire and an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid.This is the first time the IPC has confirmed a famine in the Middle East, and it comes after months of warnings by aid groups that Israels restrictions of food and other aid into Gaza, and its military offensive, were causing high levels of starvation among Palestinian civilians, particularly children.More than half a million people in Gaza about a quarter of the population face catastrophic levels of hunger, and many are at risk of dying from malnutrition-related causes, according to a report by the worlds leading authority on food crises. Heres why:The situation has vastly deteriorated in GazaThe IPC report said that from early July until mid-August it has seen the most severe deterioration since it began analyzing food insecurity and malnutrition in Gaza. And despite the unprecedented pace over that time frame, the IPC expects the situation to get worse.One third of Gazas population is expected to experience catastrophic levels of hunger by the end of next month, the IPC said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied there is hunger in Gaza, calling reports of starvation lies promoted by Hamas. Palestinians rush to collect humanitarian aid airdropped into Zawaida in central Gaza Strip, July 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File) Palestinians rush to collect humanitarian aid airdropped into Zawaida in central Gaza Strip, July 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Famine occurs when these conditions are metThe IPC was first set up in 2004 during the famine in Somalia. It includes more than a dozen U.N. agencies, aid groups, governments and other bodies.Famine can appear in pockets, sometimes small ones, and so a formal classification requires caution.The IPC has only confirmed famine a few times in Somalia in 2011, and South Sudan in 2017 and 2020, and last year in parts of Sudans western Darfur region. This is the first confirmed famine in the Middle East. It rates an area as in famine when all three of these conditions are confirmed: 20% of households have an extreme lack of food, or are essentially starving. At least 30% of children 6 months to 5 years old suffer from acute malnutrition, based on a weight-to-height measurement; or 15% of that age group suffer from acute malnutrition based on the circumference of their upper arm. At least two people, or four children under 5, per 10,000 are dying daily due to starvation or the interaction of malnutrition and disease.Gazas been a major challenge Gaza has posed a major challenge for experts because Israel severely limits access to the territory, making it difficult to gather data.In a separate report Friday, the Famine Review Committee, or FRC, said it, too, had concluded there was famine in part of Gaza. The FRC is a group of independent international food security experts regularly consulted by the IPC.The group acts as an added layer of verification when the data shows there could be famine. The data analyzed between July 1 and Aug. 15 showed clear evidence that thresholds for starvation and acute malnutrition have been reached. Gathering data for mortality has been harder, but the IPC said it is reasonable to conclude from the evidence that the necessary threshold has likely been reached. Its not always clear that hunger is the cause of deathMost cases of severe malnutrition in children arise through a combination of lack of nutrients along with an infection, leading to diarrhea and other symptoms that cause dehydration, said Alex de Waal, author of Mass Starvation: The History and Future of Famine and executive director of the World Peace Foundation.There are no standard guidelines for physicians to classify cause of death as malnutrition as opposed to infection, he said.When famine occurs, there are often relatively few deaths from hunger alone. Far more people die from a combination of malnutrition, disease and other forms of deprivation. All of these count as excess deaths separate from violence that can be attributed to a food crisis or famine, he said. SAM MEDNICK Mednick is an AP correspondent for Israel and the Palestinian Territories. She focuses on conflict, humanitarian crises and human rights abuses. Mednick formerly covered West & Central Africa and South Sudan. twitter

Katheryn Millwee holds a portrait of Kilmar Abrego Garcia outside the federal courthouse on June 25, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)2025-08-21T22:52:09Z A U.S. magistrate judge is expected to order the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from a Tennessee jail Friday while he awaits trial on federal human smuggling charges.The release will provide the closest thing to freedom Abrego Garcia has felt since he was wrongfully deported to a notorious El Salvador prison in March, making him a face if not the face of President Donald Trumps hardline immigration policies. Abrego Garcias lawyers stated in a court filings Tuesday that a private security firm will take Abrego Garcia from Tennessee to Maryland when hes freed.But Abrego Garcias liberty before trial could be short-lived. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement may detain him once he arrives in his adopted state of Maryland and could try to deport him again. Depending on whos telling his story, there are two very different versions of Abrego Garcia. Trump and his administration cast him as an MS-13 gang member and a tireless smuggler of migrants across the country. Abrego Garcias attorneys portray him as a family man and construction worker who was arbitrarily deported and then vindictively charged to save political face. As Abrego Garcias story takes yet another turn, heres what to know: Well-founded fear Abrego Garcia, 30, grew up in El Salvador and fled at 16 because a local gang extorted and terrorized his family, court records state. He traveled to Maryland, where his brother lives as a U.S. citizen, but was not authorized to stay. Abrego Garcia found work in construction and met his future wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura. In 2018, he moved in with her and her two children after she became pregnant with his child. They lived in Prince Georges County, just outside Washington.In March 2019, Abrego Garcia went to a Home Depot seeking work as a laborer when he and three other men were detained by local police, court records state. They were suspected of being in MS-13 based on tattoos and clothing. A criminal informant told police that Abrego Garcia was in MS-13, court records state, but police did not charge him and turned him over to ICE. A U.S. immigration judge denied Abrego Garcias subsequent asylum claim because more than a year had passed since his arrival. But the judge granted him protection from being deported back to El Salvador, determining that he had a well-founded fear of gang persecution there, court records state. Abrego Garcia was released and placed under federal supervision. He received a federal work permit and checked in with ICE each year, his lawyers said. He joined a union and was employed full-time as a sheet metal apprentice.Audacity to fight backIn February, the Trump administration designated MS-13 as a foreign terrorist organization. In March, it deported Abrego Garcia to the prison in El Salvador, violating the U.S. immigration judges 2019 order. Abrego Garcia later claimed in court documents that he was beaten and psychologically tortured, while El Salvador President Nayib Bukele denied the allegations. The Trump administration described its violation of the immigration judges 2019 order as an administrative error. Trump and other officials also doubled down on claims Abrego Garcia was in MS-13. Vasquez Sura filed a lawsuit to bring her husband back. Following mounting political pressure and a Supreme Court order, the Trump administration returned Abrego Garcia to the U.S. in early June. But it was to face the human smuggling charges. The smuggling case stems from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding, during which Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers. Police in Tennessee suspected human smuggling, but he was allowed to drive on and wasnt charged with anything.Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty to the smuggling charges filed in June. The case relies on the testimony of cooperating witnesses, some of whom have requested or received help with immigration and criminal matters, according to pre-trial testimony. Abrego Garcias lawyers on Tuesday filed a rarely used motion to dismiss the case based on vindictive and selective prosecution. This case results from the governments concerted effort to punish him for having the audacity to fight back, his lawyers wrote. The governments response is due in court by Tuesday. Deportation fears realized U.S. Magistrate Barbara Holmes in Nashville ruled in June that Abrego Garcia has a right to be released from jail while he awaits trial, determining that hes not a flight risk or danger to the community. Holmes discussed at a court hearing conditions of release that would require Abrego Garcia to stay with his brother in Maryland. He would also have electronic monitoring and be placed on home detention. But Abrego Garcia has remained in jail at his attorneys request for about 11 weeks over fears that ICE would immediately try to deport him. Those fears were confirmed in federal court in Maryland, where Abrego Garcias wife is suing the Trump administration. Thomas Giles, an assistant director for ICE, testified last month that Abrego Garcia would be detained as soon as hes freed. He added that Mexico or South Sudan may be willing to accept Abrego Garcia, but the Trump administration hadnt decided on anything yet.U.S. officials have argued that Abrego Garcia can be deported because he came to the U.S. illegally and because a U.S. immigration judge deemed him eligible for expulsion in 2019, just not to his native El Salvador. Judge provides some protectionsDespite the fears of deportation, Abrego Garcias attorneys have asked Holmes to finally release him from jail in Tennessee. A stay of release that they had requested expires Friday. In a filing Thursday, Holmes wrote that she will enter an order regarding Abrego Garcias pretrial release on conditions. The order was not published as of Thursday afternoon.Abrego Garcias expected release comes after a federal judge in Maryland provided some protections for him. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who is overseeing the lawsuit, has prohibited ICE from immediately detaining Abrego Garcia when hes released in Tennessee. In a late July order, Xinis required that any removal proceedings begin in Baltimore. Thats where they should have begun when the Trump administration wrongfully deported him to El Salvador, Xinis wrote. Xinis also ordered that ICE provide three business days notice if it intends to initiate removal proceedings. The time will give Abrego Garcia and his attorneys the opportunity to raise any credible fears of persecution or torture in the country to which ICE plans to send him. Xinis wrote that the Trump administration has done little to assure the Court that absent intervention, Abrego Garcias due process rights will be protected.If ICE wanted to return him to El Salvador, it would have to reopen his 2019 case before an immigration judge, Xinis wrote. And that would require formal notice and an opportunity to be heard. Xinis acknowledged that Abrego Garcia may be ordered to appear in Baltimore for immigration proceedings, which may or may not include lawful arrest, detention and eventual removal.So long as such actions are taken within the bounds of the Constitution and applicable statutes, this Court will have nothing further to say, Xinis wrote.

Surfers try to get in the water, past big waves bolstered by Hurricane Erin, at Rockaway Beach in the Queens borough of New York, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)2025-08-22T05:28:58Z RODANTHE, N.C. (AP) Strong winds and waves battered Nantucket and Marthas Vineyard and dangerous rip currents threatened from the Carolinas to New England as Hurricane Erin made its way farther out to sea.The storm was forecast to cause possible coastal flooding into the weekend along the East Coast but was also expected to lose strength gradually. The National Hurricane Center in Miami reported early Friday that Erin had weakened to a Category 1 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph (150 kph), and was located about 425 miles (680 kilometers) south-southwest of Halifax, Novia Scotia.Despite being twice the size of an average hurricane, Erin so far has managed to thread the needle through the Atlantic between the East Coast and several island nations, limiting its destructiveness.On North Carolinas Outer Banks, waves breached dunes in the town of Kill Devil Hills on Thursday evening, and water and sand pooled on Highway 12. Although damage assessments were still underway, the low-lying islands appeared to have dodged widespread trouble.A tropical storm warning was lifted for Bermuda, where residents and tourists had been told to stay out of the water through Friday. Warnings along the coasts of North Carolina and Virginia were also discontinued. Communities along the mid-Atlantic and southern New England coast could see tropical storm-force wind gusts through early Friday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Stay up to date with the latest U.S. news by signing up to our WhatsApp channel. The National Weather Service issued coastal flood warnings for places as far north as the Mid-Atlantic and New England coasts, saying that some roads could be made impassable. Beaches were closed to swimming Thursday in New York City, but more than a dozen surfers still rode waves at Rockaway Beach in Queens. Scott Klossner, who lives nearby, said conditions were great for experienced surfers. You wait all year round for these kinds of waves. Its challenging, really hard to stay in one place, because theres a heavy, heavy, heavy rip, he said. But this is what surfers want a hurricane that comes but doesnt destroy my house? Ill take that.The Outer Banks essentially sand dunes sticking out of the ocean a few feet above sea level are vulnerable to erosion. Storm surges can cut through them, washing tons of sand and debris onto roads and sometimes breaking up pavement and creating new inlets.The dunes and beach took a beating the last two days, but Dare County Manager Bobby Outten said there have been no new inlets with Erin or significant structural damage to homes or businesses.All in all its not as bad as it could have been, Outten said. Hopefully the worst of it is behind us.On Jennettes Pier in Nags Head, where sustained winds reached 45 mph (72 kph), dozens of onlookers snapped photos of the huge waves crashing into the structure amid driving rain.This is nature at her best, Nags Head resident David Alan Harvey said. I love this. I love these storms.Erin has fluctuated in intensity since forming nearly a week ago but remained unusually large, stretching across more than 600 miles (965 kilometers). So-called Cape Verde hurricanes like Erin, which originate near those islands off the west coast of Africa, cross thousands of miles of warm ocean and are some of the most dangerous to North America.___Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press journalists Tammy Webber in Fenton, Michigan; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Julie Walker in New York; and Leah Willingham in Boston contributed.___ The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. ALLEN G. BREED Breed is an Associated Press general assignment/feature writer. He joined the AP in 1988 in Kentucky. twitter mailto JOHN SEEWER Seewer covers state and national news for The Associated Press and is based in Toledo, Ohio. twitter mailto

The city of Delray Beach, Florida, is not backing down from the fight against the DeSantis administration over a Pride-themed intersection that the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has become obsessed with destroying.The FDOT recently issued a formal enforcement letter demanding the city remove the mural by September 3or face consequences, but the City Commission has agreed to stand its ground and attend a state administration hearing over the matter on September 2. Related Five districts stand up for trans kids despite Education Departments funding threat My guess is were gonna lose, Delray Beach Mayor Tom Carney, an attorney, told Gwen Filosa Media Key West. Maybe well win, so who knows. Lets give it a shot.But not everyone agreed with the decision to resist. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today If we poke the bear, are they going to take the money? said Commissioner Juli Casale, referring to threats that state funding to the city would be frozen if commissioners did not remove the Pride mural. Casale reportedly advocated for the relocation of a Pride symbol to a city-owned property. We are an inclusive city, said Casale. That doesnt change if we move the Pride crosswalk to the sidewalk at Old School Square. Paint the whole Old School Square in a rainbow.FDOT began to crack down after commissioners in Delray Beach votedto maintain its rainbow intersection which was installed and paid for by the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council (PBCHRC) after an impassioned speech by Vice Mayor Rob Long.Long pointed out that despite threats, the FDOT never issued a formal enforcement letter, nor did Delray officials make any plans to install a Pride symbol elsewhere after plans to destroy the intersection were announced. Soon came the formal letter, issued to city manager Terrence Moore, demanding the city remove the mural by September 3 or the Florida Department of Transportation will remove them by any appropriate method necessary without further notice.The letteralso saidthe state would charge the city for the costs of the removal and may withhold state funds if the city does not cooperate,The Palm Beach Postreported. Asimilar letterhas been issued to officials in the city of Key West.Astatement from Mooreto CBS12 conceded that now that a formal order has been issued, the rainbow art will likely be removed: Like several other communities across Florida, the city of Delray Beach is required to bring the pride intersection into compliance with public safety standards, he said. In his speech, Long acknowledged that a formal order would require the city to comply, but he also urged commissioners to find an alternate way to publicly display a symbol of LGBTQ+ acceptance. Thats the minimum respect that our community deserves, he said.Lets be honest. We all know this is not about traffic safety. This is political, Long said. Its part of the same culture war climate where symbols of inclusion are targeted precisely because they represent acceptance. Its about erasing the visibility of our LGBTQ+ people at the same time when their rights are again under direct threat.He emphasized that the city has a long history of celebrating marginalized communities. Thats not just branding; its part of our civic identity. Symbols matter, he said. They tell our residents, visitors, and especially our youth that they are seen, valued, and safe here. Removing our pride intersection without commission consensus and without a plan to preserve that symbol elsewhere sends the wrong message at the wrong time.Long also used data to disprove claims that the Pride art is distracting to drivers, a claim that has been made repeatedly by federal Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.But in his enthusiastic response to Duffys claims, Florida Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue exposed the true motivation behind the campaign to remove the crosswalk art while also praisinga lawsigned by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) banning nonstandard surface markings, signage, and signals that do not directly contribute to traffic safety or control can lead to distractions or misunderstandings, jeopardizing both driver and pedestrian safety.Floridas proactive efforts to ensure we keep our transportation facilities free & clear of political ideologies were cemented into law by @GovRonDeSantis, Perdueposted to socials. Great to now have our federal partners also aligned behind this same common-sense policy.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Pride month is a time to not just celebrate ourselves, but the best parts of our community and that includes the LGBTQ+ activists fighting to make the world better.Theres a lot to be said for just being publicly out, and showing queer excellence from day to day. But not everyone has the grit and wherewithal to organize and be the face of a movement and thats okay! But it also means that LGBTQ+ activists like these are all the more important in the continued march towards equality.1. Harleigh Walker[/media-credit] Harleigh made two visits to the White House this year, one for Trans Visibility Day and another, pictured, for a concert honoring Sir Elton John.Harleigh Walker is a trans teen in the small town of Auburn, Alabama. She endured bullying over her gender identity and transformed into an LGBTQ+ activist, speaking to high-ranking politicians about the importance of just letting trans kids live as themselves.2. Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS)[/media-credit] Rep. Sharice DavidsRep. Sharice Davids was an MMA fighter, and now shes fighting for the LGBTQ+ community as one of Kansas representatives. One of the many bills shes put forward is the Pride in Mental Health Act, which would improve resources for at-risk queer youth.3. Dr. Julian L. Watkins[media-credit name=Provided align=center width=1080][/media-credit]Dr. Julian L. Watkins the physician in charge of the Riverside Sexual Health Clinic in the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygienes Bureau of Sexually Transmitted Infection Control focuses on what he calls health justice. Not only is he working on the front lines of health care, he has also had an online show, The Peoples Clinic, which helps make health information more accessible.4. Jaymes Black[/media-credit] Family Equality CEO Jaymes BlackJaymes Black is the president and CEO of Family Equality, a group advocating for queer families. Fighting for families has become essential as pandering politicians in red states pass laws making it more difficult for gay people to adopt.5. Joe Barb[/media-credit] Homeless youth advocate Joe Barb with his son Jaden.Homelessness among queer youth is, sadly, a longtime problem. Thankfully, people like Joe Barb are out there. Barb launched a community center in South Dakota for LGBTQ+ kids, which offers services and activities, and hes also working to provide transitional housing for the community.6. Zander Moricz[/media-credit] Zander MoriczNot many people would take the fight directly to Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler, but then Zander Moricz isnt most people. Moricz confronted her at a school board meeting after it was discovered she was looking for another woman to have a sexual relationship with, telling her, A politicians job is to serve their community, not to police personal lives. So, to be extra clear Bridget, you deserve to be fired from your job because you are terrible at your job. Hes also sued Florida over the states Dont Say Gay law.7. Kelley Robinson[/media-credit] Kelley Robinson, President, Human Rights CampaignKelley Robinson has some serious activist bonafides. She was the head of Planned Parenthood when the Supreme Court overturnedRoe v. Wade, and shes now the president of the Human Rights Campaign. Shes been working to bring back progressive voters disillusioned by politics, and to fight against the tide of anti-queer, anti-trans legislation from the right.8. Jack Knoxville[media-credit name=Trans Empowerment Project align=center width=562][/media-credit]Jack Knoxville founded the Trans Empowerment Project in Jacksonville, North Carolina. The TEPs first event was a clothing swap for trans folks to come together and get new, gender-affirming clothing. From there, the group has expanded to provide food, shelter, care packages, and more to trans people in need.9. Annise Parker[/media-credit] Annise Parker, former Houston mayor.Annise Parker was elected mayor of Houston in 2010, making her city the most populous one to elect an openly gay mayor until Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoots 2019 election. Parker created affordable housing in her city, and after leaving office, went on to become the executive director of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, an organization devoted to electing queer candidates across the United States.10. Jenn Burleton[/media-credit] Jenn Burleton, program director for the TransActive Gender Project.Jenn Burleton is the program director for the Oregon-based TransActive Gender Project, which provides education and legal advocacy for families with trans children. She also recently called out The New York Times for misleading coverage of trans issues, comparing the papers coverage to that of Tucker Carlson.11. V SpeharV Spehar of Under the Desk News and the podcast V Interesting. Photo provided by V Spehar.V Spehar is a citizen journalist, who took to TikTok with theirUnder The Desk program to deliver news in one-minute chunks. Spehar makes complex topics, like recent anti-trans bills and voter engagement, into easy-to-digest bites of information.12. Annie Hex[/media-credit] Annie Hex reads from one of her zines.Annie Hex is a poet, witch, and the unofficial queer mayor of Batavia, Illinois. Hex also hosts a weekly weather permitting all-ages queer art class in a park, and gives out queer-positive merchandise at the local farmers market. She has also set up a queer prom for all those people who couldnt go to their high school proms with their actual partners.13. Nadine Smith[/media-credit] Nadine Smith, Executive Director of Equality FloridaFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is one of the most anti-LGBTQ+ politicians in the country the man is so petty, he wont let a bridge have rainbow lights for Pride Month. Luckily, folks like Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith are fighting for us. She has been instrumental in repealing the gay adoption ban in Florida, the states marriage ban, and more.14. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI)[/media-credit] Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI)Congressman Mark Pocan may be a Democrat, but hes calling on Republicans to excise Trumpism from their party. He rightly sees Trumpism as just hate, and points out that outside of the rabid base, most people including most Republicans dont really care about demonizing the LGBTQ+ community. Pocan is the chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus to advance LGBTQ+ rights in spite of the anti-LGBTQ+ extremist speaker of the House.15. Okan Sengun[/media-credit] Okan Sengun, Co-Founder of the LGBT Asylum ProjectNot every country in the world is as accepting of queer folks as they should be. Okan Sengun, co-founder of the LGBT Asylum Project, is working to provide help for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers in these countries. Despite the 13% success rate of unrepresented asylum seekers, his group has a 100% success rate with the refugees it has advocated for.16 & 17. Doug and Brent MunsterBrent and Doug Munster with their sonsBrent and Doug Munster adopted two children and provided them with a wonderful home. But they didnt just stop there they founded the Georgia chapter of Gift of Adoption, which helps raise money for couples who want to adopt but cant afford the process. Over seven years, theyve raised over $600,000 for families in need.18. Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D-MT)[/media-credit] Montana Rep. Zooey ZephyrState Rep. Zooey Zephyr is the first out transgender woman to serve in the Montana House. She was briefly banned from the House chamber for telling her Republican colleagues that if they voted for an anti-trans bill, I hope the next time you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands. But instead of stifling her speech, the story went national, giving her an even bigger platform to fight for her constituents.19. Cynthia Lee FontaineDrag Out the Vote co-chair Cynthia Lee Fontaine. Photo provided.Austin drag queen Cynthia Lee Fontaine isnt just aDrag Race alum shes also the co-chair of Drag Out the Vote, an organization putting queens to work registering folks to vote. Drag Out the Vote was launched by Fontaines manager Jackie Huba in 2019, and in the following presidential election, there was a 37% increase in equality voters. And her message is even more important as the right-wing ramps up its idiotic fight against drag.20. Dr. Tracey Wiese[/media-credit] Dr. Tracey Wiese, right, with her wife and their 11 year-old daughter.Dr. Tracey Wiese of Anchorage, Alaska saw a problem: there were no LGBTQ+ clinics in her state. So she solved that problem, opening Full Spectrum Health.Wiese began working 80 to 90 hours a week, not just seeing patients but dealing with all the behind-the-scenes work. So she joined with the non-profit Identity Health to keep the clinic open while maintaining her sanity. Though based in Anchorage, the clinic has embraced telehealth, so anyone, even in rural Alaska, can get help.

Malik Beasley is no longer a target of the federal gambling investigation conducted by the Eastern District of New York, his attorneys Steve Haney and Mike Schachter told ESPN on Friday, potentially reopening free agency for one of the NBA's top shooters.

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The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression has long been a critic of progressive campus culture. Now its taking on new, and surprising, targets.

It was the clearest sign yet that President Trumps push for an imminent summit was faltering.

The decommissioning would leave the United States with no icebreaker to study the southern seas and cede scientific leadership to rival countries like China.

The conflict that has put rebels in control of much of the east of the country has left victims with no legal recourse and dismantled many of the clinics that offered care.

WASHINGTONEmphasizing that he wasnt going to leave the nations capital without getting one good photograph, D.C. tourist Stan Jacobs expressed frustration Friday after atrocities kept getting in the frame of his shot. All right, everyone, looking goodjust wait two more seconds until all those military guys finish shooting their assault rifles and hop back into their big armored tank, said a visibly impatient Jacobs, who asked his family to give him a big smile and say cheese just as several National Guardsmen, FBI agents, and DHS officers sprinted into the foreground and began physically assaulting dozens of people. Excuse me, sir? I know you have to do your job and brutalize American citizens, but could you just do it a few feet to the right? I only needtwo seconds without it looking like I live under a fascist police state. Actually. Could you take ourpicture? Just try not to get any blood on the lens. At press time, Jacobs was reportedly struggling to crop in on the photo to hide the fact that an active member of the U.S. military had just shot him in the chest several times.The post Atrocities Keep Getting In Frame Of D.C. Tourists Shot appeared first on The Onion.

Mark Rodney, 52, passed away suddenly last Saturday. His family has announced that the first person to correctly guess his cause of death will win a $25 Visa gift card.The post Mark Rodney appeared first on The Onion.

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Hazel White, mother of Alicia White, who is the president and founder of the Project Petals, waters plants at Paradise Community Garden, Friday, Aug. 8, 2025, in Inwood, N.Y. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)2025-08-22T12:32:36Z Keith Lambert and his family cope with the extreme heat of summertime Chicago by going in and out of their house as quickly as possible and making sure their insulated shades are always drawn.Its really just minimizing the exposure, Lambert said. Its about doing your best to manage your cooling touch points.Lambert is like tens of millions of Americans navigating major heat waves, with temperatures consistently exceeding 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius). More often than not, the heat hits hardest for people of color and low-income residents, although Lambert and his family consider themselves middle class.The reality is there is a financial tie as to your comfort level and your well-being when it comes to extreme heat conditions, Lambert said. If If you dont have the means and or effort to cool, you have three choices you bake, youre suffering and dealing with it, or do the best to go out and find places that have air conditioning. Mortality records from cities across the country have shown that heat kills along socioeconomic and racial lines.Environmental justice advocates trace this inequality back to decades of discriminatory housing policy, especially redlining the 1930s government practice of rating neighborhoods investment worthiness using race as a determining factor and denying mortgages to minority buyers. The redlining and all of the historic environmental injustices that happens to black and brown communities in this country are now coming to a head because its impacting everyone, said Alicia White, founder of Project Petals an environmental nonprofit that serves Black and brown communities. Its impacting our communities the most, White said. More green spaces neededThe extreme heat isnt just uncomfortable; its the top cause of weather-related fatalities nationwide. According to a New York City mortality report, extreme heat kills an average of 350 New Yorkers each year. While heatwaves are incredibly deadly, according to Eric Klinenberg, a sociology professor at New York University, they are also largely ignored. Heat is invisible and makes for less spectacular imagery than hurricanes or floods.But also the people heatwaves affect are often made invisible in our public life, said Klinenberg, the author of Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago. Theyre disproportionately poor, Black and elderly. They often live in segregated neighborhoods.Environmentalists say one solution to beating the heat in sprawling cities is planting more trees, creating green spaces like parks and meadows and covering rooftops with plants.In Arizona, the nonprofit Unlimited Potential, which focuses on promoting health and wellness, maintains a program to develop the urban forestry workforce to grow and maintain the tree canopy in Phoenix. Tawsha Trahan, director of healthy communities at Unlimited Potential, said growing the tree canopy in Phoenix, especially in low-income neighborhoods is needed as the lack of trees contribute to their hotter temperatures. (There) are many reasons that contribute to having hotter neighborhoods but one of those reasons is they simply have much less trees, Trahan said. Its visual. You can drive around in a neighborhood and see a substantial difference with the tree canopy cover.Last fall, the New York City Council passed laws adding trees to the city charters sustainability plans and requiring the city to develop an urban forest plan to increase tree cover from 22 to 30 percent by 2035. Still many predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods do not have green spaces within a five mile radius. White, the Project Petals founder, said her organization is working to change that by providing the communities with resources they need to create green spaces, such as community gardens. Since 2015, Project Petals has helped open 10 green spaces, ranging from a quarter of an acre (1,000 square meters) to five acres (20,200 square meters).These spaces really help to filter our air and they lower our temperature, White said. But these spaces, like one in the Jamaica section of Queens with its abundant greenery, arent just an area to cool down or find shade. They are a place where community can grow. White said you can often find residents and volunteers sitting down for conversation, finding a quiet space to read a book, studying for school and growing their own food.In a place like New York, we are called the concrete jungle, (some) people dont have access to green spaces at all, White said.Fighting heat with dataWith increasing temperatures and development patterns, experts say its only going to get hotter, unless something is done. Some are using data as a way to alert communities to the growing dangers.For example, Kevin Lanza, an assistant professor of environmental sciences at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health in Austin, is helping cities mitigate heat exposure at bus stops. Because Texass communities of color rely heavily on public transportation systems, this increases their exposure to heat, Lanza said. In 2019, Lanzas study found that the hottest days saw lower bus ridership. But when the bus stops were shaded by trees, the area was twice as cool and prevented steep ridership lost. The findings prompted the Houston transit authority, METRO and other agencies to begin work to redesign their bus stops to provide relief from the heat, Lanza said. As of June, according to reporting from Houston Public Media, six shelters have been redesigned to allow more airflow, with more stops expected to be replaced over the next six months. In 2023, Cap Metro, the transit authority in Austin, also used Lanzas study to develop a plan to mitigate heat impacts by planting more tree across the city and near existing bus stops.Climate dashboard helping Latino communitiesJulia Silver, a lifelong resident of California, used to spend her summers with her family at an outdoor public pool. Now, amid record-breaking heat waves, Silver and her family have spent the majority of the summer inside their Los Angeles home, the local mall or other air-conditioned facilities.Its just kind of become unbearable during those hot summer days to spend time outside, said Silver, a researcher at the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute.In June, Institute launched a Latino Climate and Health Dashboard, which creates a centralized source that shows the climate disparities Latino neighborhoods across California. Developed with guidance from a statewide advisory committee of climate justice, public health, and data equity experts, the dashboard shows 90% of Californias Latino population faces climate inequities, from higher air pollution to more days of extreme heat than white residents.The disparities shown in the dashboard are not random, said Silver, a senior research analyst at the LLPI and the projects leader.Silver said the main purpose of the dashboard is to ensure local leaders, community groups, government agencies and others have access to trustworthy data that reflects the experience communities in California and so many other states are facing.The more climate change intensifies the more difficult it is for people to live, and the more dangerous it is for people to be outside, Silver said.The dashboard will help create a shift to more inclusive climate planning by helping organizations understand who is most affected and where the greatest needs are. By shining a light on these patterns, we can start correcting them, said Arturo Vargas Bustamante, research faculty director at LPPI and principal investigator for the project.___AP writer Christine Fernando in Chicago contributed to this report. FERNANDA FIGUEROA Figueroa reports on Latino/Hispanic affairs as a member of the APs Race & Ethnicity team. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Right-wingers have collectively lost their minds over Cracker Barrels new logo, and now they think they have pinpointed the cause: its the gays fault.Earlier this week, the country-themed restaurant chain announced that it would be updating its logo as part of a brand refresh. The logo would lose the picture of an old man and a barrel and instead take on a vague barrel shape with a much simpler design, imitating how many large corporations have simplified their logos in the past several years. Related Cracker Barrel isnt rabidly anti-LGBTQ, but that doesnt mean its perfect Can somebody fill me in on why everybody is calling the new Cracker Barrel logo? awoke?Is everything woke now if we dont like it? pic.twitter.com/G4spmLnSWW Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) August 22, 2025But Cracker Barrel following this trend has led to outrage, with many on the right promising to boycott the restaurant and others threatening to riot. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Now the right has found a way to blame LGBTQ+ people for the logo change that has nothing to do with LGBTQ+ people. The theory, recounted by the conservative Upward News, is that this all started in 1991 when Cracker Barrel openly stated that it wouldnt hire gay people and fired at least 11 employees for being gay. Several months after the purge, the companys shareholders voted to end the discrimination and add sexual orientation to its nondiscrimination policy.In the years since, the company has tried to rehabilitate its image, celebrating Pride Month and allowing an LGBTQ+ employee group to form. The corporation currently has a score of 30 out of 100 on HRCs Corporate Equality Index (CEI), showing perhaps some limited progress in the last three decades. In 2005, Cracker Barrel hired Steve Smotherman, who stayed with the company until 2020, to work on management training and development. In 2019, he also volunteered on HRCs Business Advisory Council, meaning that for about a year, he held roles with both Cracker Barrel and HRC. Upward News points to this as linking the chain directly to the groups agenda, despite the fact that Cracker Barrel still has a pretty bad score on HRCs CEI.The latest rebrand removing Americana dcor and the white man from its logo to make the chain more welcoming is not a fresh marketing pivot, Upward News claimed. Its the culmination of a decades-long effort to bring Cracker Barrel into the good graces of the progressive establishment.And its certainly not what everyday Americans expect from the chain. Instead, it reflects what corporate leaders fully bought into the woke ideology of recent years want to impose. Upward News did not explain how the new Cracker Barrel logo reflects woke ideology or how one employee volunteering with HRC for about a year six years ago proves that the LGBTQ+ organization had undue influence on Cracker Barrels logo design, but it was all that rightwing activist Charlie Kirk needed to read to declare the new logo a part of HRCs woke reforms.And the truth comes out about Cracker Barrels disastrous logo change! Kirk declared on X, quoting Upward News post. The key woke reformer in the company was also part of the advisory board at the Human Rights Campaign, which promotes LGBTQ propaganda and scores companies on progressive values. HRC rates workplaces based on their LGBTQ+ employee policies like whether they give same-sex partners the same benefits as opposite-sex partners. It does not rate them on adherence to general progressive values.The CEO of Cracker Barrel even admitted the logo change is about being a place for everyone as if having a white man on the original logo was somehow bad, Kirk wrote, even though Cracker Barrels CEO never said that the point of the new logo was to specifically get rid of the old man in their logo because hes white. Another corporate America cautionary tale. Sad!! And the truth comes out about Cracker Barrels disastrous logo change! The key woke reformer in the company was also part of the advisory board at the Human Rights Campaign, which promotes LGBTQ propaganda and scores companies on progressive values. The former president of https://t.co/voFBQ1xXd3 Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 21, 2025Many on the right have been comparing Cracker Barrels logo redesign to Bud Lights one-off 2023 social media collab with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, which drew intense anti-trans backlash and calls for a conservative boycott of parent company Anheuser-Busch. Despite the right losing its mind online, Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino told Good Morning America earlier this week that people like what were doing.Cracker Barrel needs to feel like the Cracker Barrel for today and for tomorrow the things that you love are still there, she said. We need people to choose us, and we want people to choose us.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

I was born in the Philippines, a country where pageantry was seen as an Olympic sport. It was mesmerizing seeing the elegant dresses and how eloquently and poised the contestants answered questions on stage. I have always dreamed of competing in a pageant like Miss Universe.One roadblock is that I was born male.I was the youngest of four in a religious and traditional family. Growing up and realizing that I was different from other kids my age, I hid my attraction to the same sex from my family. I felt like I was living two distinct lives. I was Miley Stewart at home, and Hannah Montana at school. I wanted more for my life. That dream was answered when my dad told me that we are moving to the United States! I thought to myself, "I am about to move to a country where no one knows me! I could reinvent myself and be 'normal'!"This did not last long. I was very feminine, and some people at school found out that I am gay. To my surprise, no one cared. No one laughed at me or bullied me. They knew who I was, and my coming out made sense.Next step, I had to come out to my family. The thought of coming out and possibly being seen as a disappointment terrified me. I spent days debating whether I should go through with telling them. I spent hours watching "My Coming Out" videos on YouTube to encourage myself to tell my family. I spent nights crying myself to sleep, debating if I should go back to being Miley Stewart at home.At first, I told my siblings, and they were accepting and highly supportive. Now I have to tell my parents. I wasn't sure how to approach it. People in those videos suggest doing it either while in the car with them or in a public space, just in case. So many thoughts started running through my mind until one night, I decided to go out to the living room and tell my mom. She told me that it was just a phase. We ended up crying that night, but I was happy I got to tell my mom. My talk with my dad was significantly less emotional.As I went through my teens and early 20s, the puzzle pieces were finally starting to fit. I didn't have to live two different lives, and I could date whoever I wanted to! Everything was great until someone asked me if I would ever transition from male to female. I would always want to say yes, but I would pause and say "no" for fear of disappointing my family. This was the routine until, at 25, my then-best friend and I had an intense conversation about it. He told me that I "looked so happy, but something is still missing." At the end of the conversation, he told me to "live my truth and not people's expectations of it".I started my transition journey in October 2020, when I was able to live my truth and finally become Jasmine Gabrielle Basanes. This gave me so much confidence that I entered a modeling competition in 2022 and won, later signing with Slay Model Management. In 2024, I competed in my first pageant, Miss International Queen USA, held in Las Vegas, and made it to the semifinals!This refueled my love for pageantry, and I decided to apply for Miss Georgia USA.This pageant is under the Miss Universe system.After the rules were changed to be more inclusive, I became comfortable that I would be accepted. The pageant was held in Clarksville, Tennessee, as Miss Tennessee and Miss Georgia were being held simultaneously. At first, I was nervous because I did not know how the other delegates would react to seeing a trans woman on stage with them. Still, I was pleasantly surprised to see everyone be so supportive and accepting towards me. I say "pleasantly" because, being in the south, the relationship towards the transgender community is dynamic. Even with many people being supportive, some laws restrict trans rights, restrict gender affirming care, ban trans women from women's sports, and so on.My platform was focused on the importance of mental health and self-care. Mental health affects how we think, feel, and act towards others. How we treat others can profoundly impact their mental health, reminding us that we're part of their healing, struggles, and overall journey, not just our own. For my evening gown, I chose to wear a wedding dress. This is symbolic because I wanted to make a statement that trans women are women and we deserve happiness. Wedding dresses have been a symbol of femininity, and I know some individuals who are transitioning from male to female who dream of having that special day wearing a wedding dress.I stood on that stage not just as a representation of the trans community and immigrants, but for every single person who has been told 'no' and ignored simply because they are considered 'different.'I may not have won the crown, but I hope that any trans person seeing me on that stage can know that they are capable and deserving of taking up space in places that were not made for us. We all belong wherever we dream of being.As my dad says, "As long as you are not hurting anyone, you are okay."Perspectives is dedicated to featuring a wide range of inspiring personal stories and impactful opinions from theLGBTQ+ community and its allies. Visit Pride.com/submit to learn more about submission guidelines. Views expressed in Perspectives stories are those of the guest writers, columnists, and editors, and do not directly represent the views of PRIDE or our parent company, equalpride.

The Orioles and top prospect Samuel Basallo are finalizing an eight-year, $67 million extension, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan. The deal comes less than a week after Basallo's MLB debut.

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More college football players are driving sports cars than ever before. But the connection between dealers and programs goes back decades.

President Trump said he would fire Lisa Cook, a Federal Reserve governor, if she did not resign. But his ability to fire a Fed governor is limited.

Jerome H. Powell said the balance of risks across the economy had started to shift, raising the odds the central bank lowers borrowing costs at its next meeting in September.

I dont think its time to push the panic button yet, an expert said, after rising reports of swarms and stings for beachgoers in parts of the Eastern Seaboard.

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Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, speaks during a news conference following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)2025-08-22T14:03:33Z JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. (AP) Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday opened the door ever so slightly to lowering a key interest rate in the coming months but gave no hint on the timing of a move and suggested the central bank will proceed cautiously as it continues to evaluate the impact of tariffs and other policies on the economy.In a high-profile speech closely watched at the White House and on Wall Street, Powell said that there are risks of both rising unemployment and stubbornly higher inflation. Yet he suggested that with hiring sluggish, the job market could weaken further. The shifting balance of risks may warrant adjusting our policy stance, he said, a reference to his concerns about weaker job gains and a more direct sign that the Fed is considering a rate cut than he has made in previous comments.Still, Powells remarks suggest the Fed will proceed carefully in the coming months and will make its rate decisions based on how inflation and unemployment evolve. The stability of the unemployment rate and other labor market measures allows us to proceed carefully as we consider changes to our policy stance, Powell said. That suggests the Fed will continue to evaluate jobs and inflation data as it decides whether to cut rates, including at its next meeting Sept. 16-17. The stock market jumped in response to Powells remarks, with the broad S&P 500 index rising 1.4% in early trading. Powell spoke with the Fed under unprecedented public scrutiny from the White House, as President Donald Trump has repeatedly insulted Powell and has urged him to cut rates, arguing there is no inflation and saying that a cut would lower the governments interest payments on its $37 trillion in debt. While Powell spoke, Trump told reporters in Washington, D.C. that he would fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook if she did not step down over allegations from an administration official that she committed mortgage fraud. If Cook is removed, that would give Trump an opportunity to put a loyalist on the Feds governing board. The Fed has long been considered independent from day-to-day politics. Powell spoke at the Feds annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a conference with about 100 academics, economists, and central bank officials from around the world. He was given a standing ovation before he spoke.In his remarks, the Fed chair underscored that tariffs are lifting inflation and could push it higher in the coming months. The effects of tariffs on consumer prices are now clearly visible. We expect those effects to accumulate over coming months, with high uncertainty about timing and amounts, Powell said. Inflation has crept higher in recent months though it is down from a peak of 9.1% three years ago. Tariffs have not spurred inflation as much as some economists worried but are starting to lift the prices of heavily imported goods such as furniture, toys, and shoes. Consumer prices rose 2.7% in July from a year ago, above the Feds target of 2%. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 3.1%. Regarding the job market, Powell noted that even as hiring has slowed sharply this year, the unemployment rate remains low. He added that with immigration falling sharply, fewer jobs are needed to keep unemployment in check. Yet with hiring sluggish, the risks of a sharper downturn, with rising layoffs, has risen, Powell said. Powell added that higher prices from tariffs could cause a one-time shift to prices, rather than an ongoing bout of inflation. Other Fed officials have said that is the most likely outcome and as a result the central bank can cut rates to boost the job market.Powell, however, suggested it is largely up to the Fed to ensure tariffs dont lead to sustained inflation.Come what may, we will not allow a one-time increase in the price level to become an ongoing inflation problem, he said. Powell also suggested the Fed would continue to make its decisions free from political pressure. Fed officials will make these decisions, based solely on their assessment of the data and its implications for the economic outlook and the balance of risks. We will never deviate from that approach. CHRISTOPHER RUGABER Rugaber has covered the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economy for the AP for 16 years. He is a two-time finalist for the Gerald Loeb award for business reporting. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Traders Bryan Masseria, center, and Columb Lytle, right, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)2025-08-22T05:11:05Z NEW YORK (AP) Wall Street is rallying on Friday after the head of the Federal Reserve indicated the cuts to interest rates that investors and President Donald Trump have been craving so much may be coming soon, though he gave no clear clue about when.The S&P 500 jumped 1.4% and erased all of its loss for the week. Thats following five straight modest losses after it set an all-time high last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 716 points, or 1.6%, and was on track to blow past its own all-time high, which was set in December. The Nasdaq composite was up 1.6%, as of 10:25 a.m. Eastern time. The hope among investors had been that Jerome Powell would hint in his highly anticipated speech at a central bankers symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that cuts to interest rates may be imminent. Wall Street loves lower rates because they can give a boost to the economy and to investment prices, even if they risk worsening inflation at the same time. Trump has angrily been calling for lower rates, often insulting Powell while doing so. And a surprisingly weak report on job growth this month pushed many on Wall Street to assume cuts may come as soon as the Feds next meeting in September. Powell did say Friday that risks are rising about a weakening job market, but he also did not not commit to any kind of timing. The Feds two jobs are to keep the job market healthy and to keep a lid on inflation, and it often has to prioritize one because it has just one tool to fix either. Helping one one by moving interest rates often means hurting the other. Powell said the job market looks OK at the moment, even if it is a curious kind of balance where fewer new workers are chasing after fewer new jobs. Inflation, meanwhile, still has the potential to push higher because of Trumps tariffs. In sum, Powell said that the stability of the unemployment rate and other labor market measures allows us to proceed carefully as we consider changes to our policy stance. Treasury yields tumbled in the bond market after the release of the text of Powells speech. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.26% from 4.33% late Thursday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for what the Fed will do with its main interest rate, sank to 3.69% from 3.79%. Thats a notable move for the bond market.On Wall Street, Ross Stores rose 0.8% after the retailer reported a stronger profit for its latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Jim Conroy said sales trends picked up at the end of the quarter in July following a lull in June. Shares of Nio, a Chinese electric-vehicle maker, that trade in the United States climbed 12.4% after it began pre-sales of its flagship premium SUV model, the ES8.Nvidia rose 0.8% to trim its loss for the week. The company, whose chips are powering much of the worlds move in to artificial-intelligence technology, has seen its stock struggle recently amid criticism that it and other AI superstars shot too high, too fast and became too expensive. Nvidias CEO, Jensen Huang, said Friday that the company is discussing a potential new computer chip designed for China with the Trump administration. The chips are graphics processing units, or GPUs, a type of device used to build and update a range of AI systems. But they are less powerful than Nvidias top semiconductors today, which cannot be sold to China due to U.S. national security restrictions.In stock markets abroad, Germanys DAX returned 0.4% after government data showed that its economy shrank by 0.3% in the second quarter compared with the previous three-month period. Indexes rose across much of Asia, with stocks climbing 1.4% in Shanghai and 0.9% in South Korea.___AP Writers Teresa Cerojano and Matt Ott contributed.

Rep. Mike Olcott, R-Fort Worth, looks at a redrawn congressional district map as its proposal is debated in the House Chamber at the Texas Capitol in Austin, Texas, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman via AP)2025-08-22T13:59:30Z As Texas Republicans and California Democrats redraw U.S. House districts to their advantage ahead of next years elections, theyre potentially disrupting a rare partisan balance in American politics.The 220-215 majority that Republicans won over Democrats in last years elections almost perfectly aligns with the share of the vote the two parties received in districts across the U.S., according to an Associated Press analysis. Although the overall outcome was close to neutral, the APs analysis shows that Democrats and Republicans each benefited from advantages in particular states.The AP used a mathematical analysis designed to measure how many more U.S. House seats political parties won in each state beyond what would have been expected from the share of the vote they received. The analysis showed a significant political tilt in one-third of the states congressional districts, with either Democrats or Republicans winning at least one more seat than expected. Where do Democrats hold the biggest edge? In California, Democrats won 43 of the 52 seats last year about six more seats than would have been expected based on the average share of the vote for U.S. House candidates of each party. That was the biggest gain among all states.At the urging of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, California lawmakers on Thursday approved a plan to redraw the district lines created by an independent citizens commission after the 2020 census. Their goal is to give Democrats a better shot at winning five additional seats in next years elections countering a similar move in Texas backed by President Donald Trump. Stay up to date with the latest U.S. news by signing up to our WhatsApp channel. Californias redistricting plan still requires approval in a special election.The APs analysis found that Democrats won about three more seats than expected in Illinois last year and about two more seats each in Washington, Massachusetts and New Jersey. Where do Republicans hold the largest advantage?In Texas, districts were drawn after the census by the Republican-led Legislature and approved by GOP Gov. Greg Abbott. Republicans won 25 of the 38 House seats last year nearly two more seats than would have been expected based on their average share of the vote.At the prodding of President Donald Trump, the Legislature is drawing new House districts giving Republicans a shot at winning five more seats in the 2026 midterm elections. Elsewhere, the APs analysis found that Republicans won about two-and-a-half seats more than expected last year in both Florida and North Carolina and nearly two extra seats in Wisconsin. How has partisan advantage changed over time?The number of states with congressional districts tilted toward one party or another was higher last year than in either of the past two presidential elections. But those state-by-state advantages essentially canceled each other out. When adding results from all states, the APs analysis showed that Democrats nationwide won about one-half seat more than expected last year. Because congressional seats arent allotted by fractions, the net result was that each partys share of House seats essentially aligned with their share of the votes.If you look at the actual congressional results, that map looks pretty darn good at the national level, said Chris Warshaw, a political scientist at Georgetown University who is an expert in analyzing legislative districts for partisan advantage. Thats a sharp contrast with other recent elections. In 2020, Republicans won about 10 more House seats than expected based on their share of the vote in that years election. In 2016, Republicans won about 25 more seats than expected. Both of those elections were held under congressional maps drawn after the 2010 census.Districts redrawn based on the 2020 census were first used in 2022 and normally would remain in effect until after the 2030 census. But in some states, there is nothing that prevents politicians from redrawing districts in the middle of a decade, as Texas and California are doing. How does one party gain an edge over another in House districts?In many states, U.S. House districts are drawn by the state legislature and subject to approval by the governor. If a political party controls both the legislature and governors office or has such a large legislative majority that it can override vetoes it can effectively draw districts to its advantage. This is referred to as gerrymandering.The legislative author of Texas new congressional districts, Republican state Rep. Todd Hunter, made that point clear during debate: The underlying goal of this plan is straightforward improve Republican political performance, he said.One common method of gerrymandering is for a majority party to draw maps that pack voters who support the opposing party into a few districts, thus allowing the majority party to win a greater number of surrounding districts. Another tactic is for the majority party to dilute the power of an opposing partys voters by spreading them so thinly among multiple districts that its extremely difficult for their preferred candidates to win. Political advantages also can develop naturally. When politically like-minded voters live in the same area such as urban Democrats or rural Republicans it can create an edge for the parties even if there is no intent to gerrymander districts.Californias citizen redistricting commission did not use political data when drawing districts yet still ended up with a U.S. House map favoring Democrats. Unless you kind of hardwire in some metric of fairness that has to be met by the plan, a process could easily produce a partisan outcome, even if it wasnt intended to, said Eric McGhee, senior fellow at the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California. How the AP did its analysis of partisan advantage in US House districtsThe Associated Press used an efficiency gap analysis to examine congressional elections in 2024 and other recent presidential election years.The test designed by Eric McGhee, a researcher at the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, and Harvard Law School professor Nick Stephanopoulos identifies states where one party is extraordinarily efficient at translating votes into victories in legislative districts. The larger the efficiency gap, the greater the advantage that either Democrats or Republicans received from the way district boundaries were drawn.The formula also can be used to calculate how many additional seats a party won beyond what would have been expected given their share of the vote. These are referred to as excess seats.The formula focuses on the vote won in each district by Democrats and Republicans, excluding independent and third-party candidates. When a major party candidate was unopposed in a particular district, the AP instead used the share of the vote won by each partys presidential candidate in that district. The creators of the efficiency gap formula note it would be unrealistic to assume 100% of voters support a political party, so they recommend imputing a likely outcome if voters had been given a choice. Presidential votes are used because they track closely with congressional votes.Because the efficiency gap identifies partisan advantages, it can be an indicator of intentional political gerrymandering by those who drew district lines. However, a states voting districts also could have a partisan tilt due to other reasons, such as an abundance of like-minded voters living in the same area.- By David A. Lieb The APs analysis of partisan advantage in congressional districts was based on a model developed by McGhee and Nick Stephanopoulos, a law professor at Harvard University. DAVID A. LIEB Lieb covers issues and trends in state governments across the U.S. Hes reported about government and politics for The Associated Press for 30 years. twitter mailto

The Carolina Panthers have extended the contract of right tackle Taylor Moton through the 2027 season, the team announced on Friday.

President Trump said he would fire Lisa Cook, a Federal Reserve governor, if she did not resign. But his ability to fire a Fed governor is limited.

The longtime news anchor recently began working for a financial firm connected to CBSs new parent company and has spoken with the networks owner, David Ellison, several times.

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Last week, we were talking to each other about the fact that we were about to hit the second anniversary of 404 Media. The conversation was about what we should say in this blog post, which obviously led us to try to remember everything that has happened in the last year. I havent considered a thing beyond whats been five seconds behind or in front of me for the last year, Sam said.The last year has been a whirlwind not just for us but for, uhh, the country and the world. And weve been trying our absolute best to bring you stories you cant find anywhere else about the wildest shit happening right now, which includes the Silicon Valley-led dismantling of the federal government, the deployment of powerful surveillance against immigrants and people seeking abortions, the algorithmic, AI-led zombification of social media, the end of anonymity on the internet, and all sorts of weird stuff that we see on our travels through the internet. As Sam noted, we have largely had our heads down trying to bring you the best tech journalism on the internet, which hasnt left us a ton of time to think about long-term projects, blue-sky ideas, or what the best business strategies for growing this company would be.Our guiding principle is something we said we would do on day one of starting this company: We believe it is possible to create a sustainable, profitable media company simply by doing good work, making common-sense decisions about costs, and asking our readers to support us. What we have learned in two years of building this company is that there is no secret to building a media company, and that there are also no shortcuts. When we work hard to publish an important article, more people discover us and more people subscribe to us, which helps solidify our business and allows us to do more and better articles. As our stories reach a larger audience, the articles often have more impact, more potential sources see them, and we get more tips, which leads to more and better articles, and so on.In our second year as a media outlet, weve done too much impactful reporting to list out in this post. But to summarize some of the big ones:We revealed that ICE was tapping into Flock, a nationwide AI-enabled camera network, thanks to local cops. Since then, a police department shut off external access to its cameras after learning they were being searched for immigration related offenses and Austin banned Flock in its city and specifically cited our reporting. The company now says it has severed access to Illinois data for 47 agencies. In response to our story about a Texas cop who searched Flock cameras nationwide for a woman who had a self-administered abortion, the Illinois Secretary of State is investigating the respective suburban Chicago police department because this data sharing violates state law. Congress opened a formal investigation into Flock because of our reporting.Meta sued a nudify app that 404 Media reported bought thousands of ads on Instagram and Facebook.We broke the news that TeleMessage, a Signal-clone used by the Trump administration, was hacked. Lawmakers demanded answers from the DOJ, and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which used TeleMessage, paused its use of the tool. TeleMessage itself suspended operations too.Civitai, a site 404 Media has repeatedly shown was used to generate nonconsensual adult content, banned all AI models designed to generate the likeness of real people.After we found Meta's AI Studio chatbots were posing as therapists with fake license numbers and credentials, four senators demanded answers from Meta and a digital rights organizations filed a complaint with the FTC.We uncovered that 100,000 people were using a Telegram bot that made non-consensual AI sex videos of anyone. After we covered it, Telegram shutdown the bot.We found that Coca Cola was running an AI-powered ad that got basic facts wrong and fabricated quotes from authors. Coca Cola pulled down the ad in response.A public library ebook service said it was going to cull AI slop after we found low quality books were flooding libraries.Nvidia was sued after we revealed the company scraped YouTube and other sites en masse to build its own AI systems.Congress repeatedly grilled Apple and Meta over their association with nonconsensual nudify and deepfake apps after we exposed the connections.On top of all of these, weve published some of the most moment-defining stories that, as Jason has said many times, are the types of things people talk about at the bar after work. Those include:Discovering that anyone could push updates to the DOGE websiteEstablishing and defining AI Slop as a genre (Shrimp Jesus anyone?) and uncovering the economics that make slop popular and profitableFollowing the creep of age verification and censorship across the U.S.The leaked plans from Palantir that outline how the company helps deport peopleThe total chaos at Meta after Trump took office and Zuck went anti-DEIBreaking the news of the Tea hacks and continuing to publish new scoops on that sagaIt has been a relief that this business strategy of publish good articles and ask people to pay for journalism still works, despite the fracturing of social media, the slopification of every major platform, AI being shoved into everything, and the rich and powerful trying to destroy journalism at every turn. That it is working is a testament to the support of our subscribers. We have no real way of knowing exactly where new subscribers come from or what ultimately led them to subscribe, but time and time again we have learned that the most important discovery mechanism we have is word of mouth. We have lost count of the number of times a new subscriber has said that they were told about 404 Media by a friend or a family member at a party or in a group text, so if you have told anyone about us, we sincerely thank you.Photos by Sharon AttiaIt wasnt obvious when we started this company that it would actually work, though we hoped that it would.In our post last year, we wrote, We dont have any major second-year plans to announce just yet in part because we have been heads down working on some of the investigations and scoops youve seen in recent days. The next year holds more scoops, more investigations, more silly blogs, more experiments, more impact, and more articles that hold powerful companies and people to account. We remain ambitious and are thinking about how to best cover more topics and to give you more 404 Media without spreading ourselves too thin.But we did take a moment to think about what has changed in the last year, and it turns out that quite a lot is different now than it was a year ago.For one, we have cautiously begun to expand what we do. In the last year, we launched The Abstract, which is Becky Ferreiras Saturday newsletter about science, which many of you have said you love and which helps us provide a sense of wonder and discovery when so much of what we report on is pretty bleak. We have been getting part-time (but very critical) help from Case Harts who is running and growing our social media accounts, which is helping us put our stories more natively on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and other platforms that we do not control but which nonetheless remain important for us to be on. Matthew Gault has started covering the military industrial complex, AI, weird internet, and dad internet beat for us, and has done a remarkable job at it. Rosie Thomas is our current intern who has published critical reporting about the sale of GPS trackers on TikTok, protests at the Tesla Diner, and the difficult decisions voice actors need to make about whether they should let AI train on their voices.All of this has changed what 404 Media looks like, a little bit. We have spent a lot of time thinking about what it would look like to expand beyond this, why people subscribe to us, what it would mean to go further, and what the four of us are actually capable of handling outside of the journalism. Because of your support we are in a place where were able to ask questions beyond Can we survive? Were able to ask questions like: Should we try to make this bigger, and what does that look like?We feel incredibly lucky that we are now able to ask ourselves these questions, because there was no guarantee that 404 Media would ever work, and we are forever grateful to everyone who has supported us. You have helped us prove that this model can work, and every day we are delighted to see that other journalists are striking out on their own to create their own publications. Tip Jar We are still DIYing lots of things. Emanuel is still doing customer support. Jason is still ordering, packing, and mailing merch. Sam is putting together events and parties. Joseph is doing an insane number of things behind the scenes, managing the podcast, working closely with one of our ad partners, and fixing technical issues. As we have grown, these tasks have started to take more and more time, which raises all sorts of questions about when and if we should get help with them. Should we do more events? Should we get someone to help us with them? What does that look like logistically and financially? These are the things that were working out all the time. It becomes a question of how much can we juggle while still having some semblance of work/life balance, and while making sure that were still putting the journalism first.Other things that have happened:We began a republication partnership with WIRED that recently evolved to include a few coreported collaborations that have allowed us to team up on investigations we may not have been able to do by ourselves.We were subpoenaed for our sources on an article by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. We successfully fought off this subpoena with the help of our lawyer, which was expensive but which we were able to do because of your support. We are very proud of this.We have been invited to talk about 404 Media and our journalism at conferences and events around the world. Emanuel gave a journalism training in Costa Rica, Jason taught a group of Norwegian journalists how to file FOIA requests and gave a presentation at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Joseph spoke at the Hackers on Planet Earth conference, Sam went to Perugia, Italy to join a panel at the International Journalism Conference, and Sam and Jason talked about indie media at the last XOXO in Portland.We threw a party and live panel at SXSW (with the help of our friends at Flipboard), a DIY party at RIP.SPACE in Los Angeles, and we threw an anniversary party and podcast recording last night in Brooklyn.After the Trump administration took office, we got to work documenting all of the ways the internet and broader policy started shifting and how tech, surveillance, and immigration intersected, and continued years of holding power accountable through our journalism.We had much of our ICE and immigration coverage professionally translated into Spanish and republished without a paywall, which helps communities that benefit the most from our reporting on those topics get it as easily and accurately as possible.We took our first-ever break!We have moved to Ghost 6.0, which is not something we really did, but its important to point out that the new version of our CMS is built with native ActivityPub support, meaning our articles are automatically going into the Fediverse and are being mirrored directly onto Bluesky. We are very excited about the possibilities here as we continue to believe that the healthiest future of journalism and the internet is one where we create direct relationships with our readers that have as little algorithmic friction as possible. Ghost is an open-source nonprofit whose mission is very similar to 404 Medias.Like last year, we dont have anything crazy to announce for year three. But we hope that you will continue to support us (or, if youre finding us through this post, will consider subscribing). We discussed some of our hopes and dreams for year three in our latest bonus podcast that went out to supporters this week. We are all trying our very best to bring you important, impactful work as often as possible, and we are trying to be as clear as possible about whats working, whats not, and how were trying to build this company. So far, that strategy has worked really well, and so we dont intend to change it now.

This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we have a slightly shorter than usual entry from the gang, with some party pics and musical selections from the night.SAM: Were all still recovering, processing, and floating on the overwhelming support and encouragement we felt from everyone who came to the second anniversary party last night. Thank you again to our sponsor for the evening, DeleteMe (get 20% off with them here as a thank-you to our community with code 404media) and farm.one for being awesome hosts, and especially thank you to everyone who came, cheered us on from afar, and made the last two years possible.

In July 2025, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy issued a Safe Roads memo to all 50 states. It directed the removal of non-standard markings, including rainbow designs, claiming roads must be free of political messages and distractions.Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) issued a memo citing its authority under the FDOT Design Manual. It stated that all pavement markings must comply with state standards. FDOT canwithhold state transportation fundsfrom agencies that dont comply, and can remove non-compliant markings themselves if needed. So far, cities including Boynton Beach and West Palm Beach have removed their rainbow crosswalks. Others like Key West are seeking options to keep the crosswalks or delay their removal. On Aug. 21, the Florida Department of Transportation removed the rainbow crosswalk in Orlando, which has served as a memorial for the 49 people killed, and 53 wounded in the Pulse nightclub shooting on June 12, 2016. The city had received the memo to remove the crosswalk, but according to reporting by Watermark Out News, it was done without approval from the city. According to SenatorCarlos Guillermo Smith, FDOT did not get approval from the city. They just vandalized the site overnight, in the middle of the night, and they did it in the middle of the night because they know what they did was wrong.The crosswalk near Pulse Aug. 21. Photo: Bellanee Plaza/WatermarkSince the removal, community members have gathered to protest and have subsequently replaced the rainbow colors with chalk and names of those lost at Pulse. Protesters gathered at the crosswalk, covering nearby trees with rainbow ribbons and holding up signs and flags for motorists driving by. For local coverage of this developing story, check out Watermark Out News, representing central Florida. The post Orlando community restores Pulse rainbow crosswalk with chalk appeared first on News Is Out.

Thats what she gets!Its been twelve years since two-time Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Michael R. Jackson heard those words echo through the movie theater where he begrudgingly went to watch Tyler Perrys 2013 film Temptation: Confessions of A Marriage Counselor. The protagonist, Judith, played by actress Jurnee Smollett, is diagnosed with HIV after engaging in condomless sex outside of her marriage. Related Chasten Buttigieg never thought hed be a dad. Now his hit childrens book stars his own family. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today I didnt realize when I went to go see it that it was gonna have this crazy HIV plot device in it and that it was gonna be used in such an irresponsible and poorly written way, Jackson told LGBTQ Nation. It just made me really angry.The cinematic moment harkened back to Killing All The Right People, a 1987 episode of the hit series Designing Women, which reflected, at the time, the widespread public sentiment regarding HIV as Gods punishment for homosexuality. Although fictional, both moments, along with the loss of two of Jacksons real-life friends to HIV-related complications, inspired him to tackle the impact of religious-fueled HIV stigma in his magnum opus, A Strange Loop.Frustrated with his day job ushering for Broadway musicals, a young, gay, Black writer decides to write a musical about a young, gay, Black writer who decides to write a musical about a young, gay, Black writer. Stuck in this strange loop, the protagonist takes the audience on a kaleidoscopic journey of identity, desire, and self-acceptance backed up by an ensemble of Thoughts who call it like they see it in this self-referential musical. Sponsored by Gilead Sciences, A Strange Loop is onstage now through August 31st at Actors Express in Atlanta. Jacksons critically acclaimed musical delivers stinging critiques of Perrys work, as well as the religious-based homophobia prevalent in Black communities that has allowed HIV stigma to thrive decades after the disease decimated Black and queer communities and nearly 30 years after antiretroviral drugs changed HIV from a death sentence to a chronic, but manageable condition.A Strange Loop sets a different scene than 90s Broadway juggernaut RENT. Written by the late Jonathan Larson, the show takes place at the height of the HIV epidemic and before scientific advancements like PrEP, the once-daily pill approved by the FDA in 2012 or now twice-yearly injection to prevent HIV acquisition, approved this year. A Strange Loop sits squarely in this new reality for Black gay men, with multiple references to Truvada the first combination therapy prescribed for PrEP from Gilead. Jackson admits to having complex feelings about the game-changing drug.I have seen up close what HIV can do to someone. But I also dont necessarily feel as liberated as other gay men, Jackson said, before sharing his aversion to casual sex. Theres this duality of me wanting it but not wanting it. Losing someone as I did very much radicalized me on this topic, and so I take that very seriously, of people taking control of their sexual health. A devastating and hopeful loopA Detroit native raised in the Black church, Jackson came of age after the worst of the HIV crisis. As a result, he says he had no sense of what to look for or think about when faced with the imminent death of a graduate school classmate and close friend in 2019 from HIV-related complications. The friend, whose name Jackson declined to disclose out of respect for his surviving relatives, was 37 at the time of his death and was initially selected to be in charge of orchestrations for A Strange Loop.I noticed that his behavior just started to get a little erratic, and he was always very secretive, and I couldnt quite figure out what was going on, Jackson said.Secrecy, silence, stigma, and shame, these are the things that help this disease to continue to go on.Michael R. JacksonA text exchange between the two, where the friend casually mentioned being in the hospital, was the first crack in a closely guarded secret about his health.I was like, why are you in the hospital? And he said, Im having some heart trouble. And I was like, heart trouble? He says, Yeah. And then he was still casual. He goes, Oh yeah, its related to my underlying HIV status.'In the same text exchange, Jackson says his friend revealed the progression of his HIV diagnosis to AIDS. And despite being aware of his HIV status for at least a decade, denial and shame led him to reject taking the antiretroviral drugs that would have suppressed the virus to undetectable levels in his body.He left the hospital against doctors orders. He went back to his apartment. He still wouldnt tell his family. Everybody was operating under the impression he had this heart problem, which may have been technically true, but that wasnt the full truth, Jackson said. A couple of weeks after Jacksons friend returned home, he received a text message from his sister, who shared the news of his passing the previous night.He had just texted me the other day to tell me that he loved me, Jackson said, as tears began to fall. It felt so unfair, and I felt so stupid because I couldnt believe that I didnt pick up on it.Within three years, Jackson lost his friend and fellow Broadway composer Michael Friedman, 41, who succumbed to the virus in 2017 after experiencing several opportunistic infections and after being diagnosed only nine weeks earlier. Secrecy, silence, stigma, and shame, these are the things that help this disease to continue to go on, Jackson said.To add insult to injury, the remains of Jacksons friend were transported from New York City back to his hometown in Raleigh, NC, where, according to Jackson, the notoriously homophobic Bishop Patrick L. Wooden Sr., head pastor of The Upper Room Church of God in Christ, officiated the funeral. Jackson loosely based the minister character in A Strange Loop who declares AIDS is Gods Punishment for homosexuality after Wooden Sr.If my show has any impact on Black gay men to embrace and take control of their lives in that way, I am proud.Michael R. JacksonThere were just so many things going on that I felt so sad and angry about that A Strange Loop ended up becoming the container for, Jackson said.At his friends funeral, Jackson recalled, Wooden Sr. made this comment about how he was so sorry that his mother couldnt save her baby.I also heard that some of his gay friends were not allowed to be pallbearers.While infuriating, none of what Jackson heard from Woodens inappropriate comments or past homophobic sermons surprised him. Instead, it all aligned with his long-standing experience in the Black church.My childhood pastor never directly said AIDS is Gods punishment, but there would be so many sermons where it didnt matter where it started, somehow it would get around to them homosexuals and that reprobate lifestyle. After all, according to the minister in A Strange Loop, The only thing worse than dying from AIDS is living with it, exemplifying decades of harmful rhetoric that continues in religious spaces.After all the loss hes experienced, one important wish remains for Black gay men and for Jacksons friend, whose life ended way too soon.I wish that my friend who passed away had [PrEP], Jackson said. If my show has any impact on Black gay men to embrace and take control of their lives in that way, I am proud.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Alabama starting running back Jam Miller is expected to be back from his collarbone injury in time for the Tide's SEC opener against Georgia on Sept. 27.

Will the Chargers or Broncos leapfrog the Chiefs? Raiders on the rise? Here are all the odds for each team in the AFC West and our favorite bets.