Dolly Parton reveals how she is grieving following death of husband Carl Dean after 59 year marriage
Dolly Parton has revealed how she is navigating the grieving process following the death of her beloved husband Carl Thomas Dean aged 82.
Imprisoned Crypto Fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried Dishes To Tucker Carlson All About ‘Kind’ Cellmate Diddy
Imprisoned crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried dished to Tucker Carlson about his cellmate Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs, the rapper currently facing sex trafficking charges – among many others.
Bankman-Fried spoke with Carlson remotely for The Tucker Carlson Show from Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York. Bankman-Fried and Diddy are currently together in the same unit. The New York Times reported the pair are living in a “dormitory style room with a group of other defendants.”
FTX founder Bankman-Fried was once hailed as the poster boy for crypto, but he was eventually sentenced to 25 years behind bars last year for defrauding investors out of billions. Bankman-Fried was found guilty on multiple counts following FTX’s collapse in 2022. Bankman-Fried is appealing his conviction.
During Carlson’s chat with Bankman-Fried, he asked him about his unusual living situation with a rapper whose alleged sex crimes have been constantly making headlines.
Bankman-Fried told Carlson that Diddy has been “kind” after Carlson asked whether the disgraced crypto wizard has “made friends” or is “hanging” with the rapper.
Read the exchange below:
TUCKER CARLSON: “So, like, have you made friends there? Are you hanging with Diddy? I think he’s in there with you.”
SAM BANKMAN-FRIED: “He is, he is. It’s, I don’t know, he’s been kind. I’ve made some friends. It’s a weird environment. It’s sort of a combination of a few other high profile cases and then a lot of ex-gangsters — or alleged ex-gangsters.”
CARLSON: “Yes. Definitely alleged. So what’s Diddy like?”
BANKMAN-FRIED: “You know, obviously I’ve only seen one piece of him, which is Diddy in prison and he’s been kind to people in the unit, he’s been kind to me. It’s also — it’s a position no one wants to be in. Obviously, he doesn’t, I don’t. As you said, it’s kind of a soul crushing place for the world in general. And what we see are just the people that are around us on the inside rather than who we are on the outside.”
CARLSON: “I’m sure. You’re two of the most famous prisoners in the world in the same unit. Like, what do you armed robbers think?”
BANKMAN-FRIED: “Well, it’s a really interesting question and of course some of them think, wow, this is a big opportunity to meet people they wouldn’t otherwise get to meet which is.”
CARLSON: [LAUGHS]
BANKMAN-FRIED: “It makes sense from their perspective, but boy that is not how I think about prison.”
CARLSON: “Sorry to laugh. No, that is not how you think about it.”
BANKMAN-FRIED: “Laughing’s all you can do sometimes. There’s no better alternative. They’re good at chess. That’s one thing I learned. Former armed robbers who don’t speak English and probably didn’t graduate middle school, a surprising number of them are farily good at chess. I’m not saying they’re grand masters, but I lose games to them all the time. I was not expecting that.”
Watch above via The Tucker Carlson Show .
The post Imprisoned Crypto Fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried Dishes To Tucker Carlson All About ‘Kind’ Cellmate Diddy first appeared on Mediaite .
Never-Trumper Tara Setmayer Rips ‘Slavemaster Ick Vibes’ Of GOP Punishing Trump Heckler Rep. Al Green
Seneca Project co-founder and Never-Trumper Tara Setmayer told SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah that the GOP House punishing Rep. Al Green (D-TX) for heckling President Donald Trump gave her “slavemaster ick vibes.”
Trump delivered a 99-minute address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night — essentially a State of the Union address by a different name — that was chock full of memorable and newsworthy moments. One such moment was Green’s heckling of Trump and removal by the Sergeant at Arms, which has resulted in the GOP-led House voting to censure Green.
On Thursday’s edition of The Dean Obeidallah Show , Obeidallah asked Setmayer for her thoughts on the speech, and she did not hold back:
I was like, you guys, you just have to do something different. And I keep telling people, you got to fight like Republicans. I’m not saying the policy, the tactics! You need to learn how to do this because it works.
And so that would have been something drastic. And have and have an alternative. Gather on the steps of the Capitol with the people, with with examples of federal workers and farmers and, you know, people and veterans like the peopl. You wouldn’t expect to be hurt by these things because those are supposed to be the people Trump supported. And he loves the veterans and the farmers. Right? You do? Well. Look at who you are. These are the people you’re hurting right now. You really don’t give a damn about this.
Elon Musk, your crony, is decapitating our government and hurting everyday people that you claim to support. So they should have had an alternative and take the the spectacle off of Trump. Don’t give him the opportunity to use you guys as props, which is what he did.
Now I know. And I was like, well, if they’re going to go, then you need to be in silence. No glad-handing, none of that. But if Al Green or someone else was going to protest and, you know, there’s– civil disobedience has a place. So. Okay, fine. If that’s where you’re going to use it. Then when he was removed by the sergeant at arms, which which I found to be very alarming, it bothered me.
I didn’t like to see a Black congressman being talked down to you by a southern speaker of the House telling him, you know, sit down. Gave me very like, you know, slavemaster ick vibes. But to had the sergeant at arms come and remove a member of Congress from a joint session? Are you kidding me?
Every Democrat should have gotten up and walked out in solidarity with him. That would have given them the opportunity to do something different in solidarity with their brethren there. Because how dare they?
They showed up. Right. It’s a constitutional duty, kind of that you got to go and do this. So I understand why they showed up.
But there should have been a plan that as soon as Donald Trump started to attack them or did something like that and create a spectacle, they were under no obligation to stay there and be props for his Trump rally.
Watch the clip above via SiriusXM’s The Dean Obeidallah Show .
The post Never-Trumper Tara Setmayer Rips ‘Slavemaster Ick Vibes’ Of GOP Punishing Trump Heckler Rep. Al Green first appeared on Mediaite .
Byron Donalds Jabs CNN’s Pamela Brown Over Coverage of Inflation: ‘You Let the Last Administration Get Away With It!’
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) called out CNN for what he considered to be inconsistent coverage of inflation affecting the economy.
Donalds on Thursday joined CNN’s The Situation Room to talk about President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. During that interview, the news broke that Trump decided to suspend most tariffs on Mexico until at least April 2. When host Pamela Brown Donalds asked about Trump’s “back-and-forth tariff indecision” and the how that uncertainty affects markets, Donalds shifted the focus to the border and the flow of fentanyl.
DONALDS: Well, look, I’m gonna repeat myself a little bit here. It is important that we stabilize not just our economic relationships around the globe, but also the fact that we gotta secure our border and we gotta stop the flow of fentanyl. Give Donald Trump the opportunity to actually negotiate with the Mexican president and with Canada, and with China. You gotta give him that opportunity because when prices were rising in the United States, I didn’t hear CNN talking about that much. As a matter of fact, you ignored most of it while it was hurting the American people–
BROWN: We did.
DONALDS: –So let the president negotiate on tariff policy–
BROWN: We did cover. We did cover that.
DONALDS: –That is what he’s doing and it’s gonna work out to the better. You didn’t cover it the way it needed to be covered. Let’s be perfectly honest.
BROWN: OK, well that’s a matter of opinion.
DONALDS: You let the last administration get away with it–
BROWN: That is your opinion, but we did.
DONALDS: –but the American people suffered as a result. Oh, no, it’s not my opinion. That’s a fact.
BROWN: OK, no, it’s not a fact. Congressman Byron Donalds, thank you for coming on to share your points of view. We appreciate your time, and best of luck in your run for governor of Florida. We’ll be right back.
Watch above via CNN
The post Byron Donalds Jabs CNN’s Pamela Brown Over Coverage of Inflation: ‘You Let the Last Administration Get Away With It!’ first appeared on Mediaite .
Trump’s Destructive, Haphazard Trade War Is an Extension of His Petty Foreign Policy
(GDA via AP Images)
President Donald Trump insists that the trade war he’s waging against the United States’ nearest two neighbors is largely about stemming the flow of drugs into his country and saving the lives of his countrymen.
“Vast amounts of fentanyl have poured into our country from, from Mexico and, as you know, also from China, where it goes to Mexico, and goes to Canada, and China also had an additional ten, so it’s ten plus ten,” explained Trump at a Monday press conference in which he declared that there was “no room left” for negotiation. “And and it comes in from Canada and it comes in from Mexico. And that’s a very important thing to say.”
Well, maybe not then. The promised 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian exports into the U.S. did go into effect on Tuesday — look no further than the stock market’s freefall for evidence — but by Thursday, Trump had announced a partial change of heart .
“After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement. This Agreement is until April 2nd,” wrote Trump on Truth Social. “I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum. Our relationship has been a very good one, and we are working hard, together, on the Border, both in terms of stopping Illegal Aliens from entering the United States and, likewise, stopping Fentanyl. Thank you to President Sheinbaum for your hard work and cooperation!”
And what of the Canadians, Mr. President?
“Believe it or not, despite the terrible job he’s done for Canada, I think that Justin Trudeau is using the Tariff problem, which he has largely caused, in order to run again for Prime Minister,” he theorized. “So much fun to watch!”
Fun fact : Authorities seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the U.S.’s northern border last year.
At the southern border, they seized over 21,148 pounds.
In other words: Over 491 times as much fentanyl was discovered coming from Mexico as was coming from Canada.
In still others: Just .2% of fentanyl seizures made at America’s borders were coming from Canada.
Are we sure this is about the fentanyl crisis?
Sheinbaum appears to have Trump’s number. While Trudeau doubtlessly sealed his fate by railing against the president on Tuesday during a news conference in which he accused Trump of “appeasing Vladimir Putin: a lying murderous dictator” while launching a “very dumb” trade, Sheinbaum’s more patient, flattery-heavy approach is paying dividends.
Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
Trump is conducting foreign policy based on his own personal grudges, preferences, and whims — not the national interest.
How else to explain his decision to let Mexico off the hook while giving Canada no quarter?
Or, more consequentially still, his parroting of Russian propaganda and constant undermining of the Ukrainian cause?
Volodymyr Zelensky doesn’t suck up to Trump as skillfully as the aforementioned Putin; so it is he who must endure a steady stream of slanderous invective, all of which could better describe the Russian dictator. One must feel for him, and to a far lesser extent, Trudeau. But it is the American people who stand to be the ultimate losers in this arrangement. During Trump’s first term, cooler, more civically-minded heads within his administration largely succeeded in steering his foreign policy in the right direction.
No such heads constrain him now, so his constituents will just have to hope his impulses align with their interests more often than not.
The post Trump’s Destructive, Haphazard Trade War Is an Extension of His Petty Foreign Policy first appeared on Mediaite .
Trump Tightens Leash on Elon Musk and DOGE: It’s Time for ‘Scalpel Rather Than Hatchet’
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
The days of Elon Musk and the DOGE squad running roughshod through federal government agencies seem to be coming to an end. President Donald Trump met with his Cabinet Thursday and — with Musk in the room — announced a shift back to a “scalpel” strategy for government cuts rather than “hatchet.”
Trump and Musk’s efforts with DOGE have been highly controversial, as an email demanding all federal workers justify their continued employment, massive layoffs , and Musk’s conflicts of interest have all raised eyebrows.
Multiple lawsuits have already been filed challenging the creation of DOGE, its activities, access to sensitive government data and files, and Musk’s role . The Supreme Court has already smacked down a DOGE-led effort to cut off vast swaths of foreign aid funding, ruling that about $2 billion for contracted work that had already been completed could not be withheld. The ambiguity of Musk’s specific job title and how much power he has is another major legal issue; Trump’s comment in his speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday that DOGE is “headed by Elon Musk ” has already been cited in several of the pending court cases as contradicting the denials by Trump administration attorneys.
Adding to the pressure on the White House is the outrage over layoffs that is coming from Republican members of Congress and other conservative voices, for example, concerning the many veterans employed by the federal government. Ever sensitive to poll numbers , Musk’s cratering popularity seems likely to have played a factor in Trump’s decision to sideline the Tesla and SpaceX CEO.
In a Truth Social post Thursday afternoon Trump wrote that it was time to impose “cost cutting” by using a “scalpel” instead of a “hatchet” — perhaps a rebuke to Musk’s chainsaw-wielding antics at CPAC last month. In the post, Trump wrote that he had just had “a very positive” meeting with his Cabinet secretaries and Musk and declared they were all on the same page:
The Golden Age of America has just begun! Over the past six weeks, our Administration has delivered on promises like no Administration before it, always putting America First! DOGE has been an incredible success, and now that we have my Cabinet in place, I have instructed the Secretaries and Leadership to work with DOGE on Cost Cutting measures and Staffing. As the Secretaries learn about, and understand, the people working for the various Departments, they can be very precise as to who will remain, and who will go. We say the “scalpel” rather than the “hatchet.” The combination of them, Elon, DOGE, and other great people will be able to do things at a historic level.
We just had a meeting with most of the Secretaries, Elon, and others, and it was a very positive one. It’s very important that we cut levels down to where they should be, but it’s also important to keep the best and most productive people. We’re going to have these meetings every two weeks until that aspect of this very necessary job is done. The relationships between everybody in that room are extraordinary. They all want to get to the exact same place, which is, simply, to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Politico’s Dasha Burns and Kyle Cheney had more details on that meeting, writing that Trump had “convened his Cabinet in person on Thursday to deliver a message: You’re in charge of your departments, not Elon Musk.”
From the Politico report:
According to two administration officials, Trump told top members of his administration that Musk was empowered to make recommendations to the departments but not to issue unilateral decisions on staffing and policy. Musk was also in the room.
…The president’s message represents the first significant move to narrow Musk’s mandate. According to Trump’s new guidance, DOGE and its staff should play an advisory role — but Cabinet secretaries should make final decisions on personnel, policy and the pacing of implementation.
Musk joined the conversation and indicated he was on board with Trump’s directive. According to one person familiar with the meeting, Musk acknowledged that DOGE had made some missteps — a message he shared earlier this week with members of Congress.
Trump stressed that he wants to keep good people in government and not eject capable federal workers en masse, according to one of the officials. It is unclear whether the new guidance will result in laid off workers getting rehired.
As of Thursday afternoon, Musk’s pinned tweet is still one from March 4 with a stylized image of him from CPAC, holding the chainsaw and with the label “The Dogefather” behind him.
“Making govt waste an offer it can’t refuse,” reads the caption.
The post Trump Tightens Leash on Elon Musk and DOGE: It’s Time for ‘Scalpel Rather Than Hatchet’ first appeared on Mediaite .
WATCH: Dolphins swim alongside hydrofoil rider
A hydrofoil board rider in British Columbia’s Porteau Cove Park got to enjoy a magical moment as a pod of “hundreds” of dolphins surrounded and swam with him as he rode.
Is Eric Adams Running for Re-election? Signs Point to No.
Mayor Eric Adams of New York City has taken few concrete steps to launch a serious re-election campaign, even as he faces a growing field of prominent challengers.
Trump says South Korea wants to invest in the Alaska gas pipeline. Does it?
Some officials in South Korea say agreeing to the pipeline investment might placate the U.S., but Trump is still threatening tariffs.
Facebook posts – No, a vaccine campaign did not cause the Gaines County, Texas, measles case spike
A measles outbreak in Gaines County, Texas, was caused by “a public health initiative” to “distribute free measles vaccines.”