YouTube Has Alex Winter Worried About the 2024 Election

Director Alex Winter has been online for a long time. Describing the internet communities he joined in the 1980s – while he was also starring in classics like Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure; he eventually left acting – to Teen Vogue, Winter says, “The seeds of what we have now were there, almost all of it: The division; what we call incels now; even the anonymous users in the beginning of cryptocurrency, all of that was there in the 80s. It was really clear to me that it was going to have giant implications, but it was unclear what those were at that point.”

Teen Vogue

‘Sinking’: Ron DeSantis is in the ‘most jeopardy’ ahead of GOP debate, former Obama adviser Axelrod says

David Axelrod, who served as senior advisor to former President Barack Obama, said on Sunday Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential bid is the campaign “in most jeopardy” ahead of the first Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

USA Today

Biden administration officials think that Joe Manchin, a key player in crafting the Inflation Reduction Act, has sometimes misinterpreted stipulations of the law, report says

“This bill that I wrote was done about energy security — truly producing more gas, more oil, more coal, than we have in the past consistently,” he recently said during a West Virginia radio interview. “I think the business of politics … has gotten so absolutely toxic that he’s playing to the base.”

Insider

Jaws without the shark: absent Trump looms over Republicans’ first debate

Burgum, Christie, DeSantis, Haley, Pence, Ramaswamy and Scott will be present in Milwaukee on Wednesday but will anyone dent ex-president’s lead?

The Guardian

Pence Undercuts Trump’s Defense in Classified Documents Case

The former vice president said he knew of no broad order by Donald Trump that would have declassified documents the former president took with him when he left the White House.

New York Times

Hogan says No Labels likely to launch third-party ‘alternative’ if Trump, Biden win nominations 

“It’s an overwhelming majority of people who are completely fed up with politics,” Hogan said. “They think Washington is broken. And so, even though this normally is not something that we consider and talk about seriously, because it hasn’t happened in the past, this is something that could happen,” noting that it is still a “long way off.” David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to President Obama, pushed back against Hogan’s proposal Sunday, saying, “Honestly, doesn’t that pave the way for Donald Trump? Doesn’t that siphon votes from Joe Biden and elect the person that you have criticized so heavily?” 

The Hill

Meadows told special counsel he could not recall Trump ever declassifying Mar-a-Lago docs: Sources

Appearing to contradict former President Donald Trump’s primary public defense in the classified documents case, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has told special counsel Jack Smith’s investigators that he could not recall Trump ever ordering, or even discussing, declassifying broad sets of classified materials before leaving the White House, nor was he aware of any “standing order” from Trump authorizing the automatic declassification of materials taken out of the Oval Office, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.

ABC News

West Point to open nearly 200-year-old time capsule found at Kosciuszko monument

What did soldiers in the 1820s care about enough to preserve for future generations? That might get answered soon. Historians at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York plan on opening a recently discovered, nearly 200-year-old time capsule next week.

Task and Purpose

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter’s grandson says ‘it’s clear’ they are ‘in the final chapter’

Former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter’s grandson opened up about the former first couple and their health challenges in a new interview, saying “it’s clear we’re in the final chapter.”

USA Today

The Cult Runs Deep: Nearly 3 in 4 Trump Voters Say Indictments Are a ‘Reason’ to Support Him

Many voters supporting the former president also rated him as more truthful than their own friends and family

Rolling Stone

The 25th Anniversary of a Shameful Act of US State Terrorism

American officials later acknowledged “that the evidence that prompted President Clinton to order the missile strike on the Shifa plant was not as solid as first portrayed” and that “there was no proof that the plant had been manufacturing or storing nerve gas, as initially suspected, or had been linked to Osama bin Laden.” But at the time the Clinton Administration doubled down: it worked hard to make sure the sloppy decision-making behind the bombing was not revealed.

Z

FEMA director says Biden’s visit to Maui will provide hope, assurance

Deanne Criswell, the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said Sunday she hopes President Biden’s upcoming visit to Maui will provide a “sense of hope and assurance,” after wildfires devastated parts of the island, killing over 100 people.

The Hill

‘There won’t be libraries left’: how a Florida county became the book ban heartland of the US

“Why do you need to know how to masturbate when you still got skid marks in your underwear?” asks Tia Bess, the newly appointed national director of outreach for the conservative advocacy group Moms for Liberty.

The Guardian

Open primaries, ranked choice voting support better democracy

Change may be hard for Washington, D.C.’s politicos, too – as Peter Rosenstein demonstrates in his recent opinion piece in the Blade. Yet, open primaries and ranked choice voting – the two electoral reforms proposed in the Make All Votes Count Act of 2024, also known as Ballot Initiative 83 – will help our city’s democracy evolve, grow, and improve. They will help us live up to our democratic ideals: more voters’ voices heard, more true choice for voters and politicians who work harder for all of us and are truly accountable to We the People. 

Washington Blade

Why Are Some Rappers Continuing To Voice Support for Trump?

Buffalo rapper Benny the Butcher joins a list of hip-hop MCs who have voiced their support for the former President of the United States in the last few years.

The Root

Lake Lanier: The History of a Black Town, Enduring Racism, and Mysterious Deaths

Lake Lanier is a man-made, 38,000-acre lake that attracts about 10 million visitors every year, bringing in around $5 billion annually to North Georgia’s economy. The lake is located in the affluent Forsyth County, which has the highest median income in metro-Atlanta. This fact is especially interesting considering that the body of water covers what was once a thriving Black community called Oscarville. That community, formed during the late 1800s, was filled with successful farmers, carpenters, and blacksmiths — until Oscarville’s more than 1,000 residents were violently forced out by white Forsyth County residents.

Teen Vogue

Women’s World Cup: Fans rejoice in Madrid as Spain makes football history

“Girl power!” exclaimed one woman as the final whistle blew and the fan zone erupted into screams and tears of joy.

BBC

Progressive outsider Bernardo Arevalo wins Guatemala vote

Bernardo Arevalo was up against former First Lady Sandra Torres. Guatemala’s outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei congratulated Arevalo on his victory and invited him to start the transition process.

Deutsche Welle

Outsider Arévalo expected to win Guatemala’s presidential vote

Guatemala will elect a new president in a run-off election on Sunday – with outsider Bernardo Arévalo, a social democrat, seen as the favourite.

dpa

Funerals in China cost so much money that Beijing is encouraging digital cemeteries

When someone dies in China these days they’re typically cremated, but land burials still play an important role in death rites. Rapid urbanization and a huge, aging population, however, have made outdoor burial plots scarce, and pricey.

Insider

Call for investigation into Nadine Dorries over failure to quit as MP

A campaign group has written to the standards watchdog asking for an investigation into Nadine Dorries after its poll suggested more than half of people believe her absence as an MP and failure to quit has significantly damaged parliament’s reputation.

The Guardian

Pura Luka Vega: Philippine drag queen faces backlash for Jesus act

Christian groups in the Philippines have brought criminal complaints against a drag queen who dressed as Jesus Christ and performed a rock rendition of the Lord’s Prayer.

BBC

Ecuador voters head to the polls in presidential elections

Thousands of extra police and soldiers were deployed to protect the polls against unprecedented violence. One of the top candidates was gunned down in broad daylight in the leadup to the vote.

Deutsche Welle

Pro-coup rally in Niger after threat of military intervention

Demonstrators chant slogans against former colonial power France and West African regional bloc ECOWAS after it vowed to restore ousted leader Mohamed Bazoum.

Al Jazeera

Pompeii find reveals the secrets of life as a slave in Ancient Rome, frozen in time for almost 2,000 years by volcanic eruption

Archaeologists discovered a small bedroom that was used by slaves in a dig near Pompeii, the Italian culture ministry said in a statement.

Insider