Rise of the Planet of the Geek Nazis

The saga of Gregg Berhalter and the U.S. men’s national team took another wild plot twist on Wednesday when multiple outlets revealed who went to U.S. Soccer over Berhalter’s past. Claudio and Danielle Reyna, the parents of U.S. World Cup player Gio Reyna and former U.S. national team stalwarts in their own right, admitted that they were behind it all. ESPN reported that Claudio “sent multiple messages to U.S. Soccer executives during the World Cup,” when Gio wasn’t playing as much as was expected. He subsequently confirmed this to The Athletic, and named sporting director Earnie Stewart and men’s national team general manager Brian McBride as the recipients. “While in Qatar, I shared my frustrations about my son’s World Cup experience with a number of close friends, Earnie and Brian McBride among them,” Claudio said in a statement. “However, at no time did I ever threaten anyone, nor would I ever do so.” ESPN reported that multiple sources indicated that there were in fact specific threats to disclose the information that was eventually revealed to the USSF executives, but Reyna denied this. Before all of this exploded, the Berhalters and Reynas had close ties for decades. Gregg and Claudio were youth and high school soccer teammates in northern New Jersey, then were on the national team together for over a decade – including at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. Claudio was even the best man at Gregg’s wedding to Rosalind Santana (now Rosalind Berhalter) 25 years ago.

A former Colorado funeral home owner was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on Tuesday for defrauding relatives of the dead by dissecting 560 corpses and selling body parts without permission.

Update: Kevin McCarthy has, for a sixth time, lost his bid to become Speaker of the House, with the votes in the sixth round of voting unchanged from the fourth and fifth. After three rounds of voting Tuesday, Kevin McCarthy was still more than a dozen votes short in his quest to become Speaker of the House. After three more ballots on Wednesday, only one person’s mind had changed, a previous McCarthy supporter who switched her vote to “present.”  Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida accepted a nomination to be the Republican alternative and picked up 20 votes in the fourth round, while Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana voted “present” on the fourth ballot. As a result, the House went to a fifth round of voting, where the outcome was exactly the same, down to Spartz’s “present” vote. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries won the support of all 212 Democrats and a plurality of all votes cast, but no candidate achieved the necessary majority to win. And for McCarthy, his chances of winning what is sure to be the worst job in America appear to be slipping even further away.

The world of indie romance has been upended by allegations that an author faked her own suicide and now wants to return like nothing happened.

The participants’ mindsets about willpower, it seemed, were self-fulfilling prophecies. If they believed that their willpower was easily depleted, then their ability to resist temptation and distraction quickly dissolved; but if they believed that “mental stamina fuels itself”, then that is what occurred.

Streaming platform Roku has allowed a channel dedicated to QAnon conspiracy theories to launch, even though it seemingly violates the platform’s rules and precedent that disallows this kind of content. Just weeks after the channel launched, it has been installed hundreds of thousands of times, and Roku may also be earning revenue for ads being run on the channel.

The founder and former CEO of Utah-based Overstock, Patrick Byrne, paid for then-Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio to fly to Washington, D.C., on a private jet to attend a rally held in support of former President Donald Trump in the days following his defeat in the 2020 election, according to the House Jan. 6 committee’s final report.

Devon Henry stepped in to remove almost all of Richmond's Confederate statues after White contractors refused. It changed his life.

Director Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 version of Romeo And Juliet is generally regarded as one of the best Shakespeare adaptations ever made, having earned several Oscar nominations (including Best Picture and Best Director) plus wins for Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design. It also, for reasons that have only grown more inexplicable in the decades since, features a nude scene with stars Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting—both of whom were under 18 at the time. The decision to cast age-appropriate stars who were unknowns at the time was seen as one of the movie’s strengths, but… you know, you can tell the Romeo And Juliet story without showing a 15-year-old girl naked. It has been done, both before and since. Anyway, Hussey and Whiting (who are now in their 70s) have now filed a lawsuit against original distributor Paramount, accusing the studio of—as Variety puts it—“sexually exploiting them and distributing nude images of adolescent children.”

A politically connected real estate agent convicted of bank fraud was sentenced to three years probation and fined $15,200 for his part in a corruption scandal that reached the highest levels of San Francisco government. Victor Makras appeared in U.S. District Court in San Francisco Tuesday where Judge Richard Seeborg handed down the lesser of two possible sentences. Federal prosecutors wanted the real estate mogul to pay $25,000 and spend two months behind bars.  Makras was convicted in U.S. District Court earlier this year in a case built on the same federal corruption probe that toppled other powerful players in city politics. Namely, former Public Utility Commission head Harlan Kelly and ex-Public Works boss Mohammed Nuru.  Nuru was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud in January. Meanwhile, the trial has yet to begin for Kelly, who’s accused of giving a contractor preferential treatment and insider information in exchange for free work on his home.

Early in 2020, an Indigenous artist urged the owners of a new music venue in town to change its name.  It was called The Winnebago, after the street on which it stands. Many Indigenous people and allies let the owners know that wasn’t the best name for a white-owned music venue. One of them was nibiiwakamigkwe, also known as Kay LeClaire, a founding member and co-owner of the queer Indigenous artists’ collective giige, and budding leader of Madison’s Indigenous arts community. It took several months, but the venue eventually relented and rebranded as The Burr Oak. “I’m glad the owners have decided to no longer profit from the identities of Indigenous peoples,” LeClaire wrote in an editorial for Our Lives Wisconsin. “I’m glad the name is going, but I’m not happy the institutions that allowed it to be stolen in the first place remain. For over 500 years, Indigenous Peoples have not controlled our narratives and representations. Our exclusion has been built into inclusion for others.” One problem with that narrative: LeClaire wasn’t Indigenous, and was, in fact, profiting from the identities of Indigenous peoples.

When Buffalo Bills football player Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field this week, medical personnel and an ambulance were nearby. But most people who suffer cardiac arrest don’t get immediate help — in part because bystanders often don’t know what to do. Fewer than 40 percent of people who experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital receive CPR from someone nearby, and fewer than 12 percent have an automated external defibrillator (AED) applied before emergency personnel arrive, according to the American Heart Association. A survey in 2016 found that an estimated 65 percent of people had CPR training, but only 18 percent were up to date on their training. “One of the greatest take-home points from this terrible situation is how important it is to be able to provide CPR quickly,” said Larry Phillips, a cardiologist at NYU Langone Health. The key is to “first recognize that a medical emergency is taking place, and then to quickly be able to provide CPR, and [use a] defibrillator when needed to help return the heart to normal heart rhythm.” The Washington Post spoke to cardiologists about cardiac arrests and what bystanders should do if they witness someone collapsing.

Just like a classic dictator, Musk has also shown no tolerance for dissent and criticism. He has reportedly fired employees for daring to speak up against his decisions within the company or on social media.

“All our buildings and roads will have crumbled to dust long before then but the subtle changes that we made to sediments will persist, and show that a global civilisation once dominated this planet with lasting effects.”

A new study shows that as temperatures drop, nasal cells release fewer of the tiny protectors that bind and neutralize invading germs.

Microsoft has already recognized the union and says it looks forward to "good faith negotiations."

Happy New Year! *shits pants*

U.S. lawmakers convene Tuesday for a new era of divided government as Democrats relinquish control of the House after midterm election losses, with Republican Kevin McCarthy seeking to avoid becoming the first nominee for Speaker in 100 years to fail to win initial support from his own colleagues. McCarthy is in line to replace Nancy Pelosi as House Speaker for the 118th session of Congress, but he heads into the vote with no guarantee of success. Despite an endorsement from former president Donald Trump, still popular within the party, McCarthy faces entrenched detractors within his own ranks despite weeks of lead time to get hesitant members on board after the November midterm results became official. The showdown could very well devolve into a prolonged House floor fight and a spectacle that divides the Republican Party.

Elon Musk’s reputation as a genius took some serious damage in 2022 — almost as much damage as his personal wealth.