Olympics drag queen torchbearer issues threat after mocking Christians
A drag queen who was one of the many torchbearers for the Paris Olympics had a message for the critics amid uproar over the opening ceremony which appeared to mock the Last Supper.
Nicky Doll was among the drag queens to carry the torch of the Olympic flame but also performed during one segment of the ceremony. Doll reposted an image on his Instagram Stories, claiming the image depicted was not of the Last Supper but the feast of Dionysius.
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“The opening ceremony did ruffle some feathers… and I LOVE it,” Doll wrote on his Instagram Stories on Monday morning. “You know why? Because the Olympics are the biggest stage in the world and us queer people have always been the audience of other people’s life and achievement and it is time that we are welcome in the space.”
On Sunday, Doll called it an honor to perform at the opening ceremony.
“It was my absolute honor to perform in front of billions of people around the world, and celebrate our Olympians,” Doll’s post continued.
“And remember, to the ones that had their feathers ruffled seeing queerness on their screen: WE AIN’T GOING NOWHERE.”
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The ceremony’s segment appeared to resemble a depiction of the Last Supper, famously painted by Leonardo da Vinci. The performance ensemble included drag queens, a transgender model and a naked singer who was stylized to resemble the Greek god Dionysus.
Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps spoke about it on Sunday.
“Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. (The opening ceremony) tried to celebrate community tolerance,” Descamps told reporters, via Reuters.
“We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense, we are really sorry.”
Another French LGBT leader suggested the ceremony did not go far enough.
“We know in the LGBTQ community in France we are far from what the ceremony showed. There’s much progress to do in society regarding transgender people. It’s terrible that to legally change their identity they are forced to be on trial,” Inter-LGBT President James Leperlier said.
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“If you saw the opening ceremony last night you’d think it was like that normally, but it’s not. France tried to show what it should be and not what it is.”
FBI details how would-be Trump assassin had access to building’s roof
The FBI on Monday morning told reporters that would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks accessed the roof of a building near former President Trump’s July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, by climbing up HVAC equipment and piping.
Crooks then traversed multiple rooftops before he found his shooting position on top of a building owned by American Glass Research (AGR), located near the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds about 150 yards from where the former president spoke at his rally.
The FBI hosted a press conference call with reporters more than two weeks after 20-year-old Crooks fired at Trump with an AR-15 during the rally in an assassination attempt that nicked the president’s ear but left one man dead and two others hospitalized with gunshot wounds.
While investigators determined that Crooks did purchase a ladder just hours prior to the assassination attempt, he left it at his residence in Bethel Park and did not use the ladder at the rally later on.
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It is still unclear how Crooks evaded security even after being noticed by law enforcement more than an hour before shots rang out, but the FBI said more than 300 agents and staff are working “round the clock” to gather facts and put together a clearer timeline of Crooks’ actions.
Investigators located eight rounds on the roof where Crooks fired from, the agency said during the call.
FBI Director Christopher Wray testified during a July 17 congressional hearing that Crooks had been at the rally site for about 70 minutes the morning of the assassination attempt. He also flew a drone about 200 yards away from where the former president would be speaking, Wray said.
Law enforcement first reported seeing a suspicious person near the rally site around 5:10 p.m. on July 13 — an hour and one minute before Crooks began shooting. Local law enforcement notified command about the suspicious person and received confirmation that the Secret Service was aware of his presence.
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Over the next hour, law enforcement identified a building of interest, and snipers took photos of Crooks and his bicycle left near the rally grounds. Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, who was briefed on the assassination attempt, previously told Fox News Digital that a sniper “had eyes on” the suspicious person about 20 minutes before Crooks began firing.
Trump took the podium around 6 p.m. — an hour after he was scheduled to speak. Eleven minutes later, Crooks fired multiple rounds, killing 50-year-old Corey Comperatore and seriously wounding 57-year-old David Dutch and 74-year-old James Copenhaver. Dutch was hospitalized and has since been released, while Copenhaver remains hospitalized.
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FBI officials are still working to determine Crooks’ motive behind the assassination attempt that rocked Butler and neighboring townships. They are also still working to determine whether Crooks planned with any coconspirators, though the agency clarified on Monday that there are no signs to indicate there were others involved.
Trump is expected to return to Butler at some point for another rally, but he has not released any details on when that will be.
Israeli official vows ‘all-out war’ as world watches revenge plot unfold
JERUSALEM – The looming Israeli reaction against the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist movement in Lebanon is said to be imminent in response to the group’s rocket attack on a children’s soccer field on Saturday, resulting in the murders of 12 young people.
Early Monday, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reportedly executed a drone strike in southern Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of two Hezbollah terrorists. The IDF has not commented on the strike. The IDF drone attacks came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a three-hour cabinet meeting on Sunday, during which ministers authorized the prime minister and his minister of defense to determine the “manner and timing” of a military response to the lethal Hezbollah attack.
Danny Danon, Israel’s new ambassador to the United Nations, told “Fox and Friends” host Steve Doocy on Monday that, Israel’s “response will be swift, harsh and painful, and we are now picking the targets and I believe in the next few days, and I’m sure Hezbollah will learn their lesson.” He also said Israel had no “intentions of a full war.”
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On Monday, Netanyahu visited Majdal Shams and announced on X that Israel’s response to the massacre of children at the location “will come and it will be severe.” Netanyahu told the Druze Israeli community: “We are brothers. We have a covenant of life but, I regret that it is also a covenant of bereavement and sorrow. We embrace you.”
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday.
“The Secretary reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s security against threats from Iranian-backed terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah. He emphasized the importance of preventing escalation of the conflict and discussed efforts to reach a diplomatic solution to allow citizens on both sides of the border between Israel and Lebanon to return home,” Miller said.
The Jerusalem Post reported that French President Emmanuel Macron told Netanyahu that France was “fully committed to doing everything possible to avoid new escalation in the region by sending messages to all parties in the conflict.” France, in contrast to other major European powers, Germany and Britain, has not classified Hezbollah’s entire movement as a terrorist entity. Israel and the U.S. have urged France to designate Hezbollah a terrorist organization.
Air France has suspended flights to and from Beirut due to the expectation a major war will unfold. German airline Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines and Eurowings have also suspended flights.
Israel’s Druze community is still reeling from the shocking violence carried out by Hezbollah.
The scenes on Sunday were ones of sadness, shock and devastation as the residents of the mostly Druze village of Majdal Shams buried the young victims of the Hezbollah rocket attack that killed at least 12 and injured some 29 others – mostly ages between 10 and 20 as many of them innocently played soccer on Saturday.
The Druze trace their ancestry back to the Biblical figure Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. Israeli Druze serve in senior positions in public and military life, and the bond between Jewish and Druze soldiers is referred to as the “covenant of blood.” The Druze speak Arabic but are not Muslim and are very secretive about their religious beliefs, according to the TPS news agency.
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Speaking at a press conference on Sunday in Japan, Blinken said “I emphasize (Israel’s) right to defend its citizens and our determination to make sure that they’re able to do that,” “But we also don’t want to see the conflict escalate. We don’t want to see it spread,” according to Reuters.
Blinken also said he was in talks with the U.S. and all but confirmed that it was Hezbollah that fired the rocket from Lebanon. U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said on Sunday, “This attack was conducted by Lebanese Hezbollah. It was their rocket, and launched from an area they control. It should be universally condemned.”
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The failure to identify the U.S.-designated terrorist organization Hezbollah as the perpetrator of the Saturday massacre in the X post of the American Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew sparked criticism on the social media platform on Sunday.
David Wurmser, a former senior adviser for nonproliferation and Middle East strategy for former Vice President Dick Cheney, wrote in response to Lew’s message on X, “If I didn’t know better by your statement, it appears the attack kind of spontaneously happened by an evil missile acting on its own.”
The European Union’s foreign policy head, Josep Borrell, faced similar criticism for not pinning the blame on Hezbollah for its use of an Iranian rocket to murder children.
During an operational briefing on Sunday, Israel’s Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said of Hezbollah that “despite their ridiculous denials … they will bear a heavy price for their actions.”
Hezbollah-linked media was first to report Hezbollah’s boasting about the attack, only for the terror group to later claim it was not them who did it once the barbarity of the attack became clear. The Israelis put the blame squarely on the U.S.-designated terrorist group.
On Saturday, the Times of Israel quoted Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz telling Channel 12 News that, “We are facing an all out-war.”
The IDF said approximately 30 projectiles were identified crossing into Israel from Lebanon on Saturday. The U.S.-designated terrorist organization Hezbollah is the de facto ruler over Lebanon.
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Israel’s TPS news agency reported that the IDF raised its readiness for war. During a tour of the area, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said, “We are greatly increasing our readiness for the next stage of fighting in the north, as we are simultaneously fighting in Gaza. We know how to attack even very far from the State of Israel. There will be more challenges, we will raise our readiness.
“We know exactly where the rocket was launched from. We examined here on the wall of the soccer field the remains of the rocket, and we know to say that it is a Falaq rocket with a 53-kilogram warhead. This is a Hezbollah rocket. And whoever fires such a rocket into an urban area wants to kill civilians, wants to kill children,” Halevi said.
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FDD Iran Senior Fellow Behnam Ben Taleblu said the rocket came from Iran, “There should be no surprise that the munition Hezbollah fired at Israel is Iranian in design and origin. After all, when Iranian officials say death to Israel, they mean it. The weapon used in the latest attack is a spin-stabilized artillery rocket called the Falaq-1, which has a range of 10km while carrying a 50kg warhead.”
Warren’s prediction on how Harris will handle illegal immigration ignites fury
Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s, D-Mass., call for a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants already in the country was seen as a stunning admission by social media users on Sunday.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper asked Warren about backlash against Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris’ record on the border crisis, since President Biden put her in charge of solving the issue early in his administration.
“Border crossings now are lower than they were in the last year of the Trump administration. But recognize – and I know that Kamala Harris knows – this is a problem that ultimately has to be solved by Congress,” Warren said.
She continued, “We need the tools in order to have more resources at the border, to have more resources in the states and cities that are supporting migrants. And I believe we need to create a pathway to citizenship. All of that is part of what we need to do for comprehensive immigration reform. Kamala Harris will work with Congress and get that done.”
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Warren’s open call for mass amnesty surprised and disgusted conservative lawmakers.
Republican vice-presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance wrote, “Elizabeth Warren is so excited to elect Border Czar Kamala Harris because she knows Kamala wants to give mass amnesty to millions of illegal aliens. Kamala’s extreme border policies are fundamentally anti-American.”
“If you listen to this clip, you can hear Team Harris explicitly making 2 campaign promises: 1. Uncapped taxpayer support for newly-imported illegal migrants 2. US Citizenship for illegals arriving from 150+ nations—which means voting rights, welfare and chain migration,” former Trump advisor Stephen Miller wrote.
“Translation: they need voters,” Florida GOP chairman Evan Power commented.
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott wrote, “The truth is coming out. Democrats confirm that Kamala Harris will work with Congress to grant citizenship to the 11 million illegal immigrants that she and Biden have let it. This is just PART of the lawless regime Kamala would impose. Only LEGAL immigrants get citizenship.”
“Outright Admission!” Fox News contributor Leo Terrell exclaimed.
Podcast host Mike Sperrazza wrote, “They are telling us their plan. They want to destroy America.”
Radio host Tara Servatius said, “SEN ELIZABETH WARREN: You bet Kamala Harris is going to give citizenship & the vote to the 10 million illegal immigrants she let in as border czar.”
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Harris was widely dubbed the “border czar” after Biden tasked her in March 2021 to address the root causes of mass migration from Central and South America. While the Biden administration has rejected the title, the term was widely used by mainstream and liberal news organizations, at least until she ascended to the top of the ticket.
Since then, several media outlets, including CNN, MSNBC, ABC and Axios, have insisted that the term “border czar” is a false label created by conservatives to attack Harris.
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Musk enters chat as Google erases Trump assassination attempt from search bar
Billionaire Elon Musk suggested that Google’s omission of search functions for the assassination attempt against former President Trump may be improper.
Musk took to social media to highlight that Google Search’s autocomplete feature omitted results relating to the July 13 shooting. Google has denied taking any action to limit the results.
“Wow, Google has a search ban on President Donald Trump.” Musk wrote. “Election interference?”
“They’re getting themselves into a lot of trouble if they interfere with the election,” he wrote in a follow-up post.
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A Google spokesperson told FOX Business that there was no “manual action taken on these predictions.”
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“Our systems have protections against Autocomplete predictions associated with political violence, which were working as intended prior to this horrific event occurring,” the spokesperson wrote. “We’re working on improvements to ensure our systems are more up to date.”
Screenshots from Google showed recommended search results of the failed assassination of former President Reagan and the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, whose death sparked World War I, the shooting of Bob Marley and the failed attempt on former President Ford.
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Even the keywords “Trump assassination attempt” yielded no additional terms from Google, according to users.
“Big Tech is trying to interfere in the election AGAIN to help Kamala Harris,” Donald Trump Jr. wrote on X. “We all know this is intentional election interference from Google. Truly despicable.”
Google’s spokesperson went on to say the autocomplete feature is “just a tool to help people save time” and they can still search for anything they want.
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“Following this terrible act, people turned to Google to find high quality information – we connected them with helpful results, and will continue to do so,” the company said.
Historian who predicted almost every election since 1984 gives take on Trump-Harris matchup
The “Keys to the White House” are currently favoring Vice President Kamala Harris in a hypothetical 2024 matchup against former President Trump, but a final prediction for the 2024 race is yet to be made.
Allan Lichtman, an election forecaster who has correctly predicted nearly every presidential race since 1984, developed a formula that is used to make predictions about an upcoming presidential election – and in most cases, it proves to be right.
Lichtman’s “Keys to the White House” consists of 13 true or false questions that he believes establish a strong indication of who will be named the victor on the fall ballot. Each question is asked about the two dueling nominees; if “true” they are given a “key,” and if “false,” their competitor receives the point. Then, if one party’s candidate receives six or more keys, they are the predicted winner.
At the beginning of the cycle, Democrats were handed one automatic “key” for President Biden’s incumbency – but the ballot has since seen a dramatic shift.
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The “keys” are as follows:
– party mandate
– contest
– incumbency
– third party
– short-term economy
– long-term economy
– policy change,
– social unrest
– scandal
– foreign/military failure
– foreign/military success
– incumbent charisma
– challenger charisma
Democrats, with Harris being the likely nominee, currently hold six of the 13 keys, according to Lichtman’s prediction. These include primary contest, short-term economy, long-term economy, policy change, no scandal, and no challenger charisma.
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Republicans hold three keys: winning the House majority in the 2022 midterms, the current incumbent not seeking re-election, and the current incumbent lacking charisma.
There are still four more keys that have yet to be handed out.
The remaining keys include the third party factor, which Lichtman says is notable given Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s place in the race.
Keys are also still in the air for having “no social unrest,” as well as “foreign military failure” and “foreign military success.”
If Democrats lose three more keys, then they would be the projected “losers,” according to the election prognosticator’s formula.
A final prediction has not yet been made for the 2024 race, but Lichtman told News Nation that he believes “a lot would have to go wrong for Harris to lose.”
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Lichtman correctly predicted Trump would win in 2016, and Biden in 2020. The historian will make his final prediction for this cycle after Democrats choose their nominee at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in August.
Olympics broadcaster speaks out after discipline over women’s swim team comment
Olympic broadcaster Bob Ballard broke his silence Monday after he was removed from Eurosport’s coverage of the Summer Games for a remark he made about the Australian women’s swimming team.
Ballard wrote a two-part statement on his X account as the Paris Games continued.
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“The comments I made during the Australian freestyle relay victory ceremony on Saturday have caused some offense,” Ballard wrote in a post. “It was never my intention to upset or belittle anyone and, if I did, I apologize. I am a massive advocate of women’s sport.
“I shall miss the Eurosport team, dearly and wish them all the best for the rest of the Olympics,” he added. “No further comment will be issued. Thank you.”
Ballard also wrote that no one should be going after Lizzie Simmonds, who appeared to take offense to the remark he made.
He talked about what “women are like” in reference to the Australian team after they won the 4×100-meter freestyle on Saturday.
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“Well, the women are just finishing up. You know what women are like … hanging around, doing their makeup,” Ballard said, per the New York Post.
Simmonds called Ballard’s remark “outrageous.”
Eurosport removed Ballard from their Olympics coverage afterward.
“During a segment of Eurosport’s coverage last night, commentator Bob Ballard made an inappropriate comment,” the company said in a statement, per The Independent. “To that end, he has been removed from our commentary roster with immediate effect.”
He has been a staple for Olympics coverage for several years and was a freelance broadcaster for BBC as well.
Australia’s relay team, made up of Emma McKeon, Shayna Jack, Mollie O’Callaghan and Meg Harris, won the gold medal in Saturday’s 4×100-meter relay, defeating the United States and China. The team set an Olympic record with a time of 3:28.92.
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The United States’ team was made up of Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, Torri Huske and Simone Manuel. China’s team was made up of Yang Junxuan, Cheng Yujie, Zhang Yufei and Wu Qingfeng.
State’s wage hike backfires for workers struggling to make ends meet
After California implemented a new law boosting the minimum wage for fast-food workers earlier this year, a majority of restaurants increased prices and cut employee hours, according to a recent report from the Employment Policies Institute.
Some are considering expanding outside the state now more than ever.
Since April, when the law took effect, 98% of restaurants surveyed said they have already raised the cost of menu items, and 93% plan to do so next year. Additionally, 89% reported already reducing the number of employee hours, and 87% plan to do so next year.
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According to the survey, 70% of eateries already had to make staff cuts or consolidate positions. Even more, 74%, plan to do so in the coming year, the survey showed.
The Employment Policies Institute surveyed 182 limited-service restaurant operators in the state over the past two months in order to get a better picture of the impact the new law has had.
By pumping up menu prices, the restaurants recognize that their traffic will take a hit to some degree. It’s forcing more than half of them to consider expanding outside of California.
Seventy-four percent said that there was a greater chance that their restaurants would shut down.
The legislation that went into effect in California on April 1 increases the minimum wage for restaurants that have at least 60 locations nationwide, except those that make and sell their own bread, from $16 to $20. This equates to an annual salary of $41,600.
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The median fast-food worker in the U.S. earned $13.43 an hour in 2022, while those in California made an average of $16.60 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the legislation, AB 1228, into law in September, saying at the time that “California is home to more than 500,000 fast-food workers who – for decades – have been fighting for higher wages and better working conditions.”
In addition to the pay raises, the legislation also established a “Fast Food Council,” including representatives for both workers and employers, that can approve further pay increases and set standards for working conditions.
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After the law took effect, and in short order, eateries began cutting jobs and even closing locations to get ahead of the possible financial repercussions, namely pizza chains.
A New York Post investigation also revealed that some fast-food chains in the Los Angeles area raised prices when the legislation took effect on April 1, including Burger King, owned by Restaurant Brands International, Hart House and some In-N-Out locations.